[DCB]

The phone function of my 700P stopped working this morning; cause unknown. After a soft reset, hard resets, countless calls to Sprint tech support, attempts to fix by using various ## codes, calls to Sprint customer disservice, a visit to a Sprint Service Center in Manhattan in the afternoon, calls to Palm tech support, and a call to Palm Customer Support at Palm HQ, the phone still doesn't work.

I got my 700P in mid-June and up until this morning, it worked well. I made a call last night and when I tried to use the phone this morning, it couldn't get on to the Sprint network. The phone is well-cared for...not a scratch and never been dropped. Except for the phone, all the other 700P applications are working. Hard reset deleted Bejeweled, Solitaire and FileZ.

Oddly, the title bar on the phone pad shows the following status:
Network Search...
TTY/TDD mode is active (small red T icon is visible)
911 only (Location ON icon has a red slash through it)
Bluetooth is off (Bluetooth icon is grey)
Battery strength icon is visible.

The phone is "off" as the antenna/bars icon is not visible. Sprint can't seem to figure out how to get the phone to turn "on" and accessing the Sprint network. Can't even activate the phone. Hard resets aren't working.

Under Phone Info., the following fields are blank: phone number, PCS Vision Username, ESN, MSID, PRL Rev, PRI Checksum, SID Channel, and Frequency.

Since the phone is under warranty, Sprint suggested I contact Palm for a repair. I call Palm and a supervisor tells me that their contract with Sprint provides that 700Ps purchased from Sprint and still under warranty are repaired by Sprint not Palm. In this circle of hell, I call Sprint again and a supervisor then tells me that since I didn't have Total Service Protection in my plan I would need to pay $35 for Sprint to call Palm to get the phone fixed, otherwise, I would need to have to contact Palm directly for Palm to perform the repair under the warranty. Sprint agent then says that they can send me a replacement 700P if I want. The catch..., I would need to pay $649.99.

I call Palm requesting a Repair & Return but I'm told that I cannot do a R&R with Palm and that I need to have Sprint repair.

Finally get through to a live person at Palm HQ customer service who finally agrees to allow me to do a Repair & Return with them. He sends me an e-mail with a Service Repair Order Number but then also suggests that I try Sprint one more time to see if they can fix the problem by re-activating my account settings.

I call Sprint one last time and still can't get the phone "on". Folks at Sprint and Palm are stumped as to how to fix my 700P.

Has anyone had the same problem with their phone not getting on the Sprint network?

[Lukas718]

call sprint and get it replaced. Your phone is still under warranty

[wikka]

better yet, walk into a sprint store with enough food.. and stand there till they replace it

[zesta]

The warranty is most certainly handled by Sprint, and not Palm. Either call Sprint back, or go into a store as the previous poster suggested. I had a problem with my 650, and I had it swapped out for free in the Sprint store.

-Randy

[rick2203]

go into a store the tech will take a look at it , then remember he has no idea how to troubleshoot this phone, then if the phone cannot be used to make phonecalls at least they will issue you a new one on the spot, its happened to me a total of 11 times counting my treo 300,600,650 and 700. ive never had a problem getting a new one, on the spot sprint is pretty good about that.

[Grendal_fly]

When my 700p died which I had gotten from Sprint retentions direct. I went through the same voice jail hell you went through. Eventally after talking to Palm and Sprint, Sprint told me to go to a store and they woudl replace it. So I go to the store and they told me that since I got it direct from Sprint they couldn't replace it. At this point with steam comming out of my ears I called Sprint and asked for a supervisor. They agreed to replace it , but it would take 3-5 business days. I told them that was unacceptable. The manager transfered me to another department (Retentions I believe since I threatened to cancel my account and return the phone since I was inside 30 days) They ended up giving me a $750 credit on my account to go to a store a buy a replacement that day. So YMMV.

[Bumble]

The warranty is most certainly handled by Sprint, and not Palm. Either call Sprint back, or go into a store as the previous poster suggested. I had a problem with my 650, and I had it swapped out for free in the Sprint store.

-Randy

Sprint M&Ps are that phones have warranties with the manufacturer not sprint. Without Equipment Service and Repair Program, sprint WILL charge a $15, $35 or $55 repair fee to fix/replace a phone depending on the type of repair class. This went into effect Jan 2 of this year.

Best way to get the replacement is to pay for the repair in the store, $35/$55 plus tax and try to get cust service to give your account a credit. After paying for the repair, I would recommend the ERSP, $3 a month and you won’t have to worry about a warranty. Just don’t confuse it with ERP. ESRP won’t cover lost, stolen, liquid damage or physical damage beyond repair.

[Joad]

People laughed at me, but after being through all the problems with the Treo 600 (and then some with the Treo 650), I waited until Costco started carrying the 700p. Walked in and paid full price, no rebates. The protection against being told by Palm that keyboards aren't covered under their manufacturer warranty is worth the extra $$$.

Within a few days the first 700p had serious random hard-reset problems that I spent approximately 30 hours (!) trying to track down to a third-party application - eventually proving it was the actual phone. If Costco hadn't been out of stock, I could have gone in and done a swap for a brand new one within an hour, but instead had to endure the Sprint/Palm/Lockline duck pond. The stores had no stock of 700p's, and already had discontinued (and supposedly had no stock of 650's). Got a new one after a few days from Lockline after demonstrating to a store rep that it hung after a hard reset as well as a zero-out reset.

