[nuglas]

I am writing this thread because I just had the second AWESOME encounter with Palm and my Palm Pre.

Wrote this long post, so wanted to give brief: Palm made exceptions and saved me $150 with great customer service and warranty work. read on for how... no scams, just honesty from myself.

Long Story:

So I was about 13 months into owning/using my Palm Pre and the earpiece speaker started dying. Not the software defect, I mean it would actually crackle and lose sound, squeeze earpiece a certain way and it would work. Did not purchase the "repair" warranty from Sprint, only the "Lost" because I figured the deductible was the same and I could always just "lose" my phone.

So I give it a shot, log in to Palm Support Chat on their website and explain the problem, also 1 month passed manufacturer warranty. They listen, talk to supervisors etc, and decide to make a one time exception and service my warranty for free. They just saved me $100.

So I follow all the instructions (or so I thought) taking off the touchstone, removing cases, etc. Well I missed the fact that they don't want the battery either (read the instructions carefully lol!). So I get back my new Palm Pre, plug it in, and Battery Question Mark. Oh crap. No Battery.

Now I look up prices figuring I'm screwed, $50 at palm and sprint, etc. I log back into chat and explain my mistake, how I thought it meant extended life battery or after market, and not the original battery. What do they do? Agree to send me (one time courtesy of course) a new battery free of charge! Saved me $50.

I love you Palm!! Don't be scared to talk to their support people, they are super nice and helpful! Good luck with your issues!

[verwon]

Super!


But on here, Ebay or Amazon, the batteries are nowhere near $50.

[japark]

I had about a week on my manufacturer's warranty when the power button on the top right of the Pre stopped working. I have paid for the Sprint warranty.

Sprint refused to fix the problem unless I paid the $100 fee. I reminded Sprint that the problem was a manufacturing defect, not a warranty issue. The representative I talked to on the phone said that the cost might be as much as $500 (despite my insurance).

I called Palm. They assured me that the problem was covered by warranty. I sent them the phone and they fixed it. They also replaced the missing USB cover (which had fallen off) and refurbed the phone like new. Scratches on the phone had been somehow removed (or the case replaced).

I was well pleased with Palm (not with Sprint). Sprint's service seems to have declined of late.

[Mr._Happy]

When dealing with Sprint, if you run into a customer service rep that is giving you some sort of hard line answer and won't co-operate, simply and politely thank them for their help and get off the phone. Wait a few minutes and have another try.

Mostly if you're reasonable and present yourself in a friendly way they will try to accommodate you. Every so often you'll run into someone who will be busy telling you what can't be done. Just politely disengage and call later, eventually you'll find someone who'll co-operate.

[diodo314]

I am highly considering doing this. My pre's headset jack has many problem. I also have the problem where the sound will crackle or lower with the headset plugged in and you need to move it slightly to get rid of it. My pre also has horrid problems with going into headset mode and staying there, tho i am getting bettter at fixing it :P. My power button has also died out. I'll give palm a chat and see what happens.

Glad you could get yours fixed with such luck.

[IGNTNUNLMTD]

Let's see Motorola, HTC, RIM, Samsung, LG or anyone else do that...

...other than Apple. They'll charge you $150 for the battery they lost and then shoot your dog for good measure. But don't worry, no one will know; that's how the Reality Distortion Field works.

[dhrubinmd]

my experience with them was just the opposite. I hope they have a class action suit and go out of business based upon my chat and subsequent phone call. The crack on my usb port started outside of the warranty period. Read below:

If Toyota released a car with bad brake pedal and it had problems outside of the warranty period, would they take responsibility for it? Or, would they do an HP? which is to say, yes, the design was defective, now pay an additional $200.00 (actually $199) to get it taken care of since it is 'outside of the warranty'. Poor workmanship or design should not be rewarded with more money.

