Develop Bugs

HTC warranty not being honoured.

Hi guys, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.
Last week I plugged my touch pro 2 in to charge. The phone was on and working fine, but the charging light would not come on.
So HTC collected my phone for repair...
Today I phoned to get the latest information and they want £160 to replace the motherboard or £11 to have the phone returned to be unrepaired. Apparently I have been running an illegal firmware and this has voided my warranty. I updated by firmware many times before settling on the one I was happy with, but it seems the one I settled with wasn't the official one. The guy quoted me SPL - 0.85.0-x.......... and said that it was a bit weird but that was why I had to pay.
So I told him that the firmware had been running fine for many months and I wanted to know the exact registry tweak that had broken the motherboard. Anyway I said I didnt accept that the firmware had anything to do with the hardware failure and would be refusing to pay.. I also gave them the sob story that I have had a new HTC phone every year for the past 7 years and have recommended many customers to them.
Where do I stand with this? I have threatened to go to the small claims court, but really just want my phone fixed for free as soon as possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated..
Andy

Honestly you asked for this. You are going to have to pay for the repair. You sent in a phone with a cracked ROM and expect them to fix anything? No way in hell will they do it for free.

when you say a cracked rom do you just mean a rom that is available on this forum?
I accept that it isn't an official rom. but it is unrelated to the issue of a phone not charging.

Unfortunately this is the norm... They can't prove your cooked ROM caused it, you can't prove it didn't. What they can prove is that you are not running the ROM they gave you and I'm sure somewhere in the T&C there's legalese about that voiding the warranty.
COULD someone write a program which interferes with charging? I'd bet so, people around here write some amazing stuff. This is not to make any accusations that someone has written any malicious code, simply that it COULD likely be done, therefore I seriously doubt you have much recourse. You could get lucky, but I suspect you're just hosed.. Sucks.
And in reality, you could send the phone in for ANY failure and they discover such things and void the warranty.
I guess you could buy extra/larger batteries and charge them in a charger and swap them as they die. Not the best solution, but at least you don't have to shell out lots of money.

well i've just sent a very professional email to customer services.
tweiss 3, you have a very negative outlook. HTC market their phones on being individual, and indeed this is why so many of us buy them over Iphones. However I took the individuality to the limit by installing a custom firmware. I am extremely confident that a ROM from this forum and a respected chef at that, would not include a registry hack that has any effect upon the charging system of the phone. And have asked them for the evidence that this is the cause of the hardware malfunction.
Positive thinking goes along way as well I feel.
Season's greetings to all of you.

Take them to court. The whole thing rediculous. Depending on your country this might actually be illegal.
I lawyered up when they tried to pull this on me, and guess who got his phone back fixed for free?

Its not that i'm negative, but there are 2 things everyone should know about warranty electronic work.
1) Always go back to stock. Will this cause you to loose all your data and settings, yes, but that leads me into step 2.
2) It is never a guarantee to come back with the settings or OS the way you sent it out. In fact, most companies have a policy of the first step being just reflash/reinstall the OS to stock default out of the box settings to see if that fixes the problems. So knowing this, spend the few extra minutes to reflash back to stock.
That being said, you could possibly win in a court to get it warrantied, but you are only going to screw yourself out of a lot of money and time. HTC knows this and will let you waste it if you really feel the need to. Their warranties are written very well, with a lot of fine print. Also most of them say "Limited" meaning almost they have all the discretion the care to use.

I agree with tweiss3. You can't send HTC a phone with a modified ROM and expect them to fix it. I'm sure these SOB's will do anything possible to get out of fixing your phone. Once they saw that you had a different SPL that was the red flag they needed to void the warranty. I hope you can convince them to fix your phone. Maybe if you were very persistent and demanded to speak to several managers, told them how you and your friends all own HTC product, inform them you will no longer buy their products and possibly take them to court, etc.
With all this in mind I'm even more hesitant to flash my phone to a modified ROM.

I kind of expect it, to be honest. As soon as they see anything not stock, they can void the warranty. Just like with a car with the manufacturer's warranty. You modify it and something breaks, and they will attempt to void the entire warranty regardless of if it caused the problem or not. When I send my car in for warranty work, I take all of the mods off and put it back to the stock parts (the air intake, etc).
It's a crappy deal, I know. But it's something you should plan for if you ever need warranty work done.
Either way, I hope everything works out for you

Its just a rule of thumb when it comes to warranty repair with electronics, always restore stock first!!! As soon as HTC discovered that your phone software was modified, it's no longer an issue to them of what caused the problem with your phone, it is now an issue of this phone is no longer under warranty because of the physical proof of the software tamperment! honestly it would be by the grace of god if they were to reinstate the warranty!

