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So I have a Question. I unlocked my bootloader following the HTCdev.com Website and when doing so there was a warning saying that in Unlocking it I MAY void my warranty. I have followed Xboarders instructions to completly Relock the bootloader and boot completly back to stock. If anything goes wrong with my phone via Warranty issues(Such as the screen stops working or a button stops working and there is no Physical damage) will t-mobile warranty the phone without charging me the crazy restocking fee. Has anyone done this before on a different phone. I know on my older galaxy S phone I could but there wasnt the bootloader issue. Thanks for any advice.
Pretty sure that HTC/T-Mo won't charge you because its a hardware fail that could've happened regardless if you unlocked your bootloader
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using XDA App
Do you know the best way to confirm this?
Shawnkanan said:
Do you know the best way to confirm this?
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Call them.
these companies work together. If htc knows that someone voided their warranty through the htc dev method, t-mo and asurion prolly know it as well. It doesnt matter if you call them saying "i lost my phone", "someone stole it", "it flew up to the moon", etc - they already know its warranty no longer exist... simple
This isn't directed only at the OP so please don't take offense, but this question has come up so many times, and no one seems to actually be using their brain to come up with a real answer. Since my brain apparently still functions, let me set this straight.
First of all, warranty and insurance are different things. If you pay for the insurance through T-Mobile (which is through Assurion) then it shouldn't matter whether you void your warranty. You would still be covered either way. That's why you pay extra for it.
Second, HTC states that you MAY void your warranty. Which means the warranty still exists, but that if you have a problem with your phone and send it in for warranty repair or replacement and they feel that your issue was caused by unlocking the bootloader and doing something stupid (like bricking it by trying to flash an incompatible radio or something) then they can choose to not honor the warranty.
You guys really need to stop worrying so much.
Also of note, there is currently no way to get back to 100% stock after unlocking the bootloader. You can relock it, but it will say 'relocked' instead of 'locked' indicating that you messed with it. Plus I assume HTC keeps a record of the unique identifier codes that were submitted for an unlock code.
Hopefully this clears things up. You're welcome.
^^^^^^^^^^What he said.
MAY is the operative word.
So far I'm liking my HOX+ (AT&T), but want to unlock/root to get the full experience, backup with Titanium, delve into Tasker and BatteryXL, etc. However, I'm a relative newbie at this and need some help.
I understand you have to unlock the bootloader first, but so far the only way I've seen is through HTC Dev. Is that correct? And will that void my warranty? Or is it reversible in case I need to bring the phone back in for maintenance?
Or, will it not matter, because if I bring it in the AT&T Store staff won't bother to check? I did swap out my phone for a non-defective one on Tuesday and the dude didn't even turn it on or glance at it, just grabbed me a new one with a new SIM, so this may not matter. But before I go on I just wanted some reassurance that I can reverse this if need be.
Thanks in advance!
Technically, yes it does void your warranty. That said, I bought a One X in September, unlocked the bootloader and rooted it in October. Then when the X+ came out, I relocked the bootloader and flashed the RUU to return the device to stock, took it back to the AT&T store and got my X+.
If for some reason you ran into a super-anal AT&T employee, yes they could still check to see if it had been previously unlocked and the phone would show this evidence if they look at the bootloader. Highly, HIGHLY unlikely if you ask me though.
Thanks!
I'll look into rooting if I can figure out how! Anyone know how to do this on Mac?
911jason said:
Technically, yes it does void your warranty. That said, I bought a One X in September, unlocked the bootloader and rooted it in October. Then when the X+ came out, I relocked the bootloader and flashed the RUU to return the device to stock, took it back to the AT&T store and got my X+.
If for some reason you ran into a super-anal AT&T employee, yes they could still check to see if it had been previously unlocked and the phone would show this evidence if they look at the bootloader. Highly, HIGHLY unlikely if you ask me though.
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Exactly how you get around it! To be honest a few times i returned phones with only flashing the factory rom, left the phone unlocked and all, lol! I doubt the companies really look into it to see if you messed with it. Haven't heard 1 person returned a phone and getting denied because of root, unlocked bootloader, etc. I could be wrong but never heard of it myself...
