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Hey xda,
Just wanted to share my experience on a warranty repair with unlocked bootloader. Incase any of you are about to go through this.
I've had to recently send in my phone on a warranty repair for a dead pixel and also getting static interference on my phone speaker when the ringtone is sounding on a incoming call.
Upon calling them they offered a exchange but after I told them I had an unlocked bootloader they said they can only do a repair job on it.
So I ship my phone and 2 days later I get a repair quote for $196.00. I call them to find out specifics and they said I need a new motherboard. My phones been in it's sleeve since I first got it a few weeks ago and absolutely has never been dropped. Which means a failing motherboard came with my phone from the beginning. Now they are telling me that an unlocked bootloader voids my warranty. I have pointed out to them that I know of plenty of people with unlocked bootloaders & clear hardware malfunctions who were able to get a warranty repair or even a warranty exchange!
Now my ticket is being escalated and I will hear back from the higher ups in 48-72 business hours.
Any helpful advice guys?
Thanks,
-L
All you can do is wait... I'd bet that the escalation people will approve the repair under warranty. If not, then everyone needs to be on notice and my prediction has come true.
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I told them I had an unlocked bootloader
Wonder if they would have just sent you a new one if you didnt say that.
By "static interference on my phone speaker", do you mean you hear static when the speaker is ringing? Does the speaker-phone play music without static noise?
britoso said:
Code:
I told them I had an unlocked bootloader
Wonder if they would have just sent you a new one if you didnt say that.
By "static interference on my phone speaker", do you mean you hear static when the speaker is ringing? Does the speaker-phone play music without static noise?
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I think they would've sent a new one but I had to put a $529 on a credit card to do so (which I would've done). But I was afraid that they would've kept the $529 if they found out that my original phone bootloader was unlocked. So I figured I'd tell them for the sake of good karma...I'm really not trying to hustle HTC here.
Yes every couple of calls when my phone rings, the ringtone would be accompanied by a lot of static. I've tried playing back music and trying to recreate the problem but I couldn't get any static out of it on my own. Just randomly happens on it's own during incoming calls. Didn't matter what ringtone I was using or what radio I was on.
lazaro17 said:
I think they would've sent a new one but I had to put a $529 on a credit card to do so (which I would've done). But I was afraid that they would've kept the $529 if they found out that my original phone bootloader was unlocked.
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The $529 deposit is so you have an incentive to send back your old phone and not keep both. Once they receive it, the charge is undone.
cekle said:
The $529 deposit is so you have an incentive to send back your old phone and not keep both. Once they receive it, the charge is undone.
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Yea I know its just a temporary hold but I thought they inspect your old phone upon arrival. Guy on phone told me they can't do anything with unlocked bootloader phones on exchanges which is why it was out of the question. I was just afraid that my old phone would get there and they realized it was unlocked...would've been a more complicated situation then since they are holding my $529.
Where you from? need put $529 for deposit? Being charge $196.00 a bit high, so poor you.
Then service center in Singapore is better, no need any deposit, mine one also root and dead completely and they fix for me FOC.
I'm in Miami, Florida. Had to send it in to HTC in Texas I think.
I will wait and see when they get back to me from the ticket escalation. Hopefully there's a kind soul there!
May god bless you, wish you all the best
Get it replace FOC
Mother board replacement to fix dead pixel
HTC charged me £128.00 to repair signal fault on my N1. They told me that it needs a new mother board as i've unlock the bootloader.
I think they riping peoples of who ever unlocked there bootloader and send for warranty.
I don't understand you, a new motherboard for the issue with the faulty signal?, or the motherboard is to lock the bootloader?
Not to be mean... but you did unlock the bootloader and void the warranty. It's clearly stated everywhere that this is the case.
I don't see what the problem is.
Seems HTC will 'change' the motherboard for anything.
When I thought I would be stuck on ERE36B for ever, I anonymously asked them if there was a way to get it regressed to official firmware. As you may have guessed, they told me they would have to replace the motherboard at a cost of £105
When I sent them my phone for a cosmetic issue, it came back with ERE27 and the same IMEI, so my original motherboard.
Sounds like they're just trying to scam people to be honest.
I've read elsewhere that HTC doesn't repair motherboards. Their fix for everything seems to be just to replace the motherboard.
Not to be mean... but you did unlock the bootloader and void the warranty. It's clearly stated everywhere that this is the case.
I don't see what the problem is.
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I agree but I really thought the build quality on a $500 dollar phone was going to outlast 3 weeks before I had to send it in. You have to see both sides of the story here. Sure it protects HTC but what if on the other hand there's a lot of faulty hardware out there and it actually starts working in their favor. As we're all noticing here now their "repair" process seems to just be an automatic new motherboard. Sounds like a rip off.
So after the escalation they still don't want to cover it with warranty. The rep on the phone says that replacing the motherboard could reinstate the factory warranty. Basically it looks like they are trying to do all these MB replacements on rooted phones so that you have a locked bootloader again & warranty...at the cost of $196.
I asked if i can get a quote for just a repair on the dead pixel and was put on hold for 10 minutes. Finally the agent gets back on the phone to tell me he needs to escalate the ticket in order to get a price quote for just the screen. So now I won't hear back from them until Monday (the earliest) in order to find out how much it is to fix a dead pixel issue.
This is the second time my ticket has been escalated and going onto a week without my phone. It seems like the escalating thing is a nicer way of them saying "don't call us back for a few days."
Getting very frustrated at this point.
