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Warranty issue with HTC UK

Hi,
Three weeks ago Blackstone developed fault with earpiece - from time to time (rather often) couldn't hear anything while calling/answering.
Phoned HTC UK for repair and they collected it two days after.
Before sending it i rolled back to stock ROM and radio but forgot about stock HSPL...and that's where problem begins.
After couple days received first email from HTC saying that motherboard was damaged by ILLEGAL SOFTWARE and warranty does not cover it so i need to either pay GBP160 for repair or Blackstone will be sent back to me for GBP20 if I do not agree.
As an IT Technician I told them that's ridiculous that software smashed motherboard and asked for the proof of that unfortunate ILLEGAL SOFTWARE causing it.
So after another week I got email with picture of Illegal firmware upgrade.....SPL-1.56.Olinex.... in bootloader screen.
Is there any chance to do anything else but paying GBP160 for repair?
Lets say I will ask for return of the phone damaged as it is and try to send it again after a month or so of course this time properly prepared for warranty. You think any luck with that ?
Help will be really appreciated on this.
Cheers,
Martin.

Sorry Martin, but I'm guessing that they will have already marked your warranty as having being voided.

Would tend to agree with Budadank, but you should pay the GBP20 and and get your phone back then try restoring SPL & stock rom. Then send device back under warranty.

personally i would get in contact with trading standards on 2 points:
1; this is not ILLEGAL software, it was given to you by the developer. there is nothing in UK or EU law that says putting any software on a computing device can be used to justify refusal to repair hardware. as you rightly say, no software could cause the ear piece speaker to blow (or as is more likely, to have a dodgy bit of wiring
2; they are stating that the software caused the problem, this is misrepresentation under UK and EU consumer law, they are acting illegally
on another point, the warranty doesnt come into it, you have consumer rights under UK and EU law, personally i would go with the EU law (you cant swap back and forth, you choose which legal rights you are going with and have to stick with it) EU consumer rights laws give a much greater level of protection and the emphasis is fully on the supplier to PROVE (as in beyond reasonable doubt (or near enough, not quite the criminal burden of proof but near as damn it)) that the damage was not either there are the point of delivery or is not due to misuse. again they would be hard pressed to prove that the installation of any SOFTware could damge a non processing part of a computers hardware (overclocking could obviously damage cpu and ram)
FORGET ALL THE ABOVE!!!!! well dont, but this is actually even more pertainent.
i have just read the whole of the warranty card document that came with my HTC TouchHD...... despite numerous exclusions listed, there are absolutely none that even mention an exclusion from warranty repair of hardware due to software installations of any kind
so what i would do is this:
pay the £20 and get your device back. restock stock SPL and ROM..... ensure that it wasnt infact the custom ROM causing sound loss (ie prove to yourself it is hardware)
then send it back completely as stock setup and claim under warranty. if they then say the same... ask them to give you in writing the explicit exclusion under the EU limited warranty that mentions an exclusion of damage by software to hardware... they wont be able to do so
if by some miracle they can.... then go do your statutory rights route
remember HTC is an asian company and may not be fully up to speed with the consumer protection that exists in europe (a bit like apple and the exploding IPODS)
good luck and dont give up the good fight, they are just trying to blag you
a lesson for the rest of us though... please return your unit to stock spl and ROM before a warranty claim so they have no excuse to try and pull the woll over our eyes like they have to Martin

Jonajuna...........that was great! if i was in the trenchies i would want you there! what an informative and detailed reply!

mtodak said:
Lets say I will ask for return of the phone damaged as it is and try to send it again after a month or so of course this time properly prepared for warranty. You think any luck with that ?
QUOTE]
Did you try, return the phone and flash again and send it in again for warranty? I have the same problem, I releaded the Stock Rom and forgot the SPL. Now they want me to pay for the repair...
Regards Onedutch
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Refused repair on phone

I sent my nexus one of for repair as backplate was not flush and it came back not fixed, i rooted phone deciding that i wasnt going to send it back again and because i thought shouldn't matter (as i was told on here) then i decided to send it off again, the guy did not ask me if had changed software on phone either time, but then i got a message saying it been refused repair and i would have to pay for return or new mainboard. I called them to say that it should have been repaired the first time while my phone was under warranty and so it is linked to that case anyway since it should of been repaired then it doesn't matter about its warranty state now its their fault for not repairing it.. they wouldn't have that, i pointed out its not even a warranty matter since it was recieved with fault so its a faulty item so should be replaced or repaired warranty or not.. still wont repair it, i point out that its rediculous they even check the rom of phones that be sent to them with hardware problems because obviously the software does not effect the phone and change the hardware and they know that they sent the item out with the fault so should just fix it they shouldn't even check if warranty is voided by software because that is put in place so they dont fix software faults caused by people themselves so its really bad that they use it to get out of fixing hardware issues.. still no hope so i have to pay for phone be sent back to me and then i will be seeking legal advice

