VZ trying to charge me for unlocked phone - HTC Rezound

I have five lines with VZ & have been a VZ customer for about 100 years.
When my first Rezound was two weeks old, it started badly overheating & killing an extended battery in 4 hours. I had unlocked it & flashed a custom ROM before this happened.
VZ agreed on the phone to replace it (first time I have EVER had a phone replaced) it & sent me a new one. I sent the old one back immediately in 100% perfect mint condition after RUUing it to stock & relocking it.
This was like 3 months ago & this month my bill shows a $355 "equipment charge" on it. I spent over an hour on the phone with *611 with them saying they "didn't know what the charge was all about". They then finally said there appeared to be "some kind of problem" with the warranty phone I had sent back.
I have spent two days now arguing with them about it & refusing to pay the charge. I told them if I had to pay for it, I wanted the old phone back. I am waiting now on a call back from Verizon CS............

Please let me know what comes of all this......I just sent back an unlocked stock phone.....

jmorton10 said:
I have five lines with VZ & have been a VZ customer for about 100 years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

So they didn't actually say it was because it was unlocked, right? Just that there was a problem with the phone? So you don't actually know if it's because it was unlocked, as I understand it.

tekhna said:
So they didn't actually say it was because it was unlocked, right? Just that there was a problem with the phone? So you don't actually know if it's because it was unlocked, as I understand it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well he said it was in 100% mint condition, so right now I suppose it's just an assumption that it's because it was unlocked.

bosox284 said:
Well he said it was in 100% mint condition, so right now I suppose it's just an assumption that it's because it was unlocked.
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Click to collapse
It's a concerning (and potentially valid) assumption, but we don't actually know. Maybe one of the internal water sensors was tripped? That happened to me with Sprint once.

My answer would be "send me the phone back in working order like I sent it to you and I'll pay"

Please keep us posted...I am very interested in this issue

Yet another reason i wont ship my rezound back unlocked.

This post just scared the **** out of me! I returned my unlocked rezound about 2 months ago with no issues whatsoever... if they come back at me now I'll be pissed.
Did they explicitly say that the problem with return of your old Rezound was specifically because of the fact taht it had been unlocked?

jmorton10 said:
I have five lines with VZ & have been a VZ customer for about 100 years.
When my first Rezound was two weeks old, it started badly overheating & killing an extended battery in 4 hours. I had unlocked it & flashed a custom ROM before this happened.
VZ agreed on the phone to replace it (first time I have EVER had a phone replaced) it & sent me a new one. I sent the old one back immediately in 100% perfect mint condition after RUUing it to stock & relocking it.
This was like 3 months ago & this month my bill shows a $355 "equipment charge" on it. I spent over an hour on the phone with *611 with them saying they "didn't know what the charge was all about". They then finally said there appeared to be "some kind of problem" with the warranty phone I had sent back.
I have spent two days now arguing with them about it & refusing to pay the charge. I told them if I had to pay for it, I wanted the old phone back. I am waiting now on a call back from Verizon CS............
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They got the phone back.. how can they charge and NOT give back the phone.
fight this hard, hopefully they drop the charge, or at the very least, send you back the phone.
best of luck my friend.

a.mcdear said:
This post just scared the **** out of me! I returned my unlocked rezound about 2 months ago with no issues whatsoever... if they come back at me now I'll be pissed.
Did they explicitly say that the problem with return of your old Rezound was specifically because of the fact taht it had been unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why i want s-off and s-on so i can go back to full factory. I dont care what anyone says, id just buy a different phone. Id never take the chances of shipping back a phone rooted or unlocked. This is why alot of devs didnt bother with this phone.

mighty_markus12 said:
This is why i want s-off and s-on so i can go back to full factory. I dont care what anyone says, id just buy a different phone. Id never take the chances of shipping back a phone rooted or unlocked. This is why alot of devs didnt bother with this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well luckily the phone I sent back to them was completely f--ked and wouldn't even turn on or do anything at all anymore... its doubtful they'll do anything with it besides throw it away. There would really be no way to verify that it had been unlocked or not... =)

a.mcdear said:
Well luckily the phone I sent back to them was completely f--ked and wouldn't even turn on or do anything at all anymore... its doubtful they'll do anything with it besides throw it away. There would really be no way to verify that it had been unlocked or not... =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then what are they charging you for excatly?

