No Love Lost over Vista Debacle for One Woman
Broken Heart
A woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over a US$59.25 charge for downgrading her Windows Vista PC to XP.
In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado is asking that Microsoft return the fee she paid for downgrading a Lenovo PC with the Windows Vista Business OS preinstalled to Windows XP Professional. Alvarado purchased the PC on June 20, 2008, according to the suit.
Alvarado also is inviting others who have paid fees to downgrade to XP to join the suit (PDF) and is requesting refunds for them as well.
Many customers who purchased PCs with Vista installed opted to downgrade to XP because they weren’t happy with Vista’s “numerous problems,” according to Alvarado’s suit.
“As a result, many consumers would prefer to purchase a new computer preinstalled with the Windows XP operating system or at least not preinstalled with the Vista operating system,” according to the filing.
The suit goes on to accuse Microsoft of using its “market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP operating system” by requiring people to buy Vista PCs and then charging them to downgrade to the OS they really want.
This action violates Washington state’s Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act, according to the suit.
Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said the company has not been served with the lawsuit, so it would be premature to comment about it.
Leave a Reply