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.

HELLLPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is in the wrong forum but its an emergancy,
So lets say i dropped my phone in the pool, and it wont turn on, i have insurance its rooted and running a custom rom,.... can they fond out its rooted even though it wont boot, thx please reply quick
*It wont even recognize u touch the power button and even try to turn on*
been in rice for over 3 hours

if you have insurance then whats the emergency? have tmo send you a new phone...
not only that but ANYONE could have answered this question...see, im doing it right now, and im not a dev, and i JUST CAME from checking the general and Q&A sections, so its not like nobody wouldve seen it there, cus i was just there and i wouldve been back there later, too...AND did i mention im not a DEV....so why do you think you deserve to break the rules just because youre clumsy?
if you had posted in the right place i still wouldve seen it, and i still wouldve answered, just without all the "wrong section" BS. i wouldve been alot nicer about it if you hadnt tried to act like youre better than everyone else. everyone esle has to follow the rules, but apparently you think that you dont...
put the phone in a [ziploc] bag of rice for a few days, thatll pull out all the moisture and maybe you can resurrect it...
post in the right section...whether you think its an emergency or not...
thread reported....
-BMFC

Whoareyou said:
I know this is in the wrong forum but its an emergancy,
So lets say i dropped my phone in the pool, and it wont turn on, i have insurance its rooted and running a custom rom,.... can they fond out its rooted even though it wont boot, thx please reply quick
*It wont even recognize u touch the power button and even try to turn on*
been in rice for over 3 hours
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Click to collapse
If it won't boot or respond at all, I honestly don't see how they can see it's rooted.
Now about getting a replacement. Insurance companies don't like replacing wet phones. I have no idea why. What difference does it make if it's wet or just dropped/lost?
Now, if your insurance covers water damage, ( I have it too, I THINK it does but I'm not sure, I'd call T-Mobile and just ask them if the insurance covers it. If it does, tell them your problem. Make sure you clarify whether it's covered or not first).
If they say it's not covered, say thanks, and hang up. Remember, you have to make it seem like you're just asking about your insurance, not that you need it.
Now this is where it gets sketchy. I know for sure the warranty covers you losing your phone. Call T-Mobile back, make sure it's a different Rep, and tell them you lost your phone, have the insurance, and need a replacement.
Now, this could be taken as insurance fraud which is illegal, but what difference does it make if the phone is lost or wet? Either way my phone is lost to me, and someone who's phone gets wet pays the same amount of money monthly for insurance as someone who simply loses their phone.

oh if its asurion, they'll replace wet... it will cost a deductible... oh and WRONG THREAD! but no they wouldnt give a damn if its rooted, you know the government said today that we are allowed to root our stuff

migueltherocker said:
If it won't boot or respond at all, I honestly don't see how they can see it's rooted.
Now about getting a replacement. Insurance companies don't like replacing wet phones. I have no idea why. What difference does it make if it's wet or just dropped/lost?
Now, if your insurance covers water damage, ( I have it too, I THINK it does but I'm not sure, I'd call T-Mobile and just ask them if the insurance covers it. If it does, tell them your problem. Make sure you clarify whether it's covered or not first).
If they say it's not covered, say thanks, and hang up. Remember, you have to make it seem like you're just asking about your insurance, not that you need it.
Now this is where it gets sketchy. I know for sure the warranty covers you losing your phone. Call T-Mobile back, make sure it's a different Rep, and tell them you lost your phone, have the insurance, and need a replacement.
Now, this could be taken as insurance fraud which is illegal, but what difference does it make if the phone is lost or wet? Either way my phone is lost to me, and someone who's phone gets wet pays the same amount of money monthly for insurance as someone who simply loses their phone.
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or you can just leave the phone (without the sim) somewhere public. then it is lost.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

jdkoreclipse said:
or you can just leave the phone (without the sim) somewhere public. then it is lost.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
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Good luck explaining why you took out your SIM card. Back when the G1 had first come out, my friend got it, and we were at his house and stupid me pushed him in the pool thinking he didn't have his phone on him. He took out his SIM card and put it in his old sidekick 3 and called T-Mobile, he told them he lost his phone, and they wouldn't believe him since he still had his SIM. They thought he was just saying this to get a new phone for free to sell it.

or take out the sim.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

Thanks for your support, thx

As a ex phone tech, I can tell you for sure... there's no way they can tell your phone is rooted if it wont power on. They just check for physical or water damage. Thats it. Just tell them what happened and get ready to pay $150 for a replacement though.