After you relocked it, did it say *Tampered* in HBOOT like it does after unlocking post .22 leak??
What RUU did you flash to it after you locked it?

mighty_markus12 said:
Then what are they charging you for excatly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you misunderstood. They haven't charged me yet. I am just hoping I don't end up with a bill on my next statement like the OP did...

And the OP doesn't yet have a firm response on what it is they are complaining about yet.
Via Rezound using XDA Premium

+1 on wanting to know the outcome.
Cheers!

a.mcdear said:
Well luckily the phone I sent back to them was completely f--ked and wouldn't even turn on or do anything at all anymore... its doubtful they'll do anything with it besides throw it away. There would really be no way to verify that it had been unlocked or not... =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the same. Phone was a complete loss when i sent it in. I'll report back If i see anything pop up on my account as well. Hopefully nothing does.

Word of advice if you send back a phone to Verizon for an exchange make sure the phone you send back does not turn on.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

Related

Sending in phone for repairs with S-Off...

I'm back to Sprint Stock Rom after having some fun rooting and picking up some ROMs. I have some problems with the camera freezing after taking a photo and HTC recommended to take it in their repair center.
I have S-OFF from Revolutionary and although I don't have the "Revolutionary" logo in my bootloader, I still have S-OFF on top. For whatever reason, I can't get S-ON to hide my actions (Don't ask about this, I tried everything).
I'm wondering if I send it in with S-OFF, that HTC will void my warranty and not fix my phone. I heard that some phones came with S-OFF so I can argue my case with that...
You wrote setsecureflag 3?
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
chlehqls said:
I'm back to Sprint Stock Rom after having some fun rooting and picking up some ROMs. I have some problems with the camera freezing after taking a photo and HTC recommended to take it in their repair center.
I have S-OFF from Revolutionary and although I don't have the "Revolutionary" logo in my bootloader, I still have S-OFF on top. For whatever reason, I can't get S-ON to hide my actions (Don't ask about this, I tried everything).
I'm wondering if I send it in with S-OFF, that HTC will void my warranty and not fix my phone. I heard that some phones came with S-OFF so I can argue my case with that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I would be very hesitant to send it in to HTC with S-off. As Aray asked, did you run the RUU, and then do "fastboot oem setsecureflag3" from the command prompt? That is what should set you back to S-on. Here's the thread. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1194053. Now I haven't tried it yet, so can't say for sure, but it seems as though that's the working method to get back to S-on.
It's apparently "fastboot oem writesecureflag 3"
The other method did NOT work for me. The above method did work and I'm excited to be S-ON again so I can send it in for repairs and what not.
wait..yor taking it to an HTC repair center r a sprint center?
I used to work at a Sprint repair center about 11 months ago, and I guarantee you most of them have no clue what s-off even means. They have a new system called slate that does all the device testing, so unless it checks for s-off they probably wont even know...but I guess theres nothing wrong with being safe
chlehqls said:
It's apparently "fastboot oem writesecureflag 3"
The other method did NOT work for me. The above method did work and I'm excited to be S-ON again so I can send it in for repairs and what not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming that. I was following the other thread and saw that people were NOT having success with 'fastboot oem setsecureflag3'. Glad to see that 'fastboot oem writesecureflag3' works. Thanks for confirming that. It's good to know for future use, just in case.
k2buckley said:
Thanks for confirming that. I was following the other thread and saw that people were NOT having success with 'fastboot oem setsecureflag3'. Glad to see that 'fastboot oem writesecureflag3' works. Thanks for confirming that. It's good to know for future use, just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no problem. I'm just excited that I got to learn more about how cmd works and am really proud that I got this baby working again.
And I'm sending this in through HTC's repair center, I'm not sure if I can send it through Sprint's repair center.
chlehqls said:
Yeah, no problem. I'm just excited that I got to learn more about how cmd works and am really proud that I got this baby working again.
And I'm sending this in through HTC's repair center, I'm not sure if I can send it through Sprint's repair center.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, that's going to take a bit of time to go that route. Have you taken it to Sprint to have them look at it? Sometime's they'll handle it in store. It'd be worth checking with them.
k2buckley said:
Damn, that's going to take a bit of time to go that route. Have you taken it to Sprint to have them look at it? Sometime's they'll handle it in store. It'd be worth checking with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I thought you had to buy the phone from a Sprint store for them to check it. I bought this unit at my local Bestbuy...
chlehqls said:
Really? I thought you had to buy the phone from a Sprint store for them to check it. I bought this unit at my local Bestbuy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, I'm unsure about that. I would *think* you could still take it a Sprint store, because they are the ones providing you with cell service, but I can't say for sure because I've never had to do that. I really think they'd look at it for you though..
I would say if you have S-off, they probably wouldn't catch it. And even if they did, who cares? There were a few phones that got out with S-off set, and you were just one of those lucky few.
But I did run the RUU file to remove the "Revolutionary" from the menu system. That probably wouldn't fly very far with them.
Guess in the end it depends on the mood of the person assisting you. Learned if you get them to believe that they are your only hope instead of demanding that they fix your phone, usually you get your way, and the person helping you feels better too. Don't give him or her an excuse to deny fixing or replacing your phone.
And I believe that if there is an issue with the phone, back to stock and it still exists, then there is an issue with the phone itself. BTW, I have had my phone replaced twice within the 30 days of purchase for defective phones.
chlehqls said:
Really? I thought you had to buy the phone from a Sprint store for them to check it. I bought this unit at my local Bestbuy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my wires shift from bestbuy and Sprint took care of it. I did not have the Sprint warrenty just the bestbuy warrenty. Sprint charged me $35 since I did not have the Sprint warrenty, but I removed my bb warenty on the new phone and added the Sprint.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Well, I'll definitely contact Sprint about it. They have been very generous to me recently. Not only did they give me $50 service credit for all my lines, they gave me another $15 credit on top of the activation fee waived for this phone.
I'll definitely contact their service center and ask them what they could do for me. I'm pretty sure they'll go easy on me.
Last time I was at the Sprint store to get my phone replaced since it failed the radio test, the guy gave me the battery, back cover and 8 gig memory card and new phone while just keeping my old defective phone shell. That really hooked me up - he said that HTC only wanted the phone back for credit.

