Palm Customer Service horror story

Posted By: Sandokan Monday, May 1, 2000 5:49:50 AM

Sandokan wrote in with his experiences with Palm's customer service. Don't let this happen to you...
Ever since I purchased my new Palm IIIc I have been happier than hell with it. What I am not happy about is the knowledge level of the Palm (technical) group.

I purchased this unit on the Internet through their web store. I read as much as I could on this unit and competitors before I had made my decision. The website is gracious enough to provide a data sheet which was extremely helpful in understanding exactly what you could expect from the product. The problem is the perception.

The perception was that particular software was included with the unit. When the unit was shipped, the software was nowhere to be found. I was under the assumption the software was either on the cd included or on a second cd not included. I called Customer Service (800-956-7256) and was told it was included on the cd with the Palm Desktop Software on it. (Still with me?) I had the cd and searched while I had the person on the phone. Not there. I ran out of time and had more important things to do, so I terminated the call.

I called again a while later and asked the same question. The answer was that it was a second cd and it needed to me sent to me. They transferred me to another number where I got the automated message that hangs up on you when the recording is done.

I then called the sales number and they told me it was definitely on the cd included and they would transfer me to Technical Services and they could help me install it. I said I did not want to talk to Technical Services and they assured me I would not be charged for the call. I agreed and accepted the transfer.

The first thing out of the technicians' mouth was he wanted my Palm serial number so I would be charged for the service. I refused to give the number because I was assured that I would not be charged. I have to hand it to him, he was very persistent on getting that serial number out of me. We went around and around with this software search and he got continuously irritating trying to slip in, "I need the serial number" every once in a while. At this point I was fairly irate and demanded to speak to his supervisor. I also tried to get him to understand that I did not want to be disconnected in any way. He assured me that I would not be disconnected while I was on hold waiting for his supervisor. If you are thinking I was sent to the automated message then disconnected, you are right.

I called the Customer Service number again and complained (I was smart enough to get the guy's name this time) and he said he would forward the message to a shift supervisor and I would receive a call within 24 hours. That was 7 days ago. Must be the new math.

On a hunch, I figured I would eventually get someone intelligent and willful enough to find the answer to my original question. I got a hold of someone in Customer Service whom, I knew he wouldn't know, made the attempt to find the answer. THIS IS THE ANSWER:

The software is included, but it is not shipped. You need to go to another website and download it, install it after the Palm Desktop is installed, then synchronize. THERE ARE NO INSTRUCTIONS ANYWHERE TO REINFORCE THIS. All this effort for something that should've been incredibly simple.

This does not include the credit card charging problem they screwed up on, either. That's a whole new chapter I'll be more than willing to share with everyone at another time.

My advice to Palm? You have a far superior product and OS to your competitors, but they are going to kick you asses into next Wednesday in Customer Service and Technical Support. It's as simple as understanding the product you are PAID TO SUPPORT! I am on your side, but I cannot expect any of my customers to go with your product knowing your support is a below standard as it is. FIX IT!

Sandokan

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Investor Relations needs work too

ADHeath @ 5/1/2000 2:48:34 AM #

Along the same lines,
I just became the proud owner of 45 shares of PALM.
On the Yahoo Stock profile page for PALM they feature an e-mail link to Investor relations.
I requested a curent Annual Report and 10 k.
This was the reply....

Due to the high volume of inquires, we may not be able to respond in a timely
manner. If you are inquiring about Palm, please call their investor
information line at 877-OWN-PALM or to leave a message for Palm IR call
408.326.2411. If you are a 3Com shareholder and have questions about the
spin-off of Palm or want financial information, please see our website:
www.3com.com/investor, or call toll free 877/463-6326 for a complete investor
packet.

3Com plans to complete the spin-off of Palm in our first fiscal quarter ended
Sept. 1. So, all 3Com shareholders who own 3com stock through the distribution
date, which has not yet been set and will be a future date, will be entitled
to receive 1.5 shares of Palm for each share of 3Com. We do not expect this
ratio to change materially. When the record date and distribution date are
determined, we will communicate it publicly in a press release.

If you are not inquiring about the Palm Spin-off, please send your email to
Debra_Johnson@3com.com.

