Long story short, I fell into a creek with my phone. According to the stuff I've read on ATT's site, the warranty does not cover water damage. If I took it to a replacement center, would they refuse to replace the phone because of this? I've heard that they sometimes just ask for the phone with no questions and hand you a new one.
Assuming they refused the phone though, would they have the means to sue me for intentionally bricking my phone to get a replacement?
I don't see how it could be grounds to sue. But, it probably means you would have to buy your next one.
Just apply the theory to anything else. If you fell in a creek with your car, would they give you a new car? Insurance would, but not directly from the dealer, hence you are paying for it with the insurance premium.
It will probably have the red void sticker showing that it is water damaged. And I doubt they will cover it.
Every phone AT&T sold has a water damage detection mark in side the phone. The first thing AT&T warranty dept. check is the mark. If it turns into pink or anything else other than white, your warranty is denied. Even if you get a replacement by luck, there are secondary check and you will be automatically billed full retail price (of a new phone) for your refurbished replacement phone.
Water damage is easy to find out. Bricked phone is not.
Hope you have insurance
Sent from my I897 using XDA Premium App
foxbat121 said:
Every phone AT&T sold has a water damage detection mark in side the phone. The first thing AT&T warranty dept. check is the mark. If it turns into pink or anything else other than white, your warranty is denied. Even if you get a replacement by luck, there are secondary check and you will be automatically billed full retail price (of a new phone) for your refurbished replacement phone.
Water damage is easy to find out. Bricked phone is not.
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there is one on the battery as well. Probably also a hidden water detection sticker someone inside the casing (in addition to the one that is in the battery compartment and on the batt)
Superalpaca said:
Long story short, I fell into a creek with my phone. According to the stuff I've read on ATT's site, the warranty does not cover water damage......
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You haven't stated which warranty you are referring to. If you mean the 1 year factory warranty, then no it won't be covered. If you have the additional $5 coverage then it will be covered after a $125 deductible.
From the Wireless Phone Insurance documentation:
Covered Incidents:
Lost, Stolen, Accidental Physical or Liquid Damage, Mechanical and/or Electrical Failure after the Manufacturer’s Warranty Period has expired.
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Yeah, soon we will find that the entire phone contains water detection markers
It must be the #1 cause for ppl to claim warranty replacements. For a few times I have to use warranty service, the first question they ask is what color is the sticker inside the phone.
BTW, if you use you phone in humid places a lot, like bath room while showing, good luck with your warranty
If you have been paying monthly for insurance, then you will be able to pay $50-$80 to get a replacement. Otherwise, no they won't replace it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1073929
I'm not advocating insurance fraud. Just sharing information.
Hmmm. So far nothing is pink/red, I'll have to open my phone. Haven't attempted to peroxide/bleach them. The phone, for the most part, works. The leftover residue is causing some issues, though.
Superalpaca said:
Hmmm. So far nothing is pink/red, I'll have to open my phone. Haven't attempted to peroxide/bleach them. The phone, for the most part, works. The leftover residue is causing some issues, though.
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You shouldn't be using the phone yet if there is still water inside. Every moment it's on increases the risk of a short or other damage. Stick the phone in a bowl of rice for a day or two. Make sure you keep the back plate off, and take the battery, SIM and SD cards out, and place them in a separate smaller bowl of rice. The rice absorbs the remaining moisture from the phone.
I've saved countless friend's phones this way.
Griffspen said:
If you have been paying monthly for insurance, then you will be able to pay $50-$80 to get a replacement. Otherwise, no they won't replace it.
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AT&T is a $125 deductible for smartphones. I've already claimed mine once.
id10terror said:
You shouldn't be using the phone yet if there is still water inside. Every moment it's on increases the risk of a short or other damage. Stick the phone in a bowl of rice for a day or two. Make sure you keep the back plate off, and take the battery, SIM and SD cards out, and place them in a separate smaller bowl of rice. The rice absorbs the remaining moisture from the phone.
I've saved countless friend's phones this way.
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For the past 24 hours I took the whole thing apart (screws and all) and let them dry. Not with rice, but they're dried up nonetheless. It's not so much the water that concerns me as it is the leftover particles in any residue that's left behind.
BenKranged said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1073929
I'm not advocating insurance fraud. Just sharing information.
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Hey! I was going to share that!
Related
I have a problem two days ago I was at work in the pouring rain and the belt clip where my Fuze was in got soaked and the screen on the Fuze doesn't turn on anymore and the tabs inside by the battery turned red. The phone still starts up and makes sounds and everything but the screen does not light up or the keyboard. A friend of mine was saying all I would have to buy to fix it is a new screen. Do you think I need just that or a new motherboard?
if you hear it boot up, and have you tried having someone call you ... if you can recieve calls then a screen is the way to go
yea calls work, so its prob jus the screen then right?
Well it would certainly seem so, but.....
I don't know how much it would cost to replace that screen, but it might be more economical to go with an insurance replacement if possible? I know personally I wouldn't attempt to replace the screen, because you can certainly expect some other issues if the phone got that wet!
but that just my opinion
good luck! let us know!
Kewlj1313
I am not posting any answers in this post or trying to jack the thread, but, Kewlj1313, the manner in which you suggested to use the insurance on the phone, it seems most of the people buy insurance for their Fuze. Is it true? It has got me a little worried because when I was ordering my Fuze, the sales rep actually asked me if I wanted it insured and I declined. Is it a regular thing to insure these phones?
