Database Users

Samsung will not change my back cover!

I have a GS3 for att and a few hours after i bought the phone i noticed the back door cover is not snapping in on the bottom left side. After thinking i might be able to return the phone to the best buy i got it from and exchange it i decided to wait two days. Turns out my only option is returning not exchanging due to the high demand of the phone. I tried to call samsung to see if could possibly send me a back cover since all the hooplah about the back cover recall during production i figured it would not be a problem. I first tried to get this fixed through their live chat system. In the end they told me its not cover because its physical damage. I proceeded to call their support and see if they could give me the same answer. They in turn said I would have to send the phone to them but since I have no oter phone now I could not do that so I politely asked to speak to a manager but there were "on the phones" and "busy" so they took my number and told me they would call me back. Well.... I guess you can figure out what happened with that promise. I called a second time and after a 40 minute call it got me nowhere. They then told me on my second call that the back cover was not covered in the warranty because it was a "detachable part of the phone" and that it was an "accessory". I told them this does not make sense because isnt the battery considered detachable and an accessory? This time i asked for a manager again and I guess the managers were being lazy because not one of them wanted to speak with me because they were on "call" ironically. Can anyone help me with this situation any suggestions anything I can tell them to actually do something about this? I also already told them that all over the internet there were news about defective back covers during manufacturing and how it was pulled to be fixed and how people are posting pics of back cover issues also including on this forum! Im so aggravated with their customer support that i have a headache.

Look up on ebay to find a replacement. I know a lot of sites sell battery back covers and they aren't expensive
sent from my GALAXY SIII

Because of the crazy demand of the phone, you may have to wait it out if you can't be without phone and hope BBY gets some stock in within your 30 day (?) exchange window.
If you absolutely can't wait, you may wanna try ebay for a replacement back, since it's been reported the the international doors work just as well. But that would require you to shell out some dough for something that isn't your fault

Stock back cover is crap, really poor decision from Samsung. Finger print magnet and slippery. Anyways there are tons of 3rd party replacement back covers anywhere from 2$ to 10$, with better decals or nice tactile texture some even metal or leather.
Check amazon or just Google.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Buy the official flip cover - replaces the back. Use that until you find a replacement back. Can we even get those yet by the way?...

I've read that some of the back covers block NFC. Be careful with what you get.

Ansextra said:
I've read that some of the back covers block NFC. Be careful with what you get.
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Click to collapse
Yeah the metal ones..
Try putting the bottom left in first then bottom right then go up. Mine was like this until I did this.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

you can but on ebay, offical samsung back battery covers in white and blue. They are around $30.00 . I got mine a couple of days ago as I wanted an extra cover.

Wow, this is really poor customer service from Samsung. I had a loose battery door on my Motorola DX. I did online chat with rep, after 2 minutes of taking my info then she sent me a brand new battery door. Received in mail 2 days later.

I would say file a better business Bureau complaint. Everytime I have filed a complaint someone from the executive offices called me back. I filed one against LG and got them to replace my phone after sending it in for repair 3 times and all 3 times didn't fix it. I also had an issue with dell and filed a complaint and the escalation office called me and bent over backwards to make me happy. So I would suggest doing that and you will get a call back within a week guaranteed
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

Envy718 said:
I have a GS3 for att and a few hours after i bought the phone i noticed the back door cover is not snapping in on the bottom left side. After thinking i might be able to return the phone to the best buy i got it from and exchange it i decided to wait two days. Turns out my only option is returning not exchanging due to the high demand of the phone. I tried to call samsung to see if could possibly send me a back cover since all the hooplah about the back cover recall during production i figured it would not be a problem. I first tried to get this fixed through their live chat system. In the end they told me its not cover because its physical damage. I proceeded to call their support and see if they could give me the same answer. They in turn said I would have to send the phone to them but since I have no oter phone now I could not do that so I politely asked to speak to a manager but there were "on the phones" and "busy" so they took my number and told me they would call me back. Well.... I guess you can figure out what happened with that promise. I called a second time and after a 40 minute call it got me nowhere. They then told me on my second call that the back cover was not covered in the warranty because it was a "detachable part of the phone" and that it was an "accessory". I told them this does not make sense because isnt the battery considered detachable and an accessory? This time i asked for a manager again and I guess the managers were being lazy because not one of them wanted to speak with me because they were on "call" ironically. Can anyone help me with this situation any suggestions anything I can tell them to actually do something about this? I also already told them that all over the internet there were news about defective back covers during manufacturing and how it was pulled to be fixed and how people are posting pics of back cover issues also including on this forum! Im so aggravated with their customer support that i have a headache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why I left AT&T. Their customer service is the worst out of all the top 4 carriers in the US.
Sent from Droid RAZR MAXX

