Database Users

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
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

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....

Digitizer Replacement saga- I bet this is how all refurbs are done

Earlier this year I got an Evo (HW 004, Epson screen) off eBay, no contract, no TEP, no ERP, and have used it pretty hard for a few months now. I have already cracked and replaced the camera lens glass cover disc of glass thingie with a kit also bought on eBay, so when the digitizer started getting progressively worse in recent days I basically said fine I'm perfectly willing to go DIY again.
Everyone says just replace the LCD screen and digitizer together as a unit so you don't fiddle around separating the bad digitizer from the good LCD screen and all that adhesive drama. Let's say approx $30 for just the digitizer, $80 for both, these days. To me, if the phone costs $2000 to own over two years, I don't really care about a few bucks here and there, so either method would work for me.
But while researching this issue on XDA I found quite a few people who persuaded either Sprint ($35) or HTC ($6 S&H) to do it for them.
So I figured why not drop in to the nearest Authorized Sprint Repair Center which happens to be very near where I live.
I get to the repair tech window and tell the guy I'm just asking him for advice. I say right up front this phone is rooted, I got it off eBay, I got no insurance of any kind etc. I just ask him what are my options?
He offers to replace both digitizer and LCD screen for $35. On the spot. Only I'll have to pay in cash because "their computers are down".
I say right on let's rock. His methodology is very straightforward. In plain view of God and everyone he just turns around to the counter behind him and starts rooting through all the returned phones lying around (they're all in these big envelopes, like in the old days of processing rolls of film, yeah i know lol I'm that old whatever) until he finds an Evo that he knows he saw earlier. I guess he's assuming that the Evo he's cannibalizing wasn't being returned because of a faulty digitizer or screen. Real master of probability theory, this guy.
He determines that the screen on whatever Evo he came up with has "the narrow cable" and then he cracks mine open (in like four seconds- I'm pretty sure I would have spent a good 30 minutes making sweet love to my phone with a pry tool to get to the same point- maybe DIY is not really such a bargain after all if your time is worth anything) and determines mine has "the fat cable". So no donor match for me. He puts it back together, hands it back and says to come back tomorrow because he just got ten new Evo's in from the factory for customers who have been waiting to get their phones back. Once they have returned to the store to pick up their replacements he'll have plenty of Evos to work with. He figures at least two of them will have "the fat cable".
I imagine this is how refurbs are done in general: Find out what the customer is complaining about, grab the relevant parts from a phone that a *different* customer was complaining about, and hope they weren't complaining about the same thing.

Given the circumstances (rooted phone bought off ebay) and the fact that he wanted you to pay cash because the "computers were down" I have a feeling this might not be how all repairs are handled... probably just the ones that are done "off the books" by that particular repair guy.

Pretty sure this is how they handle the repairs. I had my screen replaced once, and got it back with a crack by the volume buttons and power button. When I confronted the tech, he told me the screens are not new, but "harvested parts".

I had the same thing done to my phone. I had the "B spot" on my original HW003 and he replaced it with a used screen, which had another small white blotch in the screen. About 2 weeks later he received a brand new screen from HTC and put it on my phone. Been running that screen ever since.

bryank930 said:
Pretty sure this is how they handle the repairs. I had my screen replaced once, and got it back with a crack by the volume buttons and power button. When I confronted the tech, he told me the screens are not new, but "harvested parts".
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Same thing happened to me when I was going through my "refurb phase" trying to get a decent replacement. Sprint sent me a refurb that the screen was cracked out of the package. I took it to the store, the guy ripped it open in about 5 seconds, rummaged around a box of spare evo parts, and put a new screen on it. He gave it back to me 5 minutes later. This new screen was scratched to hell, the bezel around the screen was scratched to hell from him ripping the phone open, and the volume keys didnt work, I assume because he didnt put it together correctly. He told me that's how they do it, and that even though the "new" screen he put on had scratches, to sprint that was considered a new screen. It then took me about 4 hours arguing with the manager and on the phone with retentions to get them to get me another device.

