Database Users

AT&T SGSIII Warranty info

All,
I run a warranty device support center for AT&T and I want to dispel some rumors that are going around about flash counters and voiding warranty.
1. Running custom software on any samsung device does not void your warranty as we have samsung reflash tools from samsung in every warranty center around the country.
2. Flashing custom software does indeed raise the flash counter but no one at at&t cares.
3. When you receive a warrant replacement with at&t the phone goes down to RLO ATC in FT worth Texas and is destroyed. You will not be charged for flashing custom roms
4. The only thing that will void your warranty is having liquid damage, physical damage, or being outside your 1 year warranty. Thats it, thats all.
Hope this clears up any questions you may have regarding warranty.

das7982 said:
All,
I run a warranty device support center for AT&T and I want to dispel some rumors that are going around about flash counters and voiding warranty.
1. Running custom software on any samsung device does not void your warranty as we have samsung reflash tools from samsung in every warranty center around the country.
2. Flashing custom software does indeed raise the flash counter but no one at at&t cares.
3. When you receive a warrant replacement with at&t the phone goes down to RLO ATC in FT worth Texas and is destroyed. You will not be charged for flashing custom roms
4. The only thing that will void your warranty is having liquid damage, physical damage, or being outside your 1 year warranty. Thats it, thats all.
Hope this clears up any questions you may have regarding warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats up with number 3? why are they destroyed? seems like a huge waste of money.

That's nice to know. Thanks, but I think I will wait a good spell before flashing anyways.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

If this is official AT&T policy I will sticky this for all to see. If it is a store by store basis then I won't. Let me know.
Thanks
FNM

das7982 said:
All,
I run a warranty device support center for AT&T and I want to dispel some rumors that are going around about flash counters and voiding warranty.
1. Running custom software on any samsung device does not void your warranty as we have samsung reflash tools from samsung in every warranty center around the country.
2. Flashing custom software does indeed raise the flash counter but no one at at&t cares.
3. When you receive a warrant replacement with at&t the phone goes down to RLO ATC in FT worth Texas and is destroyed. You will not be charged for flashing custom roms
4. The only thing that will void your warranty is having liquid damage, physical damage, or being outside your 1 year warranty. Thats it, thats all.
Hope this clears up any questions you may have regarding warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could type up a similar declaration but that doesn't make it true. So if you really want to ensure us of the things you've said, show some official AT&T documentation backing up what you just said.
My daughters Atrix 2 needed to get replaced cause I tried to flash 2.3.5 over 2.3.6 without following the proper procedure and it failed the flashing process and ended up at the Fastboot screen and wouldn't boot the rom. Phone is just 9 months old. It also wouldn't send or receive MMS messages with the stock messaging app in the rom it was running. She took it in to the AT&T repair center and he got it to boot up but because I had CWM on boot installed it went right to CWM, he booted it up and noticed it was running a custom rom and told her he couldn't do anything for her since because the phone was "jailbroken" and running non-AT&T software.
Since he got the phone to boot again, I installed GoSMS Pro and her messaging issues were fixed so she ended up keeping the phone.

BLOWNCO said:
whats up with number 3? why are they destroyed? seems like a huge waste of money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
outsides are taken off and crushed into raw material and sent back to manufacturers. main boards, wafer, silicon, radios are then recycled and sent back to the manufacturer so they can install into new cases and refurbished back to the warranty service centers

Gadgetz said:
I could type up a similar declaration but that doesn't make it true. So if you really want to ensure us of the things you've said, show some official AT&T documentation backing up what you just said.
My daughters Atrix 2 needed to get replaced cause I tried to flash 2.3.5 over 2.3.6 without following the proper procedure and it failed the flashing process and ended up at the Fastboot screen and wouldn't boot the rom. Phone is just 9 months old. It also wouldn't send or receive MMS messages with the stock messaging app in the rom it was running. She took it in to the AT&T repair center and he got it to boot up but because I had CWM on boot installed it went right to CWM, he booted it up and noticed it was running a custom rom and told her he couldn't do anything for her since because the phone was "jailbroken" and running non-AT&T software.
Since he got the phone to boot again, I installed GoSMS Pro and her messaging issues were fixed so she ended up keeping the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will post official at&t documentation soon.