Envy718 said:
I have a GS3 for att and a few hours after i bought the phone i noticed the back door cover is not snapping in on the bottom left side. After thinking i might be able to return the phone to the best buy i got it from and exchange it i decided to wait two days. ... They then told me on my second call that the back cover was not covered in the warranty because it was a "detachable part of the phone" and that it was an "accessory"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, the manufacturing issue had everything to do with the surface quality, not the fit issue.
Second, you need to learn to insert the cover properly. If you insert from the bottom and just press hard around the edge all the way around, it will fit in snuggly.
Third, if you still can't get the cover to assemble or break the cover in the process of forcing it in, just buy a replacement cover. It is not expensive and certainly not worth your time and effort to argue with Samsung over it, imho.
Just trying to be helpful...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

ArborRes said:
First, the manufacturing issue had everything to do with the surface quality, not the fit issue.
Second, you need to learn to insert the cover properly. If you insert from the bottom and just press hard around the edge all the way around, it will fit in snuggly.
Third, if you still can't get the cover to assemble or break the cover in the process of forcing it in, just buy a replacement cover. It is not expensive and certainly not worth your time and effort to argue with Samsung over it, imho.
Just trying to be helpful...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not retarded I know how to put the back cover on I have already done this and it is not staying. Im one of the few people that read the manuals. I have never broke the cover because it came like that out of the box. I would not be calling samsung or posting on this forum had any of this been my fault at all.

ArborRes said:
First, the manufacturing issue had everything to do with the surface quality, not the fit issue.
Second, you need to learn to insert the cover properly. If you insert from the bottom and just press hard around the edge all the way around, it will fit in snuggly.
Third, if you still can't get the cover to assemble or break the cover in the process of forcing it in, just buy a replacement cover. It is not expensive and certainly not worth your time and effort to argue with Samsung over it, imho.
Just trying to be helpful...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice avatar1 What's the good word?

All that time on the phone and posting on forums, you might as well have bought one off ebay. Unless your time isn't worth anything.

themightycat said:
All that time on the phone and posting on forums, you might as well have bought one off ebay. Unless your time isn't worth anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thing is why should I have to spend money on something that was a defect. Thats not right as a company to make a customer do that for a less than a week old phone.

Just return the phone and get a new one.

First world problems suck. Thanks for sharing.
...

Put a case on it, and you'll never notice it again.

Call wherever you bought it, see if someone returned a defective one and have them swap the cover for you.

gf dropped my phone, screen cracked.....

:crying:So my girlfriend managed to drop my beautiful white s3 and now i wanna drop her ass. somehow she managed to break it the same day i rooted it and started to truly enjoy it.
Screen cracked at the top corner now theres a spider crack all over the top of the screen with a couple of cracks that run down to the middle phone still works, but the crack is killing me on the inside hehe. Now funny part is i bought the defender for it the day i bought it cause i knew it was too weak to handle a hard drop, and i've been checking the mail for it for 2 weeks now. then she comes and does that just the day before it arrived. After crying inside a while and just wanting to punch someone i managed to start looking at options.
checked online and the parts cost $240-$290, bell and best buy can fix it by it'll cost at least $325. I also bought the best buy protection plan (12.99/month). am thinking I should be able to find some cheap non-samsung parts for much cheaper than that, replace the screen and give it to best buy for an exchange as long as something is wrong with it (not sure wt though )
http://cnn.cn/shop/samsung-i9300-galaxy-c-26_1412.html
found a youtube video showing how to replace the screen, looks wayyyy too complicated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_70-W9JjVjg

awsrasool said:
:crying:So my girlfriend managed to drop my beautiful white s3 and now i wanna drop her ass. somehow she managed to break it the same day i rooted it and started to truly enjoy it.
Screen cracked at the top corner now theres a spider crack all over the top of the screen with a couple of cracks that run down to the middle phone still works, but the crack is killing me on the inside hehe. Now funny part is i bought the defender for it the day i bought it cause i knew it was too weak to handle a hard drop, and i've been checking the mail for it for 2 weeks now. then she comes and does that just the day before it arrived. After crying inside a while and just wanting to punch someone i managed to start looking at options.
checked online and the parts cost $240-$290, bell and best buy can fix it by it'll cost at least $325. I also bought the best buy protection plan (12.99/month). am thinking I should be able to find some cheap non-samsung parts for much cheaper than that, replace the screen and give it to best buy for an exchange as long as something is wrong with it (not sure wt though )
http://cnn.cn/shop/samsung-i9300-galaxy-c-26_1412.html
found a youtube video showing how to replace the screen, looks wayyyy too complicated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_70-W9JjVjg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't Best Buy fix it without charging you?

