Some believe Siri is a driving force behind Apple’s record-breaking iPhone 4S sales, but not everyone is impressed with the Cupertino, California-based company’s virtual assistant. Apple’s TV ads depict Siri as an impressive, fast-acting feature that intelligently offers help or information in responds to a wide range of and commands. A number of users have found that Siri is not as helpful as Apple leads consumers to believe, however, and the company has been hit with a number of lawsuits as a result.
Apple was sued in March by a New York man, Frank Fazio, who alleges that Apple’s Siri commercials are misleading and deceptive. “On many of Apple’s television advertisements, individuals are shown using Siri to make appointments, find restaurants, and even learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs or how to tie a tie,” Fazio’s complaint reads. “In the commercials, all of these tasks are done with ease with the assistance of the iPhone 4S’s Siri feature, a represented functionality contrary to the actual operating results and performance of Siri.”
Apple’s recommendation to Fazio: buy a different phone.
While Fazio and the rest of the plaintiffs named in the suit were quick to complain, Apple points out that none of them bothered to make use of Apple’s 30-day return policy and purchase a different phone. Apple also makes sure to point out that the iPhone 4S launch was its most successful iPhone launch ever.
“[The plaintiffs] offer only general descriptions of Apple’s advertisements, incomplete summaries of Apple’s website materials, and vague descriptions of their alleged—and highly individualized—disappointment with Siri,” Apple attorneys stated on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Tellingly, although Plaintiffs claim they became dissatisfied with Siri’s performance “soon after” purchasing their iPhones, they made no attempt to avail themselves of Apple’s 30-day return policy or one-year warranty—which remains in effect.”
The statement continued, “Instead, they seek to take an alleged personal grievance about the purported performance of a popular product and turn it into a nationwide class action under California’s consumer protection statutes. The Complaint does not come close to meeting the heavy burden necessary to sustain such claims.”
Apple’s lawyers have asked the Northern District court in Oakland, California to dismiss the class-action lawsuit.
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