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To get to the point, people DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANTS and T-MOBILE HANDLES THE ISSUE HORRIBLY! Obviously this is not a universal problem, but if you do happen to be one of the lucky ones that bricks their phone with the update there is no saving it (at least with the help of T-mobile).
I just got off of the phone with tech support and they were less than helpful. After the regular punching in numbers, talking to two different people, and trying to re-boots that everyone with half a brain have tried, they informed me that they would replace the phone but I had to PAY for shipping. While I realize this is a normal policy when it comes to random malfunctions, which may or may not have been the users fault, this is absolutely ridiculous when the problem is 100% their fault. Seriously, T-mobile ships a top of the line phone that has some major flaws and inactivated software (media hub), then breaks the phone with it's official update, and somehow this is MY responsibility to pay to get fixed? The rep even asked if I at this point wanted to add insurance so next time I wouldn't have to pay for shipping and if I wanted to pay extra for expedited shipping! They were trying to make an add-on sale while fixing an issue THEY caused!
That's not even the end of it, because I was so irritated they sent me to a "loyalty specialist" (who sounded like a used car salesman). He rambled on about how he would waive the shipping fee (he made it sound like he just saved my first born child). I told him I appreciated that but it didn't fix the fact that T-Mobile was not handling the issue well. When a large number of phones break from an issue originating from the provider they should either 1) have re-furbished phones (or even set aside new phones if necessary) to replace these broken phones as they come up or 2) offer free over night shipping of the replacement phone. He told me that these options were too expensive for T-Mobile, and that if I like I could sign up for either of their two insurance plans, as they would allow me to do an in-store replacement (he later noted that one of them was only available within the first 14 days of owning the phone...). I couldn't believe they were trying to another add-on sale! The best part being, I later called around to all my local T-Mobile owned stores and none of them have the Vibrant available for in-store replacement (and never have).
So the Cliff-Notes of my rant:
1) DON'T UPDATE YOUR VIBRANT
2) If you did brick your phone, make sure to complain and they should refund the ridiculous shipping charge
3) If you don't own a Vibrant and are thinking about it consider the following (Don't let it stop you, just consider it):
- Still on 2.1, when Nexus One has been on 2.2 for months (and the Galaxy S 2.2 official ROM has been leaked so it does exist in some form.) => Meaning updates are super scarce and extremely late.
- T-Mobile is selling a good phone with many flaws, and their first attempt to fix it bricked many phones (do a google search I am not the only one).
- While it may be better than other companies, T-Mobiles customer service is FAR from flawless
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors.
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Had the same problem but this is a pretty fix using Odin.
If you install an update from an OTA T-Mobile should be held responsible
I don't know about you guys but when you have been a customer for 10+ years, T-Mobile will pretty much suck your balls.
Either way, if you guys rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Yeah why warranty the phone when you can just ODIN and fix it yourself? Do a xda search. If you're gonna use xda to complain at least use it to solve your own problems as well. Unless your phone is hardware locked it is 100 % fixable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
starkiller86 said:
I hate when people mess with their phones then get angry at a company for "breaking" their phone. Im running stock rom with root and also got bricked, but, I manned up and knew I was in the wrong and accepted what happened. I didn't put the blame on TMo, because completely untouched vibrants that I was aware of had no issues with this OTA. If you added functionality to it after the fact that it wasn't originally on there before when you initially purchased it; then its YOUR fault that it bricked, NOT T-mobiles. Take some responsibility and stop crying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.S. My phone was completely stock (so please don't mention how I did this with a lag fix, etc.). I waited at least 15 mins before I pulled the battery, before which I had noted the T-Mobile sound starting without the animation (seems like a timing issue or something). And finally, I realize this is a duplicate post to many others but I want people to find this info (not be at the bottom of a really long thread) to get the word out how T-Mobile deals with their errors
Did you not read that part?
I bricked two stock Vibrants with the update. The second one failed during Mini-Kies update and was hardware locked.
It is a known issue according to the Tech guy that I spoke to while getting my replacement.
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
No, no.
This happened to me, I had a rooted phone I had uninstalled the inflight internet, etc on it and hadn't overclocked or anything like that. Phone kills itself. I went to the tmo store and they only make you pay for shipping if you take the overnight option.
PROTIP - DON'T ASK FOR EXTRA SPEEDY SHIPPING AND THEY'LL PAY FOR IT.
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
watcher64 said:
I guess this is just an example of "store your pictures on the external SD card"
Then if you brick it you can still get your pictures back ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Word. That's one of the first things I did when I got the phone and was playing with the features. Switched it from phone storage to memory card.
Sorry to hear you lost photos.
Protip: Pay the damn overnight shipping fee...it'll be deducted from your bill (flex pay) which makes it free: )
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Here is the business side
If I am T mobile every time some person has a problem and I offered free shipping, the Every moron would be shipping the device back for Any problem. Way way costly, so that is not going to happen. If you Really believe the phone is factory defective then, pay the shipping and move on. If you messed with it at all then the burden to resolve is yours and be honest about that. Remember the reason people are in here is to customize the phone and improve it. Like the XDA mantra sez.......... It is not just the result... but the journey....