Returning Rooted Phone...

So a couple weeks ago I picked up a new Galaxy Nexus and while it's a great phone I'm not totally satisfied with it.
I was going to go in and swap it for a rezound to play around with it a bit.
Now if I unlock it when I get it and decide to return it will I have any problems or should I be alright as long as I relock it?
wil2bm said:
So a couple weeks ago I picked up a new Galaxy Nexus and while it's a great phone I'm not totally satisfied with it.
I was going to go in and swap it for a rezound to play around with it a bit.
Now if I unlock it when I get it and decide to return it will I have any problems or should I be alright as long as I relock it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have a problem if one of Verizon's tech's notices the unlocks...that's about it.
If they are anything like Sprint, you won't have an issue. It doesn't void your warranty.
Sent from my Swagged Out Stock EVO
MrSmith317 said:
You will have a problem if one of Verizon's tech's notices the unlocks...that's about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So even if relocked there is still a way to see it had been unlocked? Is it pretty obvious or do they have to be looking for something?
If I relock my nexus there is no way for them to see that right?
IT'LL SAY RELOCKED.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
But for the most part I wouldn't worry to much I've sent back probably 10 rooted without stock phones back and never said anything. But I've also called and didn't go there. Only my Eris was getting real hot no matter what I tried and when I went down there I forgot to put it back to stock and the guy still warranty the phone. He was amused I took it in like that but he did the warranty and when the phone came I sent that one back and never had a problem.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
Nevermind I thought you were talking about the Rezound.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
If you return the Nexus for the rezound, they won't let you exchange again for another device.
brisdaddy1207 said:
But for the most part I wouldn't worry to much I've sent back probably 10 rooted without stock phones back and never said anything. But I've also called and didn't go there. Only my Eris was getting real hot no matter what I tried and when I went down there I forgot to put it back to stock and the guy still warranty the phone. He was amused I took it in like that but he did the warranty and when the phone came I sent that one back and never had a problem.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are exactly why....like the poster child of why Verizon is locking bootoaders. Good job!
nrfitchett4 said:
If you return the Nexus for the rezound, they won't let you exchange again for another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They only let you swap a phone once? What if I just return it?
wil2bm said:
They only let you swap a phone once? What if I just return it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing. You get only ONE exchange for a different device with the upgrade you use.
If your opening a new line take a phone back and exchange it for the same phone then what? Or exchange it for another phone
I used an available upgrade on my account... I thought there was an amount of time you were given to where you could return the device/void the contract renewal?
wil2bm said:
I used an available upgrade on my account... I thought there was an amount of time you were given to where you could return the device/void the contract renewal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is, but you can only do it once.
nrfitchett4 said:
there is, but you can only do it once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't right. You can swap once WITHOUT a restocking fee. After that, you can still return the device and buy a new one, but they will charge you a restocking fee.
I just upgrade recently and bought a Nexus. Didn't like it and got a Rezound. I was charged a restocking fee, doesn't matter if its your first time or not. The only real way to waive the restocking fee is if something is a matter with your phone, hardware wise, if it's cosmetic (don't like the color) they wont help you.
Oh about returning a rooted phone, they will never check. I just returned my Rezound yesterday b/c of the pink buttons and I got a new one. They didn't even check what I did to the phone, they didnt even check the phone at all, they just put it in a box, put a shipping label on it and that was it. 90 percent of VZW CSR don't even know what to look for or even know what rooting is. Maybe I lucked out with the store I went to but the employees there, wow, I don't know how the get jobs, they don't know a lick about phones.
drynyks said:
You are exactly why....like the poster child of why Verizon is locking bootoaders. Good job!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a need to bash people and act like a little 4 year old say it was you not me. Come on grow up act like a man or women not blaming people your whole life.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
bal1985 said:
I just upgrade recently and bought a Nexus. Didn't like it and got a Rezound. I was charged a restocking fee, doesn't matter if its your first time or not. The only real way to waive the restocking fee is if something is a matter with your phone, hardware wise, if it's cosmetic (don't like the color) they wont help you.
Oh about returning a rooted phone, they will never check. I just returned my Rezound yesterday b/c of the pink buttons and I got a new one. They didn't even check what I did to the phone, they didnt even check the phone at all, they just put it in a box, put a shipping label on it and that was it. 90 percent of VZW CSR don't even know what to look for or even know what rooting is. Maybe I lucked out with the store I went to but the employees there, wow, I don't know how the get jobs, they don't know a lick about phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, they may check it, just not at the store you return it to.(wherever they send it to) I had it happen to me on an old WM phone and they tried to whack me full price of the new phone two months later... but I agree that its unlikely. If they checked every phone that got returned, nothing would get done and backlog refurbs.
will i have to UNroot my evo to have it replaced by asurion? im with sprint.
romaire said:
will i have to UNroot my evo to have it replaced by asurion? im with sprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. They dont care.. If your worried just run over it with your car before you send it back. Doesnt matter. They still getting your old device and your still paying your deductible.

Anyone ACTUALLY Warrantied an Unlocked/Re-Locked?