Oh great, i hope it dosent come to that, its in a bag of rice and im just praying it works tomorow.

Today a new change to Copyright law was announced at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ that protects users from being discriminated against for having "rooted" or "jailbroken" their phones. Furthermore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act details that "a manufacturer cannot void a warranty because of an aftermarket replacement part unless they can prove that the part caused the failure (e.g. those early unlocks that scrambled the baseband's IMEI info)." This can be treated as (because of how the Act was written): "[your carrier/manufacturer] cannot legally void the warranty for a mere jailbreak, but could void the warranty for an unlock that goes wrong and bricks the phone by damaging the baseband or boot loader."
Point being: tell them to **** off or you'll call the FCC or your lawyer.

nbetcher said:
Today a new change to Copyright law was announced at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ that protects users from being discriminated against for having "rooted" or "jailbroken" their phones. Furthermore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act details that "a manufacturer cannot void a warranty because of an aftermarket replacement part unless they can prove that the part caused the failure (e.g. those early unlocks that scrambled the baseband's IMEI info)." This can be treated as (because of how the Act was written): "[your carrier/manufacturer] cannot legally void the warranty for a mere jailbreak, but could void the warranty for an unlock that goes wrong and bricks the phone by damaging the baseband or boot loader."
Point being: tell them to **** off or you'll call the FCC or your lawyer.
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I really don't think this has to do with an aftermarket part. And I really don't think that manufacturers have to honor a warranty when the product they put out has been altered in a way that voids said warranty. The new law simply states that the owner of the phone isn't subect to any legal troubles because of what they modified.
With all of that being said, you ****ed up your phone, knowingly posted in the wrong section because you think you'll get a faster response, and now you're hoping someone can tell you the magical way to get a new phone for free.
Good luck with that.

Whoareyou said:
I know this is in the wrong forum but its an emergancy,
So lets say i dropped my phone in the pool, and it wont turn on, i have insurance its rooted and running a custom rom,.... can they fond out its rooted even though it wont boot, thx please reply quick
*It wont even recognize u touch the power button and even try to turn on*
been in rice for over 3 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, wrong section........
Please post in proper place!

Whoareyou said:
Oh great, i hope it dosent come to that, its in a bag of rice and im just praying it works tomorow.
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Dude, if you really wanna save it... take it apart and dry it out. You need a torx screwdriver #5 and look online for help on disassembly. Ive had many water damaged phones resurrected from death but you have to take them apart. Letting them dry by themselves will take a week and might ruin the board due to corrosion. Then you'll have to open it anyways and clean the chips with an old toothbrush and rubbing alcohol. But you might already have corroded chips and function is impaired somewhat or totally. So take it apart CAREFULLY (lowes or home depot or whatever hardware store have torx screw drivers for under $10 and have multi bits with the screwdriver) and dry it out and clean the board and everypart you can with the alcohol and toothbrush. The lcd is a ***** so be careful. Worse case senerio... you can just put it together and make your insurance claim. But keep it in the rice bag (lol! Never heard that one! It will take a week till it drys out, especially the lcd. Dont turn it on until a week has passed. It might make it worse. That is unless you take it apart and do it the right way) Until you can get a torx screwdriver tomorrow.

tmobile will replace it in the store. Its a flagship phone. they do warrenty and inx for flagship phones in the store.

LAKERHATER4 said:
Um, wrong section........
Please post in proper place!
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Show some mercy, Frieza. Or we'll send Goku after ya!

krolla03 said:
tmobile will replace it in the store. Its a flagship phone. they do warrenty and inx for flagship phones in the store.
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Not for a liquid damaged phone, lol!