Like one of the other posts stated:
If you rooted it, then that takes the fault from T-Mobile to you. You changed the phone. The update was designed for a pristine un-edited Samsung Vibrant, if you changed anything in the system by rooting or flashing it is your fault for changing the equation. T-Mobile is NOT at fault for your actions.
Gr8gorilla said:
First phone wouldn't power on after failure, second phone was hardware locked so un-fixable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a hardware lock fix now, you really should flash that before you do anything else. Yeah, you run the risk of bricking with the hardware unlock, but it's probably a safer bet than flashing away.
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you Odin it with the JI6 update, you might still be able to get a working system out of it. Worth a shot to see if you can get it without having to flash to stock first (which will wipe).
With all the time you spent with tech support, you could have found the thread that delineates how to fix your phone and update through odin. Its very easy and, frankly why be on a developers forum when you are not willing to tinker around a bit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
dechire said:
so i guess we are just SOL for the data on the phone? I just lost an entire vacation of pictures. I had not had a chance to root this phone either. this is ****ing awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as the phone still powers on you can still use ADB Pull and save the data from the /sdcard folder. This update isn't a totally bricking the phone (at least it didn't mine) just making the display and inputs not work. To quote Billy Crystal: "He's only MOSTLY dead"
Odin was really simple to reflash the stock ROM and then I was able to do a nandroid restore from there.
The T-Mobile OTA update left my phone only booting to the vibrant screen, but it was a pretty simple fix with Odin. The hardest part was getting the proper drivers installed in windows!
Mini kies wouldnt even let me update,so I rooted and flashed bionix 1.8,works great.**** tmo.
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
mr2t32 said:
Fyi to the people with hardware lock. I did the update on my gf's phone which was hardware locked and it failed. The phone would only boot to the vibrant screen. The good news is the ota update unlocks the hardware because her phone is able to get into recovery and download mode even thought the update failed. The point is don't worry if ota fail on you because you can just use odin to fix it since it unlocks the download mode.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the update even gets that far...
Hi guys, my phone is flashed so I guess that will make this whole process painful...
But here is the story, I have omega version 12.1 I think (maybe 11 or 13) it has been on my phone for 1 + months now, so I am fairly certain it isn't anything to do with firmware. Phone wont turn on, wont go into download mode or anything. I have tried taking the battery out and leaving it out for 5 minutes, still nothing.
It was working fine before I went to bed, had 10 percent battery and was just on home screen when I put it on charge, not in app or anything. Then seems to be hard bricked after waking up, so happened sometime overnight.
I am not with a carrier, brought it locally outright at my local consumers electronics store (JB-HI-FI)
Since it is hard bricked to the point it wont turn on in download mode does that mean there is no way for them to know it is flashed unless they fix it (in which all is ok)?
Never done a warranty return, do I just take it into store and they send it off? How long will this take?
On top of all this I cut my old sim doown using a cutting template, and it appeared to slide in fine, but after trying to remove it today the push eject isn't working, and tips to get this out, doesn't appear to be enough room to grip it with tweesers.
Thanks.
So as we keep on saying in all posts, the next step u have to make is try with an usb jig.
U know what is that?
xopito_cc said:
So as we keep on saying in all posts, the next step u have to make is try with an usb jig.
U know what is that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, have never heard of one. Just talked to samsung live chat and they said to have a proper diagnostic to take it down to a service centre, would anyone recommend this, or try this jig thing first?
Nicholas68 said:
No, have never heard of one. Just talked to samsung live chat and they said to have a proper diagnostic to take it down to a service centre, would anyone recommend this, or try this jig thing first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since it's already harbricked, i'd say just turn it in and let Samsung fix it for you. It is under warranty, and last time i brought in my i9000 that I bricked, they just replaced the phone. the jig is ok only if you already know where to get one or how to make one, but if you have to go out of your way for it, just use the warranty.
Sent from my LG-LU6200 using xda premium
JiroPrinz8 said:
Since it's already harbricked, i'd say just turn it in and let Samsung fix it for you. It is under warranty, and last time i brought in my i9000 that I bricked, they just replaced the phone. the jig is ok only if you already know where to get one or how to make one, but if you have to go out of your way for it, just use the warranty.
Sent from my LG-LU6200 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, Think that is best, can't really go without phone for 2-3 weeks while waiting for a JIG to arrive.
Just a few questions about the service centre, do you think they will ask me if I have flashed the phone? Cause I'm afraid they will think the brick was caused by that (could be) but probably unlikely since it died during the night a month after its latest flash.
If they do get it working will they go in and check the flash counter? Then what happens?
And lastly, if they ask me if I have flashed it should I lie and say no?
Thanks for the help.
I ordered my jig from ebay from overseas but it arrived in a few days.
I am in Melbourne city btw, pm me if you are too. I can lend you mine.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
priyana said:
I ordered my jig from ebay from overseas but it arrived in a few days.