If anyone out there in XDA-land has actually warrantied an unlocked or re-locked phone (in store and/or via the 1-800 number), could you please chime in and post your experience (whether you did store or 800 and what happened).
I realize that it may still be too early to ask this question, because the true kicker is whether someone down the supply chain (in store, then in Verizon, then in HTC) noticed and charged back to your account; as there may not have been enough time for bills to generate after such a chain, but I would love to hear of actual experiences.
If possible, there is no need to report back on Amazon or Best Buy or Guy-On-The-Corner They have different policies. This is a Verizon Corporate inquiry. If anyone sent it back to Verizon, did Verizon ultimately charge you for a new Rezound. Thanks
(I realize there is another thread debating whether or not HTC shares with Verizon, and whether Verizon employees are trained to check. This is not that hypothetical inquiry; I am hoping that only people who ACTUALLY did the swap report in).
Thanks!
This is interesting to me. I'm stuck wanting the "normal", for lack of better words, root and s-off method from the community. I knew that the employees don't care about root as long as they can set it back to stock. That's what I heard from my friend that worked there. I don't know about the HTC unlock though.
I did it with my first rezound. (i baught them at bestbuy for their replacement plan) no questions asked. GIVE ME NEW PHONE, they gave, I was happy.
not that this helps right now, but i should be able to give you an idea in a few days. bought my rezound on the 9th and unlocked and flashed that night, data started not connecting at all on the 13th. called vzw tech support on the 17th telling them what was going on, no mention of whether it was unlocked from either side, got my warranty replacement today. gonna send back the old phone tomorrow.
I had the 'can't charge dead batteries issue' the other night. Went to store and replaced with new battery. No problems.
Sent from my Unlocked/Rooted Rezound running CleanROM 2.0/AmonRa
Thanks
treadwayj said:
not that this helps right now, but i should be able to give you an idea in a few days. bought my rezound on the 9th and unlocked and flashed that night, data started not connecting at all on the 13th. called vzw tech support on the 17th telling them what was going on, no mention of whether it was unlocked from either side, got my warranty replacement today. gonna send back the old phone tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well - You did come closest to answering out of all the other responses PLEASE let us know if you ever get billed for it (which can take months).
When I turned my Charge in to Best Buy for the upgrade plan, the dude actually SHOWED OFF to the other folks how modded that thing was, he was in awe. As much flashing I did on that thing, it should have melted. They don't care, or are not paid enough TO care. Never had a problem at the VZW store either, but those guys are usually idiots anyways.
Local best buy for me looked for a superuser app, didn't see it, then exchanged the phone. Had they looked at the bootloader they would have seen the relocked. Bunch of idiots...lol.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Hmmm
nosympathy said:
Local best buy for me looked for a superuser app, didn't see it, then exchanged the phone. Had they looked at the bootloader they would have seen the relocked. Bunch of idiots...lol.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While Best Buy is not relevant (they probably have their own policies), that is kind of disturbing. It means they are looking.
Anyone actually do this with *VERIZON*, would love to hear if they ultimately charge you.
I know this is not exactly the same, but I exchanged my old Samsung Fascinate for a Droid Charge under warranty through Verizon. I restored the Fascinate but forgot to restore the kernel. It showed some hacked version under the system settings and was really obvious.
I sent it back and never heard anything about it...
i'm curious, if they do charge wouldn't that mean they should send me the phone that was broken back since in theory i would have purchased the second phone at full price?
treadwayj said:
i'm curious, if they do charge wouldn't that mean they should send me the phone that was broken back since in theory i would have purchased the second phone at full price?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you're paying for the replacement. It sucks.
06stang said:
No you're paying for the replacement. It sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so basically i could end up paying $850, $650 for the replacement plus the $200* i spent on the one that broke and be stuck under a two year contract?
