I thought it was an interesting article. I'm not sure how "sneaky" it is either. If the warranty information is in the box, and you are unhappy about it, return it to the store. I do think Palm should have general warranty information on the outside of the box though.
On 10/31/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 90-day warranties are awfully common for small electronics, including > handhelds...and have been for a long time. Nothing "sneakwrap" about > it. Clever lede, but I can't get excited about this one. > > --- In [email protected], "Scott Allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2007/10/palms_sneakwrap.html?source=NLC-GRIPE&cgd=2007-10-30 > > > > With software products, we all know that somewhere deep in the fine > print > > the vendor probably disavows any real warranty. But it's a little more > > unexpected that a hardware vendor like Palm would hide -- in the most > > obscure corners of its website -- the fact that their warranty period on > > some products is so short as to be virtually useless. > > > > "Last Christmas my siblings and I pooled together $200 to buy my > mother a > > Palm Tungsten E2 PDA," a reader recently wrote. "It seemed to work fine > > initially, but then my mother started mentioning that the PDA was not > > registering her stylus where she poked. Because we don't live nearby, I > > tried guiding her through digitizer calibration on the phone several > times > > and finally chalked it up to poor hand/eye coordination in my aging > mother. > > She struggled along with it for months, but it finally got so severe > that > > the machine was basically unusable, and that's the point that I got > to see > > it in person last month. Indeed, I found out that I had been totally > wrong, > > there was nothing wrong with her hand/eye coordination, the > digitizer has > > simply gone bad. We did a hard reset to erase all data and start off > fresh, > > and the problem continued. It was a true hardware problem, and as I > did some > > web research on it, I realized it was pretty common. I told her not > to worry > > because we'd get it fixed under warranty." > > > > The reader was assuming that the Palm PDA would have at least a one-year > > warranty, but instead he discovered the warranty is only for 90 > days. "Yes, > > 90 short days on a stinking $200 piece of electronics," says the reader. > > "Almost any piece of electronic gear I know offers a one-year warranty, > > including the $30 made-in-China electronics seen in Walmart and > everywhere > > else nowadays. So who would ever expect that a $200+ retail PDA from > Palm > > would be covered by an absurdly short warranty? I wrote Palm Tech > Support > > asking them to confirm this, and they responded that, yes, 'this device > > model carries a 90-day hardware warranty.' Not only that, but if I > wanted to > > talk with a hum anabout it I could call a number that would cost $25 per > > incident as the device was out of the 90-day warranty period." > > > > The reader says he and his siblings would not have chosen the > Tungsten E2 if > > they'd known about the short warranty period, but how easy would it have > > been for them to discover this before they bought it? Not very. "We > > purchased it at the store, and it certainly is not printed anywhere > > externally on the Tungsten E2 box, which I have sitting right in > front of > > me," wrote the reader. "There is a EULA-like sheet in the box itself > that > > says it's just 90 days, but we couldn't see that when made the > purchase. And > > since we gave it as a gift, I wasn't there to see it when it was > opened." > > > > It is also very unlikely one will find about the 90-day warranty by > perusing > > on Palm's website. "Nothing is said about the warranty on the main > product > > page <http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/e2/> for the > Tungsten E2 on > > the Palm website," the reader wrote. Neither is it mentioned in any > of the > > subcategory pages linked from there like 'details,' 'gallery,' or > the glossy > > PDF product brochure. An obvious spot for it would be the 'spec' > page, but > > no, it's not there either. To actually discover which products have > a 90-day > > warranty and which ones have a full year, you have to navigate > through their > > support section to the 'find your warranty' link, then pick out the > product > > name again from a list by country, which then finally takes you to the > > warranty > matrix< > http://www.palm.com/us/support/contact/us_warranty_a.html#tungstene2%22 > >that > > actually shows the E2 has only 90 days from purchase date. It's almost > > as if they are trying to hide the fact that it is so short." > > > > Indeed, if you follow in the reader's footsteps on Palm's website > (which as > > I write this on Oct. 29th remains exactly as he described), it is > obvious > > Palm is trying to hide its warranty. The logical places where Palm > should > > tell a potential customer about the 90-day warranty are silent on the > > subject. Perhaps the most absurd example is the "compare" > > > page<http://www.palm.com/us/products/resources/comparison-handheld.html > >which > > shows more than 40 comparative features for the E2 and two other Palm > > handhelds but fails to mention the fact that one (the Palm TX) has a > > one-year warranty while the E2 and the Palm Z22 have the 90-day > warranty. > > > > And any prospective Tungsten E2 customer who goes looking for the > warranty > > on the Palm Legal Notices page will likely be misled. Clicking on > the "Terms > > and Conditions of Purchase" leads to a page of legal > > terms<http://www.palm.com/us/company/tandc.html>above which is a > > "Warranty" link. But that Palm Limited Warranty says new > > hardware products are warranted for one year from date of purchase. > So why > > doesn't that apply to the Tungsten device? I was puzzled by that, > but the > > reader had already spotted what was going on. Deep in those "Terms & > > Conditions" below the link to the warranty are the following weasel > words: > > > > "The standard limited warranty applicable to each of the products you > > purchase under this agreement is described on the site. The actual > limited > > warranty statement that applies is included in the documentation > packaged > > with the product. Palm disclaims all other warranties, express or > > implied..." > > > > So apparently the warranty document linked on that same page doesn't > really > > count. Instead, the customer has to guess that the real warranty > information > > is hidden many clicks away in the support section of Palm's website. > Or you > > can find it inside, after you've been tricked into buying the product. > > > > There is one little piece of good news - the reader was able to fix his > > mother's Tungsten E2 after purchasing a replacement digitizer on the > web for > > $45. But he won't be buying any more Palm products as gifts for > anyone. "How > > low has Palm quality dropped such that they can only provide a 90-day > > warranty on a $200 retail piece of electronics?" he write. "How come > there > > is no warranty printed externally on the box, or on the main product > > webpage, or anywhere else you're likely to look? More than anything, > I hope > > bringing this out might convince Palm that their new gear deserves a > full > > year warranty, and perhaps it might also convince them to get off of > this > > EULA-like path they have started to tread." > > > > Read and post comments about this story on my > > website<http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2007/10/29/225854/67>or > > write me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Posted by Ed Foster on October 30, 2007 12:18 AM > > > > -- > > Scott W. Allen > > <*"If you keep doing what you've always done > > You'll keep getting what you've always got."*> > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > -- Scott W. Allen <*"If you keep doing what you've always done You'll keep getting what you've always got."*> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