I am in Melbourne city btw, pm me if you are too. I can lend you mine.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope brisbane here, thanks for the offer though. What would the chances be of a JIG fixing it though, cause I have a feeling the mainboard has died. Kinda wish I didn't turn off the red LED charging light, apparently some others who's phones hardbricked the light still turned on showing some sign of life.
Any suggestions on sorting out the micro sim card issue now, assume I have to get it our before taking it to service centre, or just leave it in for them to fix?
priyana said:
I ordered my jig from ebay from overseas but it arrived in a few days.
I am in Melbourne city btw, pm me if you are too. I can lend you mine.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the jig work on s3? I have an old one from s2 and if I'm not wrong is not working on s3...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
ceo.mtcl said:
Does the jig work on s3? I have an old one from s2 and if I'm not wrong is not working on s3...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-it will force the S3 in download mode
BUT
-it will not reset the flash counter like with S2
Got a little bit of good news, this might help other people out with jammed sim cards, NO damage and worked like a treat.
In the top of the sim card holder down the bottom left there is a little circle around one mill wide, got a sharp thumbtack and pushed it gentelly into the sim card, the just applied a little pressure and the sim card started to slide up, was very easy, had a great grip on the sim cad and no damage done trying to grab it with needle nose pliers like I read elsewhere, now to get the phone replaced or unbricked.
Thinking about it more I think it is a hardware fault, cause I had flashed the correct version of omega for international S3, I havn't had any wrong signs like freezing or crashing, been working flawlessly for over a month, then out of the blue completely dead. So I think I will just go into the service centre and tell them I suspect the motherboard has died, or the charger port (didn't charge over night), dont have a spare battery to test with though).
http://lifehacker.com/5940308/save-a-bricked-phone-using-paper-clips-and-pencil-graphite
Just a post tyat i found today..not sure if it ll work or not.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
That video is pretty cool, don't have an old connector to try it, but seeing as my phone didn't hard brick from a flash going wrong while flashing or wrong firmware or anything I have a feeling a JIG or similar wont work. Would try it if I had the connector though.
How often do batterys and charger ports fail, cause that could be another reason I guess.
Nicholas68 said:
Ok, Think that is best, can't really go without phone for 2-3 weeks while waiting for a JIG to arrive.
Just a few questions about the service centre, do you think they will ask me if I have flashed the phone? Cause I'm afraid they will think the brick was caused by that (could be) but probably unlikely since it died during the night a month after its latest flash.
If they do get it working will they go in and check the flash counter? Then what happens?
And lastly, if they ask me if I have flashed it should I lie and say no?
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. There were no problems with the flashing part, i think ypu have a hardware issue.
They didn't ask me anything really, just asked what happened prior to the phone dying.
But i was ready to lie my ass off.. lol!
Dont say anything about flashing. They wont even bother trying to flash the phone if they dont get it into download mode.
Sent from my LG-LU6200 using xda premium
JiroPrinz8 said:
Exactly. There were no problems with the flashing part, i think ypu have a hardware issue.
They didn't ask me anything really, just asked what happened prior to the phone dying.
But i was ready to lie my ass off.. lol!
Dont say anything about flashing. They wont even bother trying to flash the phone if they dont get it into download mode.
Sent from my LG-LU6200 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for the info, I've tried everything besides a JIG to try get it into a download mode, so I doubt they will get it into download mode, Ive seen a couple of other cases where the S3 has had a mainboard issue, only other thing is in the last week I have been using the wall charger where as I normally use the computer and usb, so not sure if this could link to it though, might have got a power surge, but had no storms in months so unlikely and the fuse box is modern with pretty good protection. Ill just go in and tell them it was working one night, and dead when I woke up the next morning, which is the truth. And if they ask if its flashed, ill miss understand them and say, not the screen wasn't flashing/flickering when it died, I was asleep
Reality is though if they get the phone to a restored point to where they can see the flash counter, then I no longer need their help to fix it.
One more question. At the service centres do they try fix it while I'm there, or do they tell s to come back in a few hours, or do they ring a few days later. And if they can't get it in download mode do they normally give you a replacement there? Or do they ship it off to get parts replaced and then ship it back taking weeks/months?
Thanks
I'd give the jig a chance. Just imho.
Btw it is very likely that the jig would arrive in, like, 24-48 hours if you choose the right seller, while other users already told you it's probably gonna take more then a few days (probably from 2 weeks to a month) for samsung to "close the ticket". In my experience only with apple you'd be up and running in less then a week.
Nicholas68 said:
One more question. At the service centres do they try fix it while I'm there, or do they tell s to come back in a few hours, or do they ring a few days later. And if they can't get it in download mode do they normally give you a replacement there? Or do they ship it off to get parts replaced and then ship it back taking weeks/months?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure they will ask you to come back in a few days or even weeks. Don't think they will replace new unit for you. They will just replace the faulty part.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
I have the same issue so thought i would post here rather than starting a new thread.
Here's the story for mine. Working fine on current rom for about a month no issues at all. Today battery got to about 9% then switched off and i haven't been able to get it to turn on again, no download mode,no recovery, no charging led nothing at all.