oi vei
*with new two year contract
YES! That is why I was hoping to hear of people's actual responses with Verizon. Not having much luck with the "actual" or "verizon" part of the inquiry, but it is probably still too early to really know. The phone hasn't been unlocked long enough for people to unlock, decide they need to warranty replace, exchange it with VERIZON, and then get another bill cycle or 2 or 3 to see if they were charged.
... but I keep hoping to hear from anyone who actually warrantied an unlocked phone back to a Verizon corporate store or Verizon 800. As time goes by, maybe we will learn
doh! not exactly what i wanted to hear to start my friday morning.
i will keep y'all updated if i do or do not get charged
Thanks
treadwayj said:
doh! not exactly what i wanted to hear to start my friday morning.
i will keep y'all updated if i do or do not get charged
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please do. I suspect it will take months (has to get from Verizon store to headquarters as part of however often they ship, then Verizon has to batch all their warranty replacements back to HTC {if that's how they do it} however often they ship, then HTC has to notice {if they ever do} and push back {if they ever do}, and the Verizon has take the pushback and bill). I suspect that this can take months, at which point the question will be moot (because it will be as it will be), but it was a pipe dream of mine to see what actually happens, given the amount of guessing going on.
Good luck!
I don't see from a legal standpoint how they can do anything...soon as the phone is in their possession they are taking responsibility for it no? Therefore if it is not covered by HTC for some reason, it would be there fault.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Well
nosympathy said:
I don't see from a legal standpoint how they can do anything...soon as the phone is in their possession they are taking responsibility for it no? Therefore if it is not covered by HTC for some reason, it would be there fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a ridiculous number of acknowledgment clicks re voided warranty through the unlock process. I would consider this situation exactly like if you brought a phone to Verizon saying it won't work, and the somewhere down the line someone finds the water sensor tripped. The dude behind the counter at Verizon is not going to know at the time, but as the phone winds its way through the warranty replacement chain, someone will figure it out; and they probably will charge you for your replacement.
No one would be screaming 'illegal' in that case; and I believe the cases are identical.
Please note - I hope this is not the case; I have not unlocked my phone (despite desperately wanting to run Nils' ROM) because I dont have $650 to start again. BUT, I can easily see the parallel here.
jdmba said:
There was a ridiculous number of acknowledgment clicks re voided warranty through the unlock process. I would consider this situation exactly like if you brought a phone to Verizon saying it won't work, and the somewhere down the line someone finds the water sensor tripped. The dude behind the counter at Verizon is not going to know at the time, but as the phone winds its way through the warranty replacement chain, someone will figure it out; and they probably will charge you for your replacement.
No one would be screaming 'illegal' in that case; and I believe the cases are identical.
Please note - I hope this is not the case; I have not unlocked my phone (despite desperately wanting to run Nils' ROM) because I dont have $650 to start again. BUT, I can easily see the parallel here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how to feel about that either. When an employee of a cellphone provider looks at the available water marks and SAYS your phone is fine and has not received water damage and they are going to replace it for you...anything found afterwords is Verizon's own fault and they will have to deal with. I actually had apple try and pull that once. Had am iPhone where the wifi card was bad, tech at apple looked at their two water markers and said it was fine, that there was a definite issue and shed replace it. Got a call from apple saying the water marker was tripped and I'd have to pay for the replacement. I told them exactly what happened and they left me alone real quick.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
... and there you go. That is the heart of my inquiry.
The initial person (counter at the store) will be irrelevant, and if people turn in Re-Locked phones, will they ultimately get charged by Verizon EXACTLY the way Apple proceeded with you.

