Palming off the SUDS

IT IS FRUSTRATING enough when product support doesn’t know the answer to your problem — but it’s even worse when you think they aren’t telling you the truth. Right now, many readers feel that’s what Palm is doing to them.

The Gripe Line has been hearing from users of the Palm m500 and m505 handhelds who are experiencing what has been dubbed on some PDA forums the SUDS (Suddenly USB Doesn’t Sync) syndrome. Victims of this malady discover that their unit can no longer hotsync with applications on their PCs via the device’s USB cradle. Because this renders the device virtually useless for many users, the problem has generated a great deal of emotional discussion on the Internet. And anxiety levels have only been heightened by the difficulty that some users have encountered in getting help or information from Palm.

“We recently purchased six Palm m505 PDAs,” wrote one reader. “Within five weeks, two of them have stopped syncing for no apparent reason. I’ve contacted Palm tech support, and they claimed to have no idea what the problem could be [and] couldn’t solve it, but offered to do an exchange. Oh, but, ‘they are back ordered, and it may be a few weeks before we can get one’ to you. Apparently, this has been an ongoing issue affecting perhaps thousands of users, and continues even with replacement units. Some people (on the Internet) are reporting going through as many as five units!”

Most readers were initially met with similar denials that Palm tech support was even aware of the hotsync problem, despite forums and newsgroups packed with discussions about it. Some were then told they would have to buy a serial cradle for $30 to replace the USB cradle, although the serial device is slower.

“Why should users have to accept refurbished, used units because of a design flaw in the 505?” wrote one reader whose Palm stopped synching a week after he bought it. “I love my Palm, but the relationship is getting colder than a hockey puck in the third period.”

Users who managed to get Palm to acknowledge their unit was faulty and needed to be replaced were still not necessarily out of the woods. After shipping back their original Palm m500 or m505, some were left waiting weeks on end for a replacement. Those who finally received replacements often discovered it was a used, refurbished unit — and all too often, the replacement quickly came down with the SUDS syndrome as well.

The SUDS syndrome was particularly embarrassing for those users who had persuaded their companies to adopt the m500 or m505 for their PDA needs. “I have been a long-term Palm user since late 1997, and I have made numerous converts to the Palm platform” wrote one reader, who was advocating that his company purchase a large quantity of Palm m505s as part of a corporate application rollout. “[Then] in February my m505 demonstrated a USB failure. This in itself was not disastrous, but when it became apparent that I was looking at weeks for a replacement due to the back orders, people here became concerned. … To make matters worse, some of the others in the application group have questioned me about an upcoming m515 model and the discontinuing of the m505. I cannot remember any time where Palm has discontinued a model after less than a year. Essentially, the m515 is the bug fix for the m505, although we users who showed confidence in Palm with the m505s are stuck. This is leaving me in a rather awkward situation.”

With little definitive information from Palm to go on, SUDS victims were left with many unanswered questions. Users had to try to help each other, debating the merits of one reported fix using an undocumented technique for completely draining the battery. (Palm now says this fix is not recommended and voids the customer’s warranty.) And everyone wondered whether or not the m515 — rumored to be impending — was in fact a bug fix for the SUDS problem.

The only statement Palm had issued during the month of February was one that acknowledged, “Palm is aware of the issue, and is making every effort to ensure customer satisfaction in a timely manner. Some customers who experience this problem and who report it to Palm Technical Support will have their units and their cradles replaced through Palm’s exchange procedure within five to seven business days from the receipt of the old unit and cradle by the repair center. In such a situation, the exchange will be provided without charge.”

This hardly satisfied anyone. “If Palm is aware of the problem, why don’t they post anything about it in their knowledge base?” wrote one reader in summarizing the questions being asked in newsgroups. “I can’t imagine how many users have wasted their time finding out why their Palm doesn’t work. What is Palm going to do to reimburse users who were forced to buy serial cradles? Some people have had repeated failures with replaced units. Will Palm extend their warranty? In my particular case, I purchased my m500 in September and had it replaced in November. According to the serial number of the replaced unit, it was manufactured on April 21, 2001. Will Palm honor my warranty through September? If Palm eventually fixes the problem in a new model like the m515, will they replace defective units with the new model?”

On March 3, Palm announced the m515. Although a Palm spokesperson says the m515 is not affected by the hotsync problem, neither is it the cure for those already suffering from it. “Users with this particular hotsync issue will receive a refurbished unit, which is standard replacement policy for warranty devices,” the spokesperson said.

Lots of questions remain, but Palm continues to be parsimonious with answers. Hopefully, the m515 will indeed prove to be SUDS-free, but when the truth is so hard to come by, buyers best beware.