911jason said:
Technically, yes it does void your warranty. That said, I bought a One X in September, unlocked the bootloader and rooted it in October. Then when the X+ came out, I relocked the bootloader and flashed the RUU to return the device to stock, took it back to the AT&T store and got my X+.
If for some reason you ran into a super-anal AT&T employee, yes they could still check to see if it had been previously unlocked and the phone would show this evidence if they look at the bootloader. Highly, HIGHLY unlikely if you ask me though.
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Rooting and unlocking alone only voids your warranty if you have a custom rom on your phone that caused the issue you had that broke it. I got that straight from a store managers mouth.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
I am wondering if anyone knows the specifics of the affects that using the HTCDev unlock tool has on your warranty. I did some research and I could not find a clear cut answer of what is still covered after you unlock. Will hardware defects still be covered by the warranty? For example, if the speaker stops functioning. Is a Sprint Warranty separate from HTC's Warranty?
When you use the htcdev method, your warranty is VOID. As far as sprint, they always check to see if your bootloader is locked and untampered. So for example if you bring in your phone to the sprint store with your bootloader saying 'tampered', you have no choice but to get a new phone by their insurance plan if you got that in the first place. But if the bootloader says 'relocked'(after running a RUU) , you shouldn't have too big of a problem. Just make sure the bootloader doesn't say tampered or' security warning' and you should be fine for sprint repairs.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
onlybob said:
When you use the htcdev method, your warranty is VOID. As far as sprint, they always check to see if your bootloader is locked and untampered. So for example if you bring in your phone to the sprint store with your bootloader saying 'tampered', you have no choice but to get a new phone by their insurance plan if you got that in the first place. But if the bootloader says 'relocked'(after running a RUU) , you shouldn't have too big of a problem. Just make sure the bootloader doesn't say tampered or' security warning' and you should be fine for sprint repairs.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
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This info is incorrect. Sprint doesn't care if you are rooted. They will fix or replace phones with hardware malfunctions. If it is software related they will require you to return to stock before addressing the issue. HTC will still warranty your phone for hardware issues just not software issues if you unlocked. But several people have reported that HTC worked on their phones even though they were rooted.
cruise is very right, sprint does not care when you root your phone, its just a matter if you have TEP (total equipment protection).
The thing is, if something happens because of a bad flash or brick and you dont have TEP then you have to pay for the device if you wanna new one.
if you hard brick your device you can take it in to the local sprint store and they will have no idea what going on with it. It will just be labled as a factory mess up or defect. and they will order a refurb for you( if you have the insurance).
Sprint doesn't care and HTC does evals on a case by case. If its a proven hardware fault, they repair or replace despite hboot status
One time I thought I bricked my phone. So I brought it to Sprint and they said they couldn't do anything to help repair it because the hboot said unlocked and tampered. I was signed up for TEP and if I didn't fix my phone by myself(which I did) I had to request for a new phone for over $150. This is my personal experience with Sprint and the info I posted above was right from sprint/htc employees. So if I was wrong, I apologize. Oh this happened last august, when the phone was around $200.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
onlybob said:
One time I thought I bricked my phone. So I brought it to Sprint and they said they couldn't do anything to help repair it because the hboot said unlocked and tampered. I was signed up for TEP and if I didn't fix my phone by myself(which I did) I had to request for a new phone for over $150. This is my personal experience with Sprint and the info I posted above was right from sprint/htc employees. So if I was wrong, I apologize. Oh this happened last august, when the phone was around $200.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
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yeah you got ripped off, i work for sprint and you should have been offered a replacement evo lte.
Evolutionmods said:
yeah you got ripped off, i work for sprint and you should have been offered a replacement evo lte.
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Oh well. Anyways its quite hard to brick this phone besides dropping it from a skyscraper.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
cruise350 said:
This info is incorrect. Sprint doesn't care if you are rooted. They will fix or replace phones with hardware malfunctions. If it is software related they will require you to return to stock before addressing the issue. HTC will still warranty your phone for hardware issues just not software issues if you unlocked. But several people have reported that HTC worked on their phones even though they were rooted.