warranty exchange?

Hi all,
My Rezound has a problem with the microphone where no one can hear me unless I use my bluetooth. Ive dealt with it a while but now it's just frustrating to have to yell at my phone.
I want to call verizon and get a warranty exchange...either for a rezound or a different phone, but my phone is rooted. It is NOT SOFF, and has Nils Business Sense on it.
When I called verizon they said I needed to be off the phone so they could do some "damage checks" to the phone. I assume that means they'll check to see what rom/firmware it is running.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to successfully warranty exchange...I've read on here of several people returning SEVERAL rooted rezounds with issues...I'm just trying to figure out what the secret is before I return mine.
Thanks for any help you can give!
Tell them it died? Airplane mode? They won't check it once you send it in. There is another recent thread about this here somewhere...
You can send it back without problems. Once I sent back a rooted CM9 GNex and I never got billed
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
I've been told by several VZ employees I know that they dont care if its rooted or not as long as it can be flashed back to stock. They check it for physical/water damage, plug it in and flash most current software. Refurb and send it out. Done deal.
06stang said:
I've been told by several VZ employees I know that they dont care if its rooted or not as long as it can be flashed back to stock. They check it for physical/water damage, plug it in and flash most current software. Refurb and send it out. Done deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, this is what they do with them.
just ruu to the global release and send it back. im on my third now.
Do they mind if the phone has minor scratches on the housing (all just superficial), or is that considered physical damage?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
destro158 said:
Do they mind if the phone has minor scratches on the housing (all just superficial), or is that considered physical damage?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as long as its "normal ware" then its ok. if the glass is destroyed or its missing a bunch of paint then they wont take it.
06stang said:
I've been told by several VZ employees I know that they dont care if its rooted or not as long as it can be flashed back to stock. They check it for physical/water damage, plug it in and flash most current software. Refurb and send it out. Done deal.
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Yep that's what they do, they just usually forget the refurbishing part...
Thank you all for your feedback!

[Q] Sprint phone replacement without insurance?

