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Consumer Lawsuit Challenges Palm's Treo Claims

October 3, 2005

Palm • Palm Settles Defective Phone Suit • Lawsuit Challenges Palm's Treo Claims • Palm Settles FTC Charges • Consumer Complaints

A consumer lawsuit claims that Palm Inc. has concealed defects in its Treo cell phones, promoting them as "everything a smartphone should be" despite problems with sound quality and reliability.

The suit, filed in California's Santa Clara County Court charges that the Treo 600 and 650 do not meet the specifications published by Palm and fall short of the company's advertising claims. It also alleges that the company has failed to perform its obligations under the limited warranty supplied with the phones.

"Palm has refused, and continues to refuse, to warn consumers about the defects inherent in the Treo 600 and 650 or to effective remedy the problems ... Unwilling to admit fault, Palm has sat silently while consumers purchased these defective products," the suit alleges.

The suit, which seeks class action status, asks for damages including restitution and the replacement or recall of the allegedly defective phones.

Among the named plaintiffs in the suit is Mario Palza of Ventura, California. He wrote to Palm on four occasions seeking repair or replacement but received no response until August 29, when, after receiving a letter form Palza's lawyer, the company finally responded to Palza, refusing to talk to his attorney and refusing to put anything in writing.

Palza listed the following complaints about his phone:

• Poor sound quality and buzzing heard from recipients of calls made from his phone;

• Voice choppiness hear by recipients of calls placed from Palza's phone;

• Speakerphone problems which make the speakerphone virtually unusable;

• Defective screens that impair the function of the phone and organizer;

• Software problems causing restarts, lost calls and the loss of stored information;

• Replacement of a defective Treo 600 with a "refurbished" model afflicted with the same defects.

The suit notes that Palm advertises the TReo 600 as being an exceptionally powerful PDA and telephone, calling it "an all-in-one communications device that integrates a mobile phone, wireless applications ... and a Palm Powered organizer into a single ultra-compact device." Advertisements claim the phone has "great sound quality."

The suit notes that the Treo is among the most expensive cell phones on the market. The list price of the current model, the Treo 650, is $449.99.

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