I had to change my screen a couple of days ago, has been working fine with the broken screen for months, have i now voided my warranty?
A lot of faulty s3 i think... My s3 suddenly died last night. Battery is around 90+. Check the phone and it's not responding. Power button doesn't work. Doesn't even go to download mode or recovery mode. I'm running on stock ICS with root only. Sad part is I don't have any access for a jig right now. So can't test it. Bought this phone in SG and I'm in the Philippines right now. Warranty is good for SG only. Dec would be my next trip back to SG. By then no S3 as of now. For a phone I'm getting depressed LOL!
over the air jellybean brick my phone unrooted unflashed phone
BEWARE EVERYONE!! when updating to jellybean some do go very wrong! not all! but some do!! and it will brick your phone!! i updated over the air.. and for a few days. my phone kept on freezing! and locking up! one night i went to bed woke up and the phone was stuck on the boot screen! i thought thats weird took battery out, put back in, as ya do.. nothing took sim out and back in nothing... so only option was to reapair it through kies. put serial in and model number in it found the sortware. i downloaded it. told me to put phone in recovery mode.. so i did,kies said it was gonna install it to my phone.. but everytime it tryed to install it kept on saying it couldnt find my phone.. i tryed this all day long used different usb ports. different computers. to know avail, so my only option was to take it in for repair.. so i took it back to phones 4 u! they sent it away, i waited over 2 weeks! which was undiscrible it was like i lost my right arm with no phone! as you can imagine.. than the repair center turned round and said that the phone has been rooted! which it hadnt!! and they said this in order to brake the terms and conditions of my warentee so phones 4 u can get out of giving me a new handset. so they all save money!! i wouldnt do that to a 500 pound phone!! the phone does everything you could want from a phone! im launching a full investigation into this matter.. and have writen a formall complaint to phones 4 u headoffice, and will be contacting trading standards, ofcom, watchdog, and the ombudsman, and plaster it on all the forums ,social networking sights i can think of, to give them as much bad press as possible!! untill my problem is resolved and i will restore there name and clear it once they have done the right thing by me
I am afraid I can also report a bricked S3 here.
Rooted two weeks ago, but did not yet install a rom. Didn't Triangleaway yet aswell.
Same problem as described, I was browsing the net, and suddenly, screen went black (off). Could not get it powered on anymore. (nor in download/recovery mode)
So i brought it to the local telecom service center of my office, they could tell me the battery was fine and the buttons were working but they never saw one in this state.
So they are sending it to a samsung repair company.
This was two days ago, heard nothing yet, but I am very curious if I will get repaired or if I need to pay because of the rooting.
Will post the result if I know more.
Does anyone know if this problem also happens to people who did not root?
Hi, uh I started another thread on making sure things got backed up. Which I did properly and everything was good. So today I haven't done anythign and was waiting for the new slim rom to make it's debute hopefully this week sometime as that is the one that appeals to me the most. Anyways, today my phone just got super hot, far hotter than before and it decided to die on me...I think. it shut off and I haven't been able to turn it on. Could this be a side effect of installing twrp/unlocking the bootloader/rooting? Or would it be a defective unit? One concern I had was getting a defective unit so i waited out my 30 days before even considering doing all this. So yea my 30 days from att is up. Would there possibly be a way to get a new phone from att or does anyone have any tricks on getting it back online? I personally think it was an overheating issue, but my phone is now cooled down.
So i went to the att store and of course they won't do anything. They told me to call some number they gave me. If I return it will they know it was boot unlocked and rooted? I can't turn it on at all. Using a power source or connecting to my computer nor my car charger...
blamster said:
Hi, uh I started another thread on making sure things got backed up. Which I did properly and everything was good. So today I haven't done anythign and was waiting for the new slim rom to make it's debute hopefully this week sometime as that is the one that appeals to me the most. Anyways, today my phone just got super hot, far hotter than before and it decided to die on me...I think. it shut off and I haven't been able to turn it on. Could this be a side effect of installing twrp/unlocking the bootloader/rooting? Or would it be a defective unit? One concern I had was getting a defective unit so i waited out my 30 days before even considering doing all this. So yea my 30 days from att is up. Would there possibly be a way to get a new phone from att or does anyone have any tricks on getting it back online? I personally think it was an overheating issue, but my phone is now cooled down.
So i went to the att store and of course they won't do anything. They told me to call some number they gave me. If I return it will they know it was boot unlocked and rooted? I can't turn it on at all. Using a power source or connecting to my computer nor my car charger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so, im not sure if by return you mean, return for an exchange or simply a return as ATT will probably only send you a reman unit for yours and not allow an actual return. If you havent called them yet, i would recommend it. I have dealt with them many times in the past and one thing that has always shocked me is that they never have asked me about, or even commented on, how rooting or unlocking prevents them from exchanging it. Even during the disclaimer, they have never once said that if the device has been modified they wont allow the exchange.
