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My EVO now has 2 hair line cracks

So my EVO now has 2 hair line cracks. One to the left of the power button and one under the volume buttons. I stopped at the Sprint store and the tech verified the cracks were not caused by abuse. He notated my account so when I call Sprint customer service they will ship me a new phone. Now I have 2 questions? Will the replacement be a refurb? And in the email they sent about my replacement it states: If im not enrolled in TEP (which im not) it will be $99-$119 depending on device model for wear and tear, physical damage and mechanical or electrical failures not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Now since the sprint tech at the store verified it was not physical damage or abuse. The device manufacturer's warranty covers mechanical and electrical failures. What are these hair line cracks considered? They are definitly a manufacturer's defect, but like the warranty stated it covers mechanical and electrical failures. I sure hope they dont try to charge me for a defect. I have the Epson rev 002 rooted and I'm loving it. I just dont feel after 2 months I should have these damn cracks.

people have said for hardware they will send your a new one if you raise enough hell but id guess it's going to be a refurb

Sporkman said:
people have said for hardware they will send your a new one if you raise enough hell but id guess it's going to be a refurb
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That's what I was worried about. I hate the fact that I paid all that money and now have a defect but in return they give me a refurb. I guess in some cases a refurb that was examined by a human may be better than off the assembly line?

Refurb if you had TEP it would be new. I had a Touch Pro 2 that cracked and I felt the same way. The guy at the Sprint store told me too bad its cosmetic doesn't effect the performance of the phone.

splink7007 said:
That's what I was worried about. I hate the fact that I paid all that money and now have a defect but in return they give me a refurb. I guess in some cases a refurb that was examined by a human may be better than off the assembly line?
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WOW thats exactly how I felt about the TP2. Lucky for me I had TEP on the Touch Pro as well. So Sprint paid the deductible for me, in that case. I called Sprint from the parking lot of the Sprint store and told them just about everything your posting now. I was very angry but they helped me as best they could.
Really the thing to do is get TEP its worth the money. I think you can add it when you get the refurb.

zone23 said:
Refurb if you had TEP it would be new. I had a Touch Pro 2 that cracked and I felt the same way. The guy at the Sprint store told me too bad its cosmetic doesn't effect the performance of the phone.
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Great, now if your guy said its cosmetic. When they get my defected phone back to sprint will they charge me you think?

splink7007 said:
Great, now if your guy said its cosmetic. When they get my defected phone back to sprint will they charge me you think?
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You know its one of those things you just don't know. That email is probably just a cookie cutter email, copy and paste. If they do you can always call and give them hell maybe they will remove the charges problem is you wont see them until after you activate the phone. I try not to start off mad as hell I work my way too it.

Demand a new phone. I had wifi problems that were due to ****ty hardware construction and I told them I'm not taking a refurb because HTC sucks and the manager gave me a brand new Evo. Had to wait for it to arrive but was worth it. Don't take no for an answer. The Evo refurb I was supposed to get had dust and dirt and scratches on the camera lens. Sprint+HTC can suck it.

FYI on Evo refurb's, the outside case is new, only the guts have been repaired.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I just got off the phone with Sprints retention dept. I spoke to a sup there who said all the phones that are over 30 days gets replaced with a refurbished phone. I even threatened to cancel he didn't budge.

splink7007 said:
I just got off the phone with Sprints retention dept. I spoke to a sup there who said all the phones that are over 30 days gets replaced with a refurbished phone. I even threatened to cancel he didn't budge.
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Tried that too, thru the office of dan, all they did was to offer to waive my etf (I still have 1 year left), if I give them back the EVO.

i have to pay for touchscreen problem?

i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
lately, about a month and a half later, i noticed some weird issues with the touchscreen. it was jumping around as if i had my finger on it when i wasn't touching it. i formatted the sdcard, did a factory reset, wiped everything, and loaded a stock rooted rom on it. it was fine for a couple hours, then i noticed the issues again. random scrolling, opening apps when i wasnt touching the screen, etc. i noticed the Y and G keys are now not working. i downloaded a screen test app that records where you have touched the screen with a white line. while sliding my finger up and down all across the screen, there is a noticeable band running vertically across the general area of the Y and G keys that does not record any touch activity even if i slide my finger there.
i took the phone to a sprint store and showed them. they asked if i had insurance and i said no. they said "well you could get insurance and then have it repaired for $35." i asked "why should i have to pay to have something repaired that i didn't break? the replacement screen is obviously defective." the guy said "well you should have insurance." and i again said "why do i need insurance for something that went bad on its own?" and he said "you had the repair done over 30 days ago so you'll have to pay to have it repaired again."
i have no idea why i should have to pay for repairs for a phone, regardless if i have insurance or not, when i didn't do anything to damage the phone. im going to go to the actual repair store here in chicago, but i doubt theyll say anything different. if they can't repair it for free, im seriously considering switching to a different phone company. this ridiculous service/repair policy along with the horrible battery life (the guy actually asked how my battery life was and tried to sell me an extended battery, and also tried to sell me a case... neither of which i care about), ridiculous $10/month fee, and lack of built-in tethering makes me want to switch back to tmobile which was a great company when i had the G1.
does anyone have any tips they can give me to get this fixed for free? or is that a hopeless idea?
thanks.