Well, I went back to the guy for the replacement, and at the end of it all, either things got a whole lot shadier or a whole lot *less* shady, I can't tell: after he did the job (10 minutes, while-u-wait), he then wrote down my phone #, MEID and IMSI on a post it note before he gave me the phone back.
But there are a few things he said that make me think I misjudged the guy, like how I might receive a call from Sprint asking if I was satisfied with their customer service etc, how he does actually test the screen before he puts it in to make sure he's not swapping out one bad screen with another, and of course the post-it note ritual itself.
Of course this time there were other customers present, so maybe that was all for show and the post it note just went straight to the bottom of a trash can somewhere.
Anyways I paid in cash as previously arranged and walked out the door one happy person. What he did afterwards I don't know, and hopefully won't ever need to care.
Bottom line, digitizer is replaced (and as a nice side effect i no longer have to live with a couple pretty deep scratches on the old glass, even if the bezel is a little more nicked up than my old one), and the phone has never worked better.
[EDIT : just got a series of automated questions from Sprint via SMS asking about my experience. So I guess this all turned out to be more legit than I had initially suspected...]

Very nice! Glad to see you got a legit operation. As you know, I am in similar process. Getting screen replaced.

NxNW said:
Well, I went back to the guy for the replacement, and at the end of it all, either things got a whole lot shadier or a whole lot *less* shady, I can't tell: after he did the job (10 minutes, while-u-wait), he then wrote down my phone #, MEID and IMSI on a post it note before he gave me the phone back.
But there are a few things he said that make me think I misjudged the guy, like how I might receive a call from Sprint asking if I was satisfied with their customer service etc, how he does actually test the screen before he puts it in to make sure he's not swapping out one bad screen with another, and of course the post-it note ritual itself.
Of course this time there were other customers present, so maybe that was all for show and the post it note just went straight to the bottom of a trash can somewhere.
Anyways I paid in cash as previously arranged and walked out the door one happy person. What he did afterwards I don't know, and hopefully won't ever need to care.
Bottom line, digitizer is replaced (and as a nice side effect i no longer have to live with a couple pretty deep scratches on the old glass, even if the bezel is a little more nicked up than my old one), and the phone has never worked better.
[EDIT : just got a series of automated questions from Sprint via SMS asking about my experience. So I guess this all turned out to be more legit than I had initially suspected...]
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He used your phone information to put in a trouble ticket with Sprint to show that he did the repair. Standard stuff.

[Q] Sprint's repair service (Screen repair)

H'okay. So. I recently pretty much shattered my Evo's screen, though everything still works and the phone is still fully functional. Therefore I've been a little lazy with going and getting it repaired.
Now that I have the day off tomorrow, I'm wanting to go to go into my local Sprint repair center and having them switch out the screen for me.
I just had a couple questions:
1. I do pay $7/month for insurance on the phone, will they charge me for the screen? If so, would it be worth it to just pay my $50 deductible for a new phone? (This is what I've paid in the past for a blackberry through insurance, I want to assume its more for a smart phone, but I have no clue). I've read mixed things on this, where screen repair costs $35, free, etc.
2. Should I unroot and factory reset my phone before I take the phone in? Again, I've read mixed things on here/google. I've heard that they no longer care, especially for a simple screen repair. I've read people have had their warranty revoked. I'd just like some insight on the issue?
Sorry if these have been answered several times, like I said, I did some research before posting and never really got a straight forward answer.
Thanks.

