Florida couple file a $5 million lawsuit against Apple over WiFi Assist feature in iOS 9
Apple’s lawsuit woes dont seem to end. Last week, WARF won a $264 million lawsuit against Apple over patent and now it is facing another lawsuit, albeit for a different reason altogether. A couple from Florida is suing Apple for $5 million, claiming the company is misleading consumers about the data charges they’ll incur through the new Wi-Fi Assist feature that’s part of the latest mobile operating system.
William and Suzanne Phillips filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, accusing Apple of deceptive business practices, false advertising and misrepresentation. The couple is seeking class-action certification, saying other consumers have been harmed by this feature of iOS 9.
WiFi Assist feature was introduced by Apple with iOS 9. WiFi Assist, when enabled, switches between WiFi and cellular data when it detects that iPhone’s WiFi signal might be weak or too slow. That being said, it seems that a couple in Florida aren’t taking kindly to the feature and have since filed a lawsuit against Apple.
The couple are suing Apple for deceptive business practices, false advertising, and misrepresentation. They are also seeking class-action certification and claim that other customers have been “harmed” by this feature, claiming that Apple did not specifically spell out how exactly WiFi Assist works.
WiFi Assist has come with its own set of problems for users. Many users have reported that enabling this feature causes their data caps to blow up as it switches to cellular data too easily. After it caused uproar, Apple released a support document to further explain the feature, and stated that the additional data used in WiFi Assist is minimal at best.
William Anderson, an attorney representing the Phillips family said the couple is seeking compensation for themselves and others who got socked with big data charges.
“It boils down to a decision by Apple to provide a product update without adequate warning about the result of that update,” Anderson said. “Which resulted in numerous people who are extremely surprised and very frustrated by the size of their bill.”
Apple has not issued any comments on this case.
This is a ridiculous lawsuit. So you’re telling me that this OPT IN feature, one that you willingly chose to enable, is the problem? Its definitely not your fault for not learning about the feature and understanding it before you use it.
Whoops. Turns out Im wrong, and its on by default. I could have sworn I had to enable the feature on my phone. The irony of someone not researching before posting.