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ok people...for the record...HTC DOES NOT COVER ANY PHONE THE HAS BEEN UNLOCKED, ROOTED, OR S-OFF. if you phone says relocked or tampered then HTC DOES NOT COVER YOUR PHONE EITHER. if you dont believe me, then call 866-449-8358. ask for adam. then i'll tell you over the phone the same thing that i just told you now.
ak074 said:
ok people...for the record...HTC DOES NOT COVER ANY PHONE THE HAS BEEN UNLOCKED, ROOTED, OR S-OFF. if you phone says relocked or tampered then HTC DOES NOT COVER YOUR PHONE EITHER. if you dont believe me, then call 866-449-8358. ask for adam. then i'll tell you over the phone the same thing that i just told you now.
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*facepalm* SPRINT ( REMEMBER SPRINT...keep it in mind) DOES NOT CARE IF ITS ROOTED OR NOT. They will fix your phone for small hardware issues. But if its big like brick then no HTC doenst cover nor does sprint. So hope you agreed for TEP.
For example I say about 6-8 months ago, I went to a sprint store and explained " hey I have a rooted phone and screen is badly cracked can you replace THE SCREEN (not the phone!), please." They went to the back of the store and came back with new screen on my HTC evo 4G
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
^^^^^ same for me^^^^^^
Hardware failure they will deal with. Software failure I've always fixed myself. As for HTC, check the international one x forums, you will see that all those people have been charged 300+$ after sending their phone in even for software reflash/RUU if bootloader shows unlocked/relocked.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Huh. My moms screen has a single crack horizontally along her evo lte, and they WOULD NOT fix the screen. They said because it was longer than 2 inches they couldn't. Is this right, or did they just give us some bs? Definitely not paying $150 just to get a new phone, when it could be fixed for at least $35
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
ok. look. htc will fix any- and everything that is wrong with your phone. it doesnt matter if its rooted or not. but it will not be covered under warranty. you will have to pay for the repairs. it doesnt matter what the repair is. also if you send in a rooted/unlocked/s-off device, when you get it back, it will be stock even if the main board has to be replaced. this is the official policy. rooted phones have been overlooked before and i'm sure that it will happen again.
^^^^^ I second this. Check the one x intntl forums if you really wanna see how htc deals with warrantys
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Evolutionmods said:
yeah you got ripped off, i work for sprint and you should have been offered a replacement evo lte.
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U sure u work for sprint...?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
AshraafCulpo said:
U sure u work for sprint...?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
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Yes, he's sure.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
so, did you guys come to any sort of consensus here? I want to root my new HTC One but there's no unofficial method yet and you need to use HTCDev. I've always been able to unbrick every software mistake I've made, happened a lot on the Evo 4G. I need to make sure that any hardware problems that may arise are covered.
for example, my USB port on my Rooted Evo LTE stopped working, I didn't have TEP, and it cost me $50 to get a brand new phone from Sprint. That was fine, because it was less than 5 months of TEP payments.
c-stam said:
so, did you guys come to any sort of consensus here? I want to root my new HTC One but there's no unofficial method yet and you need to use HTCDev. I've always been able to unbrick every software mistake I've made, happened a lot on the Evo 4G. I need to make sure that any hardware problems that may arise are covered.
for example, my USB port on my Rooted Evo LTE stopped working, I didn't have TEP, and it cost me $50 to get a brand new phone from Sprint. That was fine, because it was less than 5 months of TEP payments.
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I always thought that unlocking would void your warranty, but then I found this on htcdev.com: "It is our responsibility to caution you that not all claims resulting or caused by or from the unlocking of the bootloader may be covered under warranty.".
This seems to suggest that your normal hardware warranty stays intact when unlocking your htc device.
sharkmarc said:
I always thought that unlocking would void your warranty, but then I found this on htcdev.com: "It is our responsibility to caution you that not all claims resulting or caused by or from the unlocking of the bootloader may be covered under warranty.".