That does suck, and it's completely obvious that the rooted-ness does not affect hardware. Unfortunately there's not much of a case since you clicked the "YES" button to void your warranty when you rooted, voiding all parts of the warranty (hardware and software).
I hate to admit it, fearing that something may happen to my phone, but I can see their side to this matter. It would have been nice for the guy to just fix it for you, though.
Now, the fact that they are making you pay for shipping it back (unfixed) is simply poor customer service.

It does suck, They are using whatever means necessary to make more money.
IMO they should only reject faults that are causable by software. (burnt out LED, bricked, Overheated/Dead due to too high OC...). Since HTC is the manufacturer and they dont state anywhere that they are not evil...theres nothing google can do.
My phone has no faults. Ordered just before the 1/5 announcement

indie12 said:
i will be seeking legal advice
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Good luck with that, you don't really have a leg to stand in, unfortunately.

I hope the legal advice is free since a $600 is hardly worth getting a lawyer over and losing a case... average lawyer will be $100 an hour....
Then again... HTC might counter sue you for wasting their time...

I'll give you "free advice as a law student" (I'm not an attorney... yet). You have no case whatsoever. Sorry.

The best thing to do is totally ruin the phone. There are electronic ways to do this. I have access to a device that generates a strong magnetic field that I used to fry a laptop and a phone before. I have heard of people putting things in a microwave too but I am not sure how well that would work.

Rusty! said:
Good luck with that, you don't really have a leg to stand in, unfortunately.
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Incorrect.
HTC would need to prove what he did caused the issue for what they are refusing repairs to.
This has been discussed before. Car manufactures did the same thing with aftermarket parts.

drdingo21 said:
Incorrect.
HTC would need to prove what he did caused the issue for what they are refusing repairs to.
This has been discussed before. Car manufactures did the same thing with aftermarket parts.
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The only problem with this, though, is that there is no case law regarding cell phones directly, as of yet. Cars are expensive enough to justify the legal fees, phones are not.
It would stand to reason that the entire warranty isn't voided by rooting, if it were to go to court (simple contract law and warranty law, breaking or voiding one part doesn't null and void all other parts)... but the unlocked bootloader method also has you agree to voiding the warranty, so that makes it more difficult and less clear cut since it wold be pretty easy to argue by doing so you agreed to and entered into a contract giving up your warranty rights.
Personally, I wouldn't waste my time on it. I would do what others have done and contact Google. There are numerous threads in here regarding how to get hardware warranty services on your rooted device, do a search and you should be good to go.

drdingo21 said:
Incorrect.
HTC would need to prove what he did caused the issue for what they are refusing repairs to.
This has been discussed before. Car manufactures did the same thing with aftermarket parts.
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You're incorrect here as well. You can't relate unlocking the bootloader to replacing OEM parts with aftermarket ones. Further, what pjc said is right on. Legally speaking, all of us are expressly informed that the warranty is void if we unlock the bootloader (twice if you count the warranty statement as well). If unlocking the bootloader is not necessary for normal use, then there's no argument that one MUST unlock the bootloader. So any court would laugh at a complaint like this.

I am sure you are all familiar with the M&M act? If not then do a search as it is too much too post here. This at any rate is the one that speaks to aftermarket car parts and touches on many parts of warranty coverage. I fought Chrysler over an issue with a truck I bought some years ago. I won. It cost several times what fixing it out of pocket would have. While the M&M act provides for the ability to recover fees you may or may not do so. I did not. I followed this through as a matter of principle but I can just about promise you if you should decide to pursue this in court you will be sorry you ever stepped down that road. I would not do so again in similar circumstances. Especially since as already stated Google has been quite good about fixing obvious hardware defects with unlocked bootloaders if you contact them and follow the process. I have yet to read one instance where someone with such a problem was denied warranty after following through with Google.