I have to say, that it doesn't seem right to charge for hardware repairs because of a rooted phone. I'm going to go read their warranty policies and also look to see if I can find an official message on the web from Google saying that only the software warranty is void. If they make no distinction, then its not even a plan B option for me.
Currently I want the Desire. If it doesn't become available with in the next month or so, I was going to get a Nexus One for the Verizon network.
I feel for you on this one. Activating a change in software really should not affect their hardware obligations to you. I can see them charging you if you sent your phone in and software caused an issue with your device some how but thats not likely the case here.
deekjx said:
I have to say, that it doesn't seem right to charge for hardware repairs because of a rooted phone. I'm going to go read their warranty policies and also look to see if I can find an official message on the web from Google saying that only the software warranty is void. If they make no distinction, then its not even a plan B option for me.
Currently I want the Desire. If it doesn't become available with in the next month or so, I was going to get a Nexus One for the Verizon network.
I feel for you on this one. Activating a change in software really should not affect their hardware obligations to you. I can see them charging you if you sent your phone in and software caused an issue with your device some how but thats not likely the case here.
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Thanks, I was trying to look over it myself as well. I don't see much clarification between hardware and software warranty.
I tried calling HTC to file a complaint (mostly over the repair process) but they have no complaint system set up.
I would love to be able to write someone higher up at HTC or even Google explaining my situation. I can't find any contact email on the internet. I know sometimes these things can be resolved just by getting in touch with corporate offices or headquarters directly.
Anyone have any useful (public) emails for either HTC or Google?
lazaro17 said:
Thanks, I was trying to look over it myself as well. I don't see much clarification between hardware and software warranty.
I tried calling HTC to file a complaint (mostly over the repair process) but they have no complaint system set up.
I would love to be able to write someone higher up at HTC or even Google explaining my situation. I can't find any contact email on the internet. I know sometimes these things can be resolved just by getting in touch with corporate offices or headquarters directly.
Anyone have any useful (public) emails for either HTC or Google?
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Keep me updated. I called t-mobile today and set up Insurance which covers lost/stolen/cracked screen/ blown up for 4.79 a month. Its a 130 deductible too. Worst case is I get my phone back, send them the swap and then play some nexus firsbee. If your in the Chicagoland area, please join me.
Hitorii said:
Keep me updated. I called t-mobile today and set up Insurance which covers lost/stolen/cracked screen/ blown up for 4.79 a month. Its a 130 deductible too. Worst case is I get my phone back, send them the swap and then play some nexus firsbee. If your in the Chicagoland area, please join me.
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Ah crap. I've missed the 14 day insurance period by a couple of a days. I had no idea they offered it.
i know it's not related to the above issues but...
got dinged for 55 bucks for dust under the screen since i had an unlocked bootloader.
also pissed because the guy on the phone told me the bootloader would also be relocked as per my request. going to give them a call about that monday...
i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
lately, about a month and a half later, i noticed some weird issues with the touchscreen. it was jumping around as if i had my finger on it when i wasn't touching it. i formatted the sdcard, did a factory reset, wiped everything, and loaded a stock rooted rom on it. it was fine for a couple hours, then i noticed the issues again. random scrolling, opening apps when i wasnt touching the screen, etc. i noticed the Y and G keys are now not working. i downloaded a screen test app that records where you have touched the screen with a white line. while sliding my finger up and down all across the screen, there is a noticeable band running vertically across the general area of the Y and G keys that does not record any touch activity even if i slide my finger there.
i took the phone to a sprint store and showed them. they asked if i had insurance and i said no. they said "well you could get insurance and then have it repaired for $35." i asked "why should i have to pay to have something repaired that i didn't break? the replacement screen is obviously defective." the guy said "well you should have insurance." and i again said "why do i need insurance for something that went bad on its own?" and he said "you had the repair done over 30 days ago so you'll have to pay to have it repaired again."
i have no idea why i should have to pay for repairs for a phone, regardless if i have insurance or not, when i didn't do anything to damage the phone. im going to go to the actual repair store here in chicago, but i doubt theyll say anything different. if they can't repair it for free, im seriously considering switching to a different phone company. this ridiculous service/repair policy along with the horrible battery life (the guy actually asked how my battery life was and tried to sell me an extended battery, and also tried to sell me a case... neither of which i care about), ridiculous $10/month fee, and lack of built-in tethering makes me want to switch back to tmobile which was a great company when i had the G1.
does anyone have any tips they can give me to get this fixed for free? or is that a hopeless idea?
thanks.
When you had the repair done, I'm sure there was a warranty period on the repair itself. Do you have any documentation showing what that timeframe is? It seems to me that if the screen repair warranty is up, you may be stuck paying for the new repair. Have you tried calling sprint with *2 and explaining the situation? I went through a similar situation with the screen developing a large white spot. It took many calls to *2 until somebody was willing to work with me. Try that. If you are not getting the answers you want, hang up and call right back. My persistence worked out eventually, but like I said, it was a time-consuming ordeal. Good luck.
i understand that there was a warranty associated with the last repair, but it still doesn't make any sense to me that a problem i am having with the screen has nothing to do with anything i did. the shattered screen is not the problem (the screen did not get shattered again, which was what the original repair was for). the touchscreen is simply not working properly. am i supposed to get insurance, pay for that each month, and then pay $35 now and again every 45 days if the problem continues? doesn't make much sense to me, but that seems to be how sprint operates. i will take your advice and call *2 after i get turned away at the actual repair facility that i'm on my way to now. thanks for your advice.