This seems to suggest that your normal hardware warranty stays intact when unlocking your htc device.
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I should add a data point here since I'm dealing with this right now. HTC told me that unlocking will void your warranty COMPLETELY. No exceptions. It seems that the people who did get repairs were most likely covered under their provider's own 3rd-party warranty.
I also read all of this stuff which says that it's only for issues related to unlocking, but they refused to budge and stated that it's in their training materials.
I tried to get them to state where this was stated in public, and they pointed to the warranty document on their website under support. Basically, skip PAST the warranty section of the document to the Software EULA, and they said that this was the passage that renders it VOID:
ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE THAT MAY BE PROVIDED WITH THE
SOFTWARE IS INCLUDED FOR USE AT YOUR OPTION. IF YOU CHOOSE
TO USE SUCH THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, THEN SUCH USE SHALL BE
GOVERNED BY SUCH THIRD PARTY’S LICENSE AGREEMENT. HTC IS NOT
RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY THIRD PARTY’S SOFTWARE AND SHALL HAVE NO
LIABILITY FOR YOUR USE OF THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE.
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I got the same thing from multiple people there.
Of course, the interpretation from the CSRs is obviously wrong, since that section just says that HTC is not responsible for the Facebook app that's preloaded, but they really don't care and refused to budge.
What HTC is pretty much saying is if they have belief that the damage was caused by your unlocking, they won't cover it, but if the damage is not related to your unlocking, they will continue coverage on the device.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
I searched and couldn't find a clear answer to my question:
I bought an AT&T HTC One off CL and want to flash the international ROM, however, I am afraid of voiding my warranty...
1) is there any way to restore htc one back to its "locked" state after unlocking, from what I understand it is only possible to change it to "relocked"
2) Does the "relocked" status imply voided warranty? has anyone dealt with AT&T in the past?
I have seen my share of smartphones failing, including my international S3 failing into its 14th month so would really like to keep the warranty intact
Unlocking the bootloader does not necessarily void your warranty in the U.S. But it will probably make your claim a little more difficult. HTC has, in the past, honored warranty when the fault was clearly not the users fault. For example, if your power button gets stuck in the down position and can't be raised. At this time, there is no way to get the phone to show LOCKED again instead of RELOCKED. Now if HTC gets your phone and determines the issue was caused by the user, they will still replace it but charge you for the parts. You will probably have more luck working with AT&T reps in your warranty claim because they aren't trained on how to tell if your phone is unlocked/rooted as long as you aren't obvious about it.
Sent from my Galaxy S4
ledocbio said:
I searched and couldn't find a clear answer to my question:
I bought an AT&T HTC One off CL and want to flash the international ROM, however, I am afraid of voiding my warranty...
1) is there any way to restore htc one back to its "locked" state after unlocking, from what I understand it is only possible to change it to "relocked"
2) Does the "relocked" status imply voided warranty? has anyone dealt with AT&T in the past?
I have seen my share of smartphones failing, including my international S3 failing into its 14th month so would really like to keep the warranty intact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AHEM: /Taps mic....
Simply unlocking your bootloader isn't an automatic voiding of a warranty.
I am doing a warranty return myself and the terms I agreed to were the phone must not be physically damaged, or water damaged.
Also HTC THEMSELVES will repair a phone UNDER WARRANTY with a HARDWARE DEFECT despite having an unlocked bootloader.
I have never in my several years of dealing with AT&T had a warranty refused because I rooted my phone.
/drops mic
Until we get S-off (which is coming soon) the bootloader cannot be made to say "LOCKED" once it has been unlocked.
Sorry for the double post, but thought of one more thing. I had to get my phone warranty swapped for dead pixels. The AT&T reps I dealt with in person tried to convince me that my device wasn't covered because, like you, I bought the phone from an individual. They said warranty are not tranferrable and only belong to the person who bought the phone. This is not true. Warranty is on the device and provided by HTC, not AT&T. They are simply acting as an intermediary to facilitate the exchange. I had a whole lot less trouble dealing with the phone support folks in getting it swapped.
