Database Users

Bricking hero to get it replaced

My sprint store won't replace my Hero with dust under the screen >_<
So if I brick it, they will, correct?
Would brick by pulling battery during radio update or something.

Yeah...this is against your contract and such...if they can prove you bricked it they can say no...

This is incredibly unethical and results in higher costs for all of us. I understand you're upset that you have dust under your screen, but intentionally bricking your phone to get a replacement, that cost only gets passed on to everyone else.
I guess that you could argue that the product was defective and they ought to replace it anyway, but a little dust under the screen isn't the end of the world is it? I've got chipped paint on my back button and the case has a small crack where the mini-usb plugs in, should I brick my phone just to fix those minor issues?

ASULutzy said:
This is incredibly unethical and results in higher costs for all of us. I understand you're upset that you have dust under your screen, but intentionally bricking your phone to get a replacement, that cost only gets passed on to everyone else.
I guess that you could argue that the product was defective and they ought to replace it anyway, but a little dust under the screen isn't the end of the world is it? I've got chipped paint on my back button and the case has a small crack where the mini-usb plugs in, should I brick my phone just to fix those minor issues?
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I'm completely OCD about these things. Once I notice an issue that I didn't cause, it bothers the complete hell out of me.

Just take it to a local repair shop and pay the cost to have it cleaned/screen replaced.

intx said:
I'm completely OCD about these things. Once I notice an issue that I didn't cause, it bothers the complete hell out of me.
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Asides from all of that, as already mentioned this is unethical, and also illegal, you would be committing fraud. This is something in the same vein as insurance fraud. I don't condone such things. There are guides on the internet on how to openup your phone and clean out the dust, probably guides on how to stop it from happening again, look them up and give that a shot if the dust bothers you so much.

rayborn said:
Just take it to a local repair shop and pay the cost to have it cleaned/screen replaced.
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I absolutely refuse to pay extra money to fix a defect in a phone I've only had for a few months.

So take it to a Sprint shop and they'll blow out the dust for free.

intx said:
I absolutely refuse to pay extra money to fix a defect in a phone I've only had for a few months.
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Then open ur phone and clean it urself, seriously why do ppl think their entitled to sh*t nowadays? if you can flash ur phone then open the shell and clean it out.

entropism said:
So take it to a Sprint shop and they'll blow out the dust for free.
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He said he did that and they wouldnt.
How do u guys get dust under the screen? Om. Truck driver and see tje worst conditions ever, from scorching heat to freezing cold with everything in between n my phone still looks bew after a few months and many drops andi cary it in my pocket.

I would have to agree that the best option, (being money free) is to follow a guide to open up your phone and cleaning it yourself unless of course you would be voiding your warranty. However that seems to be not the case here.

to brick it, flash a gsm radio or rom. BUT "if" they catch it you will be charged for a new phone.

Nate14 said:
I would have to agree that the best option, (being money free) is to follow a guide to open up your phone and cleaning it yourself unless of course you would be voiding your warranty. However that seems to be not the case here.
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no need to clean it, just call sprint and they will send you another phone. i did and i got a new one a week ago. sprint knows about the dust defect.

Uhmmm. The answer to your question is yes. The bricked hero is going to go into a bucket of hero's at the HTC repair center and probably be recycled. There is no forensics team waiting to check every phone because of HOW it got screwed. I would keep it all stock though so if they do read it they wont see something that hasnt been released yet.
I would say the radio update trick may brick it but it would be best if the phone didnt even power on.
Also, don't feel bad. I am ocd about this stuff too and if I had dust under the screen in one hand, and a company like sprint trying back out of responsibility in the other, I would do the same thing. I could go on and on but its up to you to decide what the "right thing" to do is. And I personally feel that they should cover this stuff, so I have no moral or ethical problems with forcing a company to own up and care about their customers. Just be sure to take it to a sprint store you have never been to before.

FYI- I am a Sprint employee.. and I can tell you that as long as you're going to a COMPANY OWNED Sprint store, they will clean the dust out for you at no charge since you're still in warranty. If they do not, ask for a manager and let them know you don't want to have to email [email protected] (yes this actually works, and his executive escalation office really does read these emails.) If it is a repeated issue, they will eventually replace the phone for you, but it will likely be a reconditioned model (which are just as good as new.) The Hero comes apart very very easily and is very simple to clean. Good luck!

a99tandem said:
FYI- I am a Sprint employee.. and I can tell you that as long as you're going to a COMPANY OWNED Sprint store, they will clean the dust out for you at no charge since you're still in warranty. If they do not, ask for a manager and let them know you don't want to have to email [email protected] (yes this actually works, and his executive escalation office really does read these emails.) If it is a repeated issue, they will eventually replace the phone for you, but it will likely be a reconditioned model (which are just as good as new.) The Hero comes apart very very easily and is very simple to clean. Good luck!
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sprint tried to clean my dust but refused to take apart the hero in fear of breaking it or getting fingerprints on the lcd. the blew out what they could and hooked me up with a new phone, no questions asked.