bigant262 said:
Shouldn't Best Buy fix it without charging you?
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Click to collapse
this.
even tmo's coverage of 7.99/mo allows us to pay 100 deductible for a replacement phone...

Best buy should cover it for you, for free.

Yeah... I pay 9.99 for coverage through Best Buy. No deductible, no questions, replaced in a couple of days. What did you sign up for?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

J-man67 said:
Yeah... I pay 9.99 for coverage through Best Buy. No deductible, no questions, replaced in a couple of days. What did you sign up for?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Only thing I could think of is they might do it different over there in Canada. I think that is where the OP is from.

Just posted about this in the other cracked screen thread...
"Missed my damn pocket on Saturday night, and dropped mine on the garage floor. Got a small crack about as wide a finger nail from the right side of the ear piece curving up to the edge. Which is strange, cause the only other mark on the phone is a small scuff at the bottom of the back cover. But, I have BB insurance, so its in being fixed with no deductible! I've dropped my epic a few times in the last year, and not scratch on the screen. Makes me wonder what they changed in the formula from og gorilla glass to gorilla glass 2. 
As much as I don't want to add all the bulk to it, the Otterbox Defender, or Trident Kraken may be in its future...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app"
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app

awsrasool said:
:crying:So my EXgirlfriend managed to drop my beautiful white s3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed

not sure how you guys manage your finances, but if there is a fee, shouldn't see be paying for it?
If I dropped my girl's laptop, phone, crashed her car (or w/e) and we weren't pretty much married, I would cover it to get whatever it is fixed.
I dropped my friend's motorcycle helmet while handing it to him several years ago. he didn't have a good grip and as I passed it, it slipped into his hand from mine and fell to the concrete floor. it was still intact, but had nice bruising from the concrete. I apologized and got him a new one within a week...

awsrasool said:
:crying:So my girlfriend managed to drop my beautiful white s3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What girlfriend?

The PEP from Best Buy in Canada is different than the one in the US. It does not cover physical damage, liquid damage, basically they call it "stupidity". I'm not calling it that, that's how they word it. PEP from Best Buy only extends the manufacturer's warranty. So instead of getting refurbs, you get brand new replacements. And you can pick a different phone if you want. I posted in another thread indicating that no carrier or 3rd party store in Canada offers insurance anymore. At least not that I'm aware of. It sucks because Best Buy charges $12.99 + taxes per month for the PEP. I have 2 PEP's from Best Buy. On one of my PEP's, I already got 3 brand new replacement phones. On my
2nd one I got one brand new replacement in which I chose a different model.
So both already paid itself.

Wirelessgirl said:
The PEP from Best Buy in Canada is different than the one in the US. It does not cover physical damage, liquid damage, basically they call it "stupidity". I'm not calling it that, that's how they word it. PEP from Best Buy only extends the manufacturer's warranty. So instead of getting refurbs, you get brand new replacements. And you can pick a different phone if you want. I posted in another thread indicating that no carrier or 3rd party store in Canada offers insurance anymore. At least not that I'm aware of. It sucks because Best Buy charges $12.99 + taxes per month for the PEP. I have 2 PEP's from Best Buy. On one of my PEP's, I already got 3 brand new replacement phones. On my
2nd one I got one brand new replacement in which I chose a different model.
So both already paid itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow I can't imagine trying to sell that to customers. It's already hard enough trying to get people to get the 9.99 plan that replaces the phone with no deductible. Customers say "if I break the phone I'll buy a new one for 200, not realizing the phone is $650.

Why would u let your girlfriend touch your phone?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

pimpahlishis said:
Why would u let your girlfriend touch your phone?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
This.. Lol wifey ok, gf hell no
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Zephyron said:
this.
even tmo's coverage of 7.99/mo allows us to pay 100 deductible for a replacement phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the deductible for our phone is $150. Which it's still cheaper than replacing just the screen.
Powered by the SGSIII

Don't even have my phone or actually even purchased mine yet... this made me buy a case regardless soooo... thanks, haha.