Unfortunatly due to the phone not powering on, or connecting via usb it would have been impossible to restore the firmware.
Thanks for the advice and well wishers.
Worse come to the worse is it worth repairing the phone for that price or is their anyone else who could replace the mainboard for cheaper than £160?

Dude, I totally know what you're going through. I hacked the ECU on my car, and now Mazda won't honor the warranty on my engine. It's total bull...I mean, I should be able to customize it how I want with no repercussions for myself. Why should I have to take the financial hit just because I put on a different software that controls the entire thing that may or may not have screwed it up?
If you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic. You changed the core controlling software and didn't bother to change it back to the stock one. They have no responsibility to repair it for you.

andypa1 said:
Positive thinking goes along way as well I feel.
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I honestly wish you luck. Other readers seeking warranty repair should save themselves the risk and the effort and think positively about returning the phone to stock prior to sending it in.
Last week I plugged my touch pro 2 in to charge. The phone was on and working fine, but the charging light would not come on.
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Unfortunatly due to the phone not powering on, or connecting via usb it would have been impossible to restore the firmware.
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Eh? Obviously if you can't flash it back, you're stuck. Other posters might not have been as hard on you if they had known the phone couldn't be flashed.

Now you know what needs doing I bet you can find someone to do it for less. Worth a look.
Also worth asking for it back and re-flashing and returning to see how their records work.
Do they really have a database of products they don't want to work with or do they just look at the serial, look at the device and decide ? Only one way to find out ! For £11 it might be worth the gamble.
(Plz ignore the previous any post made here earlier, I think it was the equivalent of a pocket call )

What?
I don't think he ever said they fixed it without asking him. They gave him two options:
1) Fix it
2) Return it without repairing it
Unless I missed a post somewhere, he never chose to fix it. In fact, I don't even think he chose to take it back yet.

Just an update... They decided not to replace it for free, and still ask for £160.
You guys are quite right I should have restored it to factory before sending it back. It was sent to HTC running the official upgraded rom so I thought it would be fine, however I had forgotten that it would still be unlocked for unofficial roms and they would check this.
Even if I had remembered it wouldn't have been possible because the phone usb connection was not working..
dik23 thank you for your suggestion! Is there anyway of restoring the spl and all of the phone to stock settings without a usb connection? e.g. micro sd? or wifi?
I think i'm going to ask for the phone back for £11.. However the £11 fee is for an assesment, so there is a chance they will pick up. However I believe having the phone in perfect working condition would give me a stronger standing.

did you ever try a different USB cable? that would be my first thought after it broke....
also, do you have phone insurance? if so, is there any chance in the future it could be "stolen" under the insurance policy, and at worst you would get a working refurb?

I don't have phone insurance but it might be worth while getting it soon incase of any future loss ;-)

madman1520 said:
also, do you have phone insurance? if so, is there any chance in the future it could be "stolen" under the insurance policy, and at worst you would get a working refurb?
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andypa1 said:
I don't have phone insurance but it might be worth while getting it soon incase of any future loss ;-)
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Even setting morality aside (which you shouldn't), reporting a phone as having been stolen shortly after having a warranty claim rejected is maybe not the smartest move.

i cant believe people from the US are telling you youre in the wrong. idunno about other countries, including the one you're at, but here in the US warranties are made to protect the CONSUMER not the big company. "minidevil"s comparison about a car manufacturer having the right to void your warranty is so wrong its unbelievable. so called "shrinkwrap warranties" arent even legal here in the US. i had a yamaha R1 which i used as a track bike. regardless of what the warranty said or what the dealership try to claim the minute i lawyered up they fixed my bike. simply because they knew what they hoped i didnt. that warranty laws are here to protect me not them. i didnt have to prove that the racing mods didnt fry my clutch hub. THEY had to prove it did. and like it has been said, you cant prove one way or another. here in the US i couldve asked for costs of repairing my bike and court costs for suing them. they knew this and just fixed my bike. again, idunno the laws in your country. its VERY likely youll win in a court, though. but wether or not your court system allows you to also recoup loss monies for court costs from HTC, i dont know.. it may just be cheaper to pay for the repairs.