I say all of this because should they not mention anything like that, and you send it back, im fairly sure you can claim you didnt know and werent told, and they will take care of it. Also, i say this because i personally sent back 3 bricked GS2s and an lg nitro as defective and got my reman units and every single one of them were rooted and such. So, i would feel safe. As long as they dont ask, and you dont lie to them, then there shouldnt be an issue. I wouldnt lie to them, i just dont mention it. AGAIN DO NOT lie to them or attempt to decieve them, i would never encourage that, but if its something they dont ask about, then, it, in my opinion, is not something that they are too concerned with.
cloudraker said:
Ok, so, im not sure if by return you mean, return for an exchange or simply a return as ATT will probably only send you a reman unit for yours and not allow an actual return. If you havent called them yet, i would recommend it. I have dealt with them many times in the past and one thing that has always shocked me is that they never have asked me about, or even commented on, how rooting or unlocking prevents them from exchanging it. Even during the disclaimer, they have never once said that if the device has been modified they wont allow the exchange.
I say all of this because should they not mention anything like that, and you send it back, im fairly sure you can claim you didnt know and werent told, and they will take care of it. Also, i say this because i personally sent back 3 bricked GS2s and an lg nitro as defective and got my reman units and every single one of them were rooted and such. So, i would feel safe. As long as they dont ask, and you dont lie to them, then there shouldnt be an issue. I wouldnt lie to them, i just dont mention it. AGAIN DO NOT lie to them or attempt to decieve them, i would never encourage that, but if its something they dont ask about, then, it, in my opinion, is not something that they are too concerned with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thanks for the response. Sorry I was in a bit of a panic when I wrote that. But I have called ATT and they didn't ask me or mention in any disclaimer that if it's rooted or unlocked it won't qualify. I didn't mention it and so that does make me feel a lot better. Hasn't been physically damaged or come in contact with water so i'm pretty sure I'm safe. Thanks again.
blamster said:
Okay, thanks for the response. Sorry I was in a bit of a panic when I wrote that. But I have called ATT and they didn't ask me or mention in any disclaimer that if it's rooted or unlocked it won't qualify. I didn't mention it and so that does make me feel a lot better. Hasn't been physically damaged or come in contact with water so i'm pretty sure I'm safe. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They may or may not check when you return the phone. I returned my S3 a few months ago in exchange for a different phone but I forgot to unroot it and uninstall Superuser. The representative at AT&T didn't even turn the phone on. I didn't have anything to hide though, if they told me I couldn't return it because it was rooted then I would have sold it and purchased something else. I think the manufacturer is the one to worry about with these things. LG would definitely know if it were unlocked and they would be able to determine if rooting and unlocking the phone caused the problems you described.
johnbyebye said:
They may or may not check when you return the phone. I returned my S3 a few months ago in exchange for a different phone but I forgot to unroot it and uninstall Superuser. The representative at AT&T didn't even turn the phone on. I didn't have anything to hide though, if they told me I couldn't return it because it was rooted then I would have sold it and purchased something else. I think the manufacturer is the one to worry about with these things. LG would definitely know if it were unlocked and they would be able to determine if rooting and unlocking the phone caused the problems you described.
Click to expand...
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Well if they can turn it on I will gladly take it back due to them not accepting. I couldn't turn it on by anymeans, even plugging it in there is no lights to signifying it is receiving power. But i heard this phone had overheating issues in the first wave (or two) so it's probably for the best to get a new one. They are currently mailing me a new one and so I should receive it next week sometime hopefully.
blamster said:
Well if they can turn it on I will gladly take it back due to them not accepting. I couldn't turn it on by anymeans, even plugging it in there is no lights to signifying it is receiving power. But i heard this phone had overheating issues in the first wave (or two) so it's probably for the best to get a new one. They are currently mailing me a new one and so I should receive it next week sometime hopefully.
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Sounds like everything worked out.
im in the same boat as you... completely dead phone. But I did open it to see of the battery pull would work. Do you think that theyll check and refuse my warranty because I opened it? the phone on the outside is NEW. Btw do you have a contract/account with ATT? I bought mine off ebay and used it on tmo...
I have the exact same problem! Totally dead phone that the charging light won't even turn on for. Unfortunately there is a small crack in the bottom left of the phone that was caused months prior so ATT wont give me a new one...
send it for repairs! I had rooted and unlocked mine so ATT didnt cover my warranty, but I only paid 50 bucks for the repairs and now I have my phone back!
Well everybody my Mega is there at Samsung in Plano, TX hopefully getting reflashed or repaired or whatever the hell they're gonna do to it. Hopefully it's FUBAR and they can't tell it's been rooted lol.
Sub'd. I need to know how this goes, because I am getting sick of not having my phone work. I don't trust them, but my distrust is being outweighed by my massive lack of patience.
cbass said:
Sub'd. I need to know how this goes, because I am getting sick of not having my phone work. I don't trust them, but my distrust is being outweighed by my massive lack of patience.
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The lack of patience is why I didn't wait more than a day before sending it lol. I'll keep ya posted for sure. If it works, i'll tell you exactly what I did to mess it up as bad as I did.
I think you'll be fine. Like three years ago when I was a android rookie I had brick my vibrant and couldn't figure out how to fix it. It was rooted and bricked and I couldn't fix it so I said **** it and I sent it to samsung on the hopes they wouldn't discover my unlawfulness. Well two weeks after I got it back fresh in a new box. Perfectly fixed.