If you wanna be technical about it then she's my fiance... I'd expect her to pay otherwise for sure lol... I guess a broken 4.8" screen makes you a bit bitter lol...
Yea best buy Canada is another story they do not cover physical or water damage... Am gonna try calling visa today to see if there is any insurance that my purchase can be covered under... But after reading online about this am no longer hopeful for anything....
Next time buy the case before even thinking of buying the phone... And do not trust a girl with a delicate thing like your phone...
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium

awsrasool said:
If you wanna be technical about it then she's my fiance... I'd expect her to pay otherwise for sure lol... I guess a broken 4.8" screen makes you a bit bitter lol...
Yea best buy Canada is another story they do not cover physical or water damage... Am gonna try calling visa today to see if there is any insurance that my purchase can be covered under... But after reading online about this am no longer hopeful for anything....
Next time buy the case before even thinking of buying the phone... And do not trust a girl with a delicate thing like your phone...
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I find that offensive. K. Thanks.
Sent fromTyra's galaxy siii C:

And I find it expensive to pay 300$ to fix a phone I paid 150$ for with a 3 year contract
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium

Damn that sucks! I hope your able to get a new one some how. I know buying it out right is just a lot! Let us know how it turns out for you.
Good luck!

Digitizer Woes .. Opinions please

Hi Xda
I got my atrix 4g in august 2011 (actually june but that one got run over )
Anyway for the last oh 6 months ive been having mild digitizer problems mild random button presses while sending text and what not and in the last 2 weeks its gotten 10 times worse, So I just called a repair place and they said the only phone they don't replace digitizers on is the atrix because
The digitizer cable is so crappy and you only have about 1mm of play and the glue they used is also crappy so we send them to motorola rather then deal with that **** ourself, the cost is $140.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had product replacement insurance on this one since the other one got run over and it cost me about $700 out of pocket for the phone and an otterbox. The deal with that is I can get a S2, HTC one S or possibly another atrix 4g for $150.
I am also due for an upgrade ( corporate plan upgrade yearly :highfive: ) so I can get a S3 for $99 a Atrix HD, HTC one S for $49 , a Galaxy nexus for $29 or a RazR V and Galaxy S2 HD LTE for $0.
Thoughts?
Oh and I also have a lapdock car dock and charge dock for the atrix...

Random Canadian said:
Hi Xda
I got my atrix 4g in august 2011 (actually june but that one got run over )
Anyway for the last oh 6 months ive been having mild digitizer problems mild random button presses while sending text and what not and in the last 2 weeks its gotten 10 times worse, So I just called a repair place and they said the only phone they don't replace digitizers on is the atrix because
I also had product replacement insurance on this one since the other one got run over and it cost me about $700 out of pocket for the phone and an otterbox. The deal with that is I can get a S2, HTC one S or possibly another atrix 4g for $150.
I am also due for an upgrade ( corporate plan upgrade yearly :highfive: ) so I can get a S3 for $99 a Atrix HD, HTC one S for $49 , a Galaxy nexus for $29 or a RazR V and Galaxy S2 HD LTE for $0.
Thoughts?
Oh and I also have a lapdock car dock and charge dock for the atrix...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, I've sent my Atrix in twice for digitizer problems. First a section of the screen was unresponsive to touch so I sent it in. Then when i got it back it was good for a couple days but the screen was coming up around the edges so I sent it in again. Screen is still sort of coming up around the edges which is disappointing.

This is gonna sound crazy, try running fix permissions. Had the same problem and it worked for some reason.
Edit: Oops. My typing sucks.
Sent from my MB860 using xda app-developers app

Replacing the digitizer is stupidly easy.
A $5 cell phone repair kit that includes a t5 torx and a plastic opener tool is all you need. From there buy a digitizer with frame from ebay for around $30. Search ifixit.com for a teardown and you'll see what you need to take it apart. Seriously, this is the easiest device I've ever taken apart.
The company you talked to is full of crap.