Go to another store and show them the problem but do not mention anything about the screen being replaced before, unless they noted your account. Hopefully they could replace it/fix it under warranty
Welcome to Sprint's "screw the customer" routine. Ive dealt with similar issues in the past.
Like others have said, the repair they did should have a warranty to it, just like if you go to get your car fixed, it usually has a 90 day warranty on the fix itself. Go back to where they fixed it, and talk to the manager. Explain your situation, that the repair obviously was faulty.
If that doesnt work, call *2, and ask to speak to account services. Explain your situation to them, how you are not at fault here, and shouldnt be treated this way as a valued customer. Tell them you will cancel your service if they dont help you resolve this issue. When you tell them that, they will bend over backwards to keep you, and hopefully send you a repacement phone.
I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.
wmblalock said:
I would say your best bet is calling *2 several times and trying to get a person who will help. Usually if you bounce around enough you may get lucky. Although, I have noticed that over the last 6 months they have really tightened down and become less willing to make exceptions. But these situations is what the insurance is for. If your phone was defective in the first 30 days, Sprint would repair it or replace it for free regardless of insurance, after that it's on the customer if you don't have insurance, regardless of the issue. If you had insurance right now you could get it replaced free with no deducible. I had a similar problem with my original EVO that I had since launch day last month. The touchscreen would just start clicking in the middle of the screen all on it's down. I have the insurance, so they replaced it with no questions asked. Your situation is sort of like a laptop, they only come with a certain warranty, and then if it breaks after that it's on you to fix it unless you have extra insurance or an extended warranty regardless of why it malfunctioned. I'm not a big fan of extra insurance either, but on a phone it is really worth it. Also, I am pretty sure ALL phone companies have the same sort of policy when it comes to fixing phones, so I doubt going to a different carrier would help you any. If your phone breaks without insurance through any provider after 30 days its coming out of your wallet. I would say, you might as well get the insurance and pay the $35 to get it fixed. That sounds like a good deal to me, because last night I broke the glass on my second evo, and with insurance the deductible to replace the phone is $100... so $35 sounds like a deal to me. If you don't want to do that, the only other option I see is going on eBay and buying a new screen/digitizer for $49 and putting it in yourself.
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Under the new Sprint policy revealed here on XDA, isn't a non-TEP screen replacement, or anything else, $35 per job?
Update:
I went to a Sprint repair store (can't go to the original one because I moved across the country). They took the phone to the back room and came out five minutes later. The guy said "the tech said to get that touch screen test app off your phone because it isn't a good representation of what's wrong" ... I said "okay, well that section of the screen is clearly not accepting touch input" and he said to call a 1800 number to do a factory reset (?!) so I left and called that number and it was disconnected. haha.
I called *2, went through a bunch of menus, and it told me to call some 1800 number from a different phone. I got some guy who walked me through a factory reset which of course did not work. He said he would connect me to tech support, who I thought I was already talking to. Told her the problem and that the reset didn't work. She said it was a hardware problem and I said yes, and said I know it isn't her fault but that I didn't think it was fair for me to pay for a defective screen. She said she was making some notes in my account and was going to transfer me to an escalation manager. That person listened to my complaint again which I tried to word in a polite way. I didn't threaten to cancel my account but was ready to say something. I told her I would like to have a replacement phone since this one seems to have issues. She asked if it had been replaced before, I said no. She asked for my mailing address and email and put me on hold for about five to ten minutes. During that time, I got an email outlining my exchange order.
The exchange order notes that I could have to pay $75 to $125 for the replacement as well as some other fees, but she never mentioned anything about me paying at all so I'm prepared to call up and complain again if they try to charge me. I mean, I realize that's a policy but they never mentioned fees on the phone. I mean, i might as well have paid the $35 if I didn't mind fees.
Another thing to note is that when the guy at the store came out of the back room he had the battery cover off my phone and said the sensor showed it had gotten wet. I have never gotten it wet, and he said it was my fault if I kept it in my pocket. I will call and complain again if they charge me for returning a wet phone, because its not my fault if its such a poor design that minor sweat or pocket humidity can make it malfunction! I don't mean to nitpick but come on HTC...
one thing i HATE about calling any tech company getting shifted around to this person then to this person etc etc
wrb123 said:
i have had an evo since the day it came out, and about a month and a half ago i dropped it on the ground. the screen shattered, and i didn't have insurance. at the time the sprint guy said it wasn't a big deal, because the cost for repair was about the same either way. i paid about $130 and it was fixed half an hour later.
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Did you ask them what kind of warranty they provided with the repair?
No, I didn't (and still don't) think it mattered. If I break something, like I did, I expect to pay for it or have insurance cover it. Since I didn't have insurance, I was okay with paying. While I don't expect a repair to last forever, I think it is reasonable to expect the phone be repaired to like-new condition or with a new screen. Then, if I use the phone normally, with or without insurance, I expect the phone to function normally for at least the length of the contract.
Expectations and reality are two different things. Why don't you call the store and ask them how long they warranty their repairs and go from there.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I don't know what this guy is talking about! First with how much this phone cost why wouldn't you have insurance on it! It only equals 85 bucks for the year way less then the price of a new or used phone even with the 100 you have to pay to get a replacement your still making out good! I jumped in the pool with my phone and even though it still worked I got a replacement for a 100 no hassles! And my screen went hay wire on the replacement and when they couldn't repair it I got another one for free! I dropped my phone and damage the front facing camera took it to the Sprint store and got it fixed for free! So stop being cheap and get insurance
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I am already getting a replacement phone for free, without insurance, if you read the entire thread.
