Apple Class Action Filed Over Holiday Sale Gift Card Terms

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An Apple customer says the technology giant failed to honor the terms of its gift card promotion launched for its 2018 Black Friday sale – the Apple Shopping Event.

Lead plaintiff Jessica Lee alleges that she and other consumers were tricked into thinking they would receive a gift card if they purchased certain products from Apple on Black Friday and other shopaholic sacred days, such as Cyber Monday.

However, the promised gift cards failed to materialize, according to the Apple class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff says that she was duped by Apple’s so-called gift card promotion. The Apple gift card class action alleges that Lee purchased a MacBook Air with retina display using her mobile phone.

According to the Apple MacBook class action, Lee used a link that advertised the sale to initiate the purchase thinking she would receive a $200 gift card based on the promotional materials.

She has yet to receive the valuable gift card, however, and thinks she was misled by the tech retailer.

“This past Black Friday through Cyber Monday, Apple held a so-called ‘Apple Shopping Event’ – a four-day-long special holiday sales event (the ‘Apple Shopping Event’), which lasted from November 23, 2018 through November 26, 2018 (the ‘Sales Period’),” explains the Apple class action lawsuit.

“During the Sales Period, Apple advertised and marketed a series of its products that, for customers who purchased such products within the Sales Period, purportedly came with an Apple Store Gift Card ranging from $25 – $200, depending on the product (each, a ‘Gift Card’).”

According to the Apple class action lawsuit, the Apple app displayed large images linked to discounted items.

The plaintiff says that Apple prominently displayed the gift cards. However, buried in the terms and conditions section of the website, was information indicating that not all of the products listed would be eligible for the gift card promotion.

“Only when consumers clicked again on the additional link on this second page of terms and conditions, were they able to see a more detailed third set of terms and conditions,” alleges the Apple gift card class action lawsuit.

“Couched in those terms and conditions are a few parenthetical statements that cryptically indicate that certain Apple products might have been excluded from the Apple Holiday Sale. This is notwithstanding the fact that some or all of such products were included in the Apple Shopping Event link and were represented throughout the App as being eligible for the Gift Card offer.”

The Apple class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased an Apple product from the Apple Store App as a part of the Apple Shopping Event but did not receive a promised gift card. The plaintiff also seeks to represent a subclass of California citizens.

The gift card promotion used in the Apple Shopping Event violated California law, in addition to constituting breach of warranty and fraud, according to the Apple class action lawsuit. The plaintiff if seeking damages, as well as attorney’s fees.

Lee is represented by Daniel Reisman and Erin Reisman of Reisman & Reisman, and Eliot Rushovich of Rise Law Firm PC.

The Apple Holiday Gift Card Promotion Class Action Lawsuit is Lee v. Apple Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-07235-SVK, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.