flexgrip said:
Uhmmm. The answer to your question is yes. The bricked hero is going to go into a bucket of hero's at the HTC repair center and probably be recycled. There is no forensics team waiting to check every phone because of HOW it got screwed. I would keep it all stock though so if they do read it they wont see something that hasnt been released yet.
I would say the radio update trick may brick it but it would be best if the phone didnt even power on.
Also, don't feel bad. I am ocd about this stuff too and if I had dust under the screen in one hand, and a company like sprint trying back out of responsibility in the other, I would do the same thing. I could go on and on but its up to you to decide what the "right thing" to do is. And I personally feel that they should cover this stuff, so I have no moral or ethical problems with forcing a company to own up and care about their customers. Just be sure to take it to a sprint store you have never been to before.
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In other words, your telling him its ok to commit fraud, which is a felony. Its because of people like you, that a cell phone costs $500, pc's cost $1000's, insurance rates are high, health care is so expensive, etc.......Fraud accounts for probably a good majority of the cost of products and services. Imagine what it would be like if everybody actually took responsibility for their actions...Ah well..that'll never happen in this society that thinks it's entitled to everything for free.......

intx said:
My sprint store won't replace my Hero with dust under the screen >_<
So if I brick it, they will, correct?
Would brick by pulling battery during radio update or something.
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Use the OPEN enrollment on sprint to get TEP. (they have special now till the end of the month).. then take it in have them 'diagnose' it, and the worse case you pay 50 deductible to get it replaced, keep TEP until your satisfied.
I can usually get out of the TEP deductible by just going to a repair center and waiting for them to fix it.
Maybe that will work.. I had gone through 8 sprint moguls on TEP and never once had to pay the deductible by doing things this way.

TEP on smartphones is $100 not $50 deductible.

OK, first off... The OP never said he tried to fix it, he said he tried to REPLACE it. For all we know, he didn't go to a corporate repair store, just a sales location.
Second, for Fixxxer: if you went to a repair store and they felt uncomfortable opening up your hero? Change stores IMMEDIATELY. They're trained and paid to open up phones, if they can't do that, they're worthless.
Finally, Kkruse: The deductible is $100, hasn't been $50 for smartphones in over a year. Besides, a deductible should only be used for the following: Water damage, physical damage (I'd rather pay $120 on the spot to get it fixed), theft/loss, fire damage, complete devastation (aka motherboard shattered into more than 2 pieces). If you use the deductible for dust, send me the $100 instead, it'll get more use. Half of your insurance goes to free in store repairs. Guess what dust is covered under?

i have to pay for touchscreen problem?

i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
lately, about a month and a half later, i noticed some weird issues with the touchscreen. it was jumping around as if i had my finger on it when i wasn't touching it. i formatted the sdcard, did a factory reset, wiped everything, and loaded a stock rooted rom on it. it was fine for a couple hours, then i noticed the issues again. random scrolling, opening apps when i wasnt touching the screen, etc. i noticed the Y and G keys are now not working. i downloaded a screen test app that records where you have touched the screen with a white line. while sliding my finger up and down all across the screen, there is a noticeable band running vertically across the general area of the Y and G keys that does not record any touch activity even if i slide my finger there.
i took the phone to a sprint store and showed them. they asked if i had insurance and i said no. they said "well you could get insurance and then have it repaired for $35." i asked "why should i have to pay to have something repaired that i didn't break? the replacement screen is obviously defective." the guy said "well you should have insurance." and i again said "why do i need insurance for something that went bad on its own?" and he said "you had the repair done over 30 days ago so you'll have to pay to have it repaired again."
i have no idea why i should have to pay for repairs for a phone, regardless if i have insurance or not, when i didn't do anything to damage the phone. im going to go to the actual repair store here in chicago, but i doubt theyll say anything different. if they can't repair it for free, im seriously considering switching to a different phone company. this ridiculous service/repair policy along with the horrible battery life (the guy actually asked how my battery life was and tried to sell me an extended battery, and also tried to sell me a case... neither of which i care about), ridiculous $10/month fee, and lack of built-in tethering makes me want to switch back to tmobile which was a great company when i had the G1.
does anyone have any tips they can give me to get this fixed for free? or is that a hopeless idea?
thanks.

When you had the repair done, I'm sure there was a warranty period on the repair itself. Do you have any documentation showing what that timeframe is? It seems to me that if the screen repair warranty is up, you may be stuck paying for the new repair. Have you tried calling sprint with *2 and explaining the situation? I went through a similar situation with the screen developing a large white spot. It took many calls to *2 until somebody was willing to work with me. Try that. If you are not getting the answers you want, hang up and call right back. My persistence worked out eventually, but like I said, it was a time-consuming ordeal. Good luck.

i understand that there was a warranty associated with the last repair, but it still doesn't make any sense to me that a problem i am having with the screen has nothing to do with anything i did. the shattered screen is not the problem (the screen did not get shattered again, which was what the original repair was for). the touchscreen is simply not working properly. am i supposed to get insurance, pay for that each month, and then pay $35 now and again every 45 days if the problem continues? doesn't make much sense to me, but that seems to be how sprint operates. i will take your advice and call *2 after i get turned away at the actual repair facility that i'm on my way to now. thanks for your advice.