Also one time I had an iPhone 3gs that was jailbroken but the screen was broken and wouldn't recognize any touching on it. So I just handed it to the guy and he couldn't slide to unlock it to check it out so they gave me a refurbished one without even checking if I had messed with it. Got lucky on both days I guess haha :good:
Samsung warranty
I sent mine out monday morning,got there today.Its already fixed and being sent out today,should be back by monday.I soft bricked mine trying to achieve root and it wouldn't boot passed the samsung galaxy mega statup.They fixed with just a stock firmware update,which I could of done myself if I had the stock odin firmware tar file,o well at least it ffixed and ill have it back within 7 days,not bad thought it would take at least two weeks
gubbilo144 said:
I sent mine out monday morning,got there today.Its already fixed and being sent out today,should be back by monday.I soft bricked mine trying to achieve root and it wouldn't boot passed the samsung galaxy mega statup.They fixed with just a stock firmware update,which I could of done myself if I had the stock odin firmware tar file,o well at least it ffixed and ill have it back within 7 days,not bad thought it would take at least two weeks
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Oh nice! How the hell is yours fixed and all the way back to you? I even called to expedite mine lol.
PhilupBlunts said:
I think you'll be fine. Like three years ago when I was a android rookie I had brick my vibrant and couldn't figure out how to fix it. It was rooted and bricked and I couldn't fix it so I said **** it and I sent it to samsung on the hopes they wouldn't discover my unlawfulness. Well two weeks after I got it back fresh in a new box. Perfectly fixed.
Also one time I had an iPhone 3gs that was jailbroken but the screen was broken and wouldn't recognize any touching on it. So I just handed it to the guy and he couldn't slide to unlock it to check it out so they gave me a refurbished one without even checking if I had messed with it. Got lucky on both days I guess haha :good:
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Yeah but back then I dont think samsung had the counter flash... If you send a phone witch is brick and wont go to download mode is possible they will never find out but it is obvious that if JTAG works it was not a hardware issue
Christogq said:
Oh nice! How the hell is yours fixed and all the way back to you? I even called to expedite mine lol.
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Any updates? I'm really not stoked on how long this entire process is taking, and I'm not even the guy whose phone they have!
cbass said:
Any updates? I'm really not stoked on how long this entire process is taking, and I'm not even the guy whose phone they have!
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Maaaaaaan I've been checking on this crap every day lol. On Friday afternoon I got a call saying that my LCD was damaged and had to be replaced. That fee was $200, but I raised hell for like 30 minutes telling them to just use my old LCD because it still worked and I just wanted my phone reflashed. Needless to say, my LCD was replaced free of charge and that I should have my phone back by Friday 11-1-13 or before. This was on Friday and I called yesterday and they couldn't tell me anything because there were no updates in the system. I checked today and still no updates in their system.
Side note: Did you see a message in Kies saying that the firmware was now available for our device? I swear I saw something to that effect the last time I got on my computer. Would that help you out at all?
ODIN flashable firmware is my last hope, i suspect it will work, but only time will tell. I keep searching, checking sammobile, but nothing yet.
I'm to the point where I am holding off on buying car mods to do this winter because I have a sinking feeling I will be buying a new phone in the near future.
cbass said:
ODIN flashable firmware is my last hope, i suspect it will work, but only time will tell. I keep searching, checking sammobile, but nothing yet.
I'm to the point where I am holding off on buying car mods to do this winter because I have a sinking feeling I will be buying a new phone in the near future.
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Just checked on my phone and it should be shipping back to me today so I hope like hell i'll get it tomorrow. I honestly think you'll be ok. Two of the CSRs mentioned to me that they reflash the devices before they even inspect them.
Christogq said:
Side note: Did you see a message in Kies saying that the firmware was now available for our device? I swear I saw something to that effect the last time I got on my computer. Would that help you out at all?
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There is a new firmware update, but it's not supported by AT&T due to the locked bootloader.
Send it on!!!!!!
cbass said:
ODIN flashable firmware is my last hope, i suspect it will work, but only time will tell. I keep searching, checking sammobile, but nothing yet.
I'm to the point where I am holding off on buying car mods to do this winter because I have a sinking feeling I will be buying a new phone in the near future.
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Hey i got my phone back. It took 8 business days, but because i was refuising to pay for the lcd repair. I have my phone back. They reflashed it at no charge and all that. They told me they do that before they inspect anything. I would imagine your would be reflashed and returned fairly quickly.
Christogq said:
Hey i got my phone back. It took 8 business days, but because i was refuising to pay for the lcd repair. I have my phone back. They reflashed it at no charge and all that. They told me they do that before they inspect anything. I would imagine your would be reflashed and returned fairly quickly.
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Nice to hear and it works likes it should again. :good:
IT'S A TRAP!
Well I just found out the hard way that VZW is even more evil than I thought.
Called about my G3 because of audio issue with the headphone jack, seeking an RMA.