Random Canadian said:
Hi Xda
I got my atrix 4g in august 2011 (actually june but that one got run over )
Anyway for the last oh 6 months ive been having mild digitizer problems mild random button presses while sending text and what not and in the last 2 weeks its gotten 10 times worse, So I just called a repair place and they said the only phone they don't replace digitizers on is the atrix because
I also had product replacement insurance on this one since the other one got run over and it cost me about $700 out of pocket for the phone and an otterbox. The deal with that is I can get a S2, HTC one S or possibly another atrix 4g for $150.
I am also due for an upgrade ( corporate plan upgrade yearly :highfive: ) so I can get a S3 for $99 a Atrix HD, HTC one S for $49 , a Galaxy nexus for $29 or a RazR V and Galaxy S2 HD LTE for $0.
Thoughts?
Oh and I also have a lapdock car dock and charge dock for the atrix...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, S3 for $99 sounds like a good deal. :highfive:

Deggy said:
This is gonna sound crazy, try running did permissions. Had the same problem and it worked for some reason.
Sent from my MB860 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is did permissions?
tapeworm_george said:
Replacing the digitizer is stupidly easy.
A $5 cell phone repair kit that includes a t5 torx and a plastic opener tool is all you need. From there buy a digitizer with frame from ebay for around $30. Search ifixit.com for a teardown and you'll see what you need to take it apart. Seriously, this is the easiest device I've ever taken apart.
The company you talked to is full of crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may look into fixing the atrix myself then but I also may as well use my upgrade
windozeanti said:
Cool, S3 for $99 sounds like a good deal. :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the HTC one S ... already NOT in love with uh .. touch wiz is it?
I think I may have to exchange it for a Atrix HD or a nexus

I'm going to second Mr.tapeworm here, I recently replaced my digitizer and it was extremely easy. Only cost me 40 for the replacement and took less than half an hour to change, and I have little to no experience with phone repairs
And to the quote from the repair company you posted, that is exactly what happened to mine, the glue holding the wire let go after a small fall. Nothing visibly wrong with the device on the outside.

If you are going to get a digitizer make sure it is oem. i bought a cheaper one and it broke easy and didnt have tint for the sensors which really annoyed me... I got an oem one from here and broke the ribbon cable, but i emailed the seller (seller1on1) and they issued an RMA The digitizer looked flawless. I hadn't seen my screen so nice and clean in so long Just have to wait for the replacement now...

Haze028 said:
I'm going to second Mr.tapeworm here, I recently replaced my digitizer and it was extremely easy. Only cost me 40 for the replacement and took less than half an hour to change, and I have little to no experience with phone repairs
And to the quote from the repair company you posted, that is exactly what happened to mine, the glue holding the wire let go after a small fall. Nothing visibly wrong with the device on the outside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible if we add more glue if its because of the glue tear off?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium HD app

benem3000 said:
If you are going to get a digitizer make sure it is oem. i bought a cheaper one and it broke easy and didnt have tint for the sensors which really annoyed me... I got an oem one from here and broke the ribbon cable, but i emailed the seller (seller1on1) and they issued an RMA The digitizer looked flawless. I hadn't seen my screen so nice and clean in so long Just have to wait for the replacement now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got an Atrix with a shattered screen from a coworker. Looking at the seller name it appears that you bought your digitizer from ebay? If not, please clarify where you got it. I figure for $40 I'll have a backup phone, mp3 player, home voip phone, and lapdock dedicated phone all in one.

Wow!!
Just loaded my mp3 from atrix onto One S and it didnt work with 2 sets of headphones 3rd time it worked but I did compare same song same headphones on atrix (PA2.0 appolo player DSP enabled) to One S same headphones same song and the atrix ****s all over the One S, When beats works all it does is wash the sound with more bass and when it doesnt it plays about 2-3 seconds of a song then skips 15-20 seconds and plays again.
(yes I know I can fix this by flashing a JB rom but the phone is 1 day old and I'd like to keep warranty for a while at least)
Also Sense 4.0 has the same if not more lag then our beta JB builds, the stock keyboard has 10000 buttons and a small space bar.
In short the Atrix still rocks unless you are a benchmark whore but for daily use its still awesome, maybe I will just return the One S and look for a digitizer.
Oh and battery dropped to 73% in about 2 hours after full charge and I sent about 12 txt and a couple talk msg.

cerps said:
I just got an Atrix with a shattered screen from a coworker. Looking at the seller name it appears that you bought your digitizer from ebay? If not, please clarify where you got it. I figure for $40 I'll have a backup phone, mp3 player, home voip phone, and lapdock dedicated phone all in one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it from amazon... http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0053EYGEO/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new
I recommend seller1on1 as I have seen some bad reviews about the product, but I do not know which seller they got it from. I am just going off of my experience with that specific seller.

