Unlocked = No Warranty!! Period. - AT&T HTC One (M7)

I just went through trying to get warranty service on a 1 month old HTC one, was refused, and am now frustrated with the whole process. This is a post both for me to vent, as well as a warning for all who are noobs, as well as seasoned veterans, thinking of unlocking, rooting, installing custom roms, and just in general messing with your phone.
I bought my HTC one online through AT&T about one month ago, beautiful silver 64 GB model. I had the customary 14 days to return it for any reason, except that date begins on the ship date from AT&T, not 2 full weeks in your hand. I heard a funny buzz from the top speaker within a couple days, but it was brief and I really did not pay much notice to it. As it was, it only happened at certain frequencies when playing music or videos using the otherwise awesome front stereo speakers. The source is definitely something vibrating under the speaker grill, but only when certain sound frequencies are made by the speaker. It is not the speaker itself, as I could cover that with a finger over the central speaker grill and it would then accentuate the vibrating noise by blocking the sound output, causing it to reverberate under the speaker grill even more.
As it would happen, I did not use the external speakers all that much during the 14 day evaluation period and did not really take note of it until about a week after, now past when AT&T would take it back. I waited another week in denial and then decided to contact HTC, since I was now keenly aware of it and could hear it almost every time I played music through the speaker. Now I don't post much in XDA, but I have been flashing ROMs for years and am well versed in the process. I lasted all of about 12 hours with my new HTC before unlocking the bootloader and flashing my first custom ROM. I had come from a long line of Samsung devices most recently, and although I never needed warranty service, I never worried about it because you could get those phones completely back to stock with no signs they had ever been tampered with. Not so with the HTC. One little line of text atop the bootloader screen would reveal my unlocking/re-locking.
The phone went back to HTC and immediately I had an email stating the phone was outside warranty, and asking for $200 to repair the device. Now I argued and escalated my case as far as I could, speaking to multiple reps, and eventually they offered to repair the phone for $100, only because there was some misunderstanding between myself and the very first rep I talked to when asking for warranty service (we had talked about whether HTC cared if the device was "unlocked", but the rep thought I was talking about sim unlocked and had told me HTC wouldn't care). I agreed to pay once they assured me my warranty would again be in force, as long as I did not unlock the bootloader. As far as I am aware, there is no way to unlock this phone and then return it to untouched factory status. It will always show that it has been tampered with. I was told by HTC that the main board would have to be replaced to remove this tampered status.
Learn and live, but a warning for all that go down this path. You play at your own risk. For me, I will run stock now for a good many months, until I feel sure the device has proved itself. Then my temptations to tamper will likely overwhelm me again....

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I exchanged my 64gb for warranty, bootloader unlocked with a modified stock ROM on it and had no issues. In fact, I have exchanged NUMEROUS bootloader unlocked devices for warranty and have never had a single issue. I think I sent 5 One Xs back, all unlocked.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

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I agree with MetalHead. This is the first I've ever heard of a device ever being denied warranty service. Are you sure it wasn't because it might have gotten wet? I thought I read that it doesn't matter whether the software is custom if there is a hardware problem. If it was denied because of the bootloader being unlocked then it was probably because you told them. Next time just send it in. I've done it MANY times.
P.S. There actually is a way to go back to complete stock.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

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That's also because you sent it to htc and not at&t obviously.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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There's a big difference in exchanging the phone with AT&T and getting a warranty repair through HTC. An AT&T store will not care and likely will not even know how to check the boot loader. HTC sent me pictures of the screen showing that I had unlocked the device to prove I was out of warranty. If there is a way to get it totally back to stock, with boot loader locked, and HTC not to be able to tell, I have not heard of it.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app

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Then you haven't been around here much lately
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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You mean when I unlocked my phone, that single page that said "WARN ING, UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER WILL VOID WARRANTY" is actually true?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

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SlimJ87D said:
You mean when I unlocked my phone, that single page that said "WARN ING, UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER WILL VOID WARRANTY" is actually true?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[how to]return to 100% stock from revone or moonshine s off
http://androidforums.com/internatio...stock-revone-moonshine-s-off.html#post5918438

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SlimJ87D said:
You mean when I unlocked my phone, that single page that said "WARN ING, UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER WILL VOID WARRANTY" is actually true?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you can completely re-lock the bootloader revert to stock and hide all traces of any ROMs, custom kernels, etc. Yes.
Nexus 4 CyanogenMod 10.1.0RC5