Lately my phone has been having what seems to be a hardware problem. The microphone barely works anymore. When talking on the phone, people are always telling me they can barely hear me, it sounds like I'm really far away, etc, even though I'm practically yelling into the phone. Sometimes it works fine and other times it won't pick up my voice at all. Also it cuts in and out in the middle of conversations.
To rule out the possibility of a software issue, I've tried the following:
Flash MeanROM, problem still persists
Flash CM10, problem still persists
Updated HBOOT to 1.19 (S-OFF) and RUU, problem still persits
Thus, I have concluded that it's a hardware issue with the microphone. The phone is only six months old, and the problem/defect has appeared through no fault of my own (always kept in case, never abused, never got wet). Yesterday, I took it to a local Sprint store to see if they would give me a replacement, and being that I do *not* have insurance on this phone, the employee wanted to charge me $35 to look at the phone and then maybe issue me a refurb if they did not find any sign of water damage, etc.
What experiences have others had regarding defective phones and no insurance? Threads on other forums suggest that some have gotten free replacements while others did not. What's Sprint's official policy on this? I do not think I should be held responsible for any fees considering it's a hardware defect. The employee said I can send the phone directly to HTC for the manufacturer warranty but it would take 15-20 days that I'd be phoneless, and my phone is S-OFF, so I'm a little hesitant about doing that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
I think sprints "official" policy would be no insurance=no replacement. Since it is rooted I would imagine your bootloader is unlocked which means u voided your warranty with HTC. My suggestion is it doesn't hurt to try but don't get pissed at sprint if u don't get it.
One workaround would be to get another phone and activate it online chat and ask to get insurance on it. Once u do that wait a day or two and swap back to your evo. The insurance will stay on the line. Then u can take it in and get it looked at for free if it is a hardware defect u should het a free replacement
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
You had the option for Warranty replacement but that could (not sure) very well be gone if you used their unlocking tool & S-OFF.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Genjinaro said:
You had the option for Warranty replacement but that could (not sure) very well be gone if you used their unlocking tool & S-OFF.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
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Can I make it S-ON again? I assume HTC would still be able to detect that I had done this, am I right?
That's a possibility, I'd make the effort to do so. Flash a fully stock Rom (RUU) before it goes back. If it fails, the worse that can happen is that they send it back.
Just be sure to photograph quality photos of the phone (front, back, sides & top) before packaging & sending it off when dealing with warranty exchanges.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Theyll fix ur phone for 35$ if they detect wayer damage, but if they see your phone is rooted they wont fix it, and give ur phone back to you a.s.a.p
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
Just flash it all back to stock, and take it in. Sprint provides the 1 year warranty. So they will check it out, if it fails for them you'll get a refurb. Don't need insurance for factory defect.
regalpimpin said:
Just flash it all back to stock, and take it in. Sprint provides the 1 year warranty. So they will check it out, if it fails for them you'll get a refurb. Don't need insurance for factory defect.
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Right now it is back to stock, but the bootloader is still unlocked. I used the utility to make the bootloader look "stock" though, as it says *** LOCKED *** and S-ON however it is really S-OFF. A Sprint employee may not notice this but an HTC tech certainly will. Anyways, the sprint employee must have been misinformed or something. They said I would need to go through the manufacturer for the warranty and not Sprint. I'm going to go back and try to talk to a different employee and see if I can get a different result. Thanks.
What your looking at is the $35 service fee that Sprint charges you. Its basically a convince fee to save you the time of not having to deal with the manufacturer.
Id take advantage of the "advanced exchange program" pay the 35 bucks and take a refurb device. I did this last month. My original unit had a very loose headset jack.
I paid the 35 bucks and got a replacement. 4 days into the replacement the RF died on it. No signal what so ever. Took it back and they immediately replaced that too. BUT i lucked out. They only had white refurbs in stock. I said Nope. mine is black i want black. So i got a new in box unit. That normally isnt the case but with the 35 dollar refurb units, they still warranty that for 30 days..
after that its back to another 35 bucks for a replacement. I think its fair, afterall your not returning a brand new phone to them. Its a device thats been used and in your case rooted and flashed a few times.
I also think there could be gunk or something in the mic port. Wonder if they checked that.
Did you try to use a wired headset to see if that corrected the issue. If so then its definitely a mic issue.
Anyway, the 35 bucks is for the convinces of not having to wait while HTC works on it..

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