As far as "being cheap" and "just getting insurance" you are citing two incidents where you caused damage to your phone. I agree that you or I should be expected to have insurance to cover damage to our phones that we cause. I am talking about a screen defect (I didn't drop my phone a second time and crack the screen a second time - the screen stopped accepting touch input in a huge area). people should expect more from electronics manufacturers and the phone companies that essentially work with them by accepting and promoting new phones. Electronics used to last, even when they had moving parts. Now we have a generation of people who are fine with devices that frequently go bad and having insurance to cover it. It seems to me Sprint and HTC are the cheap ones, pumping out thousands of the next "iphone killer" with poor batteries, screens, usb ports, etc.
The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.
The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
My "issue" is also that sprint was providing in warranty repairs for one year when I bought this phone. Now they're trying to change that and then saying "oh just get insurance because its a good idea and would cover this." No. I'm getting a free replacement which is what I deserve. There is another thread that explains this change in policy.
bnick007 said:
The "issue" you are having with Sprint is that they no longer cover in warranty repairs at no cost. The phone comes with a 1yr warranty thru HTC. If you would like free in warranty repairs call HTC. Good luck with that one by the way. Normally you are responsible for shipping the device to the manufacture and you would be obviously without your phone for the duration of the repair. The manufacture usually inspects the phone much more closely as well. When I worked at another carrier we used to receive photos of corrosion internally of equipment that they determined was not repairable. Even though the external indicators showed no such damage.
If you have TEP $7/month you would receive replacement equipment for in warranty repairs if it can not be repaired by an in store technician. TEP covers all manufacture warranty and non-warranty items in house. If it is board level damage, water damage, lost stolen, or broken beyond repair it will be replaced by asurion for the $100 deductible.
Any warrantied item without insurance will cost $35 for sprint provided repairs. Exception being software updates. If the phone is out of warranty all repairs, software updates, etc will cost $35.
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That's a good explanation of what changed. It actually used to be like this way back in the day wth Nextel before the merger - you could get a warranty replacement for free, or you could pay $35 for the convenience of walking into the store and picking it up the same day. I'm not sure when it changed to free warranty repairs but you have to pay more for out of warranty repairs (first it was $35 or $55, depending on what's wrong, then later $99 for dumbphones and $119 for smartphones), but now it's essentially back to how it was to begin with.
Overall, It's probably a better value, and you're probably still better off without insurance. Think about it this way - suppose you keep a phone for 2 years, and it breaks once a year - once under warranty and once out of warranty. With the new plan, that's a total cost of $70 ($35 + $35). With the old plan, the first repair would be covered and the second wouldn't. so that'd be $119. Now obviously, that's a hypothetical, you probably don't need to get it repaired that often. but personally, I find that I generally don't need any repairs until I've owned it for a year or so anyway. So it's better for my purposes, although others might disagree.
Regarding TEP - in the long run you're not saving money unless your phone is lost or stolen, and even then you're out $100 for the deductible. Suppose you're phone is stolen once in the same hypothetical 2 yr period (since after 2 yrs you could get a discounted upgrade): You'll save $449.99 on a new phone at MSRP, but you will have paid $268 in premiums and the deductible. If your phone isn't stolen / water damaged / completely destroyed, you're out $168. I don't know about you, but in the last 11 yrs that I've owned cell phones, I've never had that happen - I've needed repairs, but have never been in a situation when I'd need to place an insurance claim. And the $35 you'll save on a repair with tep is only 5 months' premium - surely nobody needs a repair every 5 months!
The bottom line is that all insurance is a losing proposition in the long run - if it weren't likely that you'd pay more in premiums than you get in claims, insurance companies wouldn't make any money. Personally, i only insure those things that I absolutely can't afford to replace out of pocket - my car, house, health life, etc.
Anyhow, sorry to go on like that, but it's just a topic that's been bouncing around in my head recently.
(and a bit of fair disclosure, I'm a Sprint Nextel employee, but what I write here is purely my personal opinion)
Raheem387 said:
The incident when my phone went on the fritz and was doing the same screen things yours was I got a replacement free of charge!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Good deal
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Good luck, I have to wonder though if the fight, frustration and possible disappointment is really worth it.
I found out some info from TMO customer care yesterday that is interesting and worth knowing.
TMO cut the cost to replace a rooted vibrant down to $115 on April 1st, but the insurance still costs $130. So if anyone finds themselves in my situation (totally and utterly bricked in every sense of the word and still rooted) or a similar situation, it would actually be cheaper to just send it in without insurance, even if the damage indicator is red.
However, if they don't get the phone back within 7 days, then the price is still $455 to replace the phone.
This info is for T-Mobile USA. I have no idea if international branches of T-Mobile have adopted the same policy, and I have no idea if this applies to other phones as well (I am just restating what the customer care rep told me.)
So I can crack my screen completely and it will only cost 115 still? Or is that just for rooted devices? Because if you hard-brick the device, TMobile has no way of knowing that it was rooting considering they can't even turn it on.
Also just got mail that the insurance is increasing by $2 to $7.99 but you get free Mobile Security from Asurion included in that....Samsung Vibrant is only included in PLAN D of the insurance which is $130 deductible and a claim limit amount of $1000.
Confused. So hypothetically if I destroy my phone to the point it doesn't even power on, I can call them and send it in to get a refurb one for $115?
Does it apply only if its bricked? If it's broken physically...like screen or something internal, can I still do that?
Mine says LOSS THEFT DAMAGE or MALFUNCTION...Drop in water COVERED..Keypad stop working COVERED..etc etc..
