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It was a cool, dark night.  At 4 in the morning, I arrived with my lawn chair to sit in front of the Sprint store.  I was awaiting the future, and the future was near.  It was to be the launch of the newest, latest and greatest that Palm had to offer in mobile communication.  I was going to be the first (second) to get it.  Since waiting all those hours that one night in June, I have truly enjoyed having my Palm Pre.

It has been great watching the phone grow and update through the miracle of automatic update downloads.  Each one a small gift, with a bevy of new surprises.  Aside from these updates there came the ability to download mobile applications that give the phone the ability to be a bubble level, or a fart machine, or any of a gaggle of other completely useless fun bits.  Some are free and some cost money.

Then Preware came into my life.  With over 200 free patches (and growing), a network of Linux developers find ways to make the phone do all those things you sat there going “I wish it would do that.”  Do you want to be able to see your actually battery life in a percentage instead of an icon?  There’s a patch for that.  Read your e-mail’s with the phone held sideways?  There’s a patch for that.  On screen keyboards, Add the date, hide the quick launch, add pages to the launcher, There’s a patch for that too.  I finally have the phone I want that can do the things I want and holds the Apps I want.

Then yesterday came.  I found a neat App called iStayFit.  It’s a workout application that not only charts and graphs your workouts, but it allows you to use the preset workouts for the specific target body part or create your own.  It also shows an animated example of each of the 209 exercises that are in it, so you know you’re doing it correctly.  I said, “I gotta have it.”  Most Apps that cost money run about $.99.  Some are more.

iStayfit happened to be $4.99.  Now I’ve spent more in little notebooks that I carry around the gym, that I lose, get wet with sweat and ruined, or just end up tattered and the pages fall out.  Also, These notebooks don’t show a graph of the workout’s progression.  I said, “Why not!”  I downloaded it yesterday and it looked to be exactly as described.

Then today came and I got a receipt invoice for my purchase in my e-mail and there it was.  Total sale, $5.33.   WHAT?!?!  How could that be?  The App was supposed to be $4.99.  Wait, those bastards charged $.34 in Tax.  You don’t charge taxes for on-line purchases unless the item is shipped to the same state in which it originated from.  So I called Palm to try and find out #1 Where is the developer from? #2 What tax rate are they charging? #3 Are they charging a flat rate? and #4 What do the do for states that don’t have sales tax?

A man answered and he said his name is Jing.  He might have said Jim, but I’m pretty sure he said Jing.  I told him that I wanted to speak to someone about a charge I had from an app catalog purchase.  He asked if I was having a problem with the app catalog feature on my phone.  I said no, that I wanted to talk to someone about a purchase I had made.  Jing asked if I needed help in learning how to make a purchase.  I said no, I already made a purchase and I had a question about a charge because I was charged taxes.  Jing said they don’t charge for helping.

OH KAY.  BREATH!!!  INHALE EXHALE CALM CALM CALM.

I said, “Jing, what country am I calling?”

Jing said, “The Pillippines.”  Meaning of course, the Philippines.

I asked, “Jing, can you please transfer me to an American call center please?”

Jing said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have one of those.  Only tech support is in the Pillippines.”  Again, meaning the Philippines.

Jing then spent the next 15+ minutes putting me on hold, coming back, asking a question, putting me on hold, coming back, and so on and so forth.  He was very, very nice and worked with total due diligence. But in the end he came back and said, “I’m sorry but I can’t find the answer, but maybe you can call the debeloper{sic}.  I just can’t find the information for the debeloper{sic} so you can look it up.”

I thanked Jing for trying.  He told me he was “werry happy to hep.”  A pleasant man this jing fellow was, but in the end, he didn’t reary hep me at all.  It’s not that I don’t like people who are not Americans, in fact many times I prefer them.  I’m not native myself, I’m a first generation immigrate.  But I have spent a few years riding motorcycles for a living, and my hearing is not what it used to be.  I have a difficult time with strong dialects when I can’t read their lips as well.  And on top of it, sending your call centers out of this country when you are an American company is wrong.  I don’t care if it’s cheaper, it’s unAmerican.

Anyway, I sent the developer an e-mail and I will wait for a response.  I also sent Palm an e-mail letting them know I don’t approve… I’m not waiting for a response on that one.  I’ve closed bank accounts for Indian call centers and canceled credit cards for Malaysian call centers.  This just might be the tipping point to send me to the iPhone. Oh yeah, did I mention AT&T just lowered it’s unlimited talk and data plan to match Sprint’s?

Damn you Palm, you broke my heart.