[Q] Warranty problem with HD2

Could a third party ROM really damage the mother board of an HD2 - the reason I ask is that I've just had HTC UK send me a quote for a new mother board saying that it's been damaged by an illegal ROM, and therefore isn't covered by warranty. I sent the phone back with the ghost screen problem, having had HSPL on it I wiped it at set it back to SPL 2.08, then put a stock ROM back on it - I have been quoted just under 200 GBP for a new motherboard! It seems a little odd to me that fisrtly they can tell it's had a different ROM on it and secondly that although I've been running an energy ROM for something like 10 months, I have almost exclusively been running MDJ android from the SD card for the last 4 months, the apparent damage to the motherboard has only happened in the last week or so!

I never have a prob...with T-Mobile. I don't even flash the HD2 back to it's original rom. This will be my 8'th HD2 with T-Mobile exchange easily no prob...but that's T-Mobile not EU. I would think that we should wipe the phone by all means, and I don't think you sent it back factory that's the prob...you must have missed something. What ever they can do to stop us from modding I'll phones
They will do it, even if it means the famous voided warranty cheap shot.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I had the ghost screen every so offten, but more just white dots they said today I needed a new board £198 but it didn't mention anything about a different rom. I paid £20 for the phone to be sent back to me how annoying!

They wanted £182 for the new MB in mine - I think I'll pay for the phone to be returned too, as it seems to me that they are just hiding behind the warranty and on principle I don't think I'll buy another HTC - had been thinking about a desire HD.
What excuse did they give you for not covering the screen under warranty?

They just said it was not a warranty repair?

Charlie360 said:
They wanted £182 for the new MB in mine - I think I'll pay for the phone to be returned too, as it seems to me that they are just hiding behind the warranty and on principle I don't think I'll buy another HTC - had been thinking about a desire HD.
What excuse did they give you for not covering the screen under warranty?
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Request a detailed explaination as to how the use of a 3rd party ROM actually caused the damage. State that if they do not give you a satisfactory answer you will take the matter to your local trading standards office.

Whilst I will ask for the explanation, I think the problem is that they can hide behind the warranty all day long (they have clearly stated that the use of non-official ROMs will cause the warranty to be void) so I don't think I've got much of an argument really. It's a shame because for me, the HD2 was out of contract (and therefore it's not a massive issue) and I was genuinely just about to buy a Desire HD, but this whole experience with HTC, has made me think that there's more than enough competition out there supplying handsets with Android on them - I'll go elsewhere and not be back - it's a matter of principle.
Spendy - perhaps you should request a more detailed explanation as to why it wasn't covered by warranty - perhaps they just rely upon us not questioning their decision?

Charlie360 said:
Whilst I will ask for the explanation, I think the problem is that they can hide behind the warranty all day long (they have clearly stated that the use of non-official ROMs will cause the warranty to be void) so I don't think I've got much of an argument really. It's a shame because for me, the HD2 was out of contract (and therefore it's not a massive issue) and I was genuinely just about to buy a Desire HD, but this whole experience with HTC, has made me think that there's more than enough competition out there supplying handsets with Android on them - I'll go elsewhere and not be back - it's a matter of principle.
Spendy - perhaps you should request a more detailed explanation as to why it wasn't covered by warranty - perhaps they just rely upon us not questioning their decision?
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HI Anyone who has problem with HTC warranty ::
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=844980

Unfortunately it seems nearly impossible to get a straight answer out of HTC on this - the official line seems to be that they are unwilling to consider the issue any further until I pay their fees to replace the main board - they keep sticking to the following statement:
"I spoke with you earlier on the phone regards to your HD2 I have attached a picture showing that the device itself has been rooted before the information from the sd was inserted with the software information.
Unfortunately this confirms the device being out of warranty and if you would like the device to be repaired the full quote would have to be paid, or return of the device unprepared a payment of £22.43p would have to be made, or we can discard the device for you.
I understand that you wanted to try Android on your device however de to this there is nothing more we can do without payment of quote."
I've run out of time and patients with the matter and will therefore just replace the phone - any recommendations, I'm quite partial to Android, but not keen to put any more money HTC's way.

Please go back to stock when taking your phone for warranty repair

Hey.
I had a HTC Leo today at work (I work at htc warranty repair) and the problem was that the phone could not be charged. I confirmed this by trying to charge and then was going to change the mother board to fix the problem.
For some reason I decided to turn the phone on with another battery, and check it out.
The phone booted to android.
Even though I myself have a rooted phone and follow these forums every day, I was forced to break the warranty stickers inside the phone and then send the customer an email asking if he wanted the phone to be repaired off warranty.
The changing of motherboard would cost him over 300$ dollars, which could have been avoided by getting a cheap spare battery and going back to stock.
Now he will never be able to get any problems in the phone repaired by warranty :/
So please, if you send your phone to warranty repair, go back to stock.