Do you have a mental disorder that disallows you from posting in the correct forum section?

nbetcher said:
Today a new change to Copyright law was announced at: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ that protects users from being discriminated against for having "rooted" or "jailbroken" their phones. Furthermore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act details that "a manufacturer cannot void a warranty because of an aftermarket replacement part unless they can prove that the part caused the failure (e.g. those early unlocks that scrambled the baseband's IMEI info)." This can be treated as (because of how the Act was written): "[your carrier/manufacturer] cannot legally void the warranty for a mere jailbreak, but could void the warranty for an unlock that goes wrong and bricks the phone by damaging the baseband or boot loader."
Point being: tell them to **** off or you'll call the FCC or your lawyer.
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Click to collapse
Right off the site you linked:
"The Librarian of Congress has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) until the conclusion of the next rulemaking."
That has nothing to do with warranties on the phone, only with them restricting our ability to root and jailbreak, etc. The wireless carriers aren't saying we can't root our phones or anything like that. They ARE however saying that the warranty is void if you root it. That is not illegal, they can make any warranty terms they want. This is saying that it is LEGAL to root and jailbreak, etc... not that it's illegal to void your warranty because you rooted your phone.
Also, just like chrisinaz said, the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act only references using different PARTS, not different software. It has nothing to do with rooting/jailbreaking in any way.
Oh yeah, to the OP (WhoAreYou): Nobody cares if you think your 'emergency' is so damn important. POST IN THE RIGHT SECTION. Anyway, the MT3GS will cost you $130 to replace thru Asurion. Remember it's insurance, not a warranty, so this WILL be covered by Asurion either way. They really don't care, I can definitely assure you that! If you get something exchanged under warranty, then you gotta worry about unrooting...

r0man said:
Do you have a mental disorder that disallows you from posting in the correct forum section?
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LOL! Obviously, he thinks he'll get a quicker response by posting the busier sub forum section. And remember he's a VIP for creating his own rom by using Eugene's and adding a stock launcher to it and passing it off as a custom rom and creating another useless thread in the devleopment section. I shouldn't have even given him advice the more I think about it. We are all just adding more fuel to the fire...

Extremely important question..

okay, my charging port just broke, so i can't connect to usb, and i have 30 percent battery, and i want to take this to sprint tomorrow, but its rooted. i want to RUU, but i cant because i can't connect via USB. how do i get rid of my root?

You could probably get away without unrooting it, if you just bring it in with a dead battery and say the mizcro USB port is broken. Lots of people on here have said that they returned their Evos without the reps even looking at them.

dhMassacre said:
okay, my charging port just broke, so i can't connect to usb, and i have 30 percent battery, and i want to take this to sprint tomorrow, but its rooted. i want to RUU, but i cant because i can't connect via USB. how do i get rid of my root?
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might want to change the title of your thread so in the future it can be found easier when searching...
mistersquirrle said:
You could probably get away without unrooting it, if you just bring it in with a dead battery and say the mizcro USB port is broken. Lots of people on here have said that they returned their Evos without the reps even looking at them.
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good info..

Well, When I worked at a "A" store for sprint for the last couple of years (A meaning service and repair with extremely high traffic) a broken port is considered physical damage and shouldn't be replaced at the store level....without you paying a fee, so if you have insurance your probably going to just end up paying 100$ and having them send you one anyway.
per policy.....
now... I mentioned that we were an A store because some of the third party repair stores or smaller ones will overlook some physical damage...hit or miss.
But policy says your boned.
just a thought.
second thought.... if you want DONT mention that the port is broken, and brick your phone by trying to flash it or something and let the battery die at the same time haha.
and go in and be like, yo man, my phone wont turn on.
third thought.... alot of sprint employees dont care or dont know WTF rooting your phone is, make it look stock and they arent going to check to see if its rooted, they will only notice if something is crazy looking..and even then just say oh yeah its a mod from the market i forget what its called...
I worked for sprint for 3 years... trust me, we don't care, be nice and you'll probably just be fine. stay away from the managers, more likely to send you away.

My store up here they know whay flashing and rooting is... only because they do it also.. the guy who sold me the phone told me about the free teethering by rooting... but didnt tell me to not update..
sent from my Evo

I don't think they'll care. LOL. It's just rooting your choice + i think it's legal now ?

It is legal, but under the sprint protection and crap they say tampering and messing with the phone and what not, makes that all go away.

i expected something else... but you did get yourself in a pickle. my first instinct would be to fix it myself. sounds like you physically broke the connections to the usb plug? might just need a quick pass of a soldering iron. it's just that people are so quick to get rid of an electronic device when the fix can be so simple. -not saying thats your situation; it's only the thought in my head at the moment.