bosswick said:
H'okay. So. I recently pretty much shattered my Evo's screen, though everything still works and the phone is still fully functional. Therefore I've been a little lazy with going and getting it repaired.
Now that I have the day off tomorrow, I'm wanting to go to go into my local Sprint repair center and having them switch out the screen for me.
I just had a couple questions:
1. I do pay $7/month for insurance on the phone, will they charge me for the screen? If so, would it be worth it to just pay my $50 deductible for a new phone? (This is what I've paid in the past for a blackberry through insurance, I want to assume its more for a smart phone, but I have no clue). I've read mixed things on this, where screen repair costs $35, free, etc.
2. Should I unroot and factory reset my phone before I take the phone in? Again, I've read mixed things on here/google. I've heard that they no longer care, especially for a simple screen repair. I've read people have had their warranty revoked. I'd just like some insight on the issue?
Sorry if these have been answered several times, like I said, I did some research before posting and never really got a straight forward answer.
Thanks.
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First... The deductible on an Evo is $100. and Insurance no longers covers screens as far as I know. They did for a little while but when my wife broke her screen we found out they no longer did... Because they felt bad for her not knowing they replaced hers for free and she didnt have to pay the deduct. She also did not unroot prior to taking it in... some people say you should... some will say not so... I personally wouldnt...

They changed the policy. Now any physical damage will cost you $100 for a new phone, they wont just replace the screen for 35 anymore. I would unroot it or snap it in half. Just don't want to take the chance of telling you no because its rooted. Either way your looking at $100 or eBay and replace it yourself. Good luck.
Edit: just checked eBay and you can snag a screen and all the tools for $17. I would go that route lol

Damn. Looks like I was late on the good repair service. ><
Hmph. I've been looking into repairing the screen myself. The only problem I could see me having is getting the current, shattered screen off. I don't have any type of tool to apply heat to break the adhesive down, and I'd see it as being VERY tedious getting all the glass shards of screen totally off. Literally the only thing keeping my screen together and probably on my phone is my screen protector, haha.
Well, I guess it's time to look into ordering some tools and a LCD display, cause I'm not gonna fork over $100 for a refurb'd Evo when mine works perfectly and has done so for the past year. :/

I don't know when they changed that policy... but I brought mine in on monday, guy thought it was a cracked screen, so he was just going to replace it... but he broke something when taking it apart, so he ordered me a brand new one...
But the point is... he was in the process of taking it apart and replacing it... he asked beforehand if I had insurance... so I'm pretty sure they still cover that... Try a different store maybe?

Ask for a one-time courtesy replacement, we're allowed to do that. Otherwise, it's $100 to Asurion unless you want to attempt it yourself.
It may be a little bit more expensive but spring for the complete front panel kit instead of just the digitizer. The LCD may be damaged underneath without showing it, so you could run into problems if you replace the digitizer. Plus, it's a lot easier.
I've only done one digitizer replace and it's not the best thing in the world. Front panel is way easier. Just remember to move the earpiece speaker and front camera.

I have to bring my phone to Sprint for...

...a broken front glass. I've had my Evo since launch, naked, and finally dropped it on something hard enough to break it - the parking lot. Needless to say, the glass is cracked, so I'll need to bring it to Sprint (I have TEP), but first, a few questions:
1) I need to unroot (the phone is still very usable), but if I get an exchange, is the newest version of Android rootable for the Evo4G?
2) If it's NOT rootable, I know a guy who replaces glass on iPods, iPhones, and other smartphones, (including the 4G) and he'll charge me for the glass and that's it (<$50). Problem is, now it has a few nicks in the side, and that will bug the **** out of me.
Any ideas/tips from anyone that's gone through this with Sprint or suggestions otherwise?
Thanks

You'll get referred to Asurion unless the tech is feeling exceptionally nice that day.
They've been cracking down on courtesy repairs recently, mainly because the front assemblies are around $100 a pop.

If you get an exchange you will be able to root using Revolutionary (do a search). I've done several.

Go to amazon, the digitizer is anywhere between $11-$20... Not a real tough fix...

I'd go the amazon route as well. My friend fixed his wife's evo pretty quickly and for $15 I think.

Wow, thanks everyone! I do have TEP for the phone, but replacing it myself doesn't look to difficult and I'm pretty handy. I already have the torx and pry tools, so I may just go that route. Thanks for the feedback!