Go to another store and show them the problem but do not mention anything about the screen being replaced before, unless they noted your account. Hopefully they could replace it/fix it under warranty

Welcome to Sprint's "screw the customer" routine. Ive dealt with similar issues in the past.
Like others have said, the repair they did should have a warranty to it, just like if you go to get your car fixed, it usually has a 90 day warranty on the fix itself. Go back to where they fixed it, and talk to the manager. Explain your situation, that the repair obviously was faulty.
If that doesnt work, call *2, and ask to speak to account services. Explain your situation to them, how you are not at fault here, and shouldnt be treated this way as a valued customer. Tell them you will cancel your service if they dont help you resolve this issue. When you tell them that, they will bend over backwards to keep you, and hopefully send you a repacement phone.

I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.

wmblalock said:
I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.
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Under the new Sprint policy revealed here on XDA, isn't a non-TEP screen replacement, or anything else, $35 per job?

Update:
I went to a Sprint repair store (can't go to the original one because I moved across the country). They took the phone to the back room and came out five minutes later. The guy said "the tech said to get that touch screen test app off your phone because it isn't a good representation of what's wrong" ... I said "okay, well that section of the screen is clearly not accepting touch input" and he said to call a 1800 number to do a factory reset (?!) so I left and called that number and it was disconnected. haha.
I called *2, went through a bunch of menus, and it told me to call some 1800 number from a different phone. I got some guy who walked me through a factory reset which of course did not work. He said he would connect me to tech support, who I thought I was already talking to. Told her the problem and that the reset didn't work. She said it was a hardware problem and I said yes, and said I know it isn't her fault but that I didn't think it was fair for me to pay for a defective screen. She said she was making some notes in my account and was going to transfer me to an escalation manager. That person listened to my complaint again which I tried to word in a polite way. I didn't threaten to cancel my account but was ready to say something. I told her I would like to have a replacement phone since this one seems to have issues. She asked if it had been replaced before, I said no. She asked for my mailing address and email and put me on hold for about five to ten minutes. During that time, I got an email outlining my exchange order.
The exchange order notes that I could have to pay $75 to $125 for the replacement as well as some other fees, but she never mentioned anything about me paying at all so I'm prepared to call up and complain again if they try to charge me. I mean, I realize that's a policy but they never mentioned fees on the phone. I mean, i might as well have paid the $35 if I didn't mind fees.
Another thing to note is that when the guy at the store came out of the back room he had the battery cover off my phone and said the sensor showed it had gotten wet. I have never gotten it wet, and he said it was my fault if I kept it in my pocket. I will call and complain again if they charge me for returning a wet phone, because its not my fault if its such a poor design that minor sweat or pocket humidity can make it malfunction! I don't mean to nitpick but come on HTC...

one thing i HATE about calling any tech company getting shifted around to this person then to this person etc etc

wrb123 said:
i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
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Did you ask them what kind of warranty they provided with the repair?

No, I didn't (and still don't) think it mattered. If I break something, like I did, I expect to pay for it or have insurance cover it. Since I didn't have insurance, I was okay with paying. While I don't expect a repair to last forever, I think it is reasonable to expect the phone be repaired to like-new condition or with a new screen. Then, if I use the phone normally, with or without insurance, I expect the phone to function normally for at least the length of the contract.

Expectations and reality are two different things. Why don't you call the store and ask them how long they warranty their repairs and go from there.
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I don't know what this guy is talking about! First with how much this phone cost why wouldn't you have insurance on it! It only equals 85 bucks for the year way less then the price of a new or used phone even with the 100 you have to pay to get a replacement your still making out good! I jumped in the pool with my phone and even though it still worked I got a replacement for a 100 no hassles! And my screen went hay wire on the replacement and when they couldn't repair it I got another one for free! I dropped my phone and damage the front facing camera took it to the Sprint store and got it fixed for free! So stop being cheap and get insurance
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I am already getting a replacement phone for free, without insurance, if you read the entire thread.
As far as "being cheap" and "just getting insurance" you are citing two incidents where you caused damage to your phone. I agree that you or I should be expected to have insurance to cover damage to our phones that we cause. I am talking about a screen defect (I didn't drop my phone a second time and crack the screen a second time - the screen stopped accepting touch input in a huge area). people should expect more from electronics manufacturers and the phone companies that essentially work with them by accepting and promoting new phones. Electronics used to last, even when they had moving parts. Now we have a generation of people who are fine with devices that frequently go bad and having insurance to cover it. It seems to me Sprint and HTC are the cheap ones, pumping out thousands of the next "iphone killer" with poor batteries, screens, usb ports, etc.

The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.