In dealing with Palm/Sprint/Lockline - make sure you have given your third-party apps a good runthrough before you even bother calling them - they pushed me off several times with "it's a third-party application" and I went back to testing and restoring until I finally could reproduce the error sans other applications. Best to find a reproduceable error, head to a *corporate* store and force a Sprint employee to witness the error reproducing itself and have them acknowledge that it is a defective phone. Show them *before* they hand it to a tech, as the techs are very hit-or-miss at diagnosing Treos - you're lucky if they know how to turn them on sometimes.

Luckily my replacement Treo 700p's have "only" had minor problems with the keyboards, which aren't worth risking losing a stable model. But from vast experience with Sprint and Palm - be prepared for an attitude (perhaps with some justification) that nothing could EVER be wrong with a Treo except that "third-party apps are at fault."

[Brandorr]

I've seen the same state on my Treo. It occurs after I let the battery drain to empty.

The way I've fixed it is to take out the battery, recharge it and then put it back in.

[scaredpoet]

Unfortuantely, this is a case of Sprint's "new" post-merger warranty policy allowing people to slip through the cracks, UNLESS they get TEP.

So basically, the extra $6month is almost mandatory with Palm products. Sprint needs to release palm of the obligation to refer all in-warranty repairs to Sprint!

Luckily for me, my first 700P works near-flawlessly, and I'm guarding it aggressively.

[CellGeek]

Joad- How were you able to buy a Treo at COSTCO? I buy ALL my expensive electronics there due to their customer service. Do they stock the TREO at some stores? Or did you buy it from the in store Kiosk? I would have LOVED to get my 700p from there. I checked online several times and it was never available.

[jocamero]

This could be one of the only reasons I'm still with Verizon... If I have virtually any problem that can't be solved by a 'hard reset' their Wireless Data Tech Support will overnight you a new Treo and you simply send your original back prepaid. No cost to me whatsoever. I've had to do it with the Samsung i600, Treo 600, 650, and 700p. I don't know that I would own one without this warranty service that they provide.

[DCB]

So before sending my 700P back to Palm, I thought I'd try again with Sprint.

I spoke with a Sprint Treo Tech Support agent this morning. Nice, friendly guy who was baffled about the problem with my phone. He was able to get me a $25 service credit from his supervisor. At least he tried to mitigate my Sprint/Palm hell.

I went back to a Sprint Service Center in Manhattan and was told that without Total Service Protection, I'd be charged $55 for repairs. Of course, the supervisor knew that they couldn't repair the phone and admitted that the $55 essentially would get me a replacement. The catch...$55 would get me a reconditioned replacement not a new phone. I looked at the reconditioned phone and I could see faint scratches here and there. My phone was scratch free. The absurd Sprint sellling point on why I should spend the $55...the reconditioned phone would have a 3 yr. guarantee from Sprint....yeah right.

When I asked about the 1 year warranty on my phone, I was told that I needed to deal directly with Palm. These people have no shame.

So, with my SRO number, I sent my phone back to Palm this evening. I realize that Palm's warranty allows them to return a reconditioned phone. Hopefully I get a new replacement instead.

[SuperCrackBerry]

Slight thread hijack - Costco treats its employees far better than their competition - so much so that their CEO catches flak from Wall Street for overpaying them. The CEO is also the founder, I believe, not just a hired suit.
But all that is a good reason to shop there.

Too bad PALM doesn't treat customers like.... the people theirpaychecks depend on.

[bit_bucket]

I have seen this problem before. It happened to me with a T650 that died in the middle of a firmware update. what really happened was that the radio firmware was corrupt. Same thing as yours, would not turn on at all. So maybe somehow your radio firmware got messed up.

[noodle]

Sprint should replace the phone through palm, due to the fact its still under warranty, instead of trying to dupe $55 dollars from confused customers.

I bought my 650 from cingular and they replaced it 3 times under warranty at no charge.
I have now switched to verizon and from what I've read from VZW and sprint. Warranty repairs are suppossed to go through your service provider.They shoould definitely not cost anything either. That really blows, good luck with your replacement.

[MAMAHNITA]

Next time you call sprint ask for the superviser or some one in charge.

[DCB]

I have seen this problem before. It happened to me with a T650 that died in the middle of a firmware update. what really happened was that the radio firmware was corrupt. Same thing as yours, would not turn on at all. So maybe somehow your radio firmware got messed up.

Hmmm, would Sprint tell me when the last firmware update was?

[DCB]

Next time you call sprint ask for the superviser or some one in charge.

With the exception of my last call to Sprint, all my calls to tech support and customer disservice were elevated to a supervisor. Got the same limp company line.

[eatheror]

DCB, sorry to hear about all of your problems. I hope by now Palm's sent you a new phone that works!

Just today I experienced the exact same symptoms of the problem you described:

Oddly, the title bar on the phone pad shows the following status:
Network Search...
TTY/TDD mode is active (small red T icon is visible)
911 only (Location ON icon has a red slash through it)
Bluetooth is off (Bluetooth icon is grey)
Battery strength icon is visible.

My phone this morning was completely drained even though it had a good charge last night. This is the second time in about 3 months I've awoken to a completely depleted battery - but last time all was well with the radio.

When I connected my Treo to the cradle, the phone powered up, I saw the Access screen, then it tried to connect to Sprint ("Welcome" splash screen). After trying to connect, it ended up with the symptoms listed above. I tried holding down the red power button a few times to shut down the radio, but each time I saw the Sprint "Welcome" splash screen again with no change in symptoms.

Before calling Sprint or Palm, I decided to try what I read in Brandorr's post:

I've seen the same state on my Treo. It occurs after I let the battery drain to empty.

The way I've fixed it is to take out the battery, recharge it and then put it back in.

Bingo! My Treo's back in business. Gotta love TreoCentral.

-dave