Apple has been forced to issue refunds to unhappy Australian customers who have recently picked up the new ‘4G iPad‘, only to find out that their country’s mobile networks do not provide the necessary 4G signals.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have decided that Apple is falsely advertising its new iPad in Australia, resulting in unhappy and misled consumers everywhere.
“The ACCC alleges that Apple’s recent promotion of the new “iPad with WiFi + 4G” is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product “iPad with WiFi + 4G” can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case“.
Several mobile networks, including Telstra and Optus, have already removed the 4G logo from the tablet’s name on labels in stores and online. The ACCC’s dispute has led to Apple agreeing to refund customers who feel they were misled by the 4G feature being labelled in advertising – something the company hasn’t done for some time now.
Apple will fight the case in court this May, defending their decision to advertise the tablet as 4G in Australia. Technically there are networks that broadcast 4G-speed signals for mobile device users, although it just so happens that no network broadcasts on a spectrum the iPad is capable of using.
Australian customers aren’t the only ones left feeling misled by Apple’s advertising of 4G capabilities – authorities in both the UK and Sweden are now investigating the claims. When the iPad first launched in the UK we must admit we thought it strange that the 4G labels were on the boxes and in advertising – we don’t have a sniff of a 4G network over here, asides from very small tests of course.
Future stock will feature the label above to avoid any confusion between customers down under, though it’s not yet clear if similar labels will be added to products worldwide.
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