Barnes & Noble Hit with Defective Nook Charger Class Action Lawsuit

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A putative class action lawsuit was filed against Barnes & Noble on Wednesday for faulty Nook chargers that allegedly split apart, fray and stop working. This alleged Nook charger defect has reportedly led to many owners having Nooks that can no longer be used since they are unable to be charged.

According to the Nook charger class action lawsuit, Barnes & Noble has continued to ignore hundreds of complaints about the issue.

Two Nook models have been named in the Barnes & Noble class action lawsuit: the Nook Color and Nook Simple Touch. Chargers are included with the e-readers but have reportedly only lasted a few months for many consumers.

Many Nook owners have tried to use after-market chargers after their Nook chargers failed, but consumers say they don’t work properly to charge the Nook. Both the wall chargers and car chargers suffer from the faulty cable-fraying defect and make it impossible to transfer data to the Nook or to charge the unit, the Barnes and Noble class action lawsuit alleges.

“Due to flawed and defective design, the charging cable to these e-Readers dangerously frays, exposing the wires inside, and stops working,” the Nook charger class action lawsuit says. “After the defect manifests itself, the cable and adapter will not charge or transfer data to the Nook e-Reader after a few months of normal use. Consumers have complained of the cord fraying and exposing the wires.”

Plaintiff Michelle Hainley says she contacted Barnes & Noble the first time her charger failed and was sent a replacement by the company. The second time she called the company to replace the replacement charger, she says she was denied another charger because Barnes & Noble said her warranty period had expired.

The Nook charger class action lawsuit claims that Barnes & Noble has received hundreds of complaints on their Nook websites and websites from other retailers that sell the Nook. A number of customers also allegedly reported on the websites that the company had a backlog of requests for replacement chargers and customers had to wait months for their requested warranty item.

“The company is well aware of the problem, as evidenced by commentary on Defendant’s own webpages containing Nook customer reviews, and yet, Defendant has not taken any steps to remedy the situation by updating the design, recalling the defective items, or compensating its customers who have purchased these items,” Hainley alleges in the Nook charger class action lawsuit. “Instead, in the instances in which Defendant replaced the cable, the replacement cable suffered the same defect, and it too would fail within a short period of time.”

On behalf of the potential Class, Hainley’s Nook charger class action lawsuit brings forth charges of breaching both implied an express warranties. Hainley estimates hundreds or possibly thousands of Pennsylvania residents have been impacted as a result of their Nook purchase and would be eligible for the putative Barnes & Noble class action lawsuit.

Hainley has also urged the company stop the sale of the defective chargers in a request for permanent injunction. She is asking the company for restitution for the unjust benefits the company allegedly received and requested Barnes & Noble to pay damages plus interest as part of the request for relief.

The plaintiff is represented by Jonathan Shub of Kohn Swift & Graf PC.

The Barnes & Noble Nook Charger Class Action Lawsuit is Hainley v. Barnes and Noble Inc., et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-05513, in the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Eastern District.

UPDATE: On Jan. 21, 2016, plaintiffs asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to allow the Barnes & Noble lawsuit, which alleges the company’s Nook chargers are defective, to continue in court.