Apple lawsuit targets "iPod Mechanic"

This guy ripped me off big time! I hope Apple gets every penny they're after from this jerk!

Their website said they would buy my iPod if I didn't want to fix it. They wanted $150 to fix my iPod. When I told them to just buy it, they said they didn't need that model (1st gen Nano) and that they would bill me $25 to ship it back to them.

Go gettem' Apple!

Note to self: Don't piss off Apple Legal.

I was about to feel sorry for this guy, but what he's doing is totally bogus. It's on thing to specialize in the repair of out-of warranty iPods, but scamming both the customers and Apple is just shade. Throw the book at him

However Apple fries this guy is fine by me. iPodMechanic was a fairly decent repair service when they got started, but they've grown way too fast and customer service has just plummeted. Recently they took FOUR MONTHS to complete a simple repair, during which they wouldn't respond to a single email. It finally took a PayPal proceeding to get their attention. They deserve whatever they get; I'll certainly never patronize them again.

I tried to use this guy to repair my 20gb iPod and all he did was upgrade the hard drive, it still doesn't work. Any efforts to contact him after it returned were ignored. I hope Apple takes him to the cleaners, the guy is a fraud and deserves what's coming to him.

So The Unofficial Apple Weblog is acceptable, but the iPod Mechanic isn't? What about MacUser? MacWorld? These are all businesses that use trademarks in their business name.

The iPod Mechanic does describe his business, he is a mechanic for iPods. That he is a thief should be immaterial to that argument.

Doesn't it come under Fair Use?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use

"The use of iPod to describe his business, ie repairing ipods is acceptable to me, and probably a lot of other people."

He is not using iPod to describe his business. Rather he is suing it as part of his business name. Legitimate companies describe their businesses with descriptive phrases after their company name, ie "specializing in repairing iPods" to avoid exactly this situation.

Do you know any camera repair businesses that call themselves the Nikon Repairer? How about the Sony Fix it Shop? How about the Epson Fixer Upper? Or the Belkin Repairman? The Toshiba Mechanic? Of course not. No company allows its trademarks to be used in this manner as customers may well infer liability (for lost goods, faulty workmanship, poor service, etc) rests with the trademark holder.

Moreover if you do a quick Google on this company you'll realize it has a very poor reputation dating back several years - and certainly merits no support in this situation.

Apple hates their customers and support companies! you people still love them?

Sheesh!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

Yeah. You can't really defend this guy's actions. He knowingly defrauded Apple AND his customers. You can read forums at iLounge to see what kind of charlatan he is.

This isn't just a case of using the iPod trademark to build up a false association between his business and Apple. This is a case where the guy has done every shifty thing he could to cut corners and cheat everyone involved, so that he may profit.

With the dollar figures Apple is throwing around (he basically *stole* $75,000 from them in just the shuffle scam alone) he's lucky he's not headed for prison.

Concerning the fraud charges, I hope he gets punished fully.

The use of iPod to describe his business, ie repairing ipods is acceptable to me, and probably a lot of other people. I would say it's a fair use of the iPod trademark, just as the use of Apple is for this blog. Of course Apple being just like every other greedy mega corp, they say differently, and act differently towards others.