[Q] Possible Power Button Issues

So today I went to the Sprint store to have my screen replaced, but upon doing so, somehow the technician made it so the device will no longer power on. She tried 2 different screens, so I said to just put the orignal back on so I at least have a working phone. The device still does not power on. I've noticed that the power button no longer has a clicking sense to it like it once did and it now easily sinks into the device. It seems like it just sinks right into the phone, but no matter how hard you press it, or how fine you press it (fingernail) it just won't turn on. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is there anything I can do to fix this myself?

Why did you let the tech give you a phone that doesn't power on? Get a full replacement phone. I'm sure it's just a spring clip or something that didn't get replaced quite right, but whoever did the service obviously has insufficient skills to be performing repairs.
Besides, if you try to take your phone apart yourself, you'll void the warranty.

SilverZero said:
Why did you let the tech give you a phone that doesn't power on? Get a full replacement phone. I'm sure it's just a spring clip or something that didn't get replaced quite right, but whoever did the service obviously has insufficient skills to be performing repairs.
Besides, if you try to take your phone apart yourself, you'll void the warranty.
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Click to collapse
1. There are no Evos in stock. They are currently waiting for them to get back in stock so they can order a replacement. The problem is I'm away on business and need a phone.
2. The phone has already been opened, there would be no way for them to tell whether I did it or the techs did. I have a receipt for the repair order if it comes to them accusing it was me.
3. I'm looking for ways to get my phone powered back on. I appreciate your help, but I really just need answers to my question, nothing else.

call mgt or walk in and talk to mgt. the store tech made the device nonfuntional, then the store needs to ensure that you have a communications device for your trip and a brand new EVO waiting for you when you return to your home city. perhaps you don't travel with a EVO this trip.
i don't understand why you would walk out of the store without a phone given the situation you describe. i would strongly advise having a different tech break down and rewiew your EVO. perhaps she put it together wrong (if you're lucky).

DraginMagik said:
call mgt or walk in and talk to mgt. the store tech made the device nonfuntional, then the store needs to ensure that you have a communications device for your trip and a brand new EVO waiting for you when you return to your home city. perhaps you don't travel with a EVO this trip.
i don't understand why you would walk out of the store without a phone given the situation you describe. i would strongly advise having a different tech break down and rewiew your EVO. perhaps she put it together wrong (if you're lucky).
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Click to collapse
She tried it 3 different times, I doubt she would have messed up 3 different times. Also, do you not understand that Evos are still sold out...everywhere! I walked out of the store without a phone because they didn't have one to give me. What's hard to understand about that?

I also don't understand how you can just leave the store without a functioning phone. They (in my eyes) bricked the phone, meaning it doesn't turn on at all. They should have scoured the area, calling other stores, repair centers in the area to get you a working evo (while you're waiting for a replacement).
I hope things work out for you. I'm waiting for a replacement phone and the store told me it would be less than a week wait. I had them activate an old phone for me (that I brought with me)

And even if they don't have an Evo to give you, they should be able to give you something comparable as a temp phone. You could almost have a legal issue here if their screw-up is causing your work to suffer.
If you're hell-bent on fixing it yourself, just open it up and see what you can see. Or I think there is a tear-down video somewhere from when the Evo first launched. Google it.

Well I opened it up and sure enough the button for the power was broken inside. The part that the external button presses into was snapped off somehow. So now the external button doesn't contact it. Not sure how the tech could not have discovered that herself, considering she did it. First I tried to remove it and replace it with one from the volume rocker, but decided that for now, I'm leaving the two top screws on the phone removed and using a needle to trigger the power button.
I at least have a working phone and can hold out for a replacement when they get back in stock. Yes I shouldn't have left with a phone, but this is Sprint. When asking about a loaner, they told me they could only replace it with the same phone, even for loan. It just baffles me how this company could not leave enough phones in the warehouse for replacements. It's quite simple Sprint, stop being greedy and shipping out every phone for sales. That way you can service the current customers you have that have already been paying you. It's no wonder you keep losing customers each quarter.

They "serviced" you alright.

indiearmy said:
She tried it 3 different times, I doubt she would have messed up 3 different times. Also, do you not understand that Evos are still sold out...everywhere! I walked out of the store without a phone because they didn't have one to give me. What's hard to understand about that?
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i understand that when i was in sales my phone was as important as the shoes on my feet. i would not have walked out without a working phone. evo or not. the sprint folks can fix their screwup.
whats hard to understand is why you cowed under and meekly walked out the door.