[7:33 AM] Connecting to Rescue Gateway: control.app01-07.logmeinrescue.com...
[7:33 AM] Connected to Rescue Gateway. A support representative will be with you shortly.
[7:33 AM] Chat session established with Vincent.
[7:33 AM] D says: my phone as the design defect crack in its case at the usb port
[7:33 AM] Vincent says: Hello Don. Thank you for contacting Palm Technical Support. How can I help you today?
[7:34 AM] D says: i need the phone replaced, as this crack is not my fault, but one of poor design
[7:34 AM] D says: Vincent, are you still with me?
[7:35 AM] Vincent says: Yes, I'm with you
[7:35 AM] Vincent says: I understand that the device has crack at USB and you would like to replace it.
[7:36 AM] D says: yes. the bottom line is that i mostly use a touchstone, but ended up using a usb port to transfer pictures last week. i think that is why it did not develop earlier. my son's phone had the same crack.
[7:37 AM] D says: i also note on the internet that i am not alone, these phones are prone to cracking. had you provided sprint with an updated phone, i would not be asking for a replacement of this one.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: I’m sorry for any trouble this may have caused.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: I'll be glad to assist with the issue.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: Can I have purchase date of the device?
[7:37 AM] D says: thank you.
[7:38 AM] D says: i orginally purchased it on the day it came on the market, but then it was replace two more times, once for a sticking key and then for another problem. so, unfortunatley do not remember when the last replace was. also, i have made this phone last longer by not using the usb port to charge it on a regular basis.
[7:40 AM] Vincent says: From there did you purchase the device?
[7:41 AM] Vincent says: *Where did you
[7:41 AM] Vincent says: Sorry for typo.
[7:41 AM] D says: sprint, green hills, nashville, tn
[7:42 AM] Vincent says: Do you have Insurance from the carrier?
[7:43 AM] D says: with a 100 deductible, for a design defect? that is like selling garbage and charging for it twice. i don't mind paying a deductible if i lost it, or broke it, but i did not do anything on this device but use it as it was intended.
[7:44 AM] Vincent says: Can I have device serial number?
[7:46 AM] D says: yes x5xx06xxxxh
[7:47 AM] D says: the yes is on the front end of that x5xx06xxxxh
[7:47 AM] Vincent says: Thank you for information provided.
[7:47 AM] Vincent says: Can I have 3 minutes to work on this issue?
[7:49 AM] D says: you can have longer if you can resolve the issue.
[7:52 AM] Vincent says: Thank you for waiting, Don.
[7:53 AM] D says: welcome
[7:54 AM] Vincent says: As per our records you have purchase the device on 7/5/2009, So it is out of warranty.
[7:54 AM] Vincent says: You can replace the device as Out of warranty device for that you need to contact the our Voice support.
[7:55 AM] Vincent says: Once you contact them, they can help you with it.
[7:56 AM] D says: so, had this been an iphone i would have gotten a new one in a year and not had this type of problem. if this cannot be solved,then i personally hope palm disappears since it has not earned by trust as a company.
[7:56 AM] D says: do they have a phone number?
[7:57 AM] Vincent says: You can contact our Voice Support team for Palm webOS products at 877-426-3777. Support is available Mon-Fri from 6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST and Sat-Sun from 8:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST.

they designed this phone in a mediocre manner, and used materials that could not take even minimal wear- and they don't stand behind their product, knowing it is a defective product.

[RUSH]

Satisfied customers means better business for companies. I have manage to spoke with several palm representative who have help me in some bad situation.

[insane42]

my experience with them was just the opposite. I hope they have a class action suit and go out of business based upon my chat and subsequent phone call. The crack on my usb port started outside of the warranty period. Read below:

...

they designed this phone in a mediocre manner, and used materials that could not take even minimal wear- and they don't stand behind their product, knowing it is a defective product.

While I don't discount your experience, and understand your point, it certainly appears that you started the conversation out aggressively. If you would have just started describing the problem and let them figure out what's going on, I bet you'd of had an entirely different converstaion.

[joliejolie0930]

Thank you for this post. I dealt with Palm today over my earpiece and static because the 2 refurbs VZ sent me were unacceptable. I prefer to keep my original phone and have it repaired. I will be sending it off Monday after I activate one of my old phones to use while this one is gone. Palm was wonderful about it! I feel much better after dealing with them.

[diodo314]

I prefer to keep my original phone and have it repaired.

I know this may be a bad question, but when you send your pre into palm themselves, do they send back a refurb or do they actually repair your pre and send it back to you?

[joliejolie0930]

I know this may be a bad question, but when you send your pre into palm themselves, do they send back a refurb or do they actually repair your pre and send it back to you?

After receiving 2 bad refurbs from VZ they did a conference call with Palm and after not being able to get it to work the girl did the service order to send it in. I asked at least 3 times and she assured me I will get my original phone returned to me fixed. I am writing all serial codes etc. down just to make sure.

Seems mine has the same problem as the original poster of this thread and his was also fixed and returned. So I've got lots of hope!!