Thank You,
Investor Relations

Original Message Text follows:
----------------------------------------------------------

Please Provide me with the latest Annual Report & 10K & Quarterly

Palm customer support needs help too

Ian Gillman @ 5/1/2000 9:08:25 AM #

I am currently trying to find out if the feature of switching on beam receive for 5 seconds (which is the .i shortcut) will be included in a future release of PalmOS (3.5 crashes when you try).
Currently their customer support keeps telling me that they cannot help me because it is a dot command and is unsupported.
I keep trying to explain to them that I am asking if it will be officially supported as an enhancement to the OS but for some reason they seem to be thoroughly convinced that I am asking them about a dot shortcut.
So far my experience with palm customer support is pretty poor, they do not seem to read the problem properly they just spot the words "dot shortcut" and send me a standard reply about them not being supported.

RE: Investor Relations needs work too

Xuli @ 5/1/2000 5:03:48 PM #

I've been lucky enough to only have two interactions with Palm Support over the year or so I've owned my IIIx. The first time, I was having some problems with the clock staying up to date and the alarms working properly, to which I was summarily informed that I needed to upgrade the OS, not a big deal, as I was going to do it anyway. It was somewhat disconcerting that it was the only advice they could seem to provide, however.

More recently, I was having problems with my Hotsync cradle. The button was stuck and the thing would endlessly hotsync while in the cradle. This got significantly annoying that I called Palm. At the end of my conversation, around 3:00 in the afternoon, I was told they'd send me a new cradle, no charge. It arrived well before lunch the next day. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Good thing you didn't choose Handspring

Visor @ 5/1/2000 9:24:43 AM #

Have you ever tried dealing with Handspring? You're lucky you didn't try contacting their support or investor relations....And talk about credit card mischarges.... Handspring takes the cake for worst customer service.

Included software on IIIc

Darrin Roush @ 5/1/2000 8:33:46 PM #

I'd be willing to bet (if you haven't already figured this out) that the software you're referring to (for the IIIc) is the Color Calculator, Color Backgammon, and Picture/Slide Show program with 2 samples (Catamaran and Golden Gate Bridge). If I'm correct in assuming that's the software that you're looking for (it comes on the included CD), then the only way you'll get it is to install the Palm Desktop software that comes with the new CD (even if you already have Palm Desktop on your PC). Once you install the latest Palm Desktop software (from the CD included with the IIIc), go to the install tool and browse to the "Add-on" folder. It's all there.

You can't get to this included software any other way on the CD. It's packed into the latest Palm Desktop Software and is not accesible in any subdirectory on the CD (I know. I already tried it).

If what you're referring to is something different, please disregard my comments.

Darrin Roush

RE: Included software on IIIc

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/2/2000 1:00:59 PM #

Thats right Darrin. All I did was search for *.prc on my hard drive..there they were. The author should have searched more throughly. Palm support should have known that tho, I expect this is a common problem.

picture converter

Christoph Hinsken @ 5/2/2000 2:09:08 AM #

Hi,

it took 1,5 min to get the information (URL) about the missing software from a german customer service.

lucky me..

Software installation, et al.

Sandokan @ 5/2/2000 3:05:43 AM #

Thanks for all the comment in regards to my customer service bedlam. All your comments are correct, and I do appreciate the information forwarded. The point was, ask the Technical Services department if they possess the same knowledge as all of you. That's the frustrating part. I always felt that the Technical Services Department should be one of the first departments to receive the information from development in order to understand the question that will come in from valued customers. This doesn't apply to just Palm, this applies to business in general. Thanks again, everyone.

Sandokan

technical support

FizzY @ 5/2/2000 8:09:46 AM #

I to have had trouble with tech support. The main problem is the people you deal with in England, are German(!). I would have no problem with this, but they not only have limited knowladge of the product and trying to explain them things isn't easy when they keep asking you to repeat yourself :( My solution is to just ask for a reference id, and post it to the uk I.D. Even if they can't fix it i get free battries, stylus and flip :)
FizzY

What the...

Dosti @ 5/3/2000 9:50:31 AM #

Now that's a dumb user! he doesn't even know how to download from the internet! Just wasting his and other peoples time and money. Must be an AOL or Mac user.

Getting the point.

Sandokan @ 5/3/2000 12:58:43 PM #

Obvously this person didn't catch the point I was trying to make. Either that, or is just another ineffective technical suuport employee. Again, for the understanding impaired, the point is that technical services department need to possess more knowledge than the end user when they release new products to the general public. Now for the 2nd graders that think all intelligence is measured by they own short ruler, just because one chooses a particular route to find an answer to a question does not make them, by your vast vocabulary, "dumb", nor does it show inadequacy to download software from the Internet or label them as a particular type of user. (I don't think I need to explain why you were wrong on all 5 of you enlightening observations) As for wasting time, I would reinforce my thanks for the other helpful and insightful contributors and ask common "flamers" to waste time insulting people elsewhere. Please feel free to not respond to this.

Sandokan