Sprint and the Palm Pre

If you have read anything on my site you know that I have the Palm Pre. I have had it for quite a while now and did an extensive review of the device. Through the short time that I have owned this device I have had quite a few problems. At first it was the Oreo Effect and the Volume Key sticking. These may seem like small problems to you but once you experience them they are not. When the volume key is stuck you cannot get the device to do anything because it constantly interrupts you to show that the volume is increasing or decreasing.

About 5 months ago I had to have both my fiancé’s phone and my phone replaced. Sprint would not honour the replacement even though I have the $7/mo insurance so I had to pay $100 for each of the phones just to get them replaced. I was not happy with this resolution because the issues were “known issues” however Sprint argued that while they are known to Google they are not known issues within Sprint.

This morning I woke-up to my pre being unresponsive. I could not get it to do anything. Touching the screen did nothing, it was as if the touch screen just decided to pass away in it’s sleep. I got on the phone with sprint’s customer service today and I told them about the issue and went through technical supports list of things to try but the issue was not resolved. When I got back on the phone with customer service I told them that technical support could not help me and that my phone needed to be replaced. I had to interrupt the customer service representative because they were in the middle of trying to transfer me to the insurance line so I could make my claim. I did not want this because the touch screen is not anything caused by me and therefore I should not have to pay $100 to get my phone replaced.

Today on lunch I went into the Sprint store and showed the phone to the store manager. Once he saw what was happening they put through a request to have a new Palm Pre sent to the store for me. They even gave me a loaner phone until the new one arrives although that should be tomorrow. The only thing I do not like about this entire process is the fact that Sprint always tries to push you off to the insurance claim rather than just replacing your phone when it is not caused by you. If you read the reasons for the insurance it is for lost/stolen or devices damaged by you, including liquid damage. It does not say anything about if your device just stops working make a claim.

I am glad that this is being resolved but I will personally think twice about Sprint when my contract is over.