Amazon Sued Over Cracked Kindles

[NYCKindleFan]

The irony is beautiful: To protect your Kindle, don't buy protection.

Those who opted for a $30 protective case with the e-reader are reportedly seeing the Kindle itself crack under pressure, and one customer is suing Amazon for his troubles.

Matthew Geise, executive director of a property management firm in Seattle, bought the second-generation Kindle for his wife, and the device's screen started freezing after cracks developed on the frame. He filed a federal class action lawsuit seeking more than $5 million in refunds, treble damages, and legal costs, The Seattle Times reports.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/168456/kindles_crack_amazon_sued.html

[ProfCrash]

When Oberon noticed that people might have a problem with their rivets contacting the Kindle, they sent people felt pads to place over the rivets and corrected the problem on their covers. If the reviews on Amazon are consistently talking about this cracking problem and Amazon has suggested a way of fixing the cover to end the problem, Amazon should fix the freaking cover before sending any more out.

It sounds to me like Amazon could have saved themselves some trouble with s simple fix and replacing the few busted Kindles caused by the problem.

That said, suing for $5,000,000 is really, really silly. I mean, come on now.

[drenee]

Geez, 5 million??  I love my K but it's not worth that much money, nor is any emotion I might have if the thing cracked.  CS has been very helpful to all the folks on here who have had problems.  Not sure where this guy justifies his thinking.
deb

[ProfCrash]

I have read posts were people have had cracks that have ended up causing other problems. CS has told people that those are not covered under the warranty and told them they could buy a new Kindle for $180.

Since the cracks are caused by a defect in Amazon's cover, I don't think that it is unreasonable that the people are expecting a new Kindle. Amazon has noted the problem and told people how to fix it, they know that it is there and have not fixed the problem itself. That is problematic.

I think the money they are asking for is silly but I can see why they are annoyed.

[Annie]

I have read posts were people have had cracks that have ended up causing other problems. CS has told people that those are not covered under the warranty and told them they could buy a new Kindle for $180.

Since the cracks are caused by a defect in Amazon's cover, I don't think that it is unreasonable that the people are expecting a new Kindle. Amazon has noted the problem and told people how to fix it, they know that it is there and have not fixed the problem itself. That is problematic.

I think the money they are asking for is silly but I can see why they are annoyed.

Amen to that.

[jmiked]

Amazon has noted the problem and told people how to fix it,

And how do you fix it?

Mike

[NogDog]

Geez, 5 million??  I love my K but it's not worth that much money, nor is any emotion I might have if the thing cracked.  CS has been very helpful to all the folks on here who have had problems.  Not sure where this guy justifies his thinking.
deb

Since it's a class action suit, presumably the $5M is the desired amount to be distributed amongst all participating members of the "class," i.e. one lawsuit for a whole group of people instead of each person filing his/her own separate lawsuit.

[NYCKindleFan]

Class action lawsuits are useless and a waste of time. The lawyers get all the money. The plaintiffs end up with checks for $2.50 each or some other absurd figure.

[Kind]

Another example of how the court's time is wasted. Get a life, loser.

[ProfCrash]

According to the article, the cover can be fixed by putting velcro someplace. This prevents the cracks from developing. Which is why I think that Amazon should own up to the problem and replace the Kindles that have the cracks. I think the law suit itself is silly and the amount of money they are asking for is insane but I think Amazon should replace the cracked Kindles.

[Greg Banks]

Is it just me, or doesn't just the thought of this kind of holding mechanism for the Kindle sound like a bad idea from the get go? Seems that this is one of those cases where as soon as someone proposed it, Bezos should have said,

"And risk physically damaging the Kindle with clamps pressing down on it? I don't think so..."

[RamTheHammer]

That is the cover I am using! I see how the case could crack if it's opened backwards. I have done it once or twice (not full open - and very littlr pressure) but there are no cracks in my case. Looks like a new case for me!

[back2nature]

$5 mil. That's give suing a bad name.

[ElaineOK]

The real purpose of class actions is to provide an effective remedy in situations where no single person will suffer enough damage to make a lawsuit practical.  Consider the scenario where a bank overcharged a particular class of customer $10 in fees for a particular kind of one-time transaction.  No one is going to sue over $10 -- and you probably won't take your business elsewhere over that either, but if the bank does it to enough people (think hundreds of thousands over a 2-year period), then the bank is improperly making a ton of money and getting away with it.  The point of a class action is not to enrich the people who were bilked out of $10.  The point is to provide a mechanism to force a stop to improper business practices.  The attorneys will make a ton of money in a successful class action, but they will have paid a ton in court fees and costs and invested hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of their time. 

Elaine
Norman, OK

[brianm]

$5 million ?? Man, where has common sense gone................ I do agree that Amazon should do two things: 1) Stop selling the cover until
it is redesigned 2) Replace the Kindle's that have been cracked for free........ and maybe throw in a credit for a ebook or two.

As far as the $5 million goes, as others have said the only ones who win are the lawyers.