Sent from my Galaxy S4
unremarked said:
Sorry for the double post, but thought of one more thing. I had to get my phone warranty swapped for dead pixels. The AT&T reps I dealt with in person tried to convince me that my device wasn't covered because, like you, I bought the phone from an individual. They said warranty are not tranferrable and only belong to the person who bought the phone. This is not true. Warranty is on the device and provided by HTC, not AT&T. They are simply acting as an intermediary to facilitate the exchange. I had a whole lot less trouble dealing with the phone support folks in getting it swapped.
Sent from my Galaxy S4
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Thanks for that piece of information, MOST HELPFUL!
Any idea if there will be a different unlock tool for s-off our if I can unlock and just wait for s-off?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
If past exploits are any indication you're going to need root to gain s-off so go ahead and unlock.
I'm sending my HTC one m8 in for the one time free glass replacement. I have unlocked the boot loader and rooted the phone will they still do it for free or do I need to do something before I send it in?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
They shouldn't care, but I would unroot phone and relock the boot loader just to be on the safe side. Relocking the phone will factory reset phone, but I would do that anyway regardless just so my personal stuff wasn't in someone else's possession.
stlracer said:
I'm sending my HTC one m8 in for the one time free glass replacement. I have unlocked the boot loader and rooted the phone will they still do it for free or do I need to do something before I send it in?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
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I was told by an HTC chat representative that because I registered and downloaded the unlock code from HTC that this voided the warranty - all parts of it, including the Advantage Program. - I think this is terrible. Unlocking the bootloader has NOTHING to do with dropping the phone or replacing a broken part.
I hope you have good luck getting the glass replaced free under the program. Please keep us posted on what happens!
From what I have see, there have been mixed reports. Some folks with modded phone have had their screen fixed under Advantage, and some have been denied (HTC makes you pay for the repair?).
I would recommend return the phone to LOCKED (s-off required), return to s-on, and everything else stock, and hope for the best. If you unlocked by HTCDev.com, they have a record of you doing so by the phone's IMEI. So your chances are probably not great. If you unlocked the bootloader via sunshine, they should have no way of knowing the phone is modded if you return everything to stock.
Bootloader can say "relocked" and it will still be able to be fixed. If rooted and unlocked and non stock firmware/software/recovery then they will not fix based on my findings(repair center techs).
My screen malfunctioned and I had to send the phone in for replacement. I returned back to stock via RUU and relocked the bootloader, but left it S-Off. I did not get any grief from HTC. So far, I have left the new phone completely stock, but I'll likely unlock, root, and s-off at some point. ?
mbcastle said:
My screen malfunctioned and I had to send the phone in for replacement. I returned back to stock via RUU and relocked the bootloader, but left it S-Off. I did not get any grief from HTC. So far, I have left the new phone completely stock, but I'll likely unlock, root, and s-off at some point.
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Did you unlock the bootloader using HTC Dev, or via Sunshine/other?
DanGeorges said:
Did you unlock the bootloader using HTC Dev, or via Sunshine/other?
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I unlocked using HTC Dev, so they certainly have a record of it. Plus, mine said "relocked" on the bootloader screen.
I sent mine in around January 3rd with a relocked bootloader with no issues at all except for them breaking mt camera lens on the return shipment , this being after it got damaged on the way there... -_- but they dont care about the bootloader as far as I'm concerned
When I contacted HTC chat originally for my free screen replacement, I was unlocked and rooted, and they gave me the runaround about the warranty being voided (I unlocked through HTCdev).
I exited the chat, relocked the bootloader and flashed back to stock.
Went back into a new chat, they replaced it without a hitch. Well unless you consider the power button now being stuck on my new phone, so I need to send it back under warranty again, a hitch lol.
So apparently, if you contact them while rooted and unlocked, they may try to use it to void your warranty. But if you put it back to factory, you're showing them it's not a software issue from you messing with it (don't ask me how a cracked screen would be), so they give you no hassle.