papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (05/20/88)
If you want to join in the suit, info is at the end of the message. These are excerpts from Rober Scheir's article in PC Week: "SUIT CHARGES OKI AMERICA, RICOH WITH FRAUD OVER DEFECTS IN LASERLINE 6 PRINTER The makers of the Okidata LaserLine-6 (LL-6) printer knew about serious defects in the printer, but failed to tell customers about them, a disgruntled buyer has clamed in court. The class action suit was filed April 29 in U.S. District Court by John P. Oakes Jr. of Mont Clare, Pa., according to court documents. Almost immediately after buying an Okidata LL-6 printer in August 1987, Mr. Oakes found "severe and unacceptable" problems, but he failed to get help from either Oki America, Inc. in Hackensack, N.J. or its Okidata division, which distributed computer peripherals, according to the suit. Between 20 percent and 80 percent of the LL-6 printers sold produced SHADOWS, BLURS and SPLOTCHES on printouts, the suit claims, because of defects in a part of the printer produced by Ricoh Corp. of West Caldwell, N.J. Oki America's internal testing campaign revealed the flaws, but the firm went ahead and marketed the printer anyway, according to the complaint. The manufacturer "never recalledd the units, never warned potential customers about the defects and never withdrew the product from the market to correct the defects," according to the suit. The suit charges both Oki and Ricoh with fraudolently misrepresenting the quality and capabilities of the LL-6. Oki America declined comment while it investigates the charges, said Vice President of Finance William J. Timmins. Ricoh corporate counsel Robert D. Polucki also declined comment while his firm investigates the complaint. The suit is seeking at least $30 million in damages under both state and federal laws." These are more excerpts from George Abruzzese's article in Computer Reseller (??): "OKI, RICOH HIT WITH $270 MILLION SUIT Oki Electric and Ricoh have been slapped with a $270 million suit for allegedly conspiring to defraud and deceive customers of Okidata LL-6 laser printer. The class-action suit charges the companies with selling the LL-6 with a defective "developer kit" in the laser engine, which is manufactured by Ricoh. The suit further charges that officials of both firms conspired to cover up the defect and use the buying public as a testing ground to correct the problem without their knowledge. A source, who said he was expecting a subpoena to appear for the plaintiff, indicated the charges may stem from dissatisfaction on the part of American Express, which protects cardmembers with its Buyers Assurance Program. The source said that the buyers Assurance Program had received numerous complaints about the LL-6 and is behind the suit even though it is not named as the plaintiff. Dennis Flanagan, Okidata's vice president of sales and marketing, acknowledged that the company had complaints with the LL-6 developer kit, but "there are currently no outstanding issues with any of our existing customers." He said that during October and December of last year the company had experienced problems with a black line that appeared along the edge of a printed page. He added that the problem had, to his knowledge, been resolved by replacing the defective developer kits. The Ricoh laser print engine also is incorporated in products from IBM, Epson and others." WHO TO CONTACT If you are a LL-6 owner and have experienced the problems outlined in the articles (as I have), and are interested to join in the class suit, feel free to contact: Steve Consul -- Attorney at Law Kates and Mazzacone Law Firm 1604 Locust Str. Philadelphia, PA 19103 or call Steve at (215)545-4090 Please DO NOT contact me about it, thank you. This message sent as a public service :-) Feel free to redistribute as you see fit. -- Marco Papa 'Doc' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= uucp:...!pollux!papa BIX:papa ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Diga!" -- Leo Schwab [quoting Rick Unland] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=