Gadgetz said:
I could type up a similar declaration but that doesn't make it true. So if you really want to ensure us of the things you've said, show some official AT&T documentation backing up what you just said.
My daughters Atrix 2 needed to get replaced cause I tried to flash 2.3.5 over 2.3.6 without following the proper procedure and it failed the flashing process and ended up at the Fastboot screen and wouldn't boot the rom. Phone is just 9 months old. It also wouldn't send or receive MMS messages with the stock messaging app in the rom it was running. She took it in to the AT&T repair center and he got it to boot up but because I had CWM on boot installed it went right to CWM, he booted it up and noticed it was running a custom rom and told her he couldn't do anything for her since because the phone was "jailbroken" and running non-AT&T software.
Since he got the phone to boot again, I installed GoSMS Pro and her messaging issues were fixed so she ended up keeping the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also was talking about samsung as this is a samsung forum.... we have samsung reflash tools that aren't available to the public to repair samsung issues... thats why flashing with samsung does not void the warranty. Read the OP please... nothing was said about atrix as it has a locked bootloader and requires bootstrapping and other non sense

das7982 said:
I will post official at&t documentation soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, should calm alot of nerves around here.
das7982 said:
I also was talking about samsung as this is a samsung forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL, thanks for clearing that up.

Thanks for giving clarity on this.
I'm sure others are wondering as well.. how come you're a Verizon user working for AT&T?

I can jump in with a few things here:
AT&T's employee discount blows, to be honest. As a retail rep you get 2 lines, one with 500 and one with 1000 minutes. You then have to pay for everything a la carte. Data, texts, etc are all a paid addon, and you don't save much over a consumer plan. In addition, AT&T "reserves the right" to ask to inspect your phone for content and usage at any time, though admittedly it rarely happens. AT&T gives you a COU line and free phone (mostly of AT&T's choice), but they have the right to monitor anything & everything on it, and tell you not to use it for ANY personal use. Again, it's rarely inspected, but still... Screw that.
When I was with AT&T, I kept my Sprint line, because I was paying next to nothing with it.
As for destroying the phone casings, anything that has come into contact with the general public has to be destroyed for sanitary purposes. This is also why it's illegal to sell returned or used Bluetooth headsets. God forbid in the rare & unlikely instance you contracted a disease from a refurb phone? AT&T would be liable for millions in a lawsuit. It's cheaper to just destroy the casings.
Edit:
As for custom roms, it's not a store by store basis, because the repairs are only done in repair facilities. With Sprint, the "official" ruling was that rooting was fine, as long as that wasn't the cause of the phone breaking. If your power buttons cracked and you had a rooted phone, they were (mostly) smart enough to know that a custom rom didn't crack your power button. We also reserved the right to take customers who treated us like assholes and tell them to go kick rocks. Treat the repair techs well, and you'll be treated like gold.

Gadgetz said:
I could type up a similar declaration but that doesn't make it true. So if you really want to ensure us of the things you've said, show some official AT&T documentation backing up what you just said.
My daughters Atrix 2 needed to get replaced cause I tried to flash 2.3.5 over 2.3.6 without following the proper procedure and it failed the flashing process and ended up at the Fastboot screen and wouldn't boot the rom. Phone is just 9 months old. It also wouldn't send or receive MMS messages with the stock messaging app in the rom it was running. She took it in to the AT&T repair center and he got it to boot up but because I had CWM on boot installed it went right to CWM, he booted it up and noticed it was running a custom rom and told her he couldn't do anything for her since because the phone was "jailbroken" and running non-AT&T software.
Since he got the phone to boot again, I installed GoSMS Pro and her messaging issues were fixed so she ended up keeping the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My GPS stopped working on my Atrix 4G. I took it to a DSC in miami...
They noticed my bootloader said 'unlocked' at the top, but they didn't seem to care. they just gave me a new phone.
It all depends on where you go, or who you run into. there is no policy, just upto them I guess.

Make sure when you post the documentation you post the mycsp I'd too...
Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

My local att tech support has two representatives that assist customer. One is an indian that with all do respect it a total idiot and the other is a super short girl that even she cant believe that she works at the tech support. It takes them 45 minutes each to find out the diagnose after talking on the phone to some devine authority. Now you are saying they told you all that stuff about warranty. Well in my opinion that is not worth even my dogs crap because tech support reps most of the time are just a bunch on morrons.

razorseal said:
My GPS stopped working on my Atrix 4G. I took it to a DSC in miami...
They noticed my bootloader said 'unlocked' at the top, but they didn't seem to care. they just gave me a new phone.
It all depends on where you go, or who you run into. there is no policy, just upto them I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly why I asked for some official documentation. It doesn't effect me cause I rooted w/o tripping the counter, but I know tons of people here would be interested.

Gadgetz said:
Exactly why I asked for some official documentation. It doesn't effect me cause I rooted w/o tripping the counter, but I know tons of people here would be interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
indeed.

If this turns out to be legit, I'm going flash crazy.
Herp derp Captivate Tapatalk 2

BLOWNCO said:
whats up with number 3? why are they destroyed? seems like a huge waste of money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They do not destroy them, but actually tear them apart and refurbish other phones with the parts.

cincygeek said:
They do not destroy them, but actually tear them apart and refurbish other phones with the parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, I thought this was the case too. like let's say they take the camera out of it, so when they get a phone with a broken camera, they swap it out. or maybe the capacitor. or an internal speaker.

entropism said:
AT&T's employee discount blows, to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for VZ landline, and our discounts are so bad that it is cheaper for me to keep Sprint service.

