Palm Australia silent on PDA ad foul-up - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Palm Australia silent on PDA ad foul-up

By James Pearce, ZDNet Australia
September 06, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Palm-Australia-silent-on-PDA-ad-foul-up/0,139023166,120268007,00.htm

Palm Australia has refused to disclose how many Palm 130 personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been sold in Australia and therefore how exposed it is to the company's worldwide refund offer for the AU$679 unit.

Palm was embarrassed recently when it was revealed the Palm 130 was not capable of displaying the 64,000-plus colours that were advertised when the unit was released in March this year.

Originally the company did not plan to offer refunds for users misled by the original advertisement, but quickly found themselves facing a lawsuit in the US. On Wednesday evening in the US, Palm posted a form on its Web site explaining the mistake and offering either a full refund for the unit or a free download of popular computer game Sim City.

Few customers sought to take advantage of the refund or game offer during its first full day on offer in the US or Europe, Palm officials said. A spokesperson for Palm said they had received 11 enquiries in Europe, with two customers requesting refunds, and had received 12 enquiries in America, although no one has taken up the refund offer to date.

"Most people have been ringing up asking what [the offer] means," said the spokesperson. "They're being told they've got 6,000 less colours than was advertised, but it's still 58,000 colours. Most people thought it was broken."

The spokesperson said he didn't think there had been any enquiries in Australia, and the number of Palm 130 units sold in the country was commercially sensitive information.