DraginMagik said:
...
whats hard to understand is why you cowed under and meekly walked out the door.
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hate to judge, but I kinda agree. prolly would have figuratively broken that place up before I left. at the very least, the mgr would have gone home tonight and kicked his dog
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

DraginMagik said:
i understand that when i was in sales my phone was as important as the shoes on my feet. i would not have walked out without a working phone. evo or not. the sprint folks can fix their screwup.
whats hard to understand is why you cowed under and meekly walked out the door.
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I didn't. What part of they didn't have any do you people not understand?
"Oh yes, well I'm going raise my voice act all mighty and tough a demand you just whip up an Evo right here and now. Come on, don't try to bull**** me, I know there must be someone here that can build those outside of it's normal manufacture plant!" I didn't meekly walk out the door, they just didn't have any. You may take the I'm an asshole customer approach, but I've learned through many years in retail that it doesn't get you anywhere. Just like it wouldn't have gotten me anywhere cause again, ranting and raving isn't magically going to make an Evo pop up in that store.

you're a good person. I wouldn't have left the store without an equivalent replacement
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

indianacurly said:
you're a good person. I wouldn't have left the store without an equivalent replacement
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably would have, because they didn't have any. Also, I was probably 75% sure I could fix it myself, or at least get a temp fix going like I describe I've done. It wasn't worth the hassle to me knowing I could fix it within the hour myself.

[Q] Returning htc evo to sprint help

Ok so im having the loose usb port problem with my phone and im going to be sending it in for warranty exchange. One thing is i rooted my phone and the S-off shows up if you look. Also i never installed custom roms or anything so it looks like a normal evo if you flip through the menus and stuff. Superuser is also gone and no root apps or anything is on the phone just that it shows s-off if you look. So will sprint look for the s-off when i ship it back to them a charge me or anything?? im also running the OTA 2.3.3

htc-evo-4g said:
Ok so im having the loose usb port problem with my phone and im going to be sending it in for warranty exchange. One thing is i rooted my phone and the S-off shows up if you look. Also i never installed custom roms or anything so it looks like a normal evo if you flip through the menus and stuff. Superuser is also gone and no root apps or anything is on the phone just that it shows s-off if you look. So will sprint look for the s-off when i ship it back to them a charge me or anything?? im also running the OTA 2.3.3
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Click to collapse
Different stores have different standards for root. My store here in knoxville told me, of course after I've unrooted sadly enough, that they do not check for s on. They only look to see if you have a custom Rom. And especially if it is a hardware, the rep told me they don't normally care either way. If it is software related, they will not work on a device running a custom Rom.
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ok well im actually sending it to sprint so do you think they will look when they receive it?

htc-evo-4g said:
ok well im actually sending it to sprint so do you think they will look when they receive it?
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Click to collapse
I'm curious as to why you are sending it? Going to the store is easier. And also, if they don't fix rooted devices, all they can do is tell you no and send you away.
But personally I don't think they will check. Especially because your issue seems to be a major hardware issue.
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well ill trying going there again but when i was there they treated me like i was stupid and must have taken my truck and ran my phone over millions of times just to break the small internal usb port! like really?? when i go what should i say? the first time i went i said my usb port is broken and they told be i abuse the phone as i expressed and there repair tech had left already.

htc-evo-4g said:
well ill trying going there again but when i was there they treated me like i was stupid and must have taken my truck and ran my phone over millions of times just to break the small internal usb port! like really?? when i go what should i say? the first time i went i said my usb port is broken and they told be i abuse the phone as i expressed and there repair tech had left already.
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I also have had bad experiences at Sprint stores. They all seem to treat you like you're dumb, but soemtimes you get lucky and get to speak with a nice respectful rep.
Here is what I would say/do.
First, do you have insurance? That is very important.
If you do, try this. But proceed with caution.
Take your micro usb cord and really jam up your slot. Like, really bend the attachment piece out of place.
Go in and tell the rep that your device does not charge properly and really needs repair or replaced. Ask nicely. I'm sure those peeps deal with jerks all day long. Prolly why they dish back out to some of us nice folks.
Show the repair tech the damage.
If you have insurance they will be more than happy to help you.
If you don't have insurance please please please do not take this route!!!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

nope dont have insurance and the phone is only 7 months old and im having this problem and dont want to have to shell out mounds of cash to fix a pretty much brand new phone. wont sprint acknowledge this is a problem and replace it regardless?

