Database Users

8525 - Frustrated - What should I do?

Hey guys,
Ive had my 8525 for a couple months now. Off and on, I have had the "white screen of death" and I've disassembeled and fixed and now Im to the point where I want to throw this thing and burn it.
I have had it unlocked for any network, I love the phone, other than the white screen problem.
I cant afford another phone and this thing isnt under warranty.
Im clueless.

oh man dat sucks try selling it

I thought I saw another post from you on this issue... How long have you had the phone... If it is under a year, contact HTC and they may repair it under the manufacturer's warranty... You bought this phone off ebay, correct..?

8525 Frustrated
The phone was bought off of eBay.
I just learned about the SquareTrade insurance, which it is too late to buy, I could have recieved a replacement.
I listed the phone on eBay for sale. I will buy another HTC when I can afford one that doesnt have hardware defects.

same prob here....i just bought a flex cable from ebay and hope it fixes it...if not imma sell it for parts on ebay and get the 8925 when its comes out from AT&T

RaptorGuy said:
The phone was bought off of eBay.
I just learned about the SquareTrade insurance, which it is too late to buy, I could have recieved a replacement.
I listed the phone on eBay for sale. I will buy another HTC when I can afford one that doesnt have hardware defects.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems kinda low to sell a lemon on Ebay. Hope you listed the issues.

HD2 - sealed box - what's a fair price?

Right guys, I have received my FIFTH replacement HD2 today and I'm not even going to open the box, it's for sale. So what would a brand new, sealed box HD2 - on the O2 network - be worth on the market? I see they can be had unlocked from Play.com for £499 with free delivery and the ones on Ebay are probably used and messed around with, so I think mine is worth more than they go for....any ideas?

Will be worth less than that if it's got an O2 ROM I think its safe to assume, also O2 HD2's appear to be locked according to one of the threads on here

How come you're simply not accepting it from O2 and cancelling the contract? I assume that if you sell it then you have to continue paying for it till the contract runs out.

Brand new sealed HD2's are going for between £380 and £450 on ebay, with brand new ones that are not sealed going for a touch less. However, most have been around the £400 mark. I have been watching intently over the past week as wanted to buy one.
The cheapest I could find on the internet was £469.99 on offer from eXpansys. However, on sunday I was out having a coffee with my wife and popped into carphone warehouse on the off chance they might have a HD2, and see if they'd price match.
Much to my amazement their price for a brand new factory sealed SIM free HD2 was £449.95, so I got out my credit card and bought it there and then. My iphone 3G 16GB is now up for sale on ebay to recover some of the cost of my HD2, and then in6 weeks time when I'm due an upgrade I'll sell that as well. I was just too impatient to wait for my upgrade

johncmolyneux said:
How come you're simply not accepting it from O2 and cancelling the contract? I assume that if you sell it then you have to continue paying for it till the contract runs out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Due to the number of replacements I've had, I'm now over the 28 days and therefore can't cancel my contract. If I purchase a different handset with the proceeds from the sale, that can be my 'contract' phone if you like. Sure I'll still be tied to the original contract but I'll have a phone so it will make no difference.

sunking101 said:
Due to the number of replacements I've had, I'm now over the 28 days and therefore can't cancel my contract. If I purchase a different handset with the proceeds from the sale, that can be my 'contract' phone if you like. Sure I'll still be tied to the original contract but I'll have a phone so it will make no difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getcha. Sounds like O2 win here though, despite not being able to supply you with a satisfactory handset. I'm sure if it went as far as court then you'd win, but who's gonna go that far for a phone?

DMAND said:
Will be worth less than that if it's got an O2 ROM I think its safe to assume, also O2 HD2's appear to be locked according to one of the threads on here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they are locked apparently. O2 unlock them free though, if you email them. Can take up to 28 days. I don't want to open the box and unlock the phone because then it would be classed as 'used'. If anyone wants to unlock it there is no problem doing so...

johncmolyneux said:
Getcha. Sounds like O2 win here though, despite not being able to supply you with a satisfactory handset. I'm sure if it went as far as court then you'd win, but who's gonna go that far for a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. What's the betting this phone sat here in the sealed box is *perfect* too.

Hi - this is true - i placed the other forum thread "HD2 locked" - i got my unlock code last night. Turns out that mine was obsolutely brand spanking new and o2 hadnt generated the code to unlock it - the previous owner/ebayer put in a request for the code (it took about 3 weeks) - i am now unlocked!!

@Sunking,
You decided on a price yet?
WB

wacky.banana said:
@Sunking,
You decided on a price yet?
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, got any ideas? I was thinking around £430 but I'm not sure if that's too lo-ball.