When you had the repair done, I'm sure there was a warranty period on the repair itself. Do you have any documentation showing what that timeframe is? It seems to me that if the screen repair warranty is up, you may be stuck paying for the new repair. Have you tried calling sprint with *2 and explaining the situation? I went through a similar situation with the screen developing a large white spot. It took many calls to *2 until somebody was willing to work with me. Try that. If you are not getting the answers you want, hang up and call right back. My persistence worked out eventually, but like I said, it was a time-consuming ordeal. Good luck.

i understand that there was a warranty associated with the last repair, but it still doesn't make any sense to me that a problem i am having with the screen has nothing to do with anything i did. the shattered screen is not the problem (the screen did not get shattered again, which was what the original repair was for). the touchscreen is simply not working properly. am i supposed to get insurance, pay for that each month, and then pay $35 now and again every 45 days if the problem continues? doesn't make much sense to me, but that seems to be how sprint operates. i will take your advice and call *2 after i get turned away at the actual repair facility that i'm on my way to now. thanks for your advice.

Go to another store and show them the problem but do not mention anything about the screen being replaced before, unless they noted your account. Hopefully they could replace it/fix it under warranty

Welcome to Sprint's "screw the customer" routine. Ive dealt with similar issues in the past.
Like others have said, the repair they did should have a warranty to it, just like if you go to get your car fixed, it usually has a 90 day warranty on the fix itself. Go back to where they fixed it, and talk to the manager. Explain your situation, that the repair obviously was faulty.
If that doesnt work, call *2, and ask to speak to account services. Explain your situation to them, how you are not at fault here, and shouldnt be treated this way as a valued customer. Tell them you will cancel your service if they dont help you resolve this issue. When you tell them that, they will bend over backwards to keep you, and hopefully send you a repacement phone.

I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.

wmblalock said:
I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.
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Under the new Sprint policy revealed here on XDA, isn't a non-TEP screen replacement, or anything else, $35 per job?

Update:
I went to a Sprint repair store (can't go to the original one because I moved across the country). They took the phone to the back room and came out five minutes later. The guy said "the tech said to get that touch screen test app off your phone because it isn't a good representation of what's wrong" ... I said "okay, well that section of the screen is clearly not accepting touch input" and he said to call a 1800 number to do a factory reset (?!) so I left and called that number and it was disconnected. haha.
I called *2, went through a bunch of menus, and it told me to call some 1800 number from a different phone. I got some guy who walked me through a factory reset which of course did not work. He said he would connect me to tech support, who I thought I was already talking to. Told her the problem and that the reset didn't work. She said it was a hardware problem and I said yes, and said I know it isn't her fault but that I didn't think it was fair for me to pay for a defective screen. She said she was making some notes in my account and was going to transfer me to an escalation manager. That person listened to my complaint again which I tried to word in a polite way. I didn't threaten to cancel my account but was ready to say something. I told her I would like to have a replacement phone since this one seems to have issues. She asked if it had been replaced before, I said no. She asked for my mailing address and email and put me on hold for about five to ten minutes. During that time, I got an email outlining my exchange order.
The exchange order notes that I could have to pay $75 to $125 for the replacement as well as some other fees, but she never mentioned anything about me paying at all so I'm prepared to call up and complain again if they try to charge me. I mean, I realize that's a policy but they never mentioned fees on the phone. I mean, i might as well have paid the $35 if I didn't mind fees.
Another thing to note is that when the guy at the store came out of the back room he had the battery cover off my phone and said the sensor showed it had gotten wet. I have never gotten it wet, and he said it was my fault if I kept it in my pocket. I will call and complain again if they charge me for returning a wet phone, because its not my fault if its such a poor design that minor sweat or pocket humidity can make it malfunction! I don't mean to nitpick but come on HTC...

one thing i HATE about calling any tech company getting shifted around to this person then to this person etc etc

wrb123 said:
i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
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Did you ask them what kind of warranty they provided with the repair?

