Palm is getting sued over lousy Treo quality

Alexander Turcic · 09-21-2005, 12:24 PM

According to the class action lawsuit (PDF, 37 pages) which has been filed in the state of California against Palm, the company has knowingly misrepresented the Treo 600 and 650 handsets as being "quick, dependable and reliable" devices. The suit claims that Treo devices fail at unacceptably high rates, are inherently defective and that Palm has not warned customers about the risks inherent in purchasing and relying upon a Treo as a mobile telephone and organizer.

In fact, these phones suffered from extremely poor sound quality and buzzing, choppiness, speakerphone problems, poor and broken screens, phone crashes, software crashes and electrical surges. When Palm replaced phones in response to these problems they replicated the problems by providing consumers refurbished phones subject to identical issues.

In short some people are very unhappy now and they want Palm to pay back five times the purchase price to each of them for punitive damages.

Palm stock price went down by a good 3% today.

[via PalmAddicts]

gadgetguru · 09-21-2005, 12:50 PM

Another one of those lawsuits cooked up by lawyers... Why they (lawyers) exist is beyond me.

Actually, the whole stock market is tanking today (probably due to higher oil prices and the threat of Hurricane Rita), Apple, for one, is down 2%. Palm's 3% drop is however, a bit more than the indices'.

Bob Russell · 09-21-2005, 12:59 PM

Talk about a waste of money. Palm quality is expected only because Palm has earned its reputation. Not perfect, but good enough to gain some level of trust that allows buyers to find the risks acceptable. I haven't seen an outcry of quality issues for the Treo 650 relative to other models. In fact, I think the response has been the opposite, with a lot of acclaimation for design and quality. Mine may yet develop problems, and it's not perfect, but I'm very happy with it, and it's a solid device. I don't think they've misrepresented it or maliciously deceived buyers. It's a shame all the waste of time, energy and money at Palm that will come as a result of this.

Laurens · 09-21-2005, 01:17 PM

People with an axe to grind make a lot of noise.

Brian · 09-21-2005, 02:13 PM

Happy Treo 600 owner here. It looks like the law firms representing the plaintiffs have a track record of going after large tech firms in the name of "social change through class action litigation". Social change, right... Because long drawn-out lawsuits can cost millions of dollars to defend against even if the defendant previals, their motto should be more like "suing for quick and lucrative settlements with companies that would rather pay us off then drag it out in court".

I am not a lawyer (IANAL) but I'm pretty sure the plaintiffs would have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Treo 600 and 650 defective rates were significantly higher than the industry average, and Palm knowingly and willfully sold products that they had reason to believe were defective or had serious design flaws above and beyond the industry average defect rates or failed to take corrective actions once such defects became known.

dillon65 · 09-21-2005, 03:34 PM

Hello:

I totally love palm, it's such a painful thing to read this thread, I started out with a palm 500, then a TE2, which I had to return, and purchased the palm T5 and I am very happy now; "is there any wood to knock on!"

I know that when I was having problems with the TE2, I had sent a letter to the Mr. Colligan; I know that he took the time to read the correspondence, because someone from the exective office called me back.

When we think about how great the technology is today, maybe we are just asking for far too much. In order for a company to deliver great products; the company would have to invest in high quality materials and great quality comes at a high price.

If a company places the products to high, from a cost factor point of view, who will buy the products?

Thanks for the great thread Alex, but I am still sad about the news

dillon

doctorow · 09-21-2005, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dillon65

Thanks for the great thread Alex, but I am still sad about the news

No worries yet. Just some lawyer scum trying to money with some fake lawsuit. I am sure Palm will deal with them accordingly!

Colin Dunstan · 09-22-2005, 11:10 AM

The three plaintiffs: Mario Palza, Charles Boulais and Nissa Gay. Not 3000 or 300 or 30... THREE!

Antoine of MMM · 09-22-2005, 02:36 PM

Yall shoudl read the PDF, its not very well written, even for a legal paper.

Laurens · 09-22-2005, 03:05 PM

While on the subject of the Treo, Engadget has a first look at the WM-based Treo 700w.

maceyr · 09-22-2005, 04:33 PM

On a recent trip down to the US, I got quite disgusted by the amount of law firm TV ads soliciting potential "clients" to a class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies like Merck, Pfizer, etc. What they do is tell people that they're entitled to a settlement given some vague circumstances and to call them for more info. It's disgusting to see how low these law firms can get. Wasn't it not too long ago when some other class action lawsuit was filed about the older Palms with their "defective" batteries and how people lost important data when they've completely drained their battery?

In the end, it's the lawyers that gain from these lawsuits, not the consumer.

I hope to never ever need a lawyer.