It's probably too high ball if you ask me. You've got three things in your way:
1. It's branded to O2 (yes, it's easy to unbrand and customise now we've got HSPL but it's an additional step and it's a negative)
2. It's sim locked to O2 (you'll have to request an unlock code from O2 and it takes about 2 weeks - but crucially you seem to have to use your O2 registered sim you bought the device against to get the correct code)
3 - Anyone on O2 can buy the exact same thing as yours for £365
May I ask what issues you have had with the phone? I've got one from O2 myself (only one) and have not noticed anything amiss.

kai_ said:
It's probably too high ball if you ask me. You've got three things in your way:
1. It's branded to O2 (yes, it's easy to unbrand and customise now we've got HSPL but it's an additional step and it's a negative)
2. It's sim locked to O2 (you'll have to request an unlock code from O2 and it takes about 2 weeks - but crucially you seem to have to use your O2 registered sim you bought the device against to get the correct code)
3 - Anyone on O2 can buy the exact same thing as yours for £365
May I ask what issues you have had with the phone? I've got one from O2 myself (only one) and have not noticed anything amiss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
£365? Where??

sunking101 said:
£365? Where??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 haven't publicised this very much, but an existing O2 contract holder can buy one SIM free for £365 (in fact it was £277 for the 1st day, by mistake!)
Not all shops or call centre staff know about it, and some say it is business customers only, but that is incorrect.
We had a thread on it Here but no posts in the last week!

NeilM said:
O2 haven't publicised this very much, but an existing O2 contract holder can buy one SIM free for £365 (in fact it was £277 for the 1st day, by mistake!)
Not all shops or call centre staff know about it, and some say it is business customers only, but that is incorrect.
We had a thread on it Here but no posts in the last week!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the shops don't know about it and the call centre staff don't know about it, I'll expect it's a tall order to purchase one at that price then. So basically my brand new HD2 is worth (much) less than a used one on Ebay....

id probably say 400 at the most for it

sunking101 said:
If the shops don't know about it and the call centre staff don't know about it, I'll expect it's a tall order to purchase one at that price then. So basically my brand new HD2 is worth (much) less than a used one on Ebay....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The spoiler for most people is that you have to already be in an O2 contract. I suspect those that do know about it are selling on at the 'normal' Ebay price

NeilM said:
The spoiler for most people is that you have to already be in an O2 contract. I suspect those that do know about it are selling on at the 'normal' Ebay price
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but I want to do a buy it now....can't be watching the price go up to £44,000 at the end of the auction because some idiot scammers have decided to ruin it! I was just trying to get an indication of what price to set.

There are two for sale on ebay both at 360, one is still sealed and one isn't.
Doesn't seem like there is much difference with sealed and unsealed. Although the sealed one is locked to T-Mobile.

Bricked AT&T G1 returnable to T-mo?

I am an AT&T customer that uses-- used a rooted G1 from eBay. I called HTC, and they told me the manufacturer warranties on the G1 ended last month.
How likely is it that I could convince someone at the local T-mobile store to help me with a replacement?​
I'm assuming not at all likely, but I've read stranger things here on xda. I'm imagining they have the phone's IMEI tied to some grand customer database to show that I'm just some bum with a G1. I do have a friend with T-mobile (and a G1), but if it is tied to the IMEI, they wouldn't just take my phone from her if I paid her?
I'm really not looking forward to buying a whole new phone, but I have accepted that this is probably my only option, so please don't flame too thoroughly.
(I did several searches, but almost none were relevant to AT&T/eBay return combo. Unless I just suck at searching.)

You are right, you have 0 chance of T-Mobile swapping or doing anything at all.

how did it break?

TMobile won't support you unless you bought the phone from them.
I called HTC last week to check on my G1 warranty since TMobile wouldn't support me. I was told (by HTC) that warranty is 15 months. Mine expires next month. Did you give them your S/N to check your warranty?
Though, if it was rooted then your warranty is void. Unless you want to pay for them to fix it for you, don't send it in. I don't know how they know if you rooted or modified anything, but if they find out you will be charged a minimum (triage) fee even if you decide you don't want to pay for actual repairs.

I sent them one that was previously rooted and obviously had been torn apart- no moisture sticker even. Told them I got it that way on Craigslist. Didnt cost me a dime besides shipping (Priority Mail $5) and time. HTC direct rules IMO.
The Triage fee is for them to diagnose it, and is only charged if you are out of warranty, or if it is your fault. The fee also includes return shipping.

I spoke to a rep, and when I gave her the S/N she said it expired on 12.25.9. I'm not sure where she was getting the date considering I bought the phone in May, but it definitely wasn't 15 months. I can't imagine the phone was already 6 months old when I bought it unless it was just sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
I had another idea though. Possibly stupid, but possibly genius, too?
What if I went to T-mo, and bought a phone without a plan. Then switched the motherboards and got a replacement for the broken one. Then I could returned the new one? Is this mad?

