Joseph Coyle of New York and Gabriela Zaragoza of California have filed a new Class Action against Apple for tricking them and customers in general into buying season bundles of TV shows only to find out that Apple is making them pay for some promotional clips considered as TV episodes.
Nature of the Action
The following is directly from the class action lawsuit under the “Nature of the Action”: “Plaintiffs bring this consumer protection and false advertising class action lawsuit against Apple, based on its false and misleading business practices with respect to the marketing and sale of television show (“TV show(s)”) season bundles offered on Apple’s iTunes store on the Apple TV 4 and 4k devices (“Apple TVs”).
Through Apple’s iTunes store, consumers can browse a variety of TV shows on their Apple TVs. Each TV show offered on Apple’s iTunes store has its own home page, providing consumers with general information regarding their selected TV show.
On the home page for each TV show on iTunes, Apple offers consumers three purchasing options at set prices. First, consumers may purchase episodes individually. Second, consumers can purchase completed seasons (“Buy Season”). Third, if the TV show’s season has remaining episodes, a season pass can be purchased, offering all current and future episodes for the season (“Season Pass”) (collectively, with “Buy Season”, the “Season Features”).
On each home page, Apple conspicuously represents the number of episodes available in the season. However, unbeknownst to consumers, many of the “episodes” offered by Apple are not standard, plot-based episodes of the TV show, but promotional clips.
Consumers purchase the Season Features, reasonably believing that each episode is a standard, plot-based episode and that, by purchasing the Season Features, they are receiving a significant discount over purchasing each episode individually. However, because many of the episodes in the Season Features are promotional clips, consumers are not receiving the number of episodes and the discount they expected.
Had Plaintiffs and other consumers known that the Season Features provided fewer standard, plot-based episodes than Apple represented, they would not have purchased the Season Features or would have paid significantly less for them. Therefore, Plaintiffs and consumers have suffered injury in fact as a result of Apple’s deceptive practices.
Plaintiffs bring this class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated. Plaintiffs seek to represent a California Subclass, a California Consumer Subclass, a New York Subclass, and a Nationwide Class (defined infra in paragraphs 44-48) (collectively referred to as “Classes”).
Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and other consumers, are seeking damages, restitution, declaratory and injunctive relief, and all other remedies the court deems appropriate.”
Causes for Action
Count 1: Violation of California Civil Code
Count 2: Violation of California Business and Professions Code § 17200
Count 3: Violation of California Business and Professions Code § 17500
Count 4: Breach of Express Warranty
Count 5: Breach of Implied Warranty
Count 6: Common Law Fraud
Count 7: Quasi-Contract/Restitution
Count 8: Violation of New York General Business Law § 349
Count 9: Violation of New York General Business Law § 350
For more details on this case, review the full Class Action lawsuit filings below provided to you courtesy of Patently Apple
PDF Gabriela Zaragoza and Joseph Coyle v-Apple-Inc (1) by Jack Purcher on Scribd
The Class Action by Joseph Coyle and Gabriela Zaragoza was filed in California Northern District Court on October 5, 2018. The Judge assigned to this case is Nathanael M. Cousins.