Second time for me for the digitizer to fail. Not messing with it anymore. I ordered a nexus to hold me over till the next gen phones come out. Currently carring around my mouse cause screen is a fail :silly: I have an HD dock and really am gong to miss it's capabilities. I thought is was not so easy feeding the digitizer cables and then getting one of the MBoard connectors to hold. And the glue for finger scanner contact came loose. My phone was a refurb, and it looks like the tech that worked on it didn't know what he was doing, bent contacts, and dirty inside.Some piece of metal came out when I seperated the case. Never could figure what it broke off of. Now just waiting for nexus to arrive... C-Ya'll!

Honestly, my atrix has a dead, horizontal line down the left side and I'm due for an upgrade in Feb 2013. I'm waiting. I am not spending any more money on this phone; I figure I might as well take action like Motorola and ignore the need for an upgrade. My next phone will NOT be a Moto

Here is the deal guys and gals. Its simple patients, a clean work space and a how to video from YouTube .
I change out digitizers 3 times a week on average from phone builds. eBay is a great source for the money. ONLY BUY OEM. Its it doesn't say OEM or just says "replacement" then its probably a cheep reproduction. Be sure it has adhesive on it or with it. Not glue. The phone must be fully dismantled ALL THE WAY. Atrix is simply one of the easy phones to take a part and put back together .
So making sure you keep the above in mind I'll state the golden rules of small electronic repair. "Do not be in a hurry, take breaks, be sure your work space is grounded, NEVER USE FORCE, and ask questions before you guess." You can't go wrong . Happy tinkering !
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

Did I receive an "open box" N7100....?

I just received my beautiful white N7100 and I purchased through Amazon Prime with Bluetekusa as the seller and I noticed that the box has NO seals on it like I have seen on almost every single unboxing and there was a fingerprint on the screen underneath the screen protector which is why I know that it has been opened... I did receive a US adapter inside the box but I think that they should be sealed and supply that as an external addition IMO... I am just really cautious when it comes to spending $700 on a phone that I have no idea where it came from and it has been opened...But, I am going to keep it and make sure it works correctly because I have been saving up for quite awhile and don't just wanna turn around and ship it right back.. Also, what kind of warranties are offered in the US for a phone like this (if any) cause I would like to be protected from at least mechanical failures... Thanks for any info or suggestions in advance!!

That sucks mate, of course it's always best get sealed box so that you surely know it is brandnew, but if there isn't any hairscratch and it's flawless phone then there's nothing to worry about.
Use display tester from market to see the display is perfect.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Be careful with the dodgy sellers on amazon. I never buy from third party sellers because of reasons such as this.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app

What a strange story. There was another guy who got a note 2 in my country. With all the seals intact. However it was rooted and flashed with a custom kernel! Weird! I guess you can fake the seals.
His story:
vaud27 said:
hi. this is my first time posting on xda. i bought 2 galaxy note 2 from gray market(ghills) for me and for my sister. i checked the seals before opening the box. everything is fine and i bought the 2 note after checking it. when i got home i checked everything again and i see that my note 2 is already rooted. it has an app called supersu and i check the custom binary download and it says yes and the system status is also custom instead of official. i checked the other note but it is fine. i texted the owner of the shop where i bought the note and he told me that it is impossible for them to fake the seal of the box. he's also my 'suki' so i am confident in dealing with him. do you think they can fake the seal of the box and gave me a second hand unit? the unit is good as bnew in appearance. it has no dent or hairline scratches. the plastic in the back and in the front where also there when we open the box. even the charger, battery and the headset where still in the plastic just like the other note that i bought and everything is clean.
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Jobiza said:
That sucks mate, of course it's always best get sealed box so that you surely know it is brandnew, but if there isn't any hairscratch and it's flawless phone then there's nothing to worry about.
Use display tester from market to see the display is perfect.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
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Fokas. said:
Be careful with the dodgy sellers on amazon. I never buy from third party sellers because of reasons such as this.
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prinzhernan said:
What a strange story. There was another guy who got a note 2 in my country. With all the seals intact. However it was rooted and flashed with a custom kernel! Weird! I guess you can fake the seals.
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Ya I am probably over reacting but I am going to start testing it out in about an hour after the battery is fully charged and then I will know for sure if it's a keeper or not... I just have NEVER seen a box like mine on ANY unboxing video with no seals... Usually they have 3 seals... I purchased mine through Amazon Prime so I will have no problems returning it and getting a full refund if necessary... If I root this and install a custom recovery and rom can I get it back to factory state if I find it has problems within the first 30 days?? Cause that's what I had planned anyways and I did call Squaretrade and they said that they could not provide a warranty for my item... Kinda sucks! Any other options guys? Thanks!