The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
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My "issue" is also that sprint was providing in warranty repairs for one year when I bought this phone. Now they're trying to change that and then saying "oh just get insurance because its a good idea and would cover this." No. I'm getting a free replacement which is what I deserve. There is another thread that explains this change in policy.

bnick007 said:
The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.
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That's a good explanation of what changed. It actually used to be like this way back in the day wth Nextel before the merger - you could get a warranty replacement for free, or you could pay $35 for the convenience of walking into the store and picking it up the same day. I'm not sure when it changed to free warranty repairs but you have to pay more for out of warranty repairs (first it was $35 or $55, depending on what's wrong, then later $99 for dumbphones and $119 for smartphones), but now it's essentially back to how it was to begin with.
Overall, It's probably a better value, and you're probably still better off without insurance. Think about it this way - suppose you keep a phone for 2 years, and it breaks once a year - once under warranty and once out of warranty. With the new plan, that's a total cost of $70 ($35 + $35). With the old plan, the first repair would be covered and the second wouldn't. so that'd be $119. Now obviously, that's a hypothetical, you probably don't need to get it repaired that often. but personally, I find that I generally don't need any repairs until I've owned it for a year or so anyway. So it's better for my purposes, although others might disagree.
Regarding TEP - in the long run you're not saving money unless your phone is lost or stolen, and even then you're out $100 for the deductible. Suppose you're phone is stolen once in the same hypothetical 2 yr period (since after 2 yrs you could get a discounted upgrade): You'll save $449.99 on a new phone at MSRP, but you will have paid $268 in premiums and the deductible. If your phone isn't stolen / water damaged / completely destroyed, you're out $168. I don't know about you, but in the last 11 yrs that I've owned cell phones, I've never had that happen - I've needed repairs, but have never been in a situation when I'd need to place an insurance claim. And the $35 you'll save on a repair with tep is only 5 months' premium - surely nobody needs a repair every 5 months!
The bottom line is that all insurance is a losing proposition in the long run - if it weren't likely that you'd pay more in premiums than you get in claims, insurance companies wouldn't make any money. Personally, i only insure those things that I absolutely can't afford to replace out of pocket - my car, house, health life, etc.
Anyhow, sorry to go on like that, but it's just a topic that's been bouncing around in my head recently.
(and a bit of fair disclosure, I'm a Sprint Nextel employee, but what I write here is purely my personal opinion)

Raheem387 said:
The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
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Good deal
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Good luck, I have to wonder though if the fight, frustration and possible disappointment is really worth it.

Just Venting...

Back in September I took my phone both to Best Buy and Sprint a week after I got it asking them to take a look at my loose screen. Both places said it's just how it is and didn't even bother taking a look at it.
Flash forward to today I decided to take it in again because of the screen as well as constant GPS, battery, and screen orientation issues. Went to one Sprint store and they said nothing other than that I would have to pay $35. I said no so I went to another Sprint store. At first the second store said they couldnt even touch my phone because I didnt have any insurance. Then a minute later they took it to someone else in the back and they came to the decision that I had software issues and, get this, I had physical damage from opening the screen too hard resulting in it being loose. So after explaining that I was told by them back in September during my 30 days that the screen was supposed to be like that they of course said to go to Best Buy. I knew BB wouldnt do anything but I went anyways and was told I should have got the Black Tie Protection. Went back to the second Sprint store and asked to talk to a manager and the two guys working there said that the manager wasnt there (how convenient). Then I asked what time he would be there today and they replied he wasnt gonna be there today at all (yea ok). So I asked what time he would be there tomorrow or any time this week and one guy just blurted out 10am which seemed like a lie.
Now I know I didnt purchase any insurance from Sprint or BB so them not helping isnt really too surprising but for them to tell me I opened the screen too hard resulting in the screen being loose pissed me off. I'm gonna just try going through the Samsung warranty once I can get my hands on a cheap Sprint phone so I'm not left without anything. Hopefully they can send me a replacement.

Pretty sure all Sprint phones have a 1 year warranty. As far as I know, you get in store service but not the Asurion portion of TEP. Also for some instore stuff they charge $35.
This is what I remember from when I looked into it about a year ago and it seems to fit with your story. I would definitely go after the sprint stores for this one. Make sure you're going to places authorized as repair
http://sprintstorelocator.com/search.aspx Check "Repair centers near me" and search
In the end, they will most likely swap out the phone, and you might have to pay $35. It's worth it. Going through Samsung will likely be impossible and on the odd chance that they will honor a warranty you will have to send it in and wait for a turn around (no phone for 2 weeks).
Good luck!

I'd call support. phone support is generally much better than the idiots in the sprint stores. I never go to a sprint store it's easier and faster to call.

Sprint changed the policy about service on phones that are in warranty but not on a account with the service and repair insurance. They charge you 35 bucks, regardless if you're in warranty or not to fix hardware issues, excluding water damage or board level damage. The 35 includes new screens or a new phone if that's what it takes. If you pay the 4 dollars a month for the service option, you're not charged the 35 dollars.
About the only way you could fix a Epics loose screen would be to just take your board out and put it in another Epic that they have harvested for parts, or just order you a refurbed phone.

The loose screen has to be a design flaw. I had that same issue and got it replaced 2 times because of it. After those two replacements i gave up since every phone was loose like that. Then a few weeks ago my screen began to turn red so I got it replaced under warranty. The phone they gave me didn't have the loose screen. Maybe that issue only applies to the earlier Epics.