Okay, I can see how my 1st post could have been a little confusing. Here's what you should do if you need to send in your vibrant.
First and foremost, if you CAN flash back to stock, DO IT. That is still the only sure-fire way of not having to pay anything and still get a new/refurbished Vibrant out of it.
Second, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has hardware damage (red damage indicator, damaged screen, exc.), but can still be repaired. So, if your phone has a cracked screen, for example, it's a better idea to send it in without insurance because insurance costs $130 plus an additional $8 per month. (NOTE: The FFC mod is an irreversible mod. You have cracked open the phone and therefore T-Mobile considers that "physical damage." You cannot swap out the camera for the stock one and re-paint the camera hole and lens.)
Third, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has been rooted or modded in any way in terms of software.
However, the chances of T-Mobile finding anything out about software modification is unlikely. At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator. After they have done that, what they are SUPPOSED to do is attempt to find any data on the internal SD card that would reveal whether the phone was rooted or not (working superuser app, exc.). However, this process is long, tedious and boring as hell so what a lot of employees do is just skip the part where they examine the internal SD card and just format the thing without looking at it. To prove it, when I sent in that hard-bricked vibrant, it had a GT-I9000 bootloader on it plus CM7 and numerous ROM.zip files on it. I was not charged anything for that Vibrant.
Moral of the story: Don't buy the insurance for the Samsung Vibrant under any circumstances. Unless it goes down in price (which I seriously doubt it will), it is a complete waste of money. You will save money by going uninsured. Also, don't freak out if your Vibrant has software on it that you can't get rid of for some reason. In all likelihood, T-Mobile won't find anything.
Second moral of the story: DO NOT think that you will only get charged $115 if you choose NOT to send the broken Vibrant back to T-Mobile. They will charge you the ridiculous amount of approximately $455.18.
P.S. If anyone finds out the way that T-Mobile is able to open up the phone without tripping the damage indicator, PLEASE TELL US! If that info gets out, then I will do that FFC mod so fast you won't know what hit you!
I just walked in my tmobil store and told them my phone was messing up. And they sent me a new one. No cost at all to me except for that 8.00. So in my opinion insurance is good. For us if we have the old insurance is fantastic.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App
Do you get a brand new phone as a replacement if you have insurance?
Refurbished, most likely previous phones that were sent in from people like yourself and fixed up.
yah mine was refurbished, but brand spanking new! in my opinion the insurance is the best deal tmobile has!
I actually prefer the refurbished units since they are actually tested and everything should work on it (including GPS, mine locks 8 birds within 3 seconds).
30000 said:
Okay, I can see how my 1st post could have been a little confusing. Here's what you should do if you need to send in your vibrant.
First and foremost, if you CAN flash back to stock, DO IT. That is still the only sure-fire way of not having to pay anything and still get a new/refurbished Vibrant out of it.
Second, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has hardware damage (red damage indicator, damaged screen, exc.), but can still be repaired. So, if your phone has a cracked screen, for example, it's a better idea to send it in without insurance because insurance costs $130 plus an additional $8 per month. (NOTE: The FFC mod is an irreversible mod. You have cracked open the phone and therefore T-Mobile considers that "physical damage." You cannot swap out the camera for the stock one and re-paint the camera hole and lens.)
Third, T-Mobile will charge you the $115 if they find that the phone has been rooted or modded in any way in terms of software.
However, the chances of T-Mobile finding anything out about software modification is unlikely. At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator. After they have done that, what they are SUPPOSED to do is attempt to find any data on the internal SD card that would reveal whether the phone was rooted or not (working superuser app, exc.). However, this process is long, tedious and boring as hell so what a lot of employees do is just skip the part where they examine the internal SD card and just format the thing without looking at it. To prove it, when I sent in that hard-bricked vibrant, it had a GT-I9000 bootloader on it plus CM7 and numerous ROM.zip files on it. I was not charged anything for that Vibrant.
Moral of the story: Don't buy the insurance for the Samsung Vibrant under any circumstances. Unless it goes down in price (which I seriously doubt it will), it is a complete waste of money. You will save money by going uninsured. Also, don't freak out if your Vibrant has software on it that you can't get rid of for some reason. In all likelihood, T-Mobile won't find anything.
Second moral of the story: DO NOT think that you will only get charged $115 if you choose NOT to send the broken Vibrant back to T-Mobile. They will charge you the ridiculous amount of approximately $455.18.
P.S. If anyone finds out the way that T-Mobile is able to open up the phone without tripping the damage indicator, PLEASE TELL US! If that info gets out, then I will do that FFC mod so fast you won't know what hit you!
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Well I didn't get insurance to replace my phone in case of damage via rooting. I got insurance to repalce my phone if I lose it, drop it in water, or if it gets stolen.
Also, what damage indicator are you talking about?
anthonys2r said:
Refurbished, most likely previous phones that were sent in from people like yourself and fixed up.
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Thanks, I have the insurance but haven't used yet. If you get a refurbished phone after paying deductible then its not with it for me, might just cancel mine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
SamsungVibrant said:
Also, what damage indicator are you talking about?
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it's the liquid damage indicator. it's the white square underneath the battery right by the battery connection. it turns red if it gets wet.
