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Just because we like a company or want them to succeed is no reason to give them a free pass or allow them to skate on false advertising claims. iRex is a spin off from Phillips – one of the largest electronics companies in the world with operations reaching every part of the globe. They achieved that position by offering the customers what they wanted at a fair price and delivering what they said they would deliver.
Now I don’t own iLiad (I do own a Sony Reader) so I have no direct stake in the proceedings. However, all of us have an indirect stake because Phillips/iRex have and can in the future invest millions in development of more and better products and mount advertising campaigns to advance the awareness and market penetration of ebook readers. This can only help all of us.
“Bait and switch” is a marketing technique as for as long as humans have sold goods and services. I am sure that the original advertising materials for “fire” made it seem like a modern microwave oven. iRex needs to held accountable for their misdeeds – the battery life that was not there, the formats that were not readable. If you do not mount the suit against them now what is to stop them from doing it to you again?
Perhaps the best situation is to offer each current user the choice of
- returning the unit for a full refund,
- exchanging the current unit for one of the new version, or
- offering a rebate if you choose to retain the current unit.
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