I understand paying the 35 bucks but the thing is they are now blaming me for the loose screen that I originally brought up to them. Ill most likey just pay it sometime after christmas they said it would take 3 days
edit: and yea i'm hoping that the newer phones no longer have the problem
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Something I tell my patients families: The squeaky gear gets the grease.
What that means is you need to be the squeaky gear. Best time to go to sprint is when they have a lot of prospective customers in the store and make a lot of noise about non-existent support, poor support, you get the idea, right?
The squeaky gear never has a problem getting what they want to be done....

T-Mobile Vibrant replacement cost lowered

I found out some info from TMO customer care yesterday that is interesting and worth knowing.
TMO cut the cost to replace a rooted vibrant down to $115 on April 1st, but the insurance still costs $130. So if anyone finds themselves in my situation (totally and utterly bricked in every sense of the word and still rooted) or a similar situation, it would actually be cheaper to just send it in without insurance, even if the damage indicator is red.
However, if they don't get the phone back within 7 days, then the price is still $455 to replace the phone.
This info is for T-Mobile USA. I have no idea if international branches of T-Mobile have adopted the same policy, and I have no idea if this applies to other phones as well (I am just restating what the customer care rep told me.)

So I can crack my screen completely and it will only cost 115 still? Or is that just for rooted devices? Because if you hard-brick the device, TMobile has no way of knowing that it was rooting considering they can't even turn it on.

Also just got mail that the insurance is increasing by $2 to $7.99 but you get free Mobile Security from Asurion included in that....Samsung Vibrant is only included in PLAN D of the insurance which is $130 deductible and a claim limit amount of $1000.

Confused. So hypothetically if I destroy my phone to the point it doesn't even power on, I can call them and send it in to get a refurb one for $115?
Does it apply only if its bricked? If it's broken physically...like screen or something internal, can I still do that?

Mine says LOSS THEFT DAMAGE or MALFUNCTION...Drop in water COVERED..Keypad stop working COVERED..etc etc..

Okay, I can see how my 1st post could have been a little confusing. Here's what you should do if you need to send in your vibrant.
First and foremost, if you CAN flash back to stock, DO IT. That is still the only sure-fire way of not having to pay anything and still get a new/refurbished Vibrant out of it.
Second, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has hardware damage (red damage indicator, damaged screen, exc.), but can still be repaired. So, if your phone has a cracked screen, for example, it's a better idea to send it in without insurance because insurance costs $130 plus an additional $8 per month. (NOTE: The FFC mod is an irreversible mod. You have cracked open the phone and therefore T-Mobile considers that "physical damage." You cannot swap out the camera for the stock one and re-paint the camera hole and lens.)
Third, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has been rooted or modded in any way in terms of software.
However, the chances of T-Mobile finding anything out about software modification is unlikely. At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator. After they have done that, what they are SUPPOSED to do is attempt to find any data on the internal SD card that would reveal whether the phone was rooted or not (working superuser app, exc.). However, this process is long, tedious and boring as hell so what a lot of employees do is just skip the part where they examine the internal SD card and just format the thing without looking at it. To prove it, when I sent in that hard-bricked vibrant, it had a GT-I9000 bootloader on it plus CM7 and numerous ROM.zip files on it. I was not charged anything for that Vibrant.
Moral of the story: Don't buy the insurance for the Samsung Vibrant under any circumstances. Unless it goes down in price (which I seriously doubt it will), it is a complete waste of money. You will save money by going uninsured. Also, don't freak out if your Vibrant has software on it that you can't get rid of for some reason. In all likelihood, T-Mobile won't find anything.
Second moral of the story: DO NOT think that you will only get charged $115 if you choose NOT to send the broken Vibrant back to T-Mobile. They will charge you the ridiculous amount of approximately $455.18.
P.S. If anyone finds out the way that T-Mobile is able to open up the phone without tripping the damage indicator, PLEASE TELL US! If that info gets out, then I will do that FFC mod so fast you won't know what hit you!

I just walked in my tmobil store and told them my phone was messing up. And they sent me a new one. No cost at all to me except for that 8.00. So in my opinion insurance is good. For us if we have the old insurance is fantastic.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

Do you get a brand new phone as a replacement if you have insurance?

Refurbished, most likely previous phones that were sent in from people like yourself and fixed up.

yah mine was refurbished, but brand spanking new! in my opinion the insurance is the best deal tmobile has!

I actually prefer the refurbished units since they are actually tested and everything should work on it (including GPS, mine locks 8 birds within 3 seconds).