VICosPhi said:
Thanks, I have the insurance but haven't used yet. If you get a refurbished phone after paying deductible then its not with it for me, might just cancel mine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
If you pay deductible, you get a new phone not refurb. Only time you might get refurb is when you do a warranty exchange. Warranty exchanges are at no cost. Insurance is 7.99 a month but like any insurance, its there in case you need it. You loose, break, get it wet or it gets stolen then you are covered. Just like car insurance, you could pay insurance for years and never use it, but then again if you are in a wreck or it gets stolen, then you are happy u did. Without insurance, you are screwed. Remember warranty is only for a year w/o extended warranty. Insurance extends your warranty for life of phone
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
+1 on what he said!
funeralthirst said:
it's the liquid damage indicator. it's the white square underneath the battery right by the battery connection. it turns red if it gets wet.
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I know about the liquid indicator, but that's not what 30000 was talking about. 30000 was talking about a different damage indicator.
30000 said:
30000 said:
At the T-Mobile processing center, they have some magic way of taking out the internal SD card without triggering the damage indicator.
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Click to collapse
What damage indicator?
Marvlet said:
If you pay deductible, you get a new phone not refurb. Only time you might get refurb is when you do a warranty exchange. Warranty exchanges are at no cost. Insurance is 7.99 a month but like any insurance, its there in case you need it. You loose, break, get it wet or it gets stolen then you are covered. Just like car insurance, you could pay insurance for years and never use it, but then again if you are in a wreck or it gets stolen, then you are happy u did. Without insurance, you are screwed. Remember warranty is only for a year w/o extended warranty. Insurance extends your warranty for life of phone
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
This is not true, there is a 95% chance that you will get a refurb. All T-mobile reps will tell you that you will either get a refurbished or new device. They will also tell you right after that, that you will most likely get a refurb. I've talked to them for hours and fought with supervisors and such just trying NOT to get a refurb. I know most people think that the refurbished phones are inspected, this is also a load of bs. They are not inspected, they fix the problem that was there and make sure that and ONLY that is fixed. They do not check any other part of the phone.
mugenfiji0327 said:
This is not true, there is a 95% chance that you will get a refurb. All T-mobile reps will tell you that you will either get a refurbished or new device. They will also tell you right after that, that you will most likely get a refurb. I've talked to them for hours and fought with supervisors and such just trying NOT to get a refurb. I know most people think that the refurbished phones are inspected, this is also a load of bs. They are not inspected, they fix the problem that was there and make sure that and ONLY that is fixed. They do not check any other part of the phone.
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Insurance and warranty exchange are 2 different things. With warranty exchange its new or refurb, cant guarantee one or the other. Most times its refurb. With insurance which is NOT thru T-mobile but thru Assurion, when you file a claim and pay the deductible, you get a new phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Marvlet said:
Insurance and warranty exchange are 2 different things. With warranty exchange its new or refurb, cant guarantee one or the other. Most times its refurb. With insurance which is NOT thru T-mobile but thru Assurion, when you file a claim and pay the deductible, you get a new phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Nope failed again. I will call Asurion right now and go through the process of having my phone replaced and record it just to prove it to you if you would like me to. They do not send out new products man, I know this for a fact. Think about it man, if they sent out new devices everytime someone called in for a problem, none of the companies involved would make any money on that phone which is what they want, MONEY. That includes T-mobile, Asurion and Samsung. Every electronics store I have ever bought from uses them as their insurance program. Best Buy,Verizon,T-Mobile etc. Every time I've had something replaced through any of those companys it has and ALWAYS WILL BE a refurb. I work for Verizon and guess what, everytime someone comes in for us to call Asurion for them or even if they call themselves they still get a REFURB. I used to work for Best Buy and on top of that I worked in the Geek Squad for Best Buy and did most of the insurance claims when people came through. Guess what, all of my customers got REFURBS. I'm done arguing with you and I think I have made my point.
i droped my nexus 4 and the screen cracked and it wont respond to my touches either? LCD seems to be working fine what should i buy to fix it and cheap
alshumary313 said:
i droped my nexus 4 and the screen cracked and it wont respond to my touches either? LCD seems to be working fine what should i buy to fix it and cheap
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Click to collapse
Send it back to LG for repairs $100-160 cost
I'd look for a local cell phone place that does repairs, yes the nexus 4 has the glass that wraps the edges but you can always show them this and if they say yes they can repair it then I'd let them repair it..they should warranty their work and you won't have to be without a phone ..id do it that way pending on the price compared to sending the phone in for warranty work.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2
same thing happened to me... keep me posted how you get on.
I've been trying to find out if I'm covered on credit card/insurance for accidental damage but doesn't look like it.
(I'm in th UK btw).
cheers
pontias
raghu
alshumary313 said:
i droped my nexus 4 and the screen cracked and it wont respond to my touches either? LCD seems to be working fine what should i buy to fix it and cheap
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Click to collapse
Same thing happened to me. sent phone for repair to LG, repair cost is $140.
Cracked screen here
ugene1980 said:
Send it back to LG for repairs $100-160 cost
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can you please tell me the number to repair it on that price? I called to the service in Canada and its arround $250
alapatiraghava said:
Same thing happened to me. sent phone for repair to LG, repair cost is $140.
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Hey what exactly was wrong with your screen. Mine works fine, but just has a cracked appearance. This means that they will only have to replace the glass aka digitizer but not the LCD underneath. There for my repair should be cheaper than most people. What did you have to get replaced? I'm curious if my repair cost would be less than yours. Thanks.
ugene1980 said:
Send it back to LG for repairs $100-160 cost
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Same thing happened to me today, very minor drop, and complete crack, touch screen is unresponsive... Local LG repair centre does not have it in stock, so I am waiting for an update from him.... It is seriously terrible quality of the phone, I had dropped so many phones hundreds of times, never, nothing happened.. This is really terrible....
nagnrik said:
Same thing happened to me today, very minor drop, and complete crack, touch screen is unresponsive... Local LG repair centre does not have it in stock, so I am waiting for an update from him.... It is seriously terrible quality of the phone, I had dropped so many phones hundreds of times, never, nothing happened.. This is really terrible....
