A settlement has been reached in the now famous FuelBand lawsuit: Nike to pay $.2.4M, Apple to pay 0$, although the latter was named as a defendant in the case. Apple will not even cover the costs of the suit, and is not liable to pay a single penny to the fees and costs of the attorneys.
You may remember that the accusers, who were represented by Carolyn Levin, said that the expensive and fancy-looking FuelBand designed by Nike’s Digital Sport division is not capable of proving true all the ads that have gone into its campaign. Especially the part which stated that the FuelBand will be able to accurately assess the number of calories one user would burs. These readings would be put into an equation with the steps and the overall activity to give an interesting new type of reading which was called NikeFuel.
But NikeFuel apparently didn’t do the math right. And according to the plaintiffs’ class representative, both companies, Nike, as well as Apple, knew about this when they advertised the product and sold it to people who could not have known the inherent flaws behind the device.
Just imagine the frustration of the users of these fitness bands when, after paying as much as $55, would receive a band that would measure calorie burn less accurately than an old treadmill. The ironic fact is that, although it is not in Nike and Apple’s hands, the band is still available for sale on online retail stores, bearing the same false advertisements.
It is known that these adverts were even endorsed by Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, who boasted about the capabilities of the band long before its debut along with the Apple Watch.
The lawsuit also says that Nike is finding itself in a breach of warranty case. The settlement claims that all the potential parties affected by the false ads by Nike and Apple have been sent an e-mail on Friday though which they are given the chance to choose either a $15 refund, or a $25 gift card which would be usable at all Nike stores.
This is in an effort of Nike to wash the stain on its image that was caused by this unfortunate incident. The company has already fired its whole Digital Sport division. The worst of it all is that the FuelBands were still being sold by Apple with the same ads as late as March this year, after the problems had been long discovered.
Image source: yibada.com
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