htc-evo-4g said:
nope dont have insurance and the phone is only 7 months old and im having this problem and dont want to have to shell out mounds of cash to fix a pretty much brand new phone. wont sprint acknowledge this is a problem and replace it regardless?
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Oh.......
Here is the deal. I've asked several different sprint reps about this over the phone as well as in the store.
Once you purhase your Evo, sprint gives you a 30 day warranty. Within 30 days, you are eligible to return phone, trade phones, or replace phone with a brand new one if there are manufacture defects.
After 30 days, your Sprint purchase warranty ends. But HTC also has a warranty. It is a one year limited warranty. It is mainly for defects and other various issues. Basically, you send your phone ($6 shipping handling) to HTC and they diagnose it. If it is manufacture defect, they either repair or send you a refurbished device without charge. If they decide it is user error or you damaged phone, they call or email you to inform you that you have two options. A. pay full price for repair and shipping back home. B. Pay 35$ fee to get phone back unrepaired.
The deal is this. Sprint offers you the service and guarantees you service and only the service. Your device was not made by sprint but by HTC, and being so, issues must be dealt with through HTC...unless you purchase insurance.
This is my advice to you. Call sprint. Ask them about insurance. It is $7 a month. Ask them how soon it takes affect after you purchase it. Usually is immediate. Then, in the next week or so, go to sprint store. Now you have insurance and they will deal with you and repair your phone right there and then. And if you want, later after your device is fixed, you cancel insurance.
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ok ill go with the insurance way. they wont suspect fraud or anything thats the only reason i didnt want to do the insurance method

Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you!
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[Q] How do I short circuit my E4GT? (serious)

Long story short, I flashed a boatloader for the european version of the phone and my phone is bricked.
I want to know how to short circuit my phone without making it look intentional. I am not insured but I do have warrenty, if I short circuit the phone, will they be able to fix it in the sprint store? I am really hoping they don't. I just want a new phone. I was told that I was have to pay a $35 fee to get the phone fixed, what do you guys think? BEst way to short circuit this phone? (Not with water please)
UPDATE:
So my cuz and I went to the sprint store and his friend saw the phone and the first thing he asked if it was rooted, I said yeah. He couldn't fix it, but said he will take care of it when exchanging it and since I didn't have insurance, I had to pay the $35 warranty exchange. Furthermore, I added the insurance with the exhange, I am picking up the exchanged phone tomorrow because it had to be ordered.
Thanks a lot guys for the help.

This is why im glad i have insurance if i brick it its at the bottom of a lake. What warranty. As he said even download mode warns you of the possible warranty voiding. Least expensive option now is probably repair.

Besides the things I'd like to say about this situation, I'll say something else. It won't go into download mode? You could try getting a USB jig and see if that will force it into download mode. I'm holding back the temptation to say something really smartass. This was a very expensive lesson, huh? Sending it in to unbrick it, if all else fails, is your last resort. With a $500 phone, you can't afford NOT to get insurance for it?! Even if you had insurance, you wouldn't get a brand new phone.
I'm not trying to be a ****, so don't take it that way.

im referring to the 1 year warrenty that comes with the phone, it protections against defections in the phone. If I short circuit it, it will be defected... no more useless comments please, don't remind me of what I already know; I know that I should have gotten the insurance, enough said about that.
Would really appreciate it if someone could actually answer my question

newalker, would sprint be able to tell that the phone is rooted if i shorted out to the point that it wont turn on? was thinking about using a 9 volt battery to do so.

sabatheman said:
im referring to the 1 year warrenty that comes with the phone, it protections against defections in the phone. If I short circuit it, it will be defected... no more useless comments please, don't remind me of what I already know; I know that I should have gotten the insurance, enough said about that.
Would really appreciate it if someone could actually answer my question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you fry the usb port theyll blame it on you using an aftermarket charger since your stock one is fine. You probably wont be lucky enough to even keep them from checking the rom status. You have a phone capable of being repaired by samsung soon you may have nothing.
The warranty covering defects was voided by a custom rom. The reason they wont honor it after rooting or custom rom is things such as overclocking. Many things can be done via software that would normally be replaced as defective.
If you cant make it so they never find out then all warrantys are null and void period. Truth and fact.

how do I get this 35 dollar exchange done sir? How can I get the 35 dollar exchange w/o them finding out I rooted the phone? :/ been such a stressful week, been bricked for a week. What's the BEST thing I can do right now in my situation?>

sabatheman said:
how do I get this 35 dollar exchange done sir? How can I get the 35 dollar exchange w/o them finding out I rooted the phone? :/ been such a stressful week, been bricked for a week. What's the BEST thing I can do right now in my situation?>
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Click to collapse
If you haven't read these two threads, I'd suggest doing so. Neither thread has lead to a solution yet (other than getting the phone replaced).
help - I did something bad
I screwed up / Installing ICS for international SGS2
Good luck...

