Apple Refunds iTunes Customers After Being Hit with ‘Breaking Bad’ Class Action lawsuit

“Breaking Bad” fans received a surprise apology and an iTunes credit in their email yesterday from Apple Inc. — an action that may have been motivated by a looming class action lawsuit filed two weeks ago.

Ohio resident Noam Lazebnik sued Apple on September 6, claiming she and other iTunes customers were tricked into buying a “Season Pass” based on the promise that they would get “every episode in that season.” Fans ponied up $21.99 for high definition (HD) and $13.99 for standard definition (SD) in exchange for that promise, but when the second half of Season 5 became available on iTunes they were forced to pay another $21.99 or $14.99 to watch the final episodes.

When Lazebnik contacted Apple to complain that he was not granted access to the second half of Season 5, he was informed that Apple considers it a different season and refers to it as the “Final Season.” This didn’t fly with Lazebnik, who called Apple’s behavior “deceptive, fraudulent and undertaken only to maximize its revenue with regard to Season 5 of ‘Breaking Bad,’ the most popular TV program on iTunes, at the expense of its customers,” according to the class action lawsuit.

“When a consumer buys a ticket to a football game, he does not have to leave at halftime. When a consumer buys an opera ticket, he does not get kicked out at intermission. When a consumer buys a ‘Season Pass’ to a full season of a television show on iTunes, that consumer should get access to the whole season,” Lazebnik says in the class action lawsuit.

On September 23, iTunes customers who purchased the “Breaking Bad” Season Pass received an email from Apple stating:

“We apologize for any confusion the naming of ‘Season 5’ and ‘The Final Season’ of Breaking Bad might have caused you. While the names of the seasons and episodes associated with them were not chosen by iTunes, we’d like to offer you ‘The Final Season’ on us by providing you with the iTunes code below in the amount of $22.99. This credit can also be used for any other content on the iTunes Store. Thank you for your purchase.”

The voluntary refund from Apple will likely make the proposed class action lawsuit moot since it was asking the court to force Apple to refund its iTunes customers. It’s unclear if Apple’s actions were spawned by the threat of litigation, but it may be a sign that the class action lawsuit worked.

The “Breaking Bad” Season Pass Class Action Lawsuit is Noam Lazebnik, M.D. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 13-cv-04145-EJD, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.