The court case Kiser v. PalmOne, Inc., originally filed just over two years ago, has just been settled. Spencer Kiser filed a claim in Santa Clara, CA claiming that the flip-lid on early Treo models (namely the 180, 180g, 270, and 300) were inherently defective. Palm fought the case for a time, but has now settled the lawsuit.

Consumers who experienced problems with their flip-lid hinge and can prove out-of-pocket expenses (or are willing to swear under penalty of perjury that they experienced these problems) are eligible to receive compensation for replacement costs and will also receive a coupon for use at the Palm Store.

Details of the settlement and instructions for joining the claim can be found in PDF scans at http://kisersettlement.com/. Palm admits no wrongdoing in the settlement - it is clearly more expensive to actually fight this case than it is to just settle it.

I experienced a flip lid issue myself with a Treo 300 - but there's no way I'm applying for this settlement. Too much work for too little gain. If you're one of those with a bee in your bonnet, though, looks like the justice system has been at work for you.

As previously reported by TreoCentral, Palm is currently involved in another Treo class action lawsuit, more details are available at the Rothken Law Firm website. This lawsuit appears to be ongoing - the firm even posted a link to a Dallas CBS affliate's "Consumer hackjob Report" about the issue.

Much as I know about the frustration of having faulty devices, I have to say that in my experience Palm, Sprint, and Handspring before them have bent over backwards to make things right for me. I'm usually not too sympathetic about people who compain about out-of-control-ambulance-chasing lawyers, but in these cases (pun intended) I'll make an exception.