PPCGeeks - Palm doesnt care about its customers. Corporate escallations was no help

I was hoping i would not have to create a thread like this to share my experience with palm over the last week, however they have left me no choice and i feel its only right to share my experience so that all those with manufacturing defects or other issues will not waste the hours i have and those interested in buying the device will know how the company that produces them treats their customers.

Approximately two weeks ago i paid $320 for my palm pre and renewed my contract with sprint for two years. After i purchased my device and began using it i noticed a few problems:

1. very bad back light bleeding on the bottom of the screen.
2. poor backlight on the keypad
3. battery would not last longer than 6-8 hours regardless of settings, i even tried hard resseting the device and this did not help.

I accepted these flaws with the mind set that after i got to enjoy this new device and had time either sprint or palm would replace it for me with a new device free of defects.

Apparently i was wrong. I had mine ordered via VAD (charged to my account and shipped to the store), apparently the only way to exchange is to return it, wait for the credit to come back to my account and my eligibility to be reveresed so they can order me another one. total time of process = weeks

I figured id contact palm and they'd take care of me. Iv been using their devices since i was a child and have never had any problems. Plus the pre is what many call the phone that will either make or break them, thus one would think they'd take care of their customer.

I called palm last week and explained the issues i was having with my device and that i needed to get it replaced. i was told id get a call back within 24 hours from level 2 tech support to set up an advance exchange upon approval. Fast forward yesterday and i had still not received a call thus i took the initiative to contact them myself.

I spent two hours on the phone with palm and it only ended with anger on my part. First off customer service told me that i had recieved a call back and my issue was resolved. Funny how that works because obviously i had not recieved a call back and a PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE DEVICE cant fix itself last i checked. Then i was put on hold for about a half hour and once the rep came back i was told that with my that with my defective screen, keypad, short battery life that my device was not eligible for replacement. I was furious and re-iterated to the CSR that what she was telling me that as a customer who just paid $320 for a phone, $70 for a touchstone and signed a two year commitment with sprint - that my pre with very bad back light bleeding, keypad lighting and other issues did not qualify as a defective device thus i was expected to be happy and therefor assume that this is how they designed the device to be?

This left the representative at Awe and i asked to speak to her supervisor at which point she put me on hold again for about 5-10 minutes. i was transferred to her supervisor and was then and only then told that my device was eligible for either repair or replacement. I can either send in my device for a week to get repaired or they will take a $400 security deposit via credit card and will do an advance exchange. I explained that this was unacceptable. I just paid almost $400 for my pre with the cost of the touchstone and refuse to send in a two week old device to be repaired. An advanced exchange is what i was looking for and asked for last week however as a college student and a customer who just laid down $400 i explained it was ridiculous for palm to expect me to let them hold $400 MORE of my money and that i simply could not afford it. The supervisor told me this was all he could offer and there was no way around it. I certainly got the jist that palm was trying very hard to tell me to go sprint to get the device exchanged however i told him if i had to return the phone and wait to get it replaced id likely go buy an iphone without these defects for $99. But i wanted to keep my pre, however palm was making it difficult for me to do so. Even if i returned the phone at that store and attempted to buy it at corp id have no luck as there are long waiting lists at all corp stores and it'd be weeks until i was able to buy another. This didn't help and the supervisor told me perhaps corp could help and thus transferred me.

Once i got a hold of someone at corp i was greeted by a very nice executive customer service rep. however after spending a half hour speaking to him he could not do anything further to help me other than honor my request to have the device hand tested before shipping it to me, however i would have to give them $400 to hold as insurance in case i don't send back my old phone. I told him i would check my finances to see if i could somehow pull it off and that I'd give a call back. I checked my bank account and while it would leave me close to broke for a week i decided to call back palm and do the advance exchange. I spoke to another rep and he put me on hold while he was setting up my exchange. after about 5 minutes he came back on the line to inform me that he wanted to clarify something - that i would not get a new device - i had been misinformed by the previous rep - he could only send me a REFURBISHED one. I explained for the 10th time that this was unacceptable and that i don't see how palm could expect a customer to pay $300 for a defective device only to have it replaced by a refurb!? needless to say i was informed this was the only type of replacement i could get and he did not have access to new ones..what BS, i couldn't believe my ears. He then reminded me that i could send it in and would have it back in 5-7 business days..which was unacceptable as i told him yet again i cant be without a phone nor would i accept repair on a 2 week old device. i was told if these options weren't satisfactory i could return my device and re-buy..which is ridiculous. And so here i am out $400 with a defective pre and palm not even willing to replace it with anything other than a refurbished unit...simply horrible. For their sake i hope they improve their customer service before they drive their customers away as they have done to me.

Palm,
I hope you hear about my experience and disappointment and make things right before i truly give up on this awesome device and go buy the product it was designed to compete with, but with this kind of service what choice do i have?