Rooting is legal with all insurance until u flash a software...anyway...broke USB port should b covered at store level...I've had my camera lens crack on previous phones and they got me a free replacement
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Sprint is ok with rooting/hacking/softmodding of their phones. At least the California branches are. They don't ebrace or encourage you to hack your phone, but if you walk in with one, they won't sent you packing even after they detected it. In the past, my HTC Touch's screen started going bad, so I brought it in to get it repaired. Right off the bat, the store manager knew it was softmodded; he actually questioned me about apps and compared his custom rom with mines. I thought it was weird, and feeling confident, I asked him isn't it against store policy to hack the phones? His exact words were: "No, we actaully support it. We, as well as every other users, knows, Sprint and manufacturers does not make quick enough updates; therefore, many users turn to developers for help. Sprint is begining to see that custom ROMs are benifiting more and more users. We want to be able to retain/gain customers instead of lose, even if that means a little sacrafice (in this case, phone hacking). As long as our customer are happy, we are happy." I was like "WOW, Sprint is cool with phone modding"!!! I had AT&T before and my sister currently has Verizon, and no way in hell were they this cool about phone softmodding. As far as rooting/installing custom rom goes, I just hope there's no mass mob of idioits who repeatedly bricks their phone and bring it in for warranty. It might be the only reason why Sprint would probably turn their heads away from accepting rooted/hacked phones.

kris54241 said:
Rooting is legal with all insurance until u flash a software...anyway...broke USB port should b covered at store level...I've had my camera lens crack on previous phones and they got me a free replacement
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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INCORRECT INCORRECT INCORRECT, Its people with your attitude that came into the store and gave me a nightmarish headache.
what in the world makes you think a physically damaged product is covered under a limited warranty? it is not.
you may have gotten lucky, or someone was stupid, or someone was really nice to you and replaced your phone because of the camera lens crack but dont continue the stupid cycle by saying "it should be taken care of" NO IT SHOULDN'T why cant people comprehend someone just did you a solid? dont expect it, appreciate it.
cause I will tell you right now its no ones policy anywhere to replace anything thats been damaged for free.
Physical damage always has and always will be directed to asurion unless someone feels like being nice to you, OR because the item is defective.
Broken camera lens and broken charging port DO NOT fall into that category.

6ixtynin9 said:
Sprint is ok with rooting/hacking/softmodding of their phones. At least the California branches are. They don't ebrace or encourage you to hack your phone, but if you walk in with one, they won't sent you packing even after they detected it. In the past, my HTC Touch's screen started going bad, so I brought it in to get it repaired. Right off the bat, the store manager knew it was softmodded; he actually questioned me about apps and compared his custom rom with mines. I thought it was weird, and feeling confident, I asked him isn't it against store policy to hack the phones? His exact words were: "No, we actaully support it. We, as well as every other users, knows, Sprint and manufacturers does not make quick enough updates; therefore, many users turn to developers for help. Sprint is begining to see that custom ROMs are benifiting more and more users. We want to be able to retain/gain customers instead of lose, even if that means a little sacrafice (in this case, phone hacking). As long as our customer are happy, we are happy." I was like "WOW, Sprint is cool with phone modding"!!! I had AT&T before and my sister currently has Verizon, and no way in hell were they this cool about phone softmodding. As far as rooting/installing custom rom goes, I just hope there's no mass mob of idioits who repeatedly bricks their phone and bring it in for warranty. It might be the only reason why Sprint would probably turn their heads away from accepting rooted/hacked phones.
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YMMV by location.

[Q] Make phone "defective" via software mod?

Hey guys,
You all are true genius', so I will ask you all for your help/opinion.
I don't have insurance on my Incredible, because I bought it second hand, and replaced my Eris with it. Verizon won't insure the phone because it wasn't brought through them. However, If i can prove that the phone is defective on it's own accord, ie via software, maybe they will swap it.
**Mod Edit - Warranty Fraud Comments Removed** That way when I show it to them, they would have to default swap it. They would probably try and do a factory reset, but that would keep the same rooted rom, right? Not sure how that works.
Maybe i'm just being silly, and can just pay for what ever the repair is...