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Click to collapse
Buddy, you have dropped a GLASS made phone, what do you expect??? Sometimes-you drop it and it doesn`t break, next time- you drop it and it breaks!!! It`s GLASS. Probably they need to come up with a titanium edition, just for you!
BigDig said:
Buddy, you have dropped a GLASS made phone, what do you expect??? Sometimes-you drop it and it doesn`t break, next time- you drop it and it breaks!!! It`s GLASS. Probably they need to come up with a titanium edition, just for you!
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Yes, you are right... Nexus 4 is the best looking smartphone I have ever come across so far... And Truth is I am never used to cases or covers for phones, and If at all I have to cover with a protection case, it is waste of the killer beauty again..That is why I await Larry's promises to be true on xPhone/Next Nexus(For Google I/O'13), as he said “In today’s multi screen world, the opportunities are endless… battery life is a huge issue… when you drop your phone it shouldn’t go splat,”... My decision was utter wrong on Nexus 4, I'm a hardcore nexus fan... After I get it fixed, I buy a cover and give to my brother....
UK Repairs service
Hey Guys,
Just wanted to say I've cracked my phone as well (woe!), less cracked-rather than smashed in multiple places. Was just minding my own business playing a bit of Ruzzle whilst pondering the questions of life on the toilet...
Anyway, called up LG support (make sure to find their cheaper phone number from saynoto0870 website); and was told they'd send me an envelope with details on the repair.
If you go on the website to schedule a repair, it'll tell you they carry out fixed price repairs at £130. This should leave the phone under warranty.
When I received the envelope, it was a letter from a company called Regenersis; who appear to be the repairs company responsible for a lot of outsourced repairs internationally. They also appear to be the source of some internet ranting due to bad customer service (seems to be a general trend with these third party repairs companies).
Anyway, sent phone off yesterday so will try to report anything back with regards to prices, results etc.
BTW this is for UK only, although I suspect LG will do something similarly for most other countries with regards to repairs.
I think they should have made the back out of flexiglass.
Sent from my Nexus 4 @1.5 GHz on Stock 4.2.1
Enolator said:
Hey Guys,
Just wanted to say I've cracked my phone as well (woe!), less cracked-rather than smashed in multiple places. Was just minding my own business playing a bit of Ruzzle whilst pondering the questions of life on the toilet...
Anyway, called up LG support (make sure to find their cheaper phone number from saynoto0870 website); and was told they'd send me an envelope with details on the repair.
If you go on the website to schedule a repair, it'll tell you they carry out fixed price repairs at £130. This should leave the phone under warranty.
When I received the envelope, it was a letter from a company called Regenersis; who appear to be the repairs company responsible for a lot of outsourced repairs internationally. They also appear to be the source of some internet ranting due to bad customer service (seems to be a general trend with these third party repairs companies).
Anyway, sent phone off yesterday so will try to report anything back with regards to prices, results etc.
BTW this is for UK only, although I suspect LG will do something similarly for most other countries with regards to repairs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just called up Regenersis on Friday morning and they gave me a quote of 122GBP for full repair, service and postage back to me. 8 pounds cheaper than the fixed price on the LG page. So paid via direct debit over the phone and have been told it should be sent off in a few days as both the phone and parts are ready to be put together. I would expect to receive it sometime mid-next week. Will post back on repair results. (If the quality is good, it would have been about the same price as buying my own screen from Ebay. It would probably take aprox. the same amount of time due to long postage times; though the main advantage being that I keep my warrantee).
Enolator said:
So just called up Regenersis on Friday morning and they gave me a quote of 122GBP for full repair, service and postage back to me. 8 pounds cheaper than the fixed price on the LG page. So paid via direct debit over the phone and have been told it should be sent off in a few days as both the phone and parts are ready to be put together. I would expect to receive it sometime mid-next week. Will post back on repair results. (If the quality is good, it would have been about the same price as buying my own screen from Ebay. It would probably take aprox. the same amount of time due to long postage times; though the main advantage being that I keep my warrantee).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey guys,
Final update on the phone repair situation. I received my phone this morning from Regenersis after a total time since send off of aprox. 2 weeks since registration on the LG repairs website. (What more of a present could I ask for on my Bday!).
Anyway, in summary; the repair itself after paying took only 1-2 days.
To my surprise the experience overall with these guys were reasonably pleasant despite the bad reviews on the net. Although I suspect that's the standard scenario where someone will only complain when something goes wrong.
Either way, the repair cost less than the quoted guaranteed LG repair price on their website of 130GBP.
Tips for anyone planning on sending their broken Nexus 4 to these guys:
Register through LG repairs service first. Book your slot online, then give the LG guys a call next day to confirm it's gone through so that they can get Regenersis to send through a repair letter with details.
Once the phone is sent off to Regenersis (I'd suggest Royal Mail tracked as this'll allow you to know exactly when it's arrived in Glasgow); give them a call within about 2/3 days to ask about an online quote or otherwise when it'll be examined by their engineers. (I had to wait until next before calling back to ask about the price and paying through the phone via direct debit).
After that I'd suggest giving them about 3/4 working days to repair if they have all the parts ready etc, before calling back to check on progress.
With any luck you'll get your phone back within about 2 weeks.