I will leave this here as well. This is the SGS2 i9100 USB driver. It is a rar file. You will need to extract it and install. See if Odin will recognize the phone after installing. Please report back....
http://db.tt/g8hP2llV
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

#1 --- Avoid Flashing Cooked ROMS on your phone...live with stock!!! I do and havn't had any problems at all..
Seems like there are more people complaining about all theses cooked ROMS and how they either work perfectly...or suck some way or another or have tons of glichs.
#2 --- Always, and I mean Always get $8 insurance on a Smartphone, in the long run this will save your ass...big time...
#3 --- People look at the 2 year contact price of the phone...not the really price of the phone (which is $549 I believe) and thats what gets them in trouble...ahhh my phones only $200 or less, I dont need insurance...yet if you break your phone you have a POS brick weight...that will now cost you over $500 to replace...or you could pay $8 a month and if something goes wrong, The Sprint Repair Center will fix it free...or replace it with a refurb unit....Even if you make a claim due to water damage or something, its still cheaper than the $500+ dollars you will have to fork out...

JohnCorleone said:
I will leave this here as well. This is the SGS2 i9100 USB driver. It is a rar file. You will need to extract it and install. See if Odin will recognize the phone after installing. Please report back....
http://db.tt/g8hP2llV
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your one smart guy John. You have helped me a several times with some responses to my questions and I really appreciate it. If your idea works you’ll make a quite a few people happy on here. Seen a handful of these issues with people flashing the Int versions. If this doesn’t work I would use the 9V battery idea and run it across the board.

sabatheman said:
If I short circuit it, it will be defected...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit,... not worth the time
This is why you READ, and READ some more!!!

I dare you to bring it to my store. Nothing gets passed a well trained tech. Your best bet is to go to an advanced exchange only store, the reps are not trained like the techs. Pay the 35 and call it a day. As for the microwave comment, solder points get a white residue on them after being microwaved, to a trained tech it looks like corrosion.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Sorry, not to be n [email protected]@hole here, because what happened to you really sucks, but if you screwed up your phone by doing something dangerous without doing proper research (ie: try to flash something designed for the European Galaxy S2 onto an Epic touch), why should Sprint eat the cost and give you a replacement phone? I mean you are basically asking for a way to cheat Sprint.
Something to consider. I really do feel for you and hope somehow someone comes up with a fix.

the best easy to do what ur asking and not get caught would be to take a fully charged 18v battery from a drill, 2 wires either stripped on both end or to make it easier put alligator crimps.on each end and hook the battery to the terminals on back of phone where battery usually touches and then hit the power button on your phone. it will leave no trace and even if it does get powered up its well enough outside the read parameters to where nobody can catch it. ive seen this done already to atleast 7 or 8 phones. have fun
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Pay to get it jtaged i don't know how many people have done this we are not illiterate? On topic leave it a a hit place my fiance forgot her phone in the car when it was hot really hot and it messed up.
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So sprint covers rooted phones but doesn't cover physically damaged phones......try telling the truth and not being an idiot and listening to almost anyone else here. 9v battery? Really?
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TheShackSpecialist said:
9v battery? Really?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wrong radio shack, 18 volt
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Aren't you able to add insurance on your phone at any time??
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Yes you can but it would look suspicious if the phone needed work shortly after the insurance kicked in.