Without my permission verizon ran some remote diagnosis on my phone and discovered root, right while I was on the call. Tier 2 support did this by the way.
Not sure how... I froze all the VZW bloat I could find in titanium.
Just wanted to let you guys know to watch your back. I'm not sure exactly when verizon got wind of my root. Whether it was right there while I was on call or the minute I rooted.
Verizon is literally the devil
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
What did they say once they discovered root on your phone? Just denied the RMA? Would they let you make an insurance claim at least?
The rep responded "after running diagnostics on your device I see your phone is rooted so your warranty is invalid"
Then he preceeded to try and give me instructions to call LG and get the flash tool to return to stock.
My issue with the audio jack is obviously a HW issue and not an issue with software/root
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Always put your phone in Airplane Mode if you have to call them. If they say they need the phone turned on to run diagnostics, REFUSE, and tell them that you don't consent, or tell them that the phone is not near you, then continue talking and tell them that you're NOT calling about a software but hardware issue and there's no reason that they need to run a Software Diagnostic.
Someone else mentioned the same thing however from what I understand their system polls your phone every few hours so that may not help. Even if the phone was offline the system may still show root status regardless of the phones current state.
Couldn't hurt though...
Either way it's a little to late for me. I just hope that someone sees this thread before calling only to get a big fat middle finger from VZW.
Flash to stock and wait a bit on official software to make sure Verizon's system shows official software.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
I woulda said root (software) has nothing to do with audio jack (hardware). Not that it wouldve really gotten you anywhere anyway.
Either way, Verizon doesnt really cover hardware warranty, they just send the phone over to LG, which the rep directed to you anyway. So sounds like youre gonna have to contact LG directly.
Or maybe you even get a do-over. You could flash back everything to stock, and then just walk into store and try the same thing. The reps at the store arent nearly as sharp as the phone reps.
Good to know tho, thx for the heads up!
Yeah but I got the phone on the VZW website on a black Friday deal. So that would leave me without a phone. I'm assuming they would have to ship it back and would not just exchange it on the spot.
Couldn't hurt though I call tomorrow and ask if they will swap it on the spot.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
I had same exact audio jack prob on G2. They didnt take my phone or anything, they shipped me a new one and i sent back the old one afterwards. There's something like a 30 day grace period to ship your phone back before they charge you for it. Was easy peasy
---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 PM ----------
Oh and doesnt matter where you bought the phone , its a Verizon phone and youre a Verizon customer so they will help you no matter what. That G2 was from Ebay. If its under warranty by LG, its under warranty. Again, Verizon just assists yoh with the warranty as a customer service. The money comes out of LG's pocket, not theirs.
Yeah but their service department knows I have root. I'm pretty sure they will just tell me to screw off if I go to swap the phone. But it couldn't hurt to try. Thanks for the info.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
True but you never know, give it a shot and let us know.
---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------
Check out this article from Droid Life. Verizon actually saw tge article and made some clarifications in regards to root, warranty and what they consider void or not void.
Verizon Begins Charging Full Price of Warranty Phones if Rooted? (Updated)
What exactly should happen if you were to root your phone, play around with ROMs/hacks/etc., somehow manage to break it, and then send it in to Verizon for a warranty replacement? Should you be allowed to get a replacement or not? According to reports, you can get a replacement, but the rooting of your phone voids any warranty you had and gives Verizon permission to charge you for a new one if they determine that your broken phone was tampered with.
Our buddy @P3droid has apparently heard from a couple of friends who have run into the scenario that we described above and then been slapped with a pretty hefty and unannounced bill. Fair or unfair?
I’ll just say this – we’ve known that rooting your device voids your warranty since well back in the original DROID days, so it makes sense that Verizon would do this. As unpopular as this may sound, I can’t fault Big Red for going this route. If you decide to take your phone out of its original factory status, tinker with its guts, and break something, it shouldn’t be their responsibility to take care of you.
With that said though, a broken volume rocker, faulty screen, etc. has nothing do with rooting, so I’d hate to see someone get charged for something that they didn’t cause even if they decided to root. It’s an interesting topic, and one that I would love to hear all your opinions on.
Update: Our friends at Verizon saw this post and wanted to reach out to clarify everything immediately. First up, is the fact that their policy says absolutely nothing about checking for root on devices. When a phone is received, a phone is checked for three things and that definitely isn’t one of them. They check to see if the box that the device was sent in is damaged, if the outside of the phone looks awful, and if it powers on – satisfy all of those and they move on to the next phone. So basically, these reports of being charged for a rooted phone simply mean that these people were sending in garbage phone with defects.
So…sound off!
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/1...ging-full-price-of-warranty-phones-if-rooted/
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I would take the word of a Verizon PR Rep over some call center dweeb. Just b/c he works there doesnt mean he's rhe end all be all.