Not only is it mad, it would be really obvious what you did since all those void stickers would be removed in the process, as well when found out there would be hell to pay on your end for trying to fraudulantly switch devices like that. As well, the mother board has the serial # on it both physically and electronically, and this can't be changed.

Ah. I guess the good old G1 is going into a drawer somewhere until one day (hopefully) it can be un-bricked.
Since I have to buy a new phone anyway now, would anyone care to throw in their two cents for the Cliq or the X1a as a replacement Android phone under 300 without contract?

You could also get a used G1 off eBay in great condition for about $200. I got mine in perfect like new condition for $200 back in Septemeber, when I was looking they were going typically for about $225-$250 in that condition, but I waited for the best deal(took about a week of watching to get the deal I did). I would assume with the Nexus One coming out and being post X-Mas season, prices are down a bit, but will likely go back up a little come February when tax season starts.

Keep an eye out for a cracked g1 or one with other problems, then re-use the board. I see them on CL for $40-60 regularly (although none right now).
I would talk to HTC and tell them where you bought it and when, it helps if you have the transaction recorded! You should be able to convince them to cover it if you have enough proof. Nothing wrong with using the truth to your advantage.

Depending on where you live, you can find a good number of people selling their G1 on craigslist. I got bored and just did a search now.
$70 w/o battery or cover (sounds sketchy).. $100 in good condition.. $200 unlocked. Seems like the average is $150 around here.

I got mine for 100 brand new shipped from tmobile! The person didn't want it as they got a new phone so you may get lucky and get a brand new one for a real cheap price

I bought a cracked G1 on ebay for ~90USD. I found 2 within 100mi on craigslist, but both were scooped up by someone else within the first hour of being on the list.
I followed the step-by-step guide here to swap the phones' guts and now I have a locked (but not bricked) phone, and a dud.
Maybe I can still fetch a few bucks for the bricked, cracked (screen) phone.

With the Nexus out now I bet quite a few early adopters like me are switching. I got a msg from my buddy today saying once his Nexus arrives the G1 is for sale. He wants $100 for it, pretty average price around here for a working, but not mint, G1

aceo07 said:
TMobile won't support you unless you bought the phone from them.
I called HTC last week to check on my G1 warranty since TMobile wouldn't support me. I was told (by HTC) that warranty is 15 months. Mine expires next month. Did you give them your S/N to check your warranty?
Though, if it was rooted then your warranty is void. Unless you want to pay for them to fix it for you, don't send it in. I don't know how they know if you rooted or modified anything, but if they find out you will be charged a minimum (triage) fee even if you decide you don't want to pay for actual repairs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correction, TMobile will not support you, even if you bought a phone from them.

$79 Hero Refurb/Preowned (no contract)

http://shop.sprint.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/DisplayPhones?INTNAV=ATG:HE:Phones
Note: Your phone will not be activated when it arrives. Please follow the instructions included in the box to activate it.
Web specials do not apply when upgrading to a pre-owned device. You’ll instead benefit from maintaining your current upgrade eligibility status.

I was just coming to post this.
I may buy one or two just to root and mess around with.
Worth a shot anyways.

It seems a deal! Better than the one I brought from craigslist, paid $100 without sdcard and headset.
BTW, I don't have to activate it, right?

I'm thinking about getting one. I dropped my Hero last week and scratched it up pretty badly (I was going to swap housing, but I don't want to bother with that). I'd use the refurb as my daily, with my other Hero as a testing device

cwzkevin said:
It seems a deal! Better than the one I brought from craigslist, paid $100 without sdcard and headset.
BTW, I don't have to activate it, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered one. I had the option to have it pre-activated but I chose not to do that. I'm trying to get my husband on the Android bandwagon and this was a cheap way to do it. (He's currently in our family plan with a BB but wants to jump ship to ATT and Iphone. ugh, I know right?) If he hates it, I have a backup Hero and I did not have to extend my contract.

ordering mine tomorrow, went from a htc vogue with android hacked on to it, to a blackberry curve and now to an htc hero till my upgrade kicks in, never again shall i upgrade to a blackberry....piece of crap

looks like they must have sold out of the refurb heroes... :/

sadly wasn't able to order my phone that night due to mail holiday keeping me from getting my debit card on time but called sprint and was told they would have them back in stock on thursday

Where do you click to see a refurbished model?

oOMavrikOo said:
Where do you click to see a refurbished model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're currently out of stock, but according to the post above you, Sprint should have them back in stock by tomorrow.

BlaqkAudio said:
They're currently out of stock, but according to the post above you, Sprint should have them back in stock by tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i emailed their customer support and im waiting for respond, ill keep you guys updated

I looked yesterday and today and could not find any Refurb'ed Heros, there were some others. Wish I had seen this earlier, would have been nice to get one for my daughter.

yeah i checked into it again, won't have any for a while :/ i suggest you look into ebay if you want to try, alot of reliable sellers.

