I hate Palm tech support

[biomedtech]

Recently, I had a reason to call Palm tech support about my Treo 700WX (I realize that I am not running Palm OS, but I only had their telephone number with my documentation).

Basically, Windows Mobile 5 has trouble with displaying secure web pages, making it impossible to check my non-msn email. This phone is only 6 months old, so I took a chance and called Palm.

I explained to 'Chad' that I was using WM5, but did he have any information on why the Treo would have trouble with secure pages?

He confidently recommended a hard reset, and told me the procedure. He never gave me any warning that I would lose all my 3rd party applications. He simply said that a hard reset should resolve the issue.

So I did it. And lost all my commercial software. I had purchased some games, some utilities, some gps software, and some compatibility plugins. All gone.

It's my own fault, but since this is my first pda, I wasn't thinking in computer terms. I was trusting that Palm would give me sound advice, along with appropriate warnings, where applicable.

I hate Palm support, and my Treo still won't display secure web pages.

[malkantar]

Secure web pages should not be a problem. I have users at where I work currently able to access our company's secure website in order to access our Outlook Web Access mobile part of our exchange server.

The problem is certificates. You need to manually install the secure site's certificate onto the device (you can find tutorials on the web if you google it). I'm not sure if you have the ability to get the certificate or not.... but if you can that should solve your problem.

~Matt

[serge]

I think malkantar misses issue, at least in part. I am sure biomedtech will appreciate his advice on how to handle "secure web pages." Myself, I don't even know what they are talking about. Fortunately, I don't use my treo for the web. But that is not the point biomedtech is making. The title of his message says it all: "I hate Palm support." What he says is that all the commercial software he had purchased was gone because of the incompetance of the man he was unlucky enough to find at the end of his support line. That man was paid to do his job. Biomedtech was paying to get his "expert" advice. Of course, he has a point.

[forgot]

While malkantar offered a great fix, I totally agree with the lack of "expert" advice. They should have warned biomedtech.

[malkantar]

I believe that there was no need to say I was missing the point. I didn't say that their tech support was good, I just didn't comment on it at all. Instead I was trying to help him with a solution. Whether or not palm tech sucks (which seems to be sucks more than anything) wasn't what I was commenting back to him about.

Yes I understand he's pissed. Yes I understand Palm tech support didn't do the job they should have. Yes I feel sorry for him having to go through this. Was this the point of my post.... no. He had stated still can't get into secure web pages. I was addressing that issue.

Thanks,

[biomedtech]

Malkantar,

Thank you for the quick response. If this was a certificate issue, wouldn't there be a requester offering options to resolve? So far, none of the web sites(in question) have issued one to respond to. Everything appears normal, until after I enter my personal info.

Example.

I want to check my e-mail through Time Warner. I follow their hyperlink to member services, and 'log in' with username/password. After entering my info, I get a blank screen. I can go back to an earlier window, but nothing after attempt to log-in.

This is not just a TW issue. It happens with other providers that I use outside of MSN network (people pc and netzero). I've had some web pages that are large and difficult to read, but the only time a page goes completely blank, is after a secure log-in.

I don't know who to ask. Is it a Windows Mobile issue, a Palm issue, defective merchandise, or html compats?

[TazUk]

Try using Minimo and see if you're able to access those sites correctly

[malkantar]

Originally Posted by biomedtech

If this was a certificate issue, wouldn't there be a requester offering options to resolve? So far, none of the web sites(in question) have issued one to respond to. Everything appears normal, until after I enter my personal info.

All I can tell you is you have to install the cert manually, there is no option to download it if this happens to be the problem. For users at the company I work at, for them to access our Outlook Web Access, which is a secure site, I needed to load the cert onto one of their SD cards, and load it into a place on the phone manually.

I do hope the use of Minimo might help, as Taz suggested.

[serge]

I wish to apologize to malkantar for implying he missed the point, although I did add: "at least in part." I was commenting on the other issue, that of Palm tech suport, because, as I said, that was the part I understood.

[biomedtech]

Originally Posted by TazUk

Try using Minimo and see if you're able to access those sites correctly

Thanks for the reference, but Minimo doesn't make it either. Right from the start Minimo version 0.2 says that it might not display correctly because it was not written for the OS version on my PDA. The Treo700WX runs WM 5, so I don't know why minimo was saying the version wasn't correct.

Anyway, it did get one step further in the log-in process, but always put advertizements in 80% of my display, while the other 20% tried to show my mail folders. With the small amount of 'screen' real estate left, minimo never gave me scrolling arrows to move around in, and every attempt to reduce the size of advertizements only crashed minimo completely. I don't understand why this won't work.