shojus said:
Ya I am probably over reacting but I am going to start testing it out in about an hour after the battery is fully charged and then I will know for sure if it's a keeper or not... I just have NEVER seen a box like mine on ANY unboxing video with no seals... Usually they have 3 seals... I purchased mine through Amazon Prime so I will have no problems returning it and getting a full refund if necessary... If I root this and install a custom recovery and rom can I get it back to factory state if I find it has problems within the first 30 days?? Cause that's what I had planned anyways and I did call Squaretrade and they said that they could not provide a warranty for my item... Kinda sucks! Any other options guys? Thanks!
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Why could they not provide warranty? You got it without warranty? I would return it if I could but it all boils down to you. Hope your phone is okay. *crosses fingers*
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prinzhernan said:
Why could they not provide warranty? You got it without warranty? I would return it if I could but it all boils down to you. Hope your phone is okay. *crosses fingers*
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I live in the US and it's an International phone so I guess Squaretrade says that it has to have a US warranty to be covered... Sucks!

I dont know if it would be possible to remove the seals without scratching the box.
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3rd party resellers on Amazon are generally sketchy. I'd get from Newegg or wait on Amazon themselves to sell it direct. Too many shenanigans with resellers. They are generally shady people.

Nutsonfire said:
I dont know if it would be possible to remove the seals without scratching the box.
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I know that is exactly what I thought... I did find out it is from Trinidad and Tobago area with the country code and it appears to be working fine except it says I'm roaming on T-mobile? Something to do with the APN I imagine... But it definitely did not have seals like all of the others I have seen... I plugged into Kies and upgraded to the latest OTA and I'm good I believe... :good:

shojus said:
I know that is exactly what I thought... I did find out it is from Trinidad and Tobago area with the country code and it appears to be working fine except it says I'm roaming on T-mobile? Something to do with the APN I imagine... But it definitely did not have seals like all of the others I have seen... I plugged into Kies and upgraded to the latest OTA and I'm good I believe... :good:
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Roaming on t mobile? Weird. I guess just factory reset or flash a clean unbranded stock rom.
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i bought from a guy never-msrp on ebay. which i bought phones from before. he thought he could get one up on me.. there was a double seal on the box over the original samsung seals! which wasnt put on perfect. so i assume these seal are easy to get if you can get phones in bulk. there was finger prints on the back cover. nick on the top. and finger print on the lense. opened a claim right away on ebay and won. send it back :good::good: should never have to pay that much and get a open product. thats bs

daddioj said:
i bought from a guy never-msrp on ebay. which i bought phones from before. he thought he could get one up on me.. there was a double seal on the box over the original samsung seals! which wasnt put on perfect. so i assume these seal are easy to get if you can get phones in bulk. there was finger prints on the back cover. nick on the top. and finger print on the lense. opened a claim right away on ebay and won. send it back :good::good: should never have to pay that much and get a open product. thats bs
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Many times imported (read: grey market) phones are opened so they can put a charging adapter in the box. I know my NIB Galaxy Nexus from the beginning of this year (from expansys) had been opened. It was to put a charging adapter in the box.
But the fingerprints are strange and suggest it wasn't NIB. eBay aggressively sides with the buyer, so I'm not surprised you won the case.

ericshmerick said:
Many times imported (read: grey market) phones are opened so they can put a charging adapter in the box. I know my NIB Galaxy Nexus from the beginning of this year (from expansys) had been opened. It was to put a charging adapter in the box.
But the fingerprints are strange and suggest it wasn't NIB. eBay aggressively sides with the buyer, so I'm not surprised you won the case.
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I guess in his case there was deceit involved as his phone had a nick on the top. I don't know how that could happen if your only intent was to put a charger in.
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ericshmerick said:
Many times imported (read: grey market) phones are opened so they can put a charging adapter in the box. I know my NIB Galaxy Nexus from the beginning of this year (from expansys) had been opened. It was to put a charging adapter in the box.
But the fingerprints are strange and suggest it wasn't NIB. eBay aggressively sides with the buyer, so I'm not surprised you won the case.
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no there is no reason to open the box to put the charger in. you put it in the shipping box like a normal person. not open up someones brandnew phone. 100% feedback not there to scam anyone. first time i even opened up a case on anyone. i got my money back and he got his used scratched phone back. i'm glad your fond of 700 dollar used products because i am sure as hell not. and his newly feedback shows other buys saying openbox now. so i'm not the only one
even if they were opened to put a "charger" in state this in the auction number one. and number 2 dont try to reseal the box.
oh and btw hows this for resealing? didnt even try to do a good job lmao look at the double seal. i took this to send to paypal
http://i47.tinypic.com/2zzry2v.jpg