No, I didn't (and still don't) think it mattered. If I break something, like I did, I expect to pay for it or have insurance cover it. Since I didn't have insurance, I was okay with paying. While I don't expect a repair to last forever, I think it is reasonable to expect the phone be repaired to like-new condition or with a new screen. Then, if I use the phone normally, with or without insurance, I expect the phone to function normally for at least the length of the contract.

Expectations and reality are two different things. Why don't you call the store and ask them how long they warranty their repairs and go from there.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I don't know what this guy is talking about! First with how much this phone cost why wouldn't you have insurance on it! It only equals 85 bucks for the year way less then the price of a new or used phone even with the 100 you have to pay to get a replacement your still making out good! I jumped in the pool with my phone and even though it still worked I got a replacement for a 100 no hassles! And my screen went hay wire on the replacement and when they couldn't repair it I got another one for free! I dropped my phone and damage the front facing camera took it to the Sprint store and got it fixed for free! So stop being cheap and get insurance
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I am already getting a replacement phone for free, without insurance, if you read the entire thread.
As far as "being cheap" and "just getting insurance" you are citing two incidents where you caused damage to your phone. I agree that you or I should be expected to have insurance to cover damage to our phones that we cause. I am talking about a screen defect (I didn't drop my phone a second time and crack the screen a second time - the screen stopped accepting touch input in a huge area). people should expect more from electronics manufacturers and the phone companies that essentially work with them by accepting and promoting new phones. Electronics used to last, even when they had moving parts. Now we have a generation of people who are fine with devices that frequently go bad and having insurance to cover it. It seems to me Sprint and HTC are the cheap ones, pumping out thousands of the next "iphone killer" with poor batteries, screens, usb ports, etc.

The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.

The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

My "issue" is also that sprint was providing in warranty repairs for one year when I bought this phone. Now they're trying to change that and then saying "oh just get insurance because its a good idea and would cover this." No. I'm getting a free replacement which is what I deserve. There is another thread that explains this change in policy.

bnick007 said:
The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.
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That's a good explanation of what changed. It actually used to be like this way back in the day wth Nextel before the merger - you could get a warranty replacement for free, or you could pay $35 for the convenience of walking into the store and picking it up the same day. I'm not sure when it changed to free warranty repairs but you have to pay more for out of warranty repairs (first it was $35 or $55, depending on what's wrong, then later $99 for dumbphones and $119 for smartphones), but now it's essentially back to how it was to begin with.
Overall, It's probably a better value, and you're probably still better off without insurance. Think about it this way - suppose you keep a phone for 2 years, and it breaks once a year - once under warranty and once out of warranty. With the new plan, that's a total cost of $70 ($35 + $35). With the old plan, the first repair would be covered and the second wouldn't. so that'd be $119. Now obviously, that's a hypothetical, you probably don't need to get it repaired that often. but personally, I find that I generally don't need any repairs until I've owned it for a year or so anyway. So it's better for my purposes, although others might disagree.
Regarding TEP - in the long run you're not saving money unless your phone is lost or stolen, and even then you're out $100 for the deductible. Suppose you're phone is stolen once in the same hypothetical 2 yr period (since after 2 yrs you could get a discounted upgrade): You'll save $449.99 on a new phone at MSRP, but you will have paid $268 in premiums and the deductible. If your phone isn't stolen / water damaged / completely destroyed, you're out $168. I don't know about you, but in the last 11 yrs that I've owned cell phones, I've never had that happen - I've needed repairs, but have never been in a situation when I'd need to place an insurance claim. And the $35 you'll save on a repair with tep is only 5 months' premium - surely nobody needs a repair every 5 months!
The bottom line is that all insurance is a losing proposition in the long run - if it weren't likely that you'd pay more in premiums than you get in claims, insurance companies wouldn't make any money. Personally, i only insure those things that I absolutely can't afford to replace out of pocket - my car, house, health life, etc.
Anyhow, sorry to go on like that, but it's just a topic that's been bouncing around in my head recently.
(and a bit of fair disclosure, I'm a Sprint Nextel employee, but what I write here is purely my personal opinion)

Raheem387 said:
The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Good deal
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Good luck, I have to wonder though if the fight, frustration and possible disappointment is really worth it.