30000 said:
Okay, I can see how my 1st post could have been a little confusing. Here's what you should do if you need to send in your vibrant.
First and foremost, if you CAN flash back to stock, DO IT. That is still the only sure-fire way of not having to pay anything and still get a new/refurbished Vibrant out of it.
Second, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has hardware damage (red damage indicator, damaged screen, exc.), but can still be repaired. So, if your phone has a cracked screen, for example, it's a better idea to send it in without insurance because insurance costs $130 plus an additional $8 per month. (NOTE: The FFC mod is an irreversible mod. You have cracked open the phone and therefore T-Mobile considers that "physical damage." You cannot swap out the camera for the stock one and re-paint the camera hole and lens.)
Third, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has been rooted or modded in any way in terms of software.
However, the chances of T-Mobile finding anything out about software modification is unlikely. At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator. After they have done that, what they are SUPPOSED to do is attempt to find any data on the internal SD card that would reveal whether the phone was rooted or not (working superuser app, exc.). However, this process is long, tedious and boring as hell so what a lot of employees do is just skip the part where they examine the internal SD card and just format the thing without looking at it. To prove it, when I sent in that hard-bricked vibrant, it had a GT-I9000 bootloader on it plus CM7 and numerous ROM.zip files on it. I was not charged anything for that Vibrant.
Moral of the story: Don't buy the insurance for the Samsung Vibrant under any circumstances. Unless it goes down in price (which I seriously doubt it will), it is a complete waste of money. You will save money by going uninsured. Also, don't freak out if your Vibrant has software on it that you can't get rid of for some reason. In all likelihood, T-Mobile won't find anything.
Second moral of the story: DO NOT think that you will only get charged $115 if you choose NOT to send the broken Vibrant back to T-Mobile. They will charge you the ridiculous amount of approximately $455.18.
P.S. If anyone finds out the way that T-Mobile is able to open up the phone without tripping the damage indicator, PLEASE TELL US! If that info gets out, then I will do that FFC mod so fast you won't know what hit you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I didn't get insurance to replace my phone in case of damage via rooting. I got insurance to repalce my phone if I lose it, drop it in water, or if it gets stolen.
Also, what damage indicator are you talking about?

anthonys2r said:
Refurbished, most likely previous phones that were sent in from people like yourself and fixed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I have the insurance but haven't used yet. If you get a refurbished phone after paying deductible then its not with it for me, might just cancel mine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

SamsungVibrant said:
Also, what damage indicator are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's the liquid damage indicator. it's the white square underneath the battery right by the battery connection. it turns red if it gets wet.

VICosPhi said:
Thanks, I have the insurance but haven't used yet. If you get a refurbished phone after paying deductible then its not with it for me, might just cancel mine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you pay deductible, you get a new phone not refurb. Only time you might get refurb is when you do a warranty exchange. Warranty exchanges are at no cost. Insurance is 7.99 a month but like any insurance, its there in case you need it. You loose, break, get it wet or it gets stolen then you are covered. Just like car insurance, you could pay insurance for years and never use it, but then again if you are in a wreck or it gets stolen, then you are happy u did. Without insurance, you are screwed. Remember warranty is only for a year w/o extended warranty. Insurance extends your warranty for life of phone
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

+1 on what he said!

funeralthirst said:
it's the liquid damage indicator. it's the white square underneath the battery right by the battery connection. it turns red if it gets wet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know about the liquid indicator, but that's not what 30000 was talking about. 30000 was talking about a different damage indicator.
30000 said:
30000 said:
At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What damage indicator?

Marvlet said:
If you pay deductible, you get a new phone not refurb. Only time you might get refurb is when you do a warranty exchange. Warranty exchanges are at no cost. Insurance is 7.99 a month but like any insurance, its there in case you need it. You loose, break, get it wet or it gets stolen then you are covered. Just like car insurance, you could pay insurance for years and never use it, but then again if you are in a wreck or it gets stolen, then you are happy u did. Without insurance, you are screwed. Remember warranty is only for a year w/o extended warranty. Insurance extends your warranty for life of phone
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true, there is a 95% chance that you will get a refurb. All T-mobile reps will tell you that you will either get a refurbished or new device. They will also tell you right after that, that you will most likely get a refurb. I've talked to them for hours and fought with supervisors and such just trying NOT to get a refurb. I know most people think that the refurbished phones are inspected, this is also a load of bs. They are not inspected, they fix the problem that was there and make sure that and ONLY that is fixed. They do not check any other part of the phone.

mugenfiji0327 said:
This is not true, there is a 95% chance that you will get a refurb. All T-mobile reps will tell you that you will either get a refurbished or new device. They will also tell you right after that, that you will most likely get a refurb. I've talked to them for hours and fought with supervisors and such just trying NOT to get a refurb. I know most people think that the refurbished phones are inspected, this is also a load of bs. They are not inspected, they fix the problem that was there and make sure that and ONLY that is fixed. They do not check any other part of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Insurance and warranty exchange are 2 different things. With warranty exchange its new or refurb, cant guarantee one or the other. Most times its refurb. With insurance which is NOT thru T-mobile but thru Assurion, when you file a claim and pay the deductible, you get a new phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Marvlet said:
Insurance and warranty exchange are 2 different things. With warranty exchange its new or refurb, cant guarantee one or the other. Most times its refurb. With insurance which is NOT thru T-mobile but thru Assurion, when you file a claim and pay the deductible, you get a new phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope failed again. I will call Asurion right now and go through the process of having my phone replaced and record it just to prove it to you if you would like me to. They do not send out new products man, I know this for a fact. Think about it man, if they sent out new devices everytime someone called in for a problem, none of the companies involved would make any money on that phone which is what they want, MONEY. That includes T-mobile, Asurion and Samsung. Every electronics store I have ever bought from uses them as their insurance program. Best Buy,Verizon,T-Mobile etc. Every time I've had something replaced through any of those companys it has and ALWAYS WILL BE a refurb. I work for Verizon and guess what, everytime someone comes in for us to call Asurion for them or even if they call themselves they still get a REFURB. I used to work for Best Buy and on top of that I worked in the Geek Squad for Best Buy and did most of the insurance claims when people came through. Guess what, all of my customers got REFURBS. I'm done arguing with you and I think I have made my point.