And even if you don't want to do it yourself, there is no need to actually take it to a sprint store. They will just tell you to call Asurion.

sitlet said:
And even if you don't want to do it yourself, there is no need to actually take it to a sprint store. They will just tell you to call Asurion.
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So this third party company basically just handles the claims?

sitlet said:
And even if you don't want to do it yourself, there is no need to actually take it to a sprint store. They will just tell you to call Asurion.
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Not necessarily. I'm on my 4th screen replaced at no charge from my local store. I have TEP, the sheet shows $35 for screen repair without it. 3 times I walked in and was out in 30-40min. Once they had no screens and gave me a loaner while a new shipment came in.
Perhaps corporate stores are just referring to Asurion now, but all the stores in my area still repair in shop.

I just had to turn in a phone because the USB data lines were not working. They refused to do any diagnosing while it was rooted. You might be able to try a stock-looking ROM perhaps. But I unrooted following guides here, took it in, got the new phone a while later, rooted it, and I'm back.
Nine days later, I drop the phone on concrete face-down. So now I'm sitting with this new phone and a cracked screen. Ebay has a number of complete housings with LCD for $40-60. With that, swap in your motherboard and it should be all good. I will be going this route over the next few days.
Ifixit.com has a guide to take it apart. You have to do the first few steps to see what model LCD your phone uses. Some have a wide ribbon cable and some have a narrower one. I just looked this afternoon and mine is a wide type cable. Maybe older phones are narrow.

Go with number 2 because it should be easy to fix to do. And just deal with the side nicks and scratches. After all it was your own fault for not having it protected somehow.

{ParanoiA} said:
Go with number 2 because it should be easy to fix to do. And just deal with the side nicks and scratches. After all it was your own fault for not having it protected somehow.
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Nowhere did I say it WASN'T my fault. It's not like I'm out to **** over Sprint. I think having the phone since launch and never dropping it naked is pretty ****ing good in its own right, thank you very much.

I had the Otterbox Commuter (which is an amazing case, imo) from day one (Dec 2010), but have since gone naked. The phone is too sexy to cover it up with anything. I gladly take the risk of dropping it.

Bottom 20% of my digitizer went bad. Sprint said they'd fix it for $35 till they found out it was rooted. They said if I brought it back with stock software they'd still do it. I brought it back with a stock ROM but they claimed water damage and wouldn't fix it. Dirty ****ers.
For $20 and an hours worth of time I fixed it myself with a part from Amazon. You'll need to pick up a safe pry tool kit ($2). I ordered one setup for an iPod and it worked fine. They also say you'll need a T4 driver but you'll need a T5. Lowes has a Torx multitool that works great for $10.
There is a youtube video that shows step by step how to replace the EVO digitizer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdSIVMQ-G08

I guess it depends on the store.. I don't have insurance and they also charged 35$ but they never said anything about root. I was running cm7 and didn't even change they boot animation to stock..
There also was no root method at the time..
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

mobius999 said:
Not necessarily. I'm on my 4th screen replaced at no charge from my local store. I have TEP, the sheet shows $35 for screen repair without it. 3 times I walked in and was out in 30-40min. Once they had no screens and gave me a loaner while a new shipment came in.
Perhaps corporate stores are just referring to Asurion now, but all the stores in my area still repair in shop.
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I brought mine in asking for screen replacement and they told me to call asurion. Yes I have tep
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

AHrubik said:
Bottom 20% of my digitizer went bad. Sprint said they'd fix it for $35 till they found out it was rooted. They said if I brought it back with stock software they'd still do it. I brought it back with a stock ROM but they claimed water damage and wouldn't fix it. Dirty ****ers.
For $20 and an hours worth of time I fixed it myself with a part from Amazon. You'll need to pick up a safe pry tool kit ($2). I ordered one setup for an iPod and it worked fine. They also say you'll need a T4 driver but you'll need a T5. Lowes has a Torx multitool that works great for $10.
There is a youtube video that shows step by step how to replace the EVO digitizer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdSIVMQ-G08
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the day after i got my evo i had to go to the sprint store to do something with it (i forgot) but the tech came out and tried to pull the "water damage" BS they always pull. I told the prick that i just got it YESTERDAY and why the hell you people always try to pull the water damage bs? he had nothing to say. I was being a bit loud in front of everyone in the store and you should have seen teh look on his retarded face. these doosh bag techs at sprint suck!! they would rather find a way out of fixing it than actually fixing it.