Can I use an unactivated Epic 4g?

Search wasn't working for me so I am going to try my luck with a new topic
My Epic broke a few weeks ago and was denied warranty service, so I suspended my phone service and I will replace my broken screen myself with one from another unit. Assuming Samsung wiped my device during their diagnostics test and my phone would require activation upon boot, will I be able to use my phone without cellular data/voice until I decide to resume my service?
I've read up that the G1s and Droids can be used unactivated by touching the screen corners and I have a link that says the Fascinate can be used with a dialer code (http://androidforums.com/fascinate-tips-tricks/171348-bypass-fascinate-activation-screen.html)
Would any of those work?
Pic of the broken sAMOLED:
http://tibwolf.smugmug.com/photos/1090857987_wGDm8-XL.jpg

Assuming I'm understanding your question right, the answer should be yes. Sprint sent me a replacement phone when mine was just SUCKING BATTERY. I "switched" the activation from one phone to the other a call to Sprint. When the service was switched, I turned the old phone back on, and it worked on wifi only (no cell or data connection). I'm assuming that signing back in to the market via my Gmail account would have worked fine, but I can't tell for absolutely certain as I didn't actually try it. SHOULD work though. If someone has a more concrete answer, that'd be great.

Why not pay the $35 at a sprint store for repair? We have to do these and evo's often.
And on topic yes market and email etc work on wifi without being activated.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

You should be able to. I was using my hero as an mp3 player for a little while after I got my epic. The only problem I ran into was I couldn't sign into the android market on my hero if I was using the same gmail address on my epic
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Sprint fixed my strewn for free. They actually gabe me a new phone at the store since they didn't have the parts. I called and made an appointment but they don't know what happened to my part
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I don't have TEP so the Sprint store wanted nothing to do with me.
I bought a replacement shell with screen on ebay for $35 so I will repair it myself. Samsung wanted $150 to repair it and every single Samsung rep I've talked to on the phone said that their warranty never covers a broken screen under any circumstances.
Hopefully I can make sure I have a working phone before I go off to bootcamp
Thanks for the input guys

tibwolf said:
I don't have TEP so the Sprint store wanted nothing to do with me.
I bought a replacement shell with screen on ebay for $35 so I will repair it myself. Samsung wanted $150 to repair it and every single Samsung rep I've talked to on the phone said that their warranty never covers a broken screen under any circumstances.
Hopefully I can make sure I have a working phone before I go off to bootcamp
Thanks for the input guys
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Since you already bought the screen, this isn't really necessary, but I work at Sprint and with TEP it is a free repair. Without it is $35. I promise! In another thread someone argued that this was not true, but it surely is. I'd be happy to take a pic of an eticket for someone without tep and it clearly shows the $35 charge populated for cracked/damaged screen.

I should mention I didn't purchase any insurance on the phone at all ($71.76 a month after all fees and taxes)
The manager at the Sprint store I went to, which also happens to be the only store in the area authorized for repairs, said that TEP would have been $35 out of pocket, and regular insurance would be $100. Once I said I had no insurance he pointed to a phone and said it was Samsung's problem

tibwolf said:
I should mention I didn't purchase any insurance on the phone at all ($71.76 a month after all fees and taxes)
The manager at the Sprint store I went to, which also happens to be the only store in the area authorized for repairs, said that TEP would have been $35 out of pocket, and regular insurance would be $100. Once I said I had no insurance he pointed to a phone and said it was Samsung's problem
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If they are corporate or preferred then they are seriously misinformed. The insurance is only for lost/stolen, liquid, or device is in 3 or more pieces. All housing/screen other than that is covered for free if you have TEP or ESRP, but if you only have ERP or NOTHING, then its $35 charge with the option to add tep after the repair or replacement.
I'd complain if they are a corporate or preferred store. If that's the case they are basically saying that they didn't feel like dealing with you, or they have not been properly trained on the new policies.

tibwolf I'm in the same situation as you ... can you tell me how it went? How difficult was it to actually replace it? I couldn't find instructions on the web.

I had my Epic for over two weeks before I activated it and it worked fine as everything but a phone. There were no tricks involved at all - I even did the Google setup so I could access the market, Gmail, etc.

I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.