Don't pay $100 ins for a broken charger port.

I went into sprint last week because my charging port broke and I couldn't charge my phone. To my surprise they said that it's not a defect or hardware problem and that I would have to claim it on my ins and pay the $100. Well with the 3D coming out soon and me being such a tight A*% with my money, that $100 wasn't going to cut it. So I figured out a way to get a New Refurb phone from Sprint for only $45.
Here's what I did
I called around to some local cell phone repair places here in DFW area. I found this shop in Fort Worth that would replace it for $45. I took it in to get repaired and was told that when the charger port broke it pulled the sync strip off the board. Which means my phone will charge now just fine but I won't be able to sync it up with my pc again. Noway i could live with that.
I know enough about the evo and the hardware to know that the mic is soldered onto the board and that it cannot just be replaced at the Sprint store. Sooooo! I bet you know where I'm going with this? Your right!! I blew out my mic on purpose. How I did this is very easy and truly undetectable. All I did was blow air from my air compressor in the mic hole, maybe 5-10secs. I then opened the voice recorder to make sure it was out,It was.
I took it back to Sprint and told them my mic wasn't working. he said that's a real common problem with Evos. he began to tell me that they repair it and give them 10 mins. I knew they couldn't do it on site. 5 mins later he comes from the back and tells me that the mic was soldered on the board and they have to replace it, which I knew. 2days later Sprint text me and I picked up my new evo for $45.
The bad thing is that you'll have to use your blue tooth or headphones to make calls until the new phone comes in.

we shall not discuss insurance fraud here

cracker0309 said:
I went into sprint last week because my charging port broke and I couldn't charge my phone. To my surprise they said that it's not a defect or hardware problem and that I would have to claim it on my ins and pay the $100. Well with the 3D coming out soon and me being such a tight A*% with my money, that $100 wasn't going to cut it. So I figured out a way to get a New Refurb phone from Sprint for only $45.
Here's what I did
I called around to some local cell phone repair places here in DFW area. I found this shop in Fort Worth that would replace it for $45. I took it in to get repaired and was told that when the charger port broke it pulled the sync strip off the board. Which means my phone will charge now just fine but I won't be able to sync it up with my pc again. Noway i could live with that.
I know enough about the evo and the hardware to know that the mic is soldered onto the board and that it cannot just be replaced at the Sprint store. Sooooo! I bet you know where I'm going with this? Your right!! I blew out my mic on purpose. How I did this is very easy and truly undetectable. All I did was blow air from my air compressor in the mic hole, maybe 5-10secs. I then opened the voice recorder to make sure it was out,It was.
I took it back to Sprint and told them my mic wasn't working. he said that's a real common problem with Evos. he began to tell me that they repair it and give them 10 mins. I knew they couldn't do it on site. 5 mins later he comes from the back and tells me that the mic was soldered on the board and they have to replace it, which I knew. 2days later Sprint text me and I picked up my new evo for $45.
The bad thing is that you'll have to use your blue tooth or headphones to make calls until the new phone comes in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

instead of being a dipster like the OP let me give you all some actual advice.
First my Background
X-Corporate sprint employee
Close ties with management, techs, and sales reps at retail locations.
Charging port failure on the EVO 4G is a known issue, there the corporate store should know this, if for some reason they are stupid, which can and will happen, politely inform them of this, if your not getting anywhere with the rep, politely ask to speak with management to look into this.
if your charging port is broken due to normal use, and not you plugging it in and swinging it around your head like a lasso, you will be covered, even without T.E.P. insurance plan (and unless they changed policy its covered even after the 1 year warranty on the phone)
As a cautionary note, if you bring your phone in to a corporate store, and they take your phone to the techs, and see your phone is damaged beyond repair, it will be flagged and notated in the system as such, and even if you go out and do some crazy stuff like this guy, and bring it back, they will Pull up your device in E-Ticket and see that its DBR and will not fix it anyway.
So guys, if you have this issue, do the smart thing, and handle the issue politely as you cannot expect every rep to know everything.

I wasn't asked for any of my info from Sprint to flag. I was just asked what the problem was and then it was taken to the back. The TECH not REP was the one that came and spoke to me and explained to me what the problem was. He stated himself that he thinks the ports should be covered due to the fact it does happen so often and that the port isn't connected securly enough to the board with the proper temp grade solder.
Is what I did morally right? NO!! But Sprint and other cell phone companies screw over the consumer everyday, but that's ok! So when the consumer finally gets over on the corporation its sooooo BAD!!
In no way is this ins fraud because Asurion was never involved. This was under hardware warranty and being my phone was bought in Jan I really don't think me or anyone else should have to fork out more money for something that's only 5 months old.