09-21-2005, 12:24 PM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,175 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	Palm is getting sued over lousy Treo quality According to the class action lawsuit (PDF, 37 pages) which has been filed in the state of California against Palm, the company has knowingly misrepresented the Treo 600 and 650 handsets as being "quick, dependable and reliable" devices. The suit claims that Treo devices fail at unacceptably high rates, are inherently defective and that Palm has not warned customers about the risks inherent in purchasing and relying upon a Treo as a mobile telephone and organizer. In fact, these phones suffered from extremely poor sound quality and buzzing, choppiness, speakerphone problems, poor and broken screens, phone crashes, software crashes and electrical surges. When Palm replaced phones in response to these problems they replicated the problems by providing consumers refurbished phones subject to identical issues. In short some people are very unhappy now and they want Palm to pay back five times the purchase price to each of them for punitive damages. Palm stock price went down by a good 3% today. [via PalmAddicts]

09-22-2005, 03:05 PM	#10
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	Treo 700w While on the subject of the Treo, Engadget has a first look at the WM-based Treo 700w.

09-22-2005, 04:33 PM	#11
maceyr Palm Discoverer Posts: 37 Karma: 2139 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Device: Treo 650 & Zire 71	On a recent trip down to the US, I got quite disgusted by the amount of law firm TV ads soliciting potential "clients" to a class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical companies like Merck, Pfizer, etc. What they do is tell people that they're entitled to a settlement given some vague circumstances and to call them for more info. It's disgusting to see how low these law firms can get. Wasn't it not too long ago when some other class action lawsuit was filed about the older Palms with their "defective" batteries and how people lost important data when they've completely drained their battery? In the end, it's the lawyers that gain from these lawsuits, not the consumer. I hope to never ever need a lawyer. Last edited by maceyr; 09-22-2005 at 04:37 PM.

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09-21-2005, 12:50 PM	#2
gadgetguru Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 6370 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Asia Device: Tungsten T5	Another one of those lawsuits cooked up by lawyers... Why they (lawyers) exist is beyond me. Actually, the whole stock market is tanking today (probably due to higher oil prices and the threat of Hurricane Rita), Apple, for one, is down 2%. Palm's 3% drop is however, a bit more than the indices'.

09-21-2005, 12:59 PM	#3
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Talk about a waste of money. Palm quality is expected only because Palm has earned its reputation. Not perfect, but good enough to gain some level of trust that allows buyers to find the risks acceptable. I haven't seen an outcry of quality issues for the Treo 650 relative to other models. In fact, I think the response has been the opposite, with a lot of acclaimation for design and quality. Mine may yet develop problems, and it's not perfect, but I'm very happy with it, and it's a solid device. I don't think they've misrepresented it or maliciously deceived buyers. It's a shame all the waste of time, energy and money at Palm that will come as a result of this.

09-21-2005, 01:17 PM	#4
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	People with an axe to grind make a lot of noise.

09-21-2005, 02:13 PM	#5
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	Happy Treo 600 owner here. It looks like the law firms representing the plaintiffs have a track record of going after large tech firms in the name of "social change through class action litigation". Social change, right... Because long drawn-out lawsuits can cost millions of dollars to defend against even if the defendant previals, their motto should be more like "suing for quick and lucrative settlements with companies that would rather pay us off then drag it out in court". I am not a lawyer (IANAL) but I'm pretty sure the plaintiffs would have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Treo 600 and 650 defective rates were significantly higher than the industry average, and Palm knowingly and willfully sold products that they had reason to believe were defective or had serious design flaws above and beyond the industry average defect rates or failed to take corrective actions once such defects became known.

09-21-2005, 03:34 PM	#6
dillon65 Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Anywhere Device: TX	Hello: I totally love palm, it's such a painful thing to read this thread, I started out with a palm 500, then a TE2, which I had to return, and purchased the palm T5 and I am very happy now; "is there any wood to knock on!" I know that when I was having problems with the TE2, I had sent a letter to the Mr. Colligan; I know that he took the time to read the correspondence, because someone from the exective office called me back. When we think about how great the technology is today, maybe we are just asking for far too much. In order for a company to deliver great products; the company would have to invest in high quality materials and great quality comes at a high price. If a company places the products to high, from a cost factor point of view, who will buy the products? Thanks for the great thread Alex, but I am still sad about the news dillon

09-22-2005, 11:10 AM	#8
Colin Dunstan Is papyrophobic! Posts: 1,926 Karma: 1009999 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: USA Device: Dell Axim	The three plaintiffs: Mario Palza, Charles Boulais and Nissa Gay. Not 3000 or 300 or 30... THREE!

09-22-2005, 02:36 PM	#9
Antoine of MMM Mobile Ministry Magazine Posts: 119 Karma: 4507 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Charlotte, NC Device: Nokia N75/N800 Internet Tablet	Yall shoudl read the PDF, its not very well written, even for a legal paper.

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