[OrionAntares#CB]

While I don't discount your experience, and understand your point, it certainly appears that you started the conversation out aggressively. If you would have just started describing the problem and let them figure out what's going on, I bet you'd of had an entirely different converstaion.

This is often what you should do when working with customer service, play dumb but not stupid. Explain what's going wrong in a curtious manor and get them on your side to try to help you.

I think most of the reports of bad customer service for a lot of places comes from people that start out attacking the rep which makes the rep not really want to work with you or try to help you.

[diodo314]

After receiving 2 bad refurbs from VZ they did a conference call with Palm and after not being able to get it to work the girl did the service order to send it in. I asked at least 3 times and she assured me I will get my original phone returned to me fixed. I am writing all serial codes etc. down just to make sure.

Seems mine has the same problem as the original poster of this thread and his was also fixed and returned. So I've got lots of hope!!

Well i will chat with palm soon and see what they can do for me. Thanks for advice tho . Can the OP please confirm that they did receive there pre back?

[geeksquadkid]

0Orion didn't your mother ever teach you that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar? HPalm has a good track record of helpin people right now. After they say no I understand getting upset but if I was Vincent I gotta say i'd wanna help that guy less.

[frepar]

i had great experiences myself.. no complaints here with sprint or palm

[jp99]

For me, HPalm was less helpful than Sprint. I got a second refurb in late July this year (my original Pre of Jun 09 went bad, and the first refurb has the fuzzy screen problem) and it was perfect - until I found a month later the GPS wouldn't work.

I delayed getting another refurb thinking the new webOS devices would be here soon enough. Once the Pre 2 was not announced for Sprint, I decided to change my phone out.

Problem is, I didn't want to go another route with a refurb. Two bad ones in a row didn't inspire any confidence in me for that. I started with Palm, and after first partially erasing the device, followed by a full doctor at 1.4.5, they concluded the GPS hardware was bad. But they would only honor the warranty from my original purchase date of June 2009, not from my refurb acceptance date from Sprint. Palm only offered the $199 repair option or buying a new phone outright. I offered to pay the difference between the repair and new phone cost ($370) but that didn't fly either.

So I went back to Sprint, and patiently explained the situation to the first CSR, then to tech support (who confirmed the troubleshooting steps indicated hardware failure), and then was sent off to multiple exchanges (ME). ME reiterated that if a refurb was available that is what I would get, and I explained my hesitancy about the refurb given that both of mine had been bad, and should have never left the shop. After again offering to pay the difference to get a new device, ME put me on hold - and when he came back, he stated his supervisor authorized shipping a brand new Sprint Pre to me for free. No need to pay the difference. Wow!

Being a Sprint customer for almost 10 years and having 4 Pre's in my family plan made a difference I'm sure, but they left money on the table in my case and chose to satisfy me. I'm certainly grateful to Sprint in this case, and they certainly stepped up far better than HPalm did for my issue. I expected the opposite - Palm to be better than Sprint - when I started, so this was surprising. But I'm pleased with Sprint's help in this matter. I used identical approaches with both, and only Sprint really responded.

[nuglas]

Super!


But on here, Ebay or Amazon, the batteries are nowhere near $50.

Nor are they anywhere near FREE!

[nuglas]

it's funny you say that about Sprint, because I walked into a Sprint store and explained that I was sending it in to Palm for service and I wanted to switch back to my old flip phone for the time being.

He interrupts me and says, "Why? You can just take it to our repair center."

Me: "Yeah, but then I have to pay $100 deductible, Palm is doing it for free."

Sprint Guy: "So would we."

Me: "I doubt it - I've never seen that happen, and I didn't buy your repair insurance anyway because I can "lose" my phone for the same deductible and not have to deal with Sprint not keeping their end of the "repair service" bargain due to technicalities."

Sprint Guy: "Oh ok."

I had about a week on my manufacturer's warranty when the power button on the top right of the Pre stopped working. I have paid for the Sprint warranty.

Sprint refused to fix the problem unless I paid the $100 fee. I reminded Sprint that the problem was a manufacturing defect, not a warranty issue. The representative I talked to on the phone said that the cost might be as much as $500 (despite my insurance).

I called Palm. They assured me that the problem was covered by warranty. I sent them the phone and they fixed it. They also replaced the missing USB cover (which had fallen off) and refurbed the phone like new. Scratches on the phone had been somehow removed (or the case replaced).

I was well pleased with Palm (not with Sprint). Sprint's service seems to have declined of late.