2 wrongs dont make a right, and they don't need to ask you for any info other than to just scan your phone.
and I never said that it happened to you, I said it could and properly should happen.
not to mention the solution to the problem was so easy, you just were to lazy or inept to handle it properly.
also, yes, it was still fraud
and now the phone may get refurbed without the original problem being addressed.

If the charging port is pulled clean from the board, solder joints intact, then it's covered under the known issue.
If the solder joints are broken and circuit board is peeled, it's damaged beyond repair.

Unfortunately in our store right now we have no RECON phones so we are swapping with new in box since they are also backordered...mildly frustrating!

Ur story is awesome. I think the 116 dollars a year should be the deductible. I know there are always people that take advantage of the system. I have done it before but I also thinks it sucks for the real problems we get screwed out of with deductibles on top of monthly premium charges.
They should consider your premium as the deductible unless its more than once a year. I can understand water damage or lost/stolen. I just don't think physical problems should be cause for deductible.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Sunsparc said:
If the charging port is pulled clean from the board, solder joints intact, then it's covered under the known issue.
If the solder joints are broken and circuit board is peeled, it's damaged beyond repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
The "damaged beyond repair" can be argued as long as there's no obvious signs of abuse and if cust. service gets involved, we both know that we're ordering a replacement for the customer.

Nice!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

They replaced mine for same problem for free. U were just getting dicked around and in turn u went to make trouble for no reason. You did fraud and wasted ur time and money.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

For fun I recently repaired an Evo 4g that had it's USB port violently removed / peeled away. Definitely not worth the time, but it was a fun after-work project!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1110886

Great fraud
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Who cares, insurance fraud or not. It's not insurance fraud if you not playing $7/mo for insurance in the first place. They should have just fixed it the first time he was in the store. Most of the people (techs) I've dealt with in the Sprint stores are complete idiots that won't even read Sprint's policies on Sprint.com. :|

I can tell you the store I worked at, all of our techs had 4+ years experience, knew everything, and made sure we knew what we needed to know as well.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fraud
yes its still fraud.

Alanmw86 said:
I can tell you the store I worked at, all of our techs had 4+ years experience, knew everything, and made sure we knew what we needed to know as well.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fraud
yes its still fraud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HA ha ha
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Sprint EVO Replacement
I have been a customer of Sprint 12+ years and my experience with repair/replace of devices seems pretty typical. Some repair centers have treated me fine and one other consistently work at screwing me over. As with all new devices, there are manufacturer issues which have nothing to do with the user (bad screens, charging ports, non-functioning buttons etc.). As a corporate customer I always had a rep that would take care of an issue even if the local operation couldn't/wouldn't. I have not abused their staff nor have I abused my equipment in any way, I still have a perfect functioning Samsung i300, PPC6600 and Touch (Don't ask why I keep them around, I don't know). Each one of these needed some repair over the 2+ years I had them activated. Sprint has had many repairs centers around Metro Atlanta over the years, closing or consolidating and re-opening them from time to time. It has been my experience that you have to avoid some repair centers, those that take your device out back and come back to you withing 10 minutes with the "Wet" battery story - I have never had any of my devices ever get water or moisture on them except one and I willingly paid the deductible for that one. Recently I had the not charging issue on my EVO purchased June 4, 2010, 9+ months. Because I had to take it to the local/nearest repair center which I had problems with in the past I was apprehensive but confident I had done nothing wrong or abused the device. The tech took it out back, came back 45 minutes later and informed me that I had abused the charging port on the device and that it had come unsolder-ed and would have to go through Assurance to replace it, to which I asked her to show me. I insisted that was a defect as opposed to abuse and got nowhere. It took some insistence that I believed I should not have to pay ANY deductible. She ask her superior and was granted a one time exception to their policy to replace my (Abused, according to her) device. I have since then gone to what was my local Sprint store with my son for a new phone. This store, near our mall had closed and the independent repair center a half mile away had taken over the Sprint space. I recognized an employee who had previously worked in that store for Sprint and we stuck up the conversation about my recent repair and the trouble I had. He informed me that Sprint was well aware of the charging port issue and if I had brought it there there wouldn't have been any problem replacing it at all. He checked my device and discovered that the battery had become over heated and swollen, most likely due to the charging port problems. He ordered a new one at no charge as Sprint was aware of this also.
Moral of the story, sometimes you may have drive to a different repair center or take unscrupulous measures or insistence to get a problem resolved with big companies who aren't able or willing to do the right thing on their own, Sprint being no exception.

This charging port issue, which mine phone has, is another reason I'm leery about getting another HTC phone. I think the quality of their phones is highly overrated.

Everyone keeps saying that the broken charger port is a known issue with Sprint, but I recently did not have any success from this angle.
I took my phone to a local Sprint repair store and the tech opened the phone and said my charger port had came off the motherboard. It looked like a clean solder break to me, and he said he wasn't allowed to fix it and it wasn't covered.
I then called customer service and they also said it would not be covered by warranty. I mentioned that this is supposed to be a known issue with HTC EVOs and they said it wasn't. I spoke with her supervisor, and she also insisted that it was not a known issue. I then spoke with another supervisor who insisted this wasn't a known issue.
Is there something that I'm doing wrong? How can I get them to acknowledge this?