I'll tell you what's up there. Worked for the company for a while and encountered this. Rooting does not really void a warranty, as the warehouse does not check for root, they just check if a phone has physical damage to it. Now if your phone is rooted, reps are advised to tell you that it can't be supported any longer by VZW. But that could happen with any company. If you modify a LG TV, LG might not want to support it either. If you are just rooted, it might be one thing, but different roms MIGHT affect different things. Yours probably is the hardware issue though. If you haven't been already taken care of, if you call back in, just let a rep know that you don't want anyone to remotely access your phone. That is not supposed to be done without your permission. I have had a few phones replaced under warranty that had been rooted. If nothing else, just return a phone to stock. But if you don't want to worry about any of that, just turn your phone off, and tell them that you tried to accept the most recent 12B update, and now your phone won't fully boot up, and leave the phone powered off the whole time.
subhelix said:
I'll tell you what's up there. Worked for the company for a while and encountered this. Rooting does not really void a warranty, as the warehouse does not check for root, they just check if a phone has physical damage to it. Now if your phone is rooted, reps are advised to tell you that it can't be supported any longer by VZW. But that could happen with any company. If you modify a LG TV, LG might not want to support it either. If you are just rooted, it might be one thing, but different roms MIGHT affect different things. Yours probably is the hardware issue though. If you haven't been already taken care of, if you call back in, just let a rep know that you don't want anyone to remotely access your phone. That is not supposed to be done without your permission. I have had a few phones replaced under warranty that had been rooted. If nothing else, just return a phone to stock. But if you don't want to worry about any of that, just turn your phone off, and tell them that you tried to accept the most recent 12B update, and now your phone won't fully boot up, and leave the phone powered off the whole time.
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I would assume that because I have already been caught that they have the voided warranty on record... or is this not the case?
I thought that once they caught you, thats it, the jig is up and they put a note on your account that the phones warranty is void.
I think I might know what happened. I have noticed that when I first rooted my G3 (3 Days Ago) that the Verizon Mobile app asked for root permissions immediately upon rebooting for the phone. I accidentally gave it permissions and it went on about its ways. I later removed the permission and didn't worry about it any longer. Not thinking anything about it I think that once you give the Verizon app permission it will figure out your rooted and sync up with your account (which it does automatically during the setup process) by your phone number tied to the Sim card. I think that's exactly how they knew, and I think a warning goes out and is posted on the account phone number saying its a rooted device.
Possibility? Let me know.
Wow, now that I think of it, you might be right!
Same thing happened to me a few days ago. I had already granted it access before i even realized it was the actual Verizon app. Shrugged my shoulders after I realized it but thought it had something to do with the actual ROM im running (Jasmine 3.0).
That being said, if it were me, id still try the store. Things arent nearly as automated and recorded as you think they might or should be in the real world.
Not to mention, reps at the store are idiots and dont really know too much about smartphones outside of using the setup wizard. I cant tell you how many times tge in store reps have told me or someone else to call the hotline b/c they werent sure or didnt know. The physical store employees are the bottom od the Totum pole. Halfbof them are fresh out of High School
Its not just Verizon that does this by the way.. These phone companieshave this in place as a standard to protect themselves against people bricking phones, and crying out for a replacement. History has shown them that when people root, they tend to flash custom roms, and more dangerously, custom kernels.. As well, people attempt to change the way their CPU functions, and alter the phone to better its performance.. When these things are done, it changes the system hardware stability, and things can get weak or damaged.
So as a way of cutting you off from future complaints, they make it clear that if you root, your warantee is void.
NEVER tell them its rooted, never walk into a store with a rooted device and ask for help, and if you call for support, dont just put it in airplane mode.... PULL THE BATTERY!!! They are able to access your phone through GPS, wifi, bluetooth, and data connection
If the battery is in your device, it can be accessed... The Government has been doing it for years to track people...and contrary to common thought, I believe I read some documentation that "front facing" cameras were a Government idea...
Anyways, be safe, and be careful...youve just learned proof that someone is watching
JJT211 said:
Wow, now that I think of it, you might be right!
Same thing happened to me a few days ago. I had already granted it access before i even realized it was the actual Verizon app. Shrugged my shoulders after I realized it but thought it had something to do with the actual ROM im running (Jasmine 3.0).
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Why on Earth would you grant something root privileges without verifying what was asking first? This is exactly the type of thing more senior folks in the modding community are constantly complaining about.
yes NEVER EVER GIVE MY VERIZON SU!!! this is what probably happened and it throws flag in their system if you call or request service
Its totally possible.
From what I understand the response from denying root access and the response from not having it at all have two different signatures.
Once I saw a VZW app requesting root I immediately denied it. But that right there could have been the dead giveaway.
I already tried flashing back to stock using the KDZ method. Still the problem of audio quality persists.
Either way, it's BS this is most definitely a hardware issue and should be covered under warranty.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Yes it's BS but it shouldn't really be a surprise. And it's nothing we haven't been warned of before
I suggest calling back in. If you are now back on stock, you should have no problem. I know it sucks ass, but representatives are just doing a job. What we were told, if someone was rooted, to try to suggest that they return to stock and then we can support the phone, and that is again no matter what the issue might be. Well, as long as it can boot up. So if you flashed back to stock using the KDZ method, root should not be detected anymore. And it might have been noted at that time that it was rooted, but it's a different story now since the phone is back to stock.