Overstew said:
I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.
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For him to say "android" based phones have to be activated is false. i had my htc hero without being activated and performed a factory reset and i just walked through the setup with wifi and I could do everything on the phone except the phone. When i bought my epic 4g, It was not activated yet I turned it on and messed around with it.
I hope this helps you out!
p.s - i dunno if this matters but both phones had been previously activated but were unactivated through sprint.
Sincerely,
D3luSi0n4L

I can confirm that you can sprint does repair cracked screens for $35 ( I also smashed mine with no (none of any kind) insurance. You can also use your phone through wifi by skipping activation.

You can bring it to sprint even if you have no account with them?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

ramsestut said:
If they are corporate or preferred then they are seriously misinformed. The insurance is only for lost/stolen, liquid, or device is in 3 or more pieces. All housing/screen other than that is covered for free if you have TEP or ESRP, but if you only have ERP or NOTHING, then its $35 charge with the option to add tep after the repair or replacement.
I'd complain if they are a corporate or preferred store. If that's the case they are basically saying that they didn't feel like dealing with you, or they have not been properly trained on the new policies.
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^This. There was a recent policy change and this is now the policy. If it is repairable, the repair is free with insurance or $35 without. If it is non-repairable, water damaged, or stolen, then you can get a replacement under insurance and nothing without insurance.

Overstew said:
I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.
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I had a Best Buy guy tell me the same thing and I had to correct him. Best Buy in my area doesnt know much about the phones they sell. I had my Epic for awhile and never had it activated, but I could use it on wifi for everything other than calls. I finally decided to acitvate it and switched back and forth for some time, flipping between my Evo and Epic. Both worked over Wifi, and still functioned without wifi, when not activated on Sprint. Same with my old Hero.

DiGi760 said:
^This. There was a recent policy change and this is now the policy. If it is repairable, the repair is free with insurance or $35 without. If it is non-repairable, water damaged, or stolen, then you can get a replacement under insurance and nothing without insurance.
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Does this include parts? Also what kind of things can they replace? The bezel around my screen on the sides has hairline scratches that kinda bug me, I wouldn't mind paying $35 it they'd completely replace it. Please let me know asap!
Thanks!
D3luSi0n4L

Just Venting...

Back in September I took my phone both to Best Buy and Sprint a week after I got it asking them to take a look at my loose screen. Both places said it's just how it is and didn't even bother taking a look at it.
Flash forward to today I decided to take it in again because of the screen as well as constant GPS, battery, and screen orientation issues. Went to one Sprint store and they said nothing other than that I would have to pay $35. I said no so I went to another Sprint store. At first the second store said they couldnt even touch my phone because I didnt have any insurance. Then a minute later they took it to someone else in the back and they came to the decision that I had software issues and, get this, I had physical damage from opening the screen too hard resulting in it being loose. So after explaining that I was told by them back in September during my 30 days that the screen was supposed to be like that they of course said to go to Best Buy. I knew BB wouldnt do anything but I went anyways and was told I should have got the Black Tie Protection. Went back to the second Sprint store and asked to talk to a manager and the two guys working there said that the manager wasnt there (how convenient). Then I asked what time he would be there today and they replied he wasnt gonna be there today at all (yea ok). So I asked what time he would be there tomorrow or any time this week and one guy just blurted out 10am which seemed like a lie.
Now I know I didnt purchase any insurance from Sprint or BB so them not helping isnt really too surprising but for them to tell me I opened the screen too hard resulting in the screen being loose pissed me off. I'm gonna just try going through the Samsung warranty once I can get my hands on a cheap Sprint phone so I'm not left without anything. Hopefully they can send me a replacement.

Pretty sure all Sprint phones have a 1 year warranty. As far as I know, you get in store service but not the Asurion portion of TEP. Also for some instore stuff they charge $35.
This is what I remember from when I looked into it about a year ago and it seems to fit with your story. I would definitely go after the sprint stores for this one. Make sure you're going to places authorized as repair
http://sprintstorelocator.com/search.aspx Check "Repair centers near me" and search
In the end, they will most likely swap out the phone, and you might have to pay $35. It's worth it. Going through Samsung will likely be impossible and on the odd chance that they will honor a warranty you will have to send it in and wait for a turn around (no phone for 2 weeks).
Good luck!

I'd call support. phone support is generally much better than the idiots in the sprint stores. I never go to a sprint store it's easier and faster to call.

Sprint changed the policy about service on phones that are in warranty but not on a account with the service and repair insurance. They charge you 35 bucks, regardless if you're in warranty or not to fix hardware issues, excluding water damage or board level damage. The 35 includes new screens or a new phone if that's what it takes. If you pay the 4 dollars a month for the service option, you're not charged the 35 dollars.
About the only way you could fix a Epics loose screen would be to just take your board out and put it in another Epic that they have harvested for parts, or just order you a refurbed phone.