[nuglas]

my experience with them was just the opposite. I hope they have a class action suit and go out of business based upon my chat and subsequent phone call. The crack on my usb port started outside of the warranty period. Read below:

If Toyota released a car with bad brake pedal and it had problems outside of the warranty period, would they take responsibility for it? Or, would they do an HP? which is to say, yes, the design was defective, now pay an additional $200.00 (actually $199) to get it taken care of since it is 'outside of the warranty'. Poor workmanship or design should not be rewarded with more money.

[7:33 AM] Connecting to Rescue Gateway: control.app01-07.logmeinrescue.com...
[7:33 AM] Connected to Rescue Gateway. A support representative will be with you shortly.
[7:33 AM] Chat session established with Vincent.
[7:33 AM] D says: my phone as the design defect crack in its case at the usb port
[7:33 AM] Vincent says: Hello Don. Thank you for contacting Palm Technical Support. How can I help you today?
[7:34 AM] D says: i need the phone replaced, as this crack is not my fault, but one of poor design
[7:34 AM] D says: Vincent, are you still with me?
[7:35 AM] Vincent says: Yes, I'm with you
[7:35 AM] Vincent says: I understand that the device has crack at USB and you would like to replace it.
[7:36 AM] D says: yes. the bottom line is that i mostly use a touchstone, but ended up using a usb port to transfer pictures last week. i think that is why it did not develop earlier. my son's phone had the same crack.
[7:37 AM] D says: i also note on the internet that i am not alone, these phones are prone to cracking. had you provided sprint with an updated phone, i would not be asking for a replacement of this one.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: I’m sorry for any trouble this may have caused.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: I'll be glad to assist with the issue.
[7:37 AM] Vincent says: Can I have purchase date of the device?
[7:37 AM] D says: thank you.
[7:38 AM] D says: i orginally purchased it on the day it came on the market, but then it was replace two more times, once for a sticking key and then for another problem. so, unfortunatley do not remember when the last replace was. also, i have made this phone last longer by not using the usb port to charge it on a regular basis.
[7:40 AM] Vincent says: From there did you purchase the device?
[7:41 AM] Vincent says: *Where did you
[7:41 AM] Vincent says: Sorry for typo.
[7:41 AM] D says: sprint, green hills, nashville, tn
[7:42 AM] Vincent says: Do you have Insurance from the carrier?
[7:43 AM] D says: with a 100 deductible, for a design defect? that is like selling garbage and charging for it twice. i don't mind paying a deductible if i lost it, or broke it, but i did not do anything on this device but use it as it was intended.
[7:44 AM] Vincent says: Can I have device serial number?
[7:46 AM] D says: yes x5xx06xxxxh
[7:47 AM] D says: the yes is on the front end of that x5xx06xxxxh
[7:47 AM] Vincent says: Thank you for information provided.
[7:47 AM] Vincent says: Can I have 3 minutes to work on this issue?
[7:49 AM] D says: you can have longer if you can resolve the issue.
[7:52 AM] Vincent says: Thank you for waiting, Don.
[7:53 AM] D says: welcome
[7:54 AM] Vincent says: As per our records you have purchase the device on 7/5/2009, So it is out of warranty.
[7:54 AM] Vincent says: You can replace the device as Out of warranty device for that you need to contact the our Voice support.
[7:55 AM] Vincent says: Once you contact them, they can help you with it.
[7:56 AM] D says: so, had this been an iphone i would have gotten a new one in a year and not had this type of problem. if this cannot be solved,then i personally hope palm disappears since it has not earned by trust as a company.
[7:56 AM] D says: do they have a phone number?
[7:57 AM] Vincent says: You can contact our Voice Support team for Palm webOS products at 877-426-3777. Support is available Mon-Fri from 6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST and Sat-Sun from 8:00 AM PST to 5:00 PM PST.

they designed this phone in a mediocre manner, and used materials that could not take even minimal wear- and they don't stand behind their product, knowing it is a defective product.

Sorry to hear you didn't have the same luck. One thing that I did notice is that you were immediately confrontational - something that will immediately make the other person defensive and unwilling to make exceptions for you. I don't have my Palm chat script, but I can assure you that I spoke to the lady politely immediately told her I was out of warranty, and that I love Palm and don't want to switch phones, so is there anything at all she could possibly do to please help. She talked to a supervisor and took care of it. Of course being nice won't get you exceptional service every time. But I can tell you that being confrontational and blaming the support employee will ALWAYS get you less help than you need!

Good lesson - thanks for the post.