Address Book won't import local area code

Question

I'm trying to export my contact info from Palm Desktop to Address Book. Everything works fine, expect that AB doesn't import a contact's area code if it's my local area's code. In this case AB only imports a contact's 7 digit phone number. This isn't a problem with area codes outside of my local code, --they import just fine, and I get the whole 10 digits.
I've tried exporting both vCards and text files. By opening the text file with TextEdit, I have verified that Palm Desktop is indeed exporting the area codes --both my local code and distant ones. Yet when I import that same file into AB, contacts in my local area are stripped of the area code.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance, --Brian
12" Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

Thanks for your questions/suggestions. I think they have helped lead me in the right direction over the past 24 hours, though I still don't have a solution.
To make the long story short:
I believe the problem lies in the fact that as I've added contacts to Palm Desktop over the years, I've not included an area code if they were in my area. Now I'm switching to AB since it can sync with my new cell phone, and I'm needing area codes for all calls. Rather than enter my local code for hundreds of contacts, I've used a Palm preference whic sets up a "default area code."
What I have discovered is that contacts for which I have manually entered an area code transfer to AB just fine. Contacts for which this preference provides the area code lose this information in the transfer. This is baffling, because the two cases look identical when viewed with Textedit, --the area code is visible plain as day in either situation.
Just as puzzling --when AB imports a contact it gives a chance to review the information if the card is a duplicate. When I perform this review a "Text File Import" window appears. In this window areas codes always appear, --whether manually entered or provided by the Palm preference. However, in the "Reviewing Card" window which follows, cards which had Palm preference provided area codes have inexplicably lost those codes, while those with manually entered codes have retained them.
Any further thoughts?
Thanks some more, --Brian
12" Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)