The loose screen has to be a design flaw. I had that same issue and got it replaced 2 times because of it. After those two replacements i gave up since every phone was loose like that. Then a few weeks ago my screen began to turn red so I got it replaced under warranty. The phone they gave me didn't have the loose screen. Maybe that issue only applies to the earlier Epics.

I understand paying the 35 bucks but the thing is they are now blaming me for the loose screen that I originally brought up to them. Ill most likey just pay it sometime after christmas they said it would take 3 days
edit: and yea i'm hoping that the newer phones no longer have the problem
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Something I tell my patients families: The squeaky gear gets the grease.
What that means is you need to be the squeaky gear. Best time to go to sprint is when they have a lot of prospective customers in the store and make a lot of noise about non-existent support, poor support, you get the idea, right?
The squeaky gear never has a problem getting what they want to be done....

Heads up! Exchange and Asurion Evo's shipping with 2.3

Just to give people a heads up that need their EVO's exchanged via service centers or replaced via insurance. For the past few days ALL replacement Evo's that I've had come in have been flashed to the new OTA prior to shipping. There may be instances where some service centers may have some 2.2 Evo's on hand (not likely) but for the most part expect to get a 2.3 Evo if you need to have yours replaced.

got mine replaced and got in Wednesday still had 2.3
sent from my back pocket using an EVO

2.2 sorry type o
sent from my back pocket using an EVO

Just got a replacement EVO,with 2.2 yesterday...actually a replacement for my replacement EVO..
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todah09 said:
Just got a replacement EVO,with 2.2 yesterday...actually a replacement for my replacement EVO..
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What's the refurb date on yours. The ones I'm getting in are no more than a week old.

The biggest complaint about Sprint I could have is that they run everything through insurance. Verizon (who I left to get Evo) would replace your phone with no deductible if it was a defect. IE: not charging, something not working properly etc etc. There basically could be no water damage and the phone had to be less than a year old. I pay for insurance for other reasons, such as loss, theft, drop a brick on it and such.
You guys have the same experience? Just trying to see if its the two stores I've went to that "look" at the phone and say if you want a new one do it through insurance.

i have two repair centers here next to me who always replace my phone for free, as long as there's no water damage, r u sure u r visiting repair centers?

A repair center near me was going to replace my phone for free sure to a speaker defect. No insurance needed. Same for others I've talked to. A long as it is a defect in the phone then they will replace it for free.

Where the phones activated? If so that's why it was 2.3
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david914 said:
i have two repair centers here next to me who always replace my phone for free, as long as there's no water damage, r u sure u r visiting repair centers?
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Yea for some reason they do nothing but want to send it via insurance and charge me $100 for a refurb. Glad somebody is having luck out there

Mantle107 said:
Yea for some reason they do nothing but want to send it via insurance and charge me $100 for a refurb. Glad somebody is having luck out there
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The only time we replace phones is if there are main board issues, everything else we repair in house. Main board issues are cover under the exchange program and we order the exchange right away. If it's shattered screens or water damage the we check to see if the customer is eligible for an upgrade so we can present the customer with options (upgrade or insurance). If they want to file a claim we walk them through it.
PM me where you live and I'll see if I can't track down a decent service center.

Lokifish Marz said:
The only time we replace phones is if there are main board issues, everything else we repair in house. Main board issues are cover under the exchange program and we order the exchange right away. If it's shattered screens or water damage the we check to see if the customer is eligible for an upgrade so we can present the customer with options (upgrade or insurance). If they want to file a claim we walk them through it.
PM me where you live and I'll see if I can't track down a decent service center.
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Thank you so much for the solid info. I'll shoot you a message later after I get out of this meeting. Again, much appreciated.

It's usually pretty cut and dry if you take it to a Sprint Service/Repair Center. If there is physical damage then it will go through Insurance. Hardware defect it is swapped free of charge. They have the option to repair some physical damage...... If you take it anywhere else they will insurance it for the $100 or send you to a Sprint Service/Repair Center. We'll they should remind you, but usually don't.
I have never had to pay a single claim except for when I lost my phone.

I went to a Sprint Repair center once to have my screen swapped (I have the white spots that are a manufacturer defect) and they told me I would have to go through insurance. I haven't tried a different Service/Repair center yet. Know of any good ones in the Miami, Fl area?