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dborgo said:
There's a big difference in exchanging the phone with AT&T and getting a warranty repair through HTC. An AT&T store will not care and likely will not even know how to check the boot loader. HTC sent me pictures of the screen showing that I had unlocked the device to prove I was out of warranty. If there is a way to get it totally back to stock, with boot loader locked, and HTC not to be able to tell, I have not heard of it.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I smell a troll here sorry if you have been on xda for any length of time. You would know better
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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CheesyNutz said:
I smell a troll here sorry if you have been on xda for any length of time. You would know better
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Troll? That's funny. No, maybe someone just new to HTC, who got bad information from HTC itself, made a mistake and sent a "tampered" phone to HTC and ran into a snag trying to get legitimate warranty service. I've paid my "fine" to HTC, learned my lesson, and will be happy to have my phone back soon.
clsA said:
[how to]return to 100% stock from revone or moonshine s off
http://androidforums.com/internatio...stock-revone-moonshine-s-off.html#post5918438
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good information. Thank you. Ironically, these posts are dated well after my phone was mailed off to HTC. At least this thread may help steer someone else to the right information.

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Have already sent one back fully unlocked for warrony
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

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Sucks to hear... sorry bro, I'm glad mine says Locked and tampered is gone S-off is king

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dborgo said:
There's a big difference in exchanging the phone with AT&T and getting a warranty repair through HTC. An AT&T store will not care and likely will not even know how to check the boot loader. HTC sent me pictures of the screen showing that I had unlocked the device to prove I was out of warranty. If there is a way to get it totally back to stock, with boot loader locked, and HTC not to be able to tell, I have not heard of it.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is why did you send it to HTC? ATT offers a 1 year warranty on it. If you raise hell they might even replace it on the spot, since it was only a week out. Just ask for a manager. Always go to the ATT corporate stores. Doesnt matter if you purchased it online, as long as it is an ATT branded phone.
---------- Post added at 11:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 AM ----------
CheesyNutz said:
I smell a troll here sorry if you have been on xda for any length of time. You would know better
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering if you know the definition of troll Cheezy lol Nothing troll worthy that i can see, not even remotely. Heck maybe it's me that doesn't know the definition of a troll :highfive:

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SlimJ87D said:
You mean when I unlocked my phone, that single page that said "WARN ING, UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER WILL VOID WARRANTY" is actually true?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says MAY void warranty.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

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Can't blame anyone but yourself.

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_MetalHead_ said:
I exchanged my 64gb for warranty, bootloader unlocked with a modified stock ROM on it and had no issues. In fact, I have exchanged NUMEROUS bootloader unlocked devices for warranty and have never had a single issue. I think I sent 5 One Xs back, all unlocked.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SkizzMcNizz said:
I agree with MetalHead. This is the first I've ever heard of a device ever being denied warranty service. Are you sure it wasn't because it might have gotten wet? I thought I read that it doesn't matter whether the software is custom if there is a hardware problem. If it was denied because of the bootloader being unlocked then it was probably because you told them. Next time just send it in. I've done it MANY times.
P.S. There actually is a way to go back to complete stock.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SkizzMcNizz said:
It says MAY void warranty.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just want to confirm that I've had the same experience with a One X in the past.
Was denied warranty because the phone had an unlocked bootloader, even though it was clearly a hardware issue and HTC themselves admitted this.
If you read the disclaimer carefully on HTCDev, it does not say the warranty is systematically voided, but that if the phone is rendered unusable by the user, it may not be covered under warranty.
Ironically their warranty statement also says that only the hardware is warrantied, and not the software.
IMHO if someone had the time and energy to challenge them legally, I doubt HTC would win.

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Att replaced my bootloader unlocked phone just last month. Don't deal with HTC deal with at&t

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Wow, I really did things wrong. I've been lucky over the years and never had a phone that needed to be returned or serviced. I obviously didn't understand the process. I contacted the manufacturer instead of AT&T and got screwed. Never understood AT&T's warranty, never needed to use it. Doesn't help that my nearest AT&T corporate store is 2 hours away. So really there's no use of the manufactures warranty when you buy the phone through AT&T. I guess only those who purchase a phone directly from HTC (dev edition etc) need the manufacturer's warranty. Good to know I can confidently go back to what I know best, flashing roms and enjoying all that XDA has to offer.
Thank you all for your humbling advice. After all these years, my noob status is staunchly in place

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Corp store would have just called warranty services for you. Next time just call customer care.