Gamestop Insurance... can i root?

I have a Nexus 7 with Gamestop's accidental coverage plan. I was wondering if rooting my device would void me of claiming a warranty is anything were to go wrong...? Thanks in advance!

BrokeEven said:
I have a Nexus 7 with Gamestop's accidental coverage plan. I was wondering if rooting my device would void me of claiming a warranty is anything were to go wrong...? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it does, but if I recall correctly you can revert back in case anything does go wrong. So it would be as if you didn't root it in case you want to return it or something. Don't quote me though.

Daniuhl said:
I think it does, but if I recall correctly you can revert back in case anything does go wrong. So it would be as if you didn't root it in case you want to return it or something. Don't quote me though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think people worry about this unnecessarily. Legally you cannot be denied warranty for something that couldn't have caused the problem. Fer instance if you drop it (and you are covered for that) technically they could not use rooting to deny you coverage.
Also no one at Asus/Google is getting a bonus for finding rooted devices. Do you think Google really care about some fraction of devices that are rooted out of the millions they sell? You would be unlucky to get a Game Stop employee who a) could tell a rooted device, and b) gives a crap.
But reverting is VERY easy.
Sent from my N7 using XDA Premium
Dirty AOKP 3.5 <&> m-kernel+ a35 (t11)

BrokeEven said:
I have a Nexus 7 with Gamestop's accidental coverage plan. I was wondering if rooting my device would void me of claiming a warranty is anything were to go wrong...? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though many deny your warranty because you rooted/unlocked bootloader, TECHNICALLY and LEGALLY they can't, because
1) Android doesn't have warranty in the first place.
2) Software warranty has nothing to do with hardware warranty.

[Q] Has anyone had luck with warranty after root?

Has anyone had luck with getting a replacement thru warranty after being rooted? my vibration stopped and the warranty dept said they will send me a new phone... but also said i could pay the full price off the phone if the warranty dept finds i voided my warranty. this has me scared, im tempted to just pay the deductible on insurance rather than be at risk for the full price.

What firmware are you on? You can remove root.

jd1639 said:
What firmware are you on? You can remove root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
currently removed root and on mf3... but i was amdl and removed root, as soon as i removed root it prompted me to install mf3, so i did. i guess im more curious if someones been denied due to havinig had root, assuming anyone who would of sent theres back would of removed root, but like they found traces of it

I've seen a lot of people here use warranty claim and none of them reported any problems. If you're unrooted no one can tell if it was rooted. I've personally sent two devices in over the years and had no problems. Both of them were rooted.

I was like that too (rooted on MDL though)...but I had to RMA to Samsung regardless. My LCD screen had discoloration and lines on it. It's in this topic if you're interested to read: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2395948
But in short. I called Samsung and made a repair ticket. Sent it to Samsung using free 2day air UPS they gave. I put a sticky note on my phone mentioning "Hardware problem - screen is weird".
I got my phone back 2 weeks later with everything fixed. Upon inspecting the receipt and email they sent me, everything was free because of my valid warranty. Once I found that out I was happy since I was worried about paying for some stupid fee :S
Unfortunately, they updated my phone to MF3, might have left my phone on for awhile during the repair and it auto-updated.

ok cool, i feel better about sending it in now. im sure i will still be wondering for a couple weeks until they clear it lol. thanks

[Q] Bought a "new" note 3 from ebay...

Supposedly untouched brand new in box "unlocked". When I went to give it the ol rootaroo found the knox at 0x1. So here is my question.
Other than screwing me out of the warranty, what other problems will this cause me?
It's a tmobile. What happens when kit kat comes along, or any other update, am I going to be able to update? As of now, there are no roms, so I am stuck with what samsung sends down the pike and if I cant even get that then what good is the phone. I put in an open case, but if it's not going to screw me up too bad, I might just keep it. However, at 649, for another 50 I can buy one straight from tmobile. Should I return it?
Regards,
J

jackler1 said:
Supposedly untouched brand new in box "unlocked". When I went to give it the ol rootaroo found the knox at 0x1. So here is my question.
Other than screwing me out of the warranty, what other problems will this cause me?
It's a tmobile. What happens when kit kat comes along, or any other update, am I going to be able to update? As of now, there are no roms, so I am stuck with what samsung sends down the pike and if I cant even get that then what good is the phone. I put in an open case, but if it's not going to screw me up too bad, I might just keep it. However, at 649, for another 50 I can buy one straight from tmobile. Should I return it?
Regards,
J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aside from the warranty which you have mentioned, Not a lot else except KNOX functions (which unless you use for company purposes is useless to the every day user 99% of the time) -
As for returning it, it's up to you, if you feel you have been tricked into buying a phone with no warranty and mis sold, then return it