Wrong Rom: A Cautionary Tale

I'd like to share with you all my tale of rom flashing gone horribly wrong. It's really only important for 2 pieces of misinformation that I've seen kicking around the forums. First, the story.
I had already rooted my Telus Galaxy S3 (SGH-i747M), but was still running stock. I started looking around for compatible roms running JB, but didn't have much luck (finding ones that support the Canadian version is not easy). At the same time, I had to update and reset my old Galaxy S2 for a relative who was taking it off my hands. I found a JB rom that was available for both the S2 and S3, from the same dev. I decided to try both out, downloaded them and copied the respective files to the S2 and S3, but quickly realized that the S3 version didn't support my Canadian phone. No problem, I'll leave the S3 as rooted stock.
I proceeded to flash and install the rom on my S2. Everything seemed to be going fine until the first reboot after flashing. The phone appeared to be completely dead. I tried putting the phone into download mode but it was completely dead and would not even show signs that it was plugged into a power outlet. Then, horror. Both my S2 and S3 are in Otterbox Commuter cases. They look very similar. At 1 in the morning in a dimly lit room, they look identical.
Yes. Like an idiot, I had installed the incompatible S3 rom to my Canadian S3. I had, in fact, hard bricked my phone. I set aside my grief for 10 minutes and got the S2 done, as that was the original goal of this adventure. That worked fine. Of course.
For the next several hours and most of the following day, I searched and searched. I ended up on the posts talking about QHSUSB_DLOAD and how I'd screwed myself. No hope. Only option is either JTAG service or, and this brings me to misinformation #1, sending it back to Samsung. Why send a rooted and screwed phone back to Samsung? Well, the argument was that in all likeliness they wouldn't be able to tell and would probably just get it up and running anyway, perhaps with some nominal fee. Also, and here comes misinformation #2, there was a good chance that they would have to fix the problem in order to verify it.
Thankfully, in my only intelligent move in the last year, I had opted to choose the extra device protection offered by my carrier. Which meant, if it wasn't covered under warranty, I could get a brand new phone at a significantly reduced rate. But it did mean I had to send it in to Samsung first. And so, I walked into a carrier store and simply stated that it wouldn't power up. I neglected to mention the whole "I'm an idiot and accidentally installed an incompatible rom at 1AM". At the end of the day, they don't care anyway.
So I waited for almost 3 weeks before getting an update from my carrier. Samsung had looked at it and had a quote. I called the store to find out the cost. The phone needs a new mainboard. $350+ (I remember it being more than $350 but less than $400). Ah, no thank you. I politely declined and contacted the company providing the device protection. No problem, phone would be in my hands in 2-3 business days. I just need to send the damaged phone back when I get it from Samsung.
When the phone did get back from Samsung (within 24 hours, I might add), it came with a note to the carrier indicating that the phone had been rooted. The store manager actually made a good point too. If they were able to get it up and running to figure out it was rooted, why did it need a new mainboard? In all likeliness, they just wanted to teach me a $350+ lesson in voiding the warranty. So, what did I learn from this experience?
1) If you are rooting multiple phones, don't leave them all laying around in identical cases in a dimly lit room at 1AM.
2) Don't root phones in a dimly lit room at 1AM.
3) If you royally mess up your bootloader and it won't boot up, Samsung can still boot up that phone.
4) If that same phone is rooted, Samsung can not only tell, but ensure that the phone remains in it's screwed state for return.
5) They might just try and teach you a $350+ lesson; my guess is this ultimately depends on who looks at it (just like walking into an Apple store and walking out with a replacement, prior to Applecare+).
If anyone is curious why I didn't JTAG service the phone, it's simply because I can't afford to wait that long without a phone and the cost difference between JTAG and my device protection plan is not significant.

I think the are full of it.. I bet they did not even boot it up.

It would be possible for them to boot into download mode using a JTAG device, flash a working bootloader and at the very least load up a recovery environment terminal to check for root access. This is assuming of course they couldn't do this directly from their JTAG skipping having to fix the bootloader. Even so whats to stop them flashing a non working bootloader back to the device after they found what they are looking for. Not only would this not take very long, for the chance at turning 350 bucks work of profit vs a warranty fix im sure the techs are required to do this. This of course doesn't justify the obvious fact that a replacement motherboard is completely ridiculous. I'm of the opinion that it isn't right to cheat the manufacturers by getting warranty replacements on user created errors, however if they are attempting to gouge the end user instead of just charge them to fix the problem then i say all's fair. Lets face it, its not as if they don't take these warranty devices, especially the hard bricked ones, and simply fix the software, repackage and sell them again.

Exactly. I sent it in and fully expected some kind of charge, like labor, to get it working again. But not almost $400.

Yea, that is pretty lame. Its no different than a damaged led lens, which they charge the full LED assembly price of $175 instead of just fixing the problem. I just did this today on my phone for $20 and an hour or so of my time.

Wow that sucks. At least your other phone still works.
sent from my rooted galaxy 3.6

Noob question:
Did you use Triangle Away? If they can just boot up the device and find if you have root access, is the point of Triangle Away just aesthetics?