                      Brian

[MAGreen]

Amazon will settle, which is the whole point. By suing for $5M, he is forcing the problem into the light. Amazon will settle to avoid the bad publicity, and the settlement will most likely include replacement Kindles for those damaged by their cover. Asking for $5M is silly if you are really trying to get the money, but I am sure this is just a tactic to make Amazon own up and take responsibility.

[sandypeach]

The article mentions "A customer service representative reportedly told E. Priestley of Seattle that the damage is caused by resting fingers between the back of the Kindle and the cover, separating the two, and recommended putting a piece of Velcro tape in between to keep them together."  Well, DUH!  Why would anyone do that in the first place?  If you want to have your hand on the back of the Kindle, take it out of the cover!  Geez!  I have been using the Amazon cover since February and have no problems whatsoever with the case cracking.  I realized it is a lot to ask, but why don't people apply a little common sense here (i.e. hold the cover, not the Kindle)?

[cqprime]

I just ordered my Kindle 2 with this Cover...

so to avoid causing my kindle 2 to cracked while the kindle 2 is attached to the cover...

Hold the cover and not the kindle 2 when lifting it up?

Or should i just not use the Cover to play safe?

The article mentions "A customer service representative reportedly told E. Priestley of Seattle that the damage is caused by resting fingers between the back of the Kindle and the cover, separating the two, and recommended putting a piece of Velcro tape in between to keep them together."  Well, DUH!  Why would anyone do that in the first place?  If you want to have your hand on the back of the Kindle, take it out of the cover!  Geez!  I have been using the Amazon cover since February and have no problems whatsoever with the case cracking.  I realized it is a lot to ask, but why don't people apply a little common sense here (i.e. hold the cover, not the Kindle)?

[marianneg]

I just ordered my Kindle 2 with this Cover...

so to avoid causing my kindle 2 to cracked while the kindle 2 is attached to the cover...

Hold the cover and not the kindle 2 when lifting it up?

Or should i just not use the Cover to play safe?

As long as you don't let the Kindle swing forward on the hinges, it should be fine.  That is what causes the stress that causes the cracks.  There are, however, alternative covers that don't allow the Kindle to swing out, like the M-Edge GO! Jacket, which is the same price as the amazon cover and comes in a variety of colors:

[cqprime]

What u say : Kindle swing forward on the hinges

Do u mean dont hold the kindle 2 by itself when it is attached to the cover. I should hold the cover and kindle 2 together.

As long as you don't let the Kindle swing forward on the hinges, it should be fine.  That is what causes the stress that causes the cracks.  There are, however, alternative covers that don't allow the Kindle to swing out, like the M-Edge GO! Jacket, which is the same price as the amazon cover and comes in a variety of colors:

[Roy White]

Litigation of this sort is clearly a fishing expedition for money. A team of four or five lawyers file hundreds of motions in the "trial" billing their hours at 400 an hour. When the 5 million payout is awarded they take their "pay" out of the 5 mill. Amazon has defused the situation already by issuing public statement that they will replace every Kindle that has been cracked by the case. So if you have a case, keep using it. If it cracks you get a new kindle.  If the judge hasn't thrown this "lawsuit" out of court after Amazons press release on this he should be fired.   

[ak rain]

would it not be better just ask for a new cover and iff cracked kindle - a new replacement. l
sylvia

[Selcien]

Litigation of this sort is clearly a fishing expedition for money. A team of four or five lawyers file hundreds of motions in the "trial" billing their hours at 400 an hour. When the 5 million payout is awarded they take their "pay" out of the 5 mill. Amazon has defused the situation already by issuing public statement that they will replace every Kindle that has been cracked by the case. So if you have a case, keep using it. If it cracks you get a new kindle.  If the judge hasn't thrown this "lawsuit" out of court after Amazons press release on this he should be fired.   

I suppose that it's mere coincidence that Amazon made this public statement after the lawsuit was filed? I don't think so. I think that we've seen what the point is of class action lawsuits.

With that said, while replacing the cracked Kindle's for free is a good first step Amazon still needs to fix the problem so that the case doesn't continue to crack Kindle's.

I personally opted to pass on getting an Amazon cover for my DX for petty reasons (I felt that a cover should have come with the DX like my K1 had and refused to give Amazon so much as a penny for a cover). Since then I've come to be grateful for that decision. I opted to go with an Oberon, not only do I love the cover, but I have no worries that it will damage my DX. Sure, Amazon will replace cracked Kindle's for free, but it's far better to never have your Kindle crack at all.

[Roy White]

Selcien. I agree... I bought a Patagonia becuse I don't want to risk damaging my DX either. The point I was making is that Amazon has responded and will replace damaged kindles... If I had one of the offending cases and I liked it, and I didn't think it would damage my kindle but the risk was there I'd keep it. If they didn't replace damaged kindles  I would throw the case out. But with this response its not unreasonable to keep using the dodgy case since Amazon will replace it.

[Forster]

IMO the DX cover is superior to the K2 cover.  The magnets they use so far have held the DX securely.  As careful as I am the K2 still swings forward in the cover from time to time.