It was misrepresented as "new" so you do have an option to return. Hopefully you paid via paypal or a secure way as I wouldn't trust them to return the monies voluntarily.

jackler1 said:
Supposedly untouched brand new in box "unlocked". When I went to give it the ol rootaroo found the knox at 0x1. So here is my question.
Other than screwing me out of the warranty, what other problems will this cause me?
It's a tmobile. What happens when kit kat comes along, or any other update, am I going to be able to update? As of now, there are no roms, so I am stuck with what samsung sends down the pike and if I cant even get that then what good is the phone. I put in an open case, but if it's not going to screw me up too bad, I might just keep it. However, at 649, for another 50 I can buy one straight from tmobile. Should I return it?
Regards,
J
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not new. Return.
And don't buy electrical things at eBay unless you want to take risk.

A friend recently bought what was supposed to be a used, unlocked AT&T S3 on Amazon, to use on T-Mobile. When she got it I discovered that it is actually a T-Mobile S3. She had problems getting any data connection on it and after speaking with T-Mobile tech support for a few days they ran her IMEI and said they would honor the warranty, she explained that she bought it from a 3rd party and that they said that it doesn't have a warranty but the tech said not to worry, it is covered by the manufacturer. T-Mobile is currently sending her another S3 at no cost.
Sent from my S3 using whatever is in the chamber...

radicalisto said:
Aside from the warranty which you have mentioned, Not a lot else except KNOX functions (which unless you use for company purposes is useless to the every day user 99% of the time) -
As for returning it, it's up to you, if you feel you have been tricked into buying a phone with no warranty and mis sold, then return it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So are you saying that should updates come, such as kit kat, I will have no problems getting said updates?
I just want to make sure the phone isn't locked out from updates, won't care if I ever get roms.....

Yeah you'll get updates, if you're rooted you won't get them via OTA though. You'll have to use KIES or flash via ODIN. Not really a massive task tbh
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

.... and you'll probably get those updates much faster here on XDA than you will via OTA updates anyway!

is it worth rooting?

I ask this as I'm with EE and i'm not sure there standpoint on the Knox feature and whether my insurance will be void if I do root, reason I've gone F it is one there insurance is excellent, two there is a 6 month period where the phone is still technically theres and the most important reason, is there anything to be gained at this time? I don't see many custom roms at the moment, and few hacks worth persuing, I know we can debloat but it's a very minor detail when all of the above is in the balance.
In addition I've noticed I have Computrace agent running constantly i'm told this is some lowjack for phone theft, but I haven't got the best battery life in the world and i'm wondering if this is the cause, however I don't think I can remove this, if I do what might happen.
So is it worth rooting?

LBTaylor1984 said:
I ask this as I'm with EE and i'm not sure there standpoint on the Knox feature and whether my insurance will be void if I do root, reason I've gone F it is one there insurance is excellent, two there is a 6 month period where the phone is still technically theres and the most important reason, is there anything to be gained at this time? I don't see many custom roms at the moment, and few hacks worth persuing, I know we can debloat but it's a very minor detail when all of the above is in the balance.
In addition I've noticed I have Computrace agent running constantly i'm told this is some lowjack for phone theft, but I haven't got the best battery life in the world and i'm wondering if this is the cause, however I don't think I can remove this, if I do what might happen.
So is it worth rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends why you want to root.. I do it to
- remove annoying ads
- titanium backup
- tasker
- xposed

Hmm currently only the ads.is an issue for me perhaps I should wait til a knox free root is available then

Not sure what you mean by Knox free root, to date no one has been able to root the Note 4 without tripping knox and I don't think it will be possible any time soon

I meant root without tripping.
There is a root for the note 3 and s5 I think which is towel root and that doesn't trip

LBTaylor1984 said:
I meant root without tripping.
There is a root for the note 3 and s5 I think which is towel root and that doesn't trip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The guy behind towel root now works for samsung so we won't be getting knox free root from him. I'm with ee and have insurance and have rooted. If i need to send it back for repair I just drop it down the toilet first, if they can't switch it on they don't know it's rooted plus insurance is different to warranty

What is warranty then? How have you interpreted it?

LBTaylor1984 said:
What is warranty then? How have you interpreted it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK in Europe due to eu regulations hardware failure is covered under warranty even if you are rooted. That's how I interpret it but as I'm insured my insurance includes accidental loss and damage so if I "accidentally drop it" then my insurance will replace the phone.
If you search xda someone did post the full eu ruling on warranty with rooted devices, reading it will probably help you decide

Thanks sawdoctor, you've been a real help