I think that is more or less an easy give away the uneducated rep at the sales counter can look for.

i must confess i've rooted my phone dozens of times, and i can say that over 80% of those were in the dark after midnight.

Yeah, me too. It only takes one mistake though ...

yes rooting is such another .apk on the phone and certainly does not void the hardware warranty... Obviouisly they should charge you for software issues which you did.. did you get the phone back and have someone else jtag and fix it?

No. I have to send it back in to the company I have device protection through. But I have a new S3 already. JTAG would probably work, but it would take too long and isn't much cheaper than getting the new one.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

And yeah your full of it lmao. I had a galaxy s3 that just stopped working after being left in charger a night. Took it.to a rsi (Samsung official customer service and service center here in dallas Texas) and they said the motherboard was ruined. And it was stock non rooted. And it was covered under warranty and they had to create a new imei for the phone. So $350? Yeah right
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium

Sorry, I'm full of it? Your phone is non rooted, so your point is completely moot. Your phone legitimately died. Mine was screwed because of my own fault of flashing the wrong rom. There was and is nothing wrong with the motherboard on this phone. They were just trying to teach me a $350 lesson in rooting/voiding my warranty. But thanks for your insightful comment.

JTAG
bionemesis said:
Sorry, I'm full of it? Your phone is non rooted, so your point is completely moot. Your phone legitimately died. Mine was screwed because of my own fault of flashing the wrong rom. There was and is nothing wrong with the motherboard on this phone. They were just trying to teach me a $350 lesson in rooting/voiding my warranty. But thanks for your insightful comment.
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happened to be last night,only option was to JTAG it so sent it to MTV Mobile Tech Videos,sucks ass....will se how long i am in Texas and sent it to Bryan Texas.Hopefully Get it back albeit in one piece by Wednesday Meanwhile i have no Phone.

This is not to offend anyone or cause a flamme war.
But I don't think people should be lying to Samsung or any carrier, that 1. Your phone isn't bricked/rooted and 2. That you have no idea of what's going on and it just wouldn't turn on.
You as a user should hold all responsibility for a bricked device. Should they charge you 400$? Damn right they should.
That's one of the many reasons why Samsung and many other carriers either ship their devices with locked bootloaders or don't release source code. And don't say the whole "I played 500$ for my phone I get to do what I want," yeah you're completely right. But let's say you're changing your cars oil and the person being the n00b that they are decides to mix synthetic oil and convention oil in the engine. Oh no you're screwed. You dont take your car to the dealership saying "I don't know what happened the engine just won't turn on," THEYRE GOING TO KNOW lol, and expect to get a free car or not get charged for your miss hap. C'mon. If you screw up at least be responsible to pay some kind of fee to get it fixed. I despise folks who "try to play the system" because of them phones will be locked down in the near future. Now its illegal to carrier unlock your device unless its paid for because of folks like that. I understand the OPs mistake. Yeah I've done it. But I paid to fix my mistake. Be responsible people. We're grown ups here. Same with flashing stuff. Do a little reading before you start a thread on how you "bricked your phone" but its really stuck in a boot loop.
Just my 2¢
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

I couldn't read all of that I must have a terrible attention span these days.
But I did read that you were with telus, not at&t; but of course its morally wrong to lie to at&t but the way I see it is I pay them $2000+ over the course of my contract for this phone and if I want to take advantage of their warranty system to save $300-400 (a small fraction of what they're making off of 1 customer) and try my best to get a free replacement you can bet your ass I will.

Heisenberg420 said:
I couldn't read all of that I must have a terrible attention span these days.
But I did read that you were with telus, not at&t; but of course its morally wrong to lie to at&t but the way I see it is I pay them $2000+ over the course of my contract for this phone and if I want to take advantage of their warranty system to save $300-400 (a small fraction of what they're making off of 1 customer) and try my best to get a free replacement you can bet your ass I will.
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Click to collapse
I see were you're getting at but you pay ATT for a service, not a phone. Those 300-400$ are for Samsung, which is different. They're kind of giving you a discount. Phone cost 700$ but they'll kindly replace it for 300$ they're being lenient about it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

bionemesis said:
If anyone is curious why I didn't JTAG service the phone, it's simply because I can't afford to wait that long without a phone and the cost difference between JTAG and my device protection plan is not significant.
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Click to collapse
JTAG costs $50 and has a two day return.

Did you try a jig to force the phone into download mode.?