Amazon will now replace Kindles damaged by cover

The cracked Kindle 2 that's at the center of the lawsuit.

Here's quick update to the story we posted the other day on a couple filing a class-action lawsuit over a potential design flaw in Amazon's Kindle 2 involving the company's cover and cracks developing around the clasps where the cover attaches to the device.

Amazon has decided that it will now replace Kindles that have been cracked by the cover free of charge, reversing its earlier stance that the Kindle 2's warranty didn't cover such cracks and required a $200 fee to repair. As expected, Amazon wouldn't comment on the lawsuit itself, which will apparently continue for the time being.

The couple's lawyer, Beth Terrell, told the Seattle Times that the lawsuit would proceed: "If they [Amazon] would like to resolve the matter, I think the way to do it is through a court-approved process."

We'll see how the settlement plays out, but I think the plaintiff is looking at free Kindles for life and lot of free e-books.

Comments?

(Via Engadget via Information Week)

[-fjtorres-]

Odds are the couple gets a couple of Amazon t-shirts and the lawyers get a $200 million payoff.

[Shaun822]

Spoken like someone with no clue how the legal system works.

[dinjin201]

haha what planet do you come from?

[ELK_HUN10]

fjtorres, you are too much of a realist, you are correct of course, that is sad.

[FlappingCrane]

I'm just glad I didn't buy this particular cover for MY Kindle.

[Carrick1973]

Ridiculous. They got Amazon to act with the threat of the lawsuit. Now that they are acting in good faith and opening this replacement to everyone with the same problem, the lawsuit should be dropped. They should pay for the lawyer fees incurred to date, but that's it. This is just another reason for people to hate lawyers.

[mikeburek]

With the cost of lawyers, the couple will have to go through with the lawsuit and hope to get enough money to pay the lawyer and the taxes on the "income."

[grengar]

Amazon should pay the lawyer fees the court case should be dropped.

[cyclonica1980]

Amazon's fault for making faulty products. They should have replaced the products to begin with and avoid the entire court proceedings all together.

[Justitia]

One should consider the time, energy and emotional stress for the couple for having to go so far as to file a law suit. I am sure they argued and argued with Amazon's customer support for may hours and over a long period of time. Getting to the point of filing a law suit requires a huge amount of emotional energy -- it also distracts from the rest of your life, etc. The couple created a huge benefit fro probably thousands upon thousands of Kindle customers. They should get some kind of releif. Free Kindles for life -- as one poster suggests -- hardly even seem adequate.

[ywkhgqo]

its people like you that have literally bankrupted this country.

[richard993]

I agree, I've spent so many hours of my time talking to incompetent customer service staff, or customer service staff who have been instructed to keep customers happy but not empowered to do anything about the problems that they may have. It is a sad reality these days that many large corporations don't care much about customer service any more (being put on hold for hours, transferred back in forward until finally someone on the other end hang up, being asked repeatedly identification questions until you spent two hours identifying yourself to ten different people and repeating the problems over and over again, talking to someone who can't speak english, having non-technical staff who ask you stupid questions such as "is it plugged in" or "is it switched on"? particularly if the problem only occurs when a device is powered on in the first place, being called back by a computerised operator and being asked to hold the line for a real operator etc... etc...)
I'm glad that someone is actually doing something about it because too many corporations have been allowed to get away with supplying faulty products and providing bad customer service.

[Justitia]

