Class action suit filed against Apple

A 26-page complaint was filed against Apple Thursday by a group of consumers and Apple resellers who allege the company has “engaged in acts of unfair and unlawful business practices, breach of contract, and misappropriation of trade secrets.” Plaintiffs Jack Branning, James Seybert, Stacey Blevins, Tom Siechert and Joe Weingarten are accusing Apple of repackaging and selling refurbished machines as “new products” without notification.

They also allege that Apple has periodically shirked on honoring its Apple Care extended warranty, shorted consumers on new warranty terms, and failed to extend warranty dates based on repair times. And we’re not done yet. Apple is also being accused of “unfair and unlawful competition,” stocking its own retail stores before the remainder of the retail channel, as well as using unfair pricing policies and failing to properly reflect repair costs to resellers.

Ironically, the suit also alleges that Apple has misappropriated trade secrets by using reseller customer lists to seed its own in-house sales database. Interesting in light of Apple’s own suits against several web sites for publishing leaked trade secrets. Any Apple resellers or consumers out there who want to comment on this suit? Is there truth in these charges?