Mobile phone-maker Ericsson was in court yesterday after a Cantonese businessman, unsatisfied with the quality of his phone, launched a legal suit in Beijing.
With a mobile phone that apparently brought his business career to a standstill, the businessman began the showdown against the global handset maker yesterday and requested 124,935 yuan (US$15,200) in compensation.
Middle-aged Yang Jianchu vented his rage in the district-level court in Beijing and said Ericsson had duped consumers with the T18sc mobile phone.
Yang is the first person to enter a legal battle with the giant producer, which is facing complaints from another 15 consumers in areas ranging from Beijing to Southwest China's Chengdu. None of the consumers is satisfied with the quality of the phone. The cases of the other 15 plaintiffs are expected to open later this year.
The Sweden-based mobile phone giant has hit back by saying that it has changed the motherboard, the battery and battery charger, in a bid to improve its quality.
Yet it acknowledged the glitches of the handset and expressed sympathy to Yang, who had tried to have his mobile phone repaired six times.
(China Daily October 19,2001)