(Continued) The couple's lawyer fees can be covered by the settlement. If I were them -- if Amazon didn't do something to make me feel better after having put me through this ordeal -- I probably too would continue the suit.
The couple could get a lot more in punitive damages --- which is typically valued at the cumulative amount of "harm" Amazon did to all the other thousands of customers they refused to help. If all that happens is that Amazon finally agrees to do something they should have done all along, they have no incentive to provide a service they ought to without a fight.
Amazon can't lose using this strategy without being forced to pay more than just the repair they should have done in the first place. Just thin about it -- all the money Amazon saves on not providing customer service they should have because people don't went to expend the time fighting the fight. And then when someone does -- only pays for what they should have paid all along.
That is a waste of society's energy. The only way to deter companies from adopting that strategy is to impose penalties greater in value then if Amazon would have paid for the customer service they should have all along. That changes the cost benefit equation for Amazon so that they are better off providing the service without a fight than gambling with not providing it when faced with the prospects of paying more than it would cost just to provide the service.
And yes I am an attorney and not only that I am a law professor. And I don't make this argument to get attorney fees -- the lawyers are going to get the fees whether the couple gets compensated for the fight or not. I am more concerned by the increasing willingness for companies to play that gambling strategy of not paying until they are forced to, which is unlikely to occur if the harm to the customer is small enough to not make a fight worth it for themselves (like a few 100 bucks to pay for a new Kindle.)
What I am more appalled at is that Amazon is doing this. I love Amazon -- I buy 50% of my personal items there -- but I have noticed lately that they are becoming greedy and sometimes misleading. Perhaps that is being motivated by this economic era of decline we are in,

[ETS83]

I own a Kindle 2. I also have one of the standard, black covers that Amazon was selling shortly after the Kindle 2's release. I could see how these cracks might occur if the user were to attempt to bend the Kindle 2, while it is harnessed into the cover, in a way it was clearly not intended to bend; however in my experience nothing about the design of the Kindle 2 or its cover would be conducive to this type of mishandling. That is why this lawsuit perplexes me. From a consumer standpoint, it is reassuring that Amazon would be willing to replace my Kindle should it become damaged in like manner. From a legal or perhaps reasonable person standpoint, I am disappointed that Amazon - especially after this concession - seems likely to settle. (Disclaimer: I am not an attorney.)

[rayheartx]

Good on Amazon. Lawsuits like this are nothing new, especially in America. Moving on...

[Shaun822]

More info from the source would have been good. They are still trying to make it a class action, which could mean they are trying to sue for anyone that has already paid the $200 repair fee or purchased a new Kindle to replace a broken one and/or they are trying to recoup lawyers fees and filing costs or some other reason all together. Good of Amazon to fix the problem but too bad it took some sabre rattling to get them to do it, if there is a legitimate design defect in the Kindle.

[svgtom]

If you read the Kindle forums on Amazon, you'll see that many people have had their Kindles replaced free of charge when this incident occurs. And then there are posts by others who claim they were told they had to pay the $200 replacement fee. A lot of it seems to depend on which customer service agent answered the call. It looks like Amazon has now come up with a standard replacement policy. What they need to do is modify the case it comes with to prevent the Kindle from being lifted up the wrong way. Some third party vendors (e.g. M-edge) are offering cases with loops in the corners that secure the Kindle to the base of the case.

[windooor7]

Well, This is good . Coz you need to save your money. Apple is going via sleepless nights Making that final decision on If to realease A netbookair/video/touch/3g/camera 9- 10 inch or Ipod touch camera/video/3g. at 3.5-6 inch
both of this devices or one of them will make this kindle thing obsolete overnight!!!. or worthless all tongether!. So hold on to your money. September is coming. Apple does not compromise.This info is based on abstraction and inheritance.

[Inconnux]

design flaws in the kindle??? amazing ... should have bought a netbook at $100 less and 100x the functionality.

[MikeNYC]

Wow, that was the dumbest comment I've read today. I don't own a Kindle, but I don't see why someone would want to carry around a netbook (particularly on the subway here in NYC) when they can have a device that fits much easier into their bag. Plus, the screen is MUCH better on the Kindle for reading than on a glossy netbook screen.

Why do people even bother posting comments like this?

[paulimusmaximus]

Who besides the initial couple that sued is gonna wait for the lawsuit though. If I have a kindle, it's either wait 5 years for a lawsuit to get my obsolete kindle fixed, or get it fixed now. Geez, which one am I gonna choose. Don't put me on the jury, cause I'd go in favor of amazon, and say the couple should pay amazons court costs.

[Jane in KC]

Carnoy - agreed!

I bought the Kindle 2 with the Amazon cover and the cracks started appearing in early June. I contacted them once around that time and it went nowhere. However, I saw the news about the lawsuit and just called again and they are sending out a replacement Kindle and replacement cover. They are of course, covering the shipping both ways. They want the Kindle returned but not the cover.