Keep looking... it's definitely worth doing.
Mine came in a Sprint OEM "Certified Pre-owned" box, packaged as if it were new. The only thing missing was an SD card (heck, it would be just 2Gb which is worthless anyhow) and a printed full manual. The phone looks brand new, except for one minor flaw--a tiny dent on the speaker grille. Otherwise, you wouldn't know this was refurbished.
The battery is in a small plastic bag with a sticker closure. It was not charged, so the phone required the full charging time to get going.

i found some from ebay that were bought up from sprint by bestbuy.

I just looked on eBay for a private party selling a Hero. I hate buying from the jerks too lazy to post real pictures of the product. I'm not buying a new phone, so why would I ever buy anything without being able see exactly what I'm really getting?
Anyhoots I won an auction for one the guy says is 4 months old for $133. Just watched for auction ending in a few minutes that fit what I wanted, placed my bid, 10 minutes later I had won.
Not refurbished, and more than $79, but I'm sure my daughter will love it.

Nice job, sadly my paypal account is locked because i forgot about it and never put in my information, i went looking for people selling and accepting non paypal purchases, i ends tomorrow so hopefully i win, it's refurbished.

Here you go guys,
http://www.cowboom.com/search/results.cfm?keywords=htc+hero
should be about 11 up, most are bids but 2 of em can be bought directly and shipped out.

[July 7] [?] Can I use a phone thats been claimed for insurance?

Someone on ebay has an HD2 for sale for a good price that he claimed insurance on. I was thinking of buying it. Does anyone know if it'll work if I buy it?
Thnx for help =D

cakinlife said:
Someone on ebay has an HD2 for sale for a good price that he claimed insurance on. I was thinking of buying it. Does anyone know if it'll work if I buy it?
Thnx for help =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my mystic ball tells me that he claimed insurance on it for a reason....

i would ask for the imei # & then call htc to see if it has any warranty still on it. if it does you could buy it & hope that what ever is wrong with it will be covered under the warranty but you might be buying a very expensive paper weight. I bought mine on ebay & made sure it was still under warranty before buying it & then shipped it out to htc for repair. they replaced my phone & shipped it back 2 me 4 free. i only had to pay for the shipping there.

His description says he only did it to get another phone and that its gauranteed working. But I'm wondering if T-Mobile would care about that and block your phone?

my only concern would be it having a bad esn which shouldnt be likely since he said he did the swap himself. normally that happens when you try 2 sell a stolen phone. i would call t-mobile with the esn# to see if its bad or not.
anytime you do an exchange through t-mobile you have 2 mail back the phone thats not working or you will get a huge restocking fee = to the phones price unless it was an upgrade which i think you then can keep your old phone.
I would check the completed auctions on ebay, its on the left hand side of the page. price what the htc hd2 has sold for & then if you can get it for cheaper then the average price i would go ahead & buy it. if you cant get it working on t-mobiles network then you can always resell it on ebay & since you did your homework on how much you can expect 2 sell it 4 you wont be out any/a lot of money. i wouldnt think that it would be an issue but i also wouldnt want to give you info on something im not 100% on, best bet would be to call.

I didn't know ESN's applied to phones that use sim cards.
So if the ESN is bad then it might not work and it would just be a paper weight?
Would applying a new OS such as android fix this at all and is the ESN changeable?
Thanks for the info guys, esp htccraze

As I was writing that I was wondering it myself. Lol. I looked online at a few places and your right, t-mobile is not affected by bad esn #'s. I was with verizon till just last year so thats where I was gathering my info from, so I'm really sorry about that.
It seems as though everything should be fine then. Like I said, if you can get a good deal on it & think you'd be able to resell it around the price you paid then there wouldnt be as much risk because you'll be able to get your money back if for whatever reason you no longer like/want the phone. I don't like 2 tell ppl what they should do with they're hard earned money but as a pt seller on eBay myself I feel that papal/ebay buyer protection would have you covered if something was listed wrong or if it dont live up to the description he put in his listing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

cakinlife there are 2 options you can do. 1) As htccraze said yes you might want to call htc if it is still cover under warranty. 2) The HTC HD2 could be use under another network if the phone is unlcoked.

I would be suprised if there was no sting in the tail here
Insurance is not used just to get a new phone (most insurance phones are refurbs anyway) and the only reason it would be replaced without being sent in for repair/exchange would be if its reported lost/stolen, then the owner got it back (or it was not lost anyway)
Dodgy to say the least
If the IMEI is blacklisted, you need to provide proof of ownersip to unlock it (if you are not the original owner) in the UK that is
IMEI for the phone
IMSI for the SIM

Thanks everyone for the tips, I ended up losing the auction lol (price got too high) but now I know =D
Really appreciate all the help