How Palm & Verizon screwed me

[jf3535]

Palm Pre Plus on Verizon.  It has a lot of fans.  I was one of them at first.  The smaller design, it's fast & has multitasking, has a screen responsiveness almost as good as the IPHONE.  Kudos.

But where Pre Plus and Verizon gave up on the phone is its basic productivity software for rending/downloading and viewing a Word File, PDF File, PowerPoint or Excel sheet.  The phone has the software OS capable of reading the latter basic file types... I realize its not a Windows OS phone.

The issue I take with both companies, Pre and Verizon, is when the rendering software started to crash you didn't work as partners to solve and invest on the issue.  It is 2011 and being able to read an MS Office file from an email received or a PC to Palm Pre transer should be basics.

The biggest insult to me is I signed up for a year like anyone who has had a lesson learned about the limits of wireless phone capability.  When I bring to the issue to VzW, I get nothing but the regrets speech and blame the issue on Palm development having a poltics about their investment directions (HP).  Palm 2nd Tier support choked on this issue for several months leaving thousands of customers hanging around for a fix that never came. 

And Verizon Wireles.... I brought to the VzB Customer Center a bonafide Palm Pre team email stating "we regret we will never fix this", "this is a well known issue and buyer beware".... I got no compromise from Verizon in terms of anything.  No early upgrade, nothing but buy a Pre-Owned phone at full price and go month to month.

  Thanks Verizon Wireless for being in it for yourself and not your consumer on this one.

[jf3535 · Accepted solution]

PS:  how to feel when Verizon Wireless Customer Service dictates service policy for a failed phone....

I accepted a two year Customer Agreement for the Palm Pre to provide some basic services for a non-windows mobile phone.  The capability of the Palm Pre Plus to be able to open documents for read only capability was part of the basic Palm Pre service.  Verizon Wireless has failed to resolve the issues I’ve described for thousands of users who bought the Palm Pre.  Whether consumers have purchased a one-year contract or a two year is their choice.  The level of support a consumer should get from service for basic service should be equal no matter what the contract term.  This file rendering software was not a marketplace WEB-OS app, it was part of the supporting software on the phone's start up....

When VzW Customer Service denies an early upgrade or a transition to a different phone, they are are doing nothing but preserving a policy of dysfunction.  It is almost as if VzW subscribes to a "buyer  beware" policy ....

[MissingPalm]

I bought a palm Pre plus, tried it for 30 days and kept it. It wasn't perfect, but it provided, for me an acceptable level of service. I particularly liked the wifi hotspot. As a long time palm user, i continued to find that functions that I had come to depend on from prior palm phones were missing or poorly implemented. I was not happy. i bought missing sync software to replace some functions that used to be included with palm phones. I regretted the purchase, but i had had my 30 days, made my decision and was now committed to a two year contract. Now the interesting part. The phone broke. It was replace by Assurian with another Pre plus that was really broken and then replaced again with a Pre 2. Now the wifi hot spot doesn't work and almost half my emails are unreadable. After repeated requests to both Verizon and Palm, they seem either unable or unwilling to fix these new problems. Now there no doubt in my mind that I would have kept this phone for the first 30 days without the wifi hot spot or the email problem. The question is am I still bound by the 2-year contract? I seriously resent being compelled to pay for services and functions that I am not and will not receive. Moreover, having functions arbitrarily reduced or terminated without effective recourse is infuriating. I could willingly if not happily abide with a buyer beware policy.

[Jax_Omen]

Pretty sure if they can't reinstate your 5gb limit free mobile hotspot, that constitutes materially adverse conditions and they have to waive your etf. You'll probably have to argue with a supervisor to get it though.

[jungleheadz]

you couldnt figure all this out w/in the return period? and why hate on verizon? that function has nothing to do with their serivce. you dont like your phone, fine. but dont get mad at verizon because you picked a phone that didnt meet your needs.

[jungleheadz]

so you broke your phone and the third party insurance company you go through upgraded your phone to one thats not compatible with a free service vzw offers? sounds like you should be mad at the insurance, not vzw or palm.