if the phone looks new and it had the sticker on the front of the screen, who cares if the box was opened.
Everytime a new device comes out, peoples OCD levels goes up.

daddioj said:
no there is no reason to open the box to put the charger in. you put it in the shipping box like a normal person. not open up someones brandnew phone. 100% feedback not there to scam anyone. first time i even opened up a case on anyone. i got my money back and he got his used scratched phone back. i'm glad your fond of 700 dollar used products because i am sure as hell not. and his newly feedback shows other buys saying openbox now. so i'm not the only one
even if they were opened to put a "charger" in state this in the auction number one. and number 2 dont try to reseal the box.
oh and btw hows this for resealing? didnt even try to do a good job lmao look at the double seal. i took this to send to paypal
http://i47.tinypic.com/2zzry2v.jpg
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Damn dude, chill out. You got your money back. Move on.

shook187 said:
if the phone looks new and it had the sticker on the front of the screen, who cares if the box was opened.
Everytime a new device comes out, peoples OCD levels goes up.
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new phone to the market. i want it sealed. and now that you bring up the sticker, the one that goes on the back battery cover fell right off because of dirt. it has nothing to do with OCD. product used. scratches. why should we have to pay full price for it. if you bought a new car and before you got in it. the dealer put a scratch in it would you still take it? lol
---------- Post added at 03:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:10 AM ----------
ericshmerick said:
Damn dude, chill out. You got your money back. Move on.
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i'm chill. just responding to what others post. you chill.

This is why you buy from a reputable seller (i.e. Newegg). As if "never-msrp" isn't shady enough. Lesson learned, right?
Anyway, glad you got your money back. Not into getting into an idiotic comment war with you. Have a good one and better luck next time.

ericshmerick said:
This is why you buy from a reputable seller (i.e. Newegg). As if "never-msrp" isn't shady enough. Lesson learned, right?
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? newegg? your joking right. there shipping is a joke. always smashed boxes lol. and 2 peanuts in the box. to protect the product. lets not get started on them ha ha :good:

[Q] Motherboard swap

Hi all. i have an s3 with t-mobile uk and last week i broke the screen. Luckily for me my i have aquired an s3, which had been cooked in the microwave and needed a new motherboard but screen all good. long story short swapped motherboards and all good apart from donor phone still being locked to O2 so have no signal. How can i get round this.
thanks in advance.

Why didn't you just swap screens?
Swyped from Tapatalk Pro

Your story is contradictory, your motherboard in the microwaved phone will still be t mobile.
Anyway, to unlock you'll need a network code from O2 or another legitimate source.
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Hi,
Just quick question, how could it be on O2 if you swapped the motherboards? You should be on t-mobile like your old phone was. So I think there is a bit of confusion. But that's just my opinion!
Good luck!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

basically my t-mobile s3 broken screen. other is microwaved O2 s3. swapped motherboards and all my phone stuff works fine apart from i have no signal. if i go to network operators in settings only O2 is shown and no option for t-mobile/ ee.

That isn't network lock, which appears as soon as you insert a sim card belonging to another network. You have a different issue, probably related to microwaves or water (drying something out is the main reason people microwave electronics, thus destroying it twice over).
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so would it be right to assume that something else may not be working which is attatched/stuck to back of screen?

p.s. amusingly the microwaved phone was my brothers, he was heating little ones bed time milk but put the wrong hand in the microwave.........

I guess the antenna got fried in the microwave. Try transplanting motherboard and screen into your original case.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app

The lower PCB is attached to the screen. That's going to be fried.

i turned phone on yesterday to see what i could do via settings. oddly all started working normally. i spent an hour the other day trying to sort it but would only ever detect O2. the motherboard swap was definitley the easy option. a few screws a poke and a prod and bosh.... all done. thanks for yourhelp and suggestions.