That is something called fraud. I don't think you're going to get much help with that

That's rather dishonest, wouldn't you say?

Sorry, I was really upset when I woke up and posted that..anyway I can have this thread deleted please? Rather embarassing, sorry, I'm just really upset i've never had a smartphone break on me

So.... what's wrong with it?

Phone works fine, screen just shattered. I was showing it off to a bunch of Apple people and demonstrating why it ran circles around the iPhone. Set it down on my lap, and then some drunk kid knocked into my chair and it faceplanted onto the floor.
So..cracked screen :-/

1) warranty only covers phones without physical damage
2) drunk kid owes you a phone
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

W4LLY said:
Phone works fine, screen just shattered. I was showing it off to a bunch of Apple people and demonstrating why it ran circles around the iPhone. Set it down on my lap, and then some drunk kid knocked into my chair and it faceplanted onto the floor.
So..cracked screen :-/
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That kid would either have a bloody nose or would of payed for my phone in my case
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

lol. Yah Verizon could care less if the phone is defective if it has a giant cracked screen. Obviously they would think that the damage to the phone affect the internals of it or something along those lines.

Not sure how you'll get a kid, who involuntarily bumped into you (at a party I'm assuming if the guy was drunk) to pay for your phone, but good luck tracking him down now. Also, probably not a great idea to have your phone sitting on your lap at a place with hard flooring while people are drunk. Put the phone in your pocket or keep it held in your hand.
I lol'd that you broke your phone trying to show up some iPhone users.

1) warranty only covers phones without physical damage
2) drunk kid owes you a phone
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
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Not true. If you pay for insurance thru Verizon it absolutely covers physical damage, lost, etc. Manufactured warranty would only cover if the damage was because of some defect.
Cory
"Results may vary."

yeah, it's hopeless man, you're life is officially over...
1. Google.com
2. HTC incredible digitizer
3. spend $
4. fix phone

Ive heard of replacement screens being sold on the internet.. not sure where and who would fix it for you..but its an option

It's 120 dollars for HTC's repair contractor to replace the screen. It's not the worst thing in the world.
PS get a case

FYI.
1. Rooting your device voids ANY warranty.
2. Physical damage is not covered under manufacturer warranty. Any software defects are then attributed to the physical damage.
3. Drunk people+smartphone=bad news. Put it away.
4. The device did not break on you. You broke it.
Sent from my HTC Incredible using XDA app

csseale said:
Not true. If you pay for insurance thru Verizon it absolutely covers physical damage, lost, etc. Manufactured warranty would only cover if the damage was because of some defect.
Cory
"Results may vary."
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Insurance and warranty are not synonymous... so yes, he is absolutely correct. and your "not true" is moot.

AdhvanIt said:
FYI.
1. Rooting your device voids ANY warranty.
2. Physical damage is not covered under manufacturer warranty. Any software defects are then attributed to the physical damage.
3. Drunk people+smartphone=bad news. Put it away.
4. The device did not break on you. You broke it.
Sent from my HTC Incredible using XDA app
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You forgot one.
5. You are a dumbass.

1.) I wasn't trying to, I -did- show up my friends iPhone 4. 3g speed test using opera...not even close.
2.) I had the Verizon case, but it obviously didn't offer the best frontal support.
3.) Violence doesn't solve anything, and it was a random person I don't even know. He didnt purposely knock into me..he was just a drunk idiot. My grip could have been better/been paying attention to it more.
4.) Thank you all for the various replies/solutions.
If HTC replaces the screen for 120$, I'm really ok with that. Apple charges 199$ for an iPhone 4 screen.
I understand how warrantee's work, I fix iPhones all day. I know that accidental/physical damage is not covered under a typical warranty, but Verizon's Insurance policy (7$ a month, with an 80$ deductable) is normally great because it will replace your phone NO MATTER WHAT, that involves falling off a cliff, cracked screen, ect.
The problem is that since i got my Incredible second hand, and not though VZ, they wouldn't transfer my insurance to the new phone. So, I can go back to using my Eris..but I really am in love with my Incredible.
5.) I know rooting voids warranty. If it was a stock root, though, the VZ rep probably wouldn't get it, was my original point. Regardless, if you do a factory reset, or unroot your device, your warranty is no longer voided, no?