I've attached a picture of the repaired phone; it seems good as new and there are no scratch marks or signs that the phone has been tampered in any way. (Sorry for the bad photo!).
Edit: Had a play with the phone, a horizontal line across the upper quarter of the screen doesn't actually respond to touch; only has display. Sooo....called up LG again this morning to have them tell me they'll send me another package to send back again to Regenersis... Only one piece of advice, don't for frack's sake break your Nexus 4. Seriously!
Turns out after the repair, the phone was placed back under warrantee status allowing me to raise the issue up with Google themselves. So after a quick call to the US phone line (cheaper with the say no to 0870 redirect phone line), they agreed to send me a replacement. I received it within 3 days from the call and haven't needed to be absent of a phone for over a week if sent to repair again. Now to simply send the broken faulty phone back to google via their supplied prepaid packaging.
Happy repairs guys,
Signing out.
nagnrik said:
Same thing happened to me today, very minor drop, and complete crack, touch screen is unresponsive... Local LG repair centre does not have it in stock, so I am waiting for an update from him.... It is seriously terrible quality of the phone, I had dropped so many phones hundreds of times, never, nothing happened.. This is really terrible....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newsflash! LG is not in the glass production business. They receive their Gorilla Glass from Corning, just like most of the other manufacturers out there. If the glass broke from you dropping it, it has ZERO to do with LG's build quality.
Enolator said:
Hey guys,
Final update on the phone repair situation. I received my phone this morning from Regenersis after a total time since send off of aprox. 2 weeks since registration on the LG repairs website. (What more of a present could I ask for on my Bday!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was your phone repaired or replaced? Was the internal memory wiped?
I have a cracked unresponsive screen and will be making an insurance claim (so slightly different process). Unfortunately I hadn't enabled USB debugging so I'm struggling to get the files off the device before I send it off.
I'll be insisting on a repair rather than a replacement and I don't want my device being factory reset.
Carpetboy said:
Was your phone repaired or replaced? Was the internal memory wiped?
I have a cracked unresponsive screen and will be making an insurance claim (so slightly different process). Unfortunately I hadn't enabled USB debugging so I'm struggling to get the files off the device before I send it off.
I'll be insisting on a repair rather than a replacement and I don't want my device being factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Carpetboy,
Mine was simply repaired, but all my files had been backed up to dropbox and gmail so wasn't too bad. My gf had a few things fixed through insurance and they've just replaced it each time because they're not necessarily specialised to deal with repairs; especially if it's a very new phone it seems. Though if it's just a screen repair it might not be too bad.
Good luck dude! :good:
Enolator said:
Hey Carpetboy,
Mine was simply repaired, but all my files had been backed up to dropbox and gmail so wasn't too bad. My gf had a few things fixed through insurance and they've just replaced it each time because they're not necessarily specialised to deal with repairs; especially if it's a very new phone it seems. Though if it's just a screen repair it might not be too bad.
Good luck dude! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for the info. I managed to get all the critical files off it last night through the toolkit so I'm not as worried if they just replace it now.
LG Repaired Cracked Screen for $153
Hello everyone,
I recently had my phone repaired by LG. They replace the screen for $153. The repair facility is located in Ft Worth Tx, and the payment center is located in Alabama. It cost me $20 to send it 2nd day air via UPS. Also, I bought another nexus 4, and now am returning it back to google less then 15% restocking fee. Basically, i rented a nexus 4 16gb for $50 over a 2 week period.
Same!
diegoamesap said:
can you please tell me the number to repair it on that price? I called to the service in Canada and its arround $250
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Click to collapse
I went to my provider here in Canada as well and it was because my phone over heated and the front glass cracked and my provider told me it would cost about $250 and as I read these comments it makes me question why is it $250 in Canada but only $140-$160 in other countries? its not fair ( well in my opinion it should be the same price just in CAD ) I too need this number! it just makes no sense ! I live in AB so tax shouldnt be the problem neither.
My S4 fell down and the screen broke. Since then it won't turn on. Any diagnostic tools or solutions out there?
I know about shops that repair phones!
Call samsung customer services...all samsung products/phones come with a 24 mnth warranty as standard...theyll send you a postage bag to send them the phone in to them..totally free of course. Do not pay an independant repair shop who could possibly damage your handset further...rendering it out of warranty. This is your best bet if you fail to get it working yourself
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
naokilla said:
Call samsung customer services...all samsung products/phones come with a 24 mnth warranty as standard...theyll send you a postage bag to send them the phone in to them..totally free of course. Do not pay an independant repair shop who could possibly damage your handset further...rendering it out of warranty. This is your best bet if you fail to get it working yourself
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
A broken screen is not covered by warranty if I am not mistaken. And the fact that it died when it fell and the screen broke makes me think that the two things are related?
Jack_d71 said:
A broken screen is not covered by warranty if I am not mistaken. And the fact that it died when it fell and the screen broke makes me think that the two things are related?
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Click to collapse
Nobody can help with this except Samsung.
Yes, broken screen is not covered by warranty, so you will have to pay for that and it's possible it's just that. Screen is not working so you can not see if your phone booted or now.
Go to Samsung support.
You don't have to send it to Samsung. Take/send it to any reputable repair shop. I broke mine a couple of months ago after I only had it for about 3 weeks. I called Verizon to find out if they had it in stock (I was ready to just buy a new one) and they actually told me to go on the internet and look for screen repair places because it would be cheaper than replacing the phone. I found a place in Times Square and I walked it in and 45 minutes later (and $280) I had a working phone again. Haven't had a problem with it since.