You had to do it? Someone was looking over your shoulder?

Spaqin said:
You had to do it? Someone was looking over your shoulder?
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Even if nobody was looking over his shoulder, he should not be expected to sacrifice his integrity and risk his job just because he's sympathetic to the customer's problem. The customer should have had the sense to return the phone to stock condition before sending it in for warranty repairs.

Hi there.
I did that, but it did not work?!
I´m (was) using MIUI on my HD2. Last week i opend the internet browser of my HD2, then there was a short "lag" and after that lag the touch is gone broken.
I flashed back to the roots and sent it in for warranty.
Now i got a letter in which they mention that i broke the warranty terms and have to pay 430€ for a broken touch?!? that is crazy...
they also gave my a link to a picture of my phone.
See attachment. So what is the Problem?

That spl is only stock for tmous phones, if you have a regular hd2 with spl 2.x, even a 'stock' 2.08.0000, then it can only get that way using warranty breaking methods.

hack, thats a piece of sh.. .
I think it won´t help to retrieve it and send it in with another spl, because they saved the data from the last order?.

No probably not, but it will almost certainly be cheaper from a third party repair shop. For 430 euro you could buy almost two mint condition 2nd hand units on eBay.
Course, if HTC do a paid repair, they should at least offer warranty on the repair.(maybe?dunno)

hmmm. But the risk of sending it in again to the same company high.
They want me to pay about 28€ only for sending the Phone back to me, because theres no warranty left. so if it does not work the second time, i have to pay that twice... maybe more because of attempted fraud!?
I send it in to Arvato. Do you know any other warranty company for the HD2 i could send it to?
Or i´m bound the company that is mentioned on the site i bought the phone?

The warranty is already broken. The tech most likely broke the warranty seal when he discovered the spl had been tampered with. Just like the OP in post 1.

ah, ok. Think i ****ed with 520€. That feels really bad...
so, lets wait for Miui M1.

no worries.
if it were me, id get the phone back and find a local repair shop to fit a new screen. should cost about 100 Euro for the part, plus a bit for fitting. BUT be sure its a reputable shop, and they offer you some kind of guarantee, cos there's a fair few stories where a repair shop has broken the cables to the buttons, or similar, and wont re[pair them.
OR, id spend 150/250 euros for a 2nd hand one on ebay, and keep the broken one for use as a spare mainboard.

don´t want to spend money on it. Was about to buy a new one anyway. Just waiting for Miui M1.
I will retrieve it and try to sell it with all equip for some euros on Ebay.
thanks for ur infos on that topic.

samsamuel said:
The warranty is already broken. The tech most likely broke the warranty seal when he discovered the spl had been tampered with. Just like the OP in post 1.
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You could go for new warranty stickers from ebay.
-not that I am supporting any kinds of fraud here, but I think that custom SPL should not cause the warranty to void, and flash-bricked phones to be repaired on warranty. It should be the other way around.
But hey, if what I just suggested is illegal where you live, DON'T DO IT.

i had looked up my problem yesterday with the keyword "touch not responding" and found many complains about that. Seems to be a generall problem with HD2 that seems to come from dust. there are some solutions i´m gonna try.

se1988 said:
-not that I am supporting any kinds of fraud here, but I think that custom SPL should not cause the warranty to void, and flash-bricked phones to be repaired on warranty. It should be the other way around.
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Ah but they can't tell its a flash brick (I assume you're talking about tmous radio bricks) and without proof they have to uphold the warranty. The only way to start the phone would be to JTAG it, which would wipe the hspl evidence.

Does it then matter if the phone is out of warranty anyway, and you know your going to have to pay for it? Is it even worth going back to stock?

se1988 said:
You could go for
-not that I am supporting any kinds of fraud here, but I think that custom SPL should not cause the warranty to void, and flash-bricked phones to be repaired on warranty. It should be the other way around.
But hey, if what I just suggested is illegal where you live, DON'T DO IT.
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Might fool someone, if it is really well manufactured. Even though the seller claims they are original, they are not. The strip containing the original stickers looks very different.
cmajewsk said:
Does it then matter if the phone is out of warranty anyway, and you know your going to have to pay for it? Is it even worth going back to stock?
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Doesn't matter if it is already out of warranty.

