palmOne Settles Static Class Action Case

Posted By: Ryan Friday, October 1, 2004 9:18:53 AM

palmOne has settled a consumer class action lawsuit brought against it a number of years ago. The suit alleged that certain Palm handhelds were defective and could transfer a damaging static charge to a PC serial port.

On August 7, 2001, a purported consumer class action lawsuit was filed against then Palm Inc and 3Com in California Superior Court, San Francisco County, entitled Connelly v. Palm and 3Com. An amended complaint alleging breach of warranty and violation of Californiaís Unfair Competition Law was filed and served on Palm on August 15, 2001. The amended complaint, filed on behalf of purchasers of Palm III, IIIc, V and Vx handhelds, alleges that certain Palm handhelds may cause damage to PC motherboards by permitting an electrical charge, or floating voltage, from either the handheld or the cradle to be introduced into the PC via the serial and/or USB port on the PC due to a design defect in the Palm products.

According to the Associated Press, PalmOne denied any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, but agreed to pay affected consumers either $200 in cash, or an $80- or $20-credit toward a palmOne product, depending on the level of proof of damage the consumer provided. Half of the 1,500 member class qualified for some kind of reimbursement. The terms of the settlement will resulted in a resolution that is not material to palmOne's financial position.

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The next lawsuit will be

mikecane @ 10/1/2004 12:44:35 PM #

... for crushing our hopes! I mean, that T5 should be called the TE2. The T5 name "allows" then to tack another $100 on the price.

Odd settlement figure?

IanJD @ 10/1/2004 12:48:16 PM #

"$200 in cash, or an $80- or $20-credit toward a palmOne product"

Huh? Wouldn't it make more sense that the palmOne credit should be of higher value than the cash?

RE: Odd settlement figure?

mikecane @ 10/1/2004 12:53:13 PM #

Hello, McFly! This is *palmOne*, remember?

I can now reveal they have two internal corporate mottos:

1) Why impress when it's more fun to disappoint?

2) Always give the customer less than they expect and make them pay more than they want

Hey, Ed Colligan! Bring back "Delight the Customer!"

RE: Odd settlement figure?

Gekko @ 10/1/2004 1:05:52 PM #

>"Hey, Ed Colligan! Bring back "Delight the Customer!""

More like "Damn the Customer!"

RE: Odd settlement figure?

elo @ 10/1/2004 2:46:06 PM #

I think you mean, shock the customer!

RE: Odd settlement figure?

Ole @ 10/1/2004 4:01:30 PM #

If you had taken the time to read the rest of the sentence before you started typing, you'd see that Palm:

"agreed to pay affected consumers either $200 in cash, or an $80- or $20-credit toward a palmOne product, depending on the level of proof of damage the consumer provided."

Ole.

Great, now they can...

Puppy @ 10/1/2004 6:00:30 PM #

start on class action suits for all the more recent palmOne flaws and screwups. Humming screens, bad digitizers, screws that fall out, paint that flakes off.

Man I miss Sony and Handspring. I like PalmOS, but PalmOne's hardware's never been very reliable IMO.

RE: Great, now they can...

just_little_me @ 10/1/2004 7:28:51 PM #

What a load of bollocks! I've bought all manner of products - and guess what? Some of them didn't work right, or broke - it's not just palmOne who have the odd manufacturing hiccup - it's EVERY company in the world - and that's why warranties exist. This particular law suit was about damage caused to external devices due to the hiccup, not the hiccup itself - so unless you can prove that flaking paint caused your car to run off the road into a tree, or damaged your serial port then shut the hell up until you have something sensible to say.

(So glad I don't *live* in such a litigious society as the great and mighty US of A (holes)!!!!!)

JLM.

RE: Great, now they can...

Hal2000 @ 10/2/2004 3:35:53 PM #

The naming of the 'T5' caused me such emotional termoil, and lack of spoucial privilages, that I ran my car off the road.

Zodiac2/T616
1.128 gigs under the hood.

RE: Great, now they can...

Hal2000 @ 10/2/2004 3:41:23 PM #

JLM: I must now sue you for upsetting me also.

Zodiac2/T616
1.128 gigs under the hood.

RE: Great, now they can...

T. @ 10/2/2004 3:56:48 PM #

As much as I want to reach down your throat and pull out your spine after chastizing my country I must refrain (man, I watch too many movies). The quantity of lawyers and the rediculous content of most litigation here is an embarassment to me personally and when I travel overseas. The impression is that everyone here is spoiled rotten and always looking for a free ride.

I was personally annoyed by the static BS lawsuit in the first place. I am sure it took away from funds that would have been better spent in developement at P1.

My T3 had problems when I first got it and guess what? They fixed it. The several weeks it took was hardly anything more that a minor inconvenience. I am sure there will be problems with the new T5 and also the new OS so expect it and deal with it. These people should stop their whining. We look like idiots to everyone else.

Serving papers...

Strider_mt2k @ 10/2/2004 3:58:21 PM #

I'm sueing both of you for...
for...
for...

Gimme a minute, i'll think of something.

RE: Great, now they can...

mikecane @ 10/2/2004 6:04:51 PM #

I want to put in an amicus brief!

RE: Great, now they can... Settle out of court

borgiaX @ 10/2/2004 10:58:19 PM #

Settle down ladies,
despite the reputation for litigiousness, it is appropriate in a marketplace where the buyer must beware.
I for one am glad to live in such a society, and I dont have any intention of pulling anyones spine, after all if a country and society cant take criticism what could it be worth? So bring on the critics!!
That said, PalmOne has inherited a reputation for lax quality. The M500 fiasco is a case in point, the Tungsten T digitizer is another. For these reasons I am loath to buy PalmOne products unless I can do so from a store with a good return policy.
If the next product from PalmOne dissapoint, its off to Dell Axim land for me.

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