I dropped it :(

Hi All,
Being the hilarious guy that I am, I decided that it would be a good idea to jump out and scare the [email protected]#% out of my little sister whilst outside.
Of course she throws her hands up in the air, subsequently knocking the phone out of my hand. Case (led view that doesn't light up anymore) immediately separated from the phone and the screen landed face first on the concrete. Followed shortly by a "that's what you get for scaring me".
Few scratches around the center of the screen but the main issue is the bottom right corner just below the back button. Seems to have taken the brunt of the impact. So missing a chunk with cracks running along and it's already driving me mad.
I'm assuming that some of you may also have creative ways to smash your screens, so what's the best bet with getting this repaired? Any ideas on cost? I'm assuming just a screen replacement.
Cheers!

Funnily enough mine lost a chip and then cracked in exactly the same place - from a drop of less than 2ft Fortunately mine was covered by insurance and I got a replacement phone. In the UK I believe the cost of replacing the glass is in the upper £200s as the screen needs to be replaced as well as the glass because they are bonded together...

I've gotten quotes ranging from $200-$450 .. but not sure where to even begin with finding a reliable source to get the screen replaced. Starting to think this whole curved screen thing was a bad idea.

First phone I've ever accidentally damaged. I'd thought the cost would be around £200 but I've no idea where to look to sort this either. What a pain!

mmotti said:
First phone I've ever accidentally damaged. I'd thought the cost would be around £200 but I've no idea where to look to sort this either. What a pain!
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You must have a local mobile repair shop, look in town centres or markets

I recommend UBREAKIFIX..they have lots of stores in the US..the phone is still fairly new and repairs are not supported by many third party companies..I recently got mine changed ..brand new but its quite expensive ($409) but I got the phone back in about 4 days and it's brand new again. ��Your only other option is calling Samsug directly for repairs if your warranty is active.

cracked my screen too am currently fighting with samsung US to have it fixed, it's crazy they first told me that they can't do it (since it's the international variant not sold in the US, "parts are different and they don't have the right ones" though I doubt the screens are different). Then another said that they should be able to fix it and since then I keep sending them paperwork that they request to see if they even can fix it but they never receive it... A bit frustrating experience...

One option is to sign up for Samsung's phone cover and then send it to them for repair, OR, just have Samsung repair , I think the cost is 275 - i.e. assuming its a US phone, and not an "Out of Region" one - in whic case, you're SoL. I bought mine on Amazon from a seller who advertised "International Warranty" - which I assumed meant global warranty. After dropping my phone and cracking the screen, I found out International meant, sending the phone away internationally to the region it came from. Samsung US refused to repair "out of region". My phone was, of all places, from Egypt - which worked out beautfully for me, had a clleague from Cairo who was going back for vacation. Sent it back wiht him, and got the phone back, as good as new for a US$ equivalent cost of US$284. A massive f**k up, but I paid 700 for the phone, so, still not bad.

Will is still be waterproof after screen replacement, I'm hearing it won't be unless repaired by Samsung themselves.

Get flat screen next time. More easy to repair and cheap to repair.
Like galaxy S7 normal not edge

Lesson learned dont scare ur sister karma is a *****

TraumaTiger said:
Will is still be waterproof after screen replacement, I'm hearing it won't be unless repaired by Samsung themselves.
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As far as I know the IP rating comes about by coating internal parts rather than preventing water ingress via sealing, so the phone should still be resilient (note, I didn't use the word 'waterproof' ... before or after a screen replacement).
I don't think Samsung warrant any damage by water anyhow so its a moot point.
Lesson ... don't take it under water!