[Q] Warranty voided but sent for repairs

Hi I never dropped my galaxy s4 but it was on my bed on the blanket and didn't know it was there flipped the blanket and it fell on its corner onto the floor, and the screens pixels were busted it wouldn't display image but everything was fine. had the phone for 2 weeks brother went in and got it replaced and there sending it in for repairs, but what they don't know is that the phone is rooted so warranty is voided? Will they end up calling me back when they get to fixing it and rebooting it... and charge me a fee even though I ahve a brand new galaxy s4?

From what I was told last week when I inquired about my cracks unsuccessfully was that they will send the phone in for repairs and inspect it separately. If they find anything that breaks the terms with AT&T (physical cracks after 2 weeks, or anything else), they have the "right" to charge you the price of a new phone (even though you may get a refurb). Also, it makes their location look bad for taking in a ineligible phone. Heck, the place that referred me to the AT&T warranty location wanted the name of the rep that referred me to them "to keep on record". I took it more as "to school them to do a better job at identifying problems".
In this case, it potentially might, as they can't simply just do a factory reset, repair the phone, and sell it back as a refurb. They would need to go all out to restore everything back to normal.
My opinion, be ready for a $600+ bill, or a call saying, "yeah, we can't cover it anymore". Sucks, but I wouldn't doubt AT&T does that.

alex6speed said:
From what I was told last week when I inquired about my cracks unsuccessfully was that they will send the phone in for repairs and inspect it separately. If they find anything that breaks the terms with AT&T (physical cracks after 2 weeks, or anything else), they have the "right" to charge you the price of a new phone (even though you may get a refurb). Also, it makes their location look bad for taking in a ineligible phone. Heck, the place that referred me to the AT&T warranty location wanted the name of the rep that referred me to them "to keep on record". I took it more as "to school them to do a better job at identifying problems".
In this case, it potentially might, as they can't simply just do a factory reset, repair the phone, and sell it back as a refurb. They would need to go all out to restore everything back to normal.
My opinion, be ready for a $600+ bill, or a call saying, "yeah, we can't cover it anymore". Sucks, but I wouldn't doubt AT&T does that.
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Do you think it will happen to me im from canada and my phone company is bell mobility

unf0cus said:
Do you think it will happen to me im from canada and my phone company is bell mobility
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No idea ... hopefully they're a bit more forgiving.

alex6speed said:
No idea ... hopefully they're a bit more forgiving.
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Hey man I think I got an idea though
what if they call me about it the fee and I just say I never knew this would void the warranty and stuff and I didn't even know about warranty till my family told me, just like bs my way through it, tell them i got a friend to root my phone and stuff.
Then if that doesn't work just try and bargain with them or something, saying can I just pay the repair fee and trade back for my old phone(not rooting this phone yet...) and stuff?
You think any of these idea's will give me a shot

rooting does not void hardware warranty..how many times do we need to go over this.. they need to prove that rooting has anything at all to do with a hardware failure.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

lgkahn said:
rooting does not void hardware warranty..how many times do we need to go over this.. they need to prove that rooting has anything at all to do with a hardware failure.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Is this true, I mean, I thought just rooting voids warranty because NOT just cause a hardware failure can happen, but because its just modifying the phone in a way you aren't suppose to or something like that. Every time I see something about rooting everyone mentions it voids warranty,
now to my main point on this though, I came across something from bell, and just want to clarify with your guys opinions.
Here's the link http://support.bell.ca/Mobility/Rep...rs_warranty_for_my_Bell_Mobility_device_cover
It says around in the middle that:
The manufacturer's limited warranty does not cover defects or damage caused
improper storage
damage from liquids
unauthorized modification
misuse
neglect
abuse
accidents
alteration
improper installation
abnormal operating conditions
events outside of human control, such as natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.
The key word here is caused
Now lets say my phone screen stopped working due to rooting and doing something you can with rooting the phone, warranty is voided.
Now lets say this for what really happened in my situation. My phone is rooted, but the screen is not damaged because of the root, it is damaged because I dropped it -- but they don't know that I just told them it was a defect that the battery screwed up the screen.
So technically I never voided warranty?! Thoughts?

You should be fine. Warranty should not be void from rooting, unless they can prove that rooting your phone caused the damage! US carriers really don't check anyway.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Okay well I'm restoring my new phone back to how my previous phone was I backed it up using twrp onto my sd card,
so I custom recovered my new phone with twrp, and tried restoring it and it failed, then I remembered that I screwed up my phones lcd density so I installed another stock firmware using odin, then worked from there and installed a custom kernel then just before I damaged the phone I backed it up using twrp onto my sd card previously stated here.

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