I would start checking out the kiosks at your local mall. Our rinky-dink mall has 2 stores that will replaced cracked screens for about $80 - $100.....while you wait...

najaboy said:
Insurance and warranty are not synonymous... so yes, he is absolutely correct. and your "not true" is moot.
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Ok
Cory
"Results may vary."

G2 screen discolored

So I droped my phone and now I have a purple spot in my screen.
I was wondering do you think I can get a replacement G2 even if I have S-off. I was thinking about just flashing the stock rooted backup I have and sending it in. Has anyone gotten a replacement with S-off?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

you would need to go back to stock to send it back to tmobile or you will be voiding your warrenty

Rrod15 said:
So I droped my phone and now I have a purple spot in my screen.
I was wondering do you think I can get a replacement G2 even if I have S-off. I was thinking about just flashing the stock rooted backup I have and sending it in. Has anyone gotten a replacement with S-off?
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Obvious physical damage is unlikely to be repaired under warranty unless you have paid extra for this kind of protection.
Search around and you can find an LCD to install yourself. This is one EXAMPLE (I don't know the provider and there are other places to buy them from, possibly for less money...)
http://www.gultek.eu/htc-spare-parts/lcd/desire-z.html

Thanks for the info but I think the phone gods really like me or something cause the purple spot just disappered...how I have no idea and I don't care but it is awsome...G2 #1 lives on to see another day with me
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Yeah, LCD's can be funny like that. Like touching a laptop screen gets you some funny colors. They are somewhat flexible, on a phone, the flexible lcd is somewhat protected by the inflexible digitizer.

Year at first I was very disappointed cause I had the spot there for about 30 mins the posted this thread, went to sleep and it was gone which made me happy...would have sucked ifap I did send it back cause I just put one of those stealth guards on my phone the full body cover one.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I think the best thing to do in this case is to brick the phone to the point it doesnt even turn on. Discreetely of course. I had major water damage on my TP2 with a custom rom before. But the fact that the phone didnt even start up and that I bleached the moisture indicators helped me get a warranty replacement.

lysergication said:
I think the best thing to do in this case is to brick the phone to the point it doesnt even turn on. Discreetely of course. I had major water damage on my TP2 with a custom rom before. But the fact that the phone didnt even start up and that I bleached the moisture indicators helped me get a warranty replacement.
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You're late to the thread (and obviously didn't read it through). His problem was just temporary. Also, your solution is in extremely poor taste (both ethically and legally).

I sent my g1 in, with a crack all the way across the screen, discoloration everywhere, and lots of other scratches. (fell out of my pocket from a motorcycle) and they offered me the "upgrade" to the click at the time so i took it. I wasnt charged anything, and what they dont tell you is that if you are charged, its only gonna be 100 bucks, which is the same as what you'd pay with insurance.

Well with my g1 any problem I had with it I just sent it in for a replac ement and all it ever costed was $40 but I think that's cause the plan I have. But not sure about my g2 now cause I haven't had to send it in for a replacement yet "knock on wood" but I do wonder how much it will cost me to get a replacement.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

jenlow said:
I wasnt charged anything, and what they dont tell you is that if you are charged, its only gonna be 100 bucks, which is the same as what you'd pay with insurance.
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It only cost you your soul for 3 years, which should be worth a whole hell of a lot more than a measly $100.

dhkr123 said:
You're late to the thread (and obviously didn't read it through). His problem was just temporary. Also, your solution is in extremely poor taste (both ethically and legally).
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I knew that the OP's original problem did not apply anymore. The purpose of my reply was rather to share my experience with the others reading the post, ethics aside. As far as legality goes, you got me there now that I think about it, so I am forced to advise against doing this. Although in reality I hardly think it's any worse than not claiming the money earned from selling a phone, laptop etc., on your taxes.

lysergication said:
I knew that the OP's original problem did not apply anymore. The purpose of my reply was rather to share my experience with the others reading the post, ethics aside. As far as legality goes, you got me there now that I think about it, so I am forced to advise against doing this. Although in reality I hardly think it's any worse than not claiming the money earned from selling a phone, laptop etc., on your taxes.
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That depends... how many phones and laptops are you selling? Your used stuff? Or are you in that business? You may be perfectly OK on that, consult an accountant for precise details.