For future reference, if your phone gets that wet again turn it off immediately. When you get home shake off as much water as possible then put it in a bowl of uncooked rice overnight or longer.
If you know there's still water in there, I'd still put it in a bowl of rice. If you're more ballsy than me you might try to soak it (off of course without a battery inside) in the highest concentration of rubbing alcohol you can find. Then let it dry out that way.
Rubbing alcohol should dilute the already contained water, somewhat clean any mineral deposits from the rain, and dry much more quickly than plain water.
I would put insurance on it but I brought the phone online and I am using it for Tmobile so I wouldn't be able to use at&t`s insurance on it, and when It got wet I did turn it off and let it dry and blew it out with an air hose. The replacement screen is about 80 dollars
incisivekeith said:
I am not posting any answers in this post or trying to jack the thread, but, Kewlj1313, the manner in which you suggested to use the insurance on the phone, it seems most of the people buy insurance for their Fuze. Is it true? It has got me a little worried because when I was ordering my Fuze, the sales rep actually asked me if I wanted it insured and I declined. Is it a regular thing to insure these phones?
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You can purchase insurance through ATT for your first 30 days of having the phone! I personally definatelly think the 5 dollars a month is worth it, just knowing that I could throw my phone onto the ground, stomp on it, run it over, lose it, anything, and it would only cost me 125 to get a new one if needed
but that's just me!
thx
Kewlj1313
tdubz said:
I would put insurance on it but I brought the phone online and I am using it for Tmobile so I wouldn't be able to use at&t`s insurance on it, and when It got wet I did turn it off and let it dry and blew it out with an air hose. The replacement screen is about 80 dollars
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I would say if you are comfortable enough with taking it apart and can get the screen then for sure give it a try! I would of course take the phone apart before ordering the screen, that way you'll know whether or not you'll be able to actually do it before you spend the money!
Just me again tho!
Kewlj1313
Kewlj1313 said:
You can purchase insurance through ATT for your first 30 days of having the phone! I personally definatelly think the 5 dollars a month is worth it, just knowing that I could throw my phone onto the ground, stomp on it, run it over, lose it, anything, and it would only cost me 125 to get a new one if needed
but that's just me!
thx
Kewlj1313
I would say if you are comfortable enough with taking it apart and can get the screen then for sure give it a try! I would of course take the phone apart before ordering the screen, that way you'll know whether or not you'll be able to actually do it before you spend the money!
Just me again tho!
Kewlj1313
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Really? I thought you had to have a contract with AT&T to get insurance from them, and yea I have no problem taking the screen off it's pretty easy
insurance does not cover water damage!
- There is a special sticker that reacts to water/liquids
- If returning, when the service tech see the sticker has reacted to water content, they then void the insurance.
- I've heard that microwaving the device will nullify the sticker's reactivity to water. However now you have a busted phone and a microwave.
kusbainian said:
insurance does not cover water damage!
- There is a special sticker that reacts to water/liquids
- If returning, when the service tech see the sticker has reacted to water content, they then void the insurance.
- I've heard that microwaving the device will nullify the sticker's reactivity to water. However now you have a busted phone and a microwave.
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If you have the at&t insurance for an extra $5/month it does. Even if the phone is lost or stolen, they will replace the phone for a $125 deductible. I remember I dropped mine in a pitcher of beer and had to get a new one.
If you don't have it, you might be able to talk to AT&T and try to prematurely re-extend your contract under special circumstance such as adding text or using a different minute plan.
I would say if you are comfortable enough with taking it apart and can get the screen then for sure give it a try! I would of course take the phone apart before ordering the screen, that way you'll know whether or not you'll be able to actually do it before you spend the money!
Just me again tho!
Kewlj1313
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Ive fixed a few "wet" phones (even my own old tytn 1 that fell into a river) by turning it of as soon as possible, take everything apart(stylus, battery,sd-card etc) shake as until all visible water is gone and put it all into a bowl of rice as the other dude earlier said. that has fixed 2 phones, the other 4(inluding my tytn 1) i had to disassamble totally(unscrew,take apart housing,disconnecting flatcables and so on) and then put all parts into a kitchentowel and then onto a plate and into my kitchenown on about 60 degrees celsius for few hours - assemble and voila =) truth be told, it dosnt always work but i just might.
if you think your screen is broken, and you tried the own-trick without hickups then order a new screen for ebay and just replace it yourself - not as difficult as one might think.
good luck
instructions on replacing screen
any easy instructions on replacing the screen. i have looked on the internet. I find the replacement parts but no instructions. I have the service manual, but it is not clear on how to replace the screen
hi,
i was wondering if you could void your water damage your phone even if you havent dropped it into water? Sorry about the stupid question, but i take good care of my kaiser too and next week will be sending it back to warranty and just read that someone's phone had been rejected for warranty as their sticker was water marked (? something like that). Obviously you'd know if you've dropped your phone into water, but is it possible for a phone to be water damaged without being immersed in water?
Sorry if the q is really stupid :S
Yes it bloody well is possible to get "water ingress" without being immersed!
My Magic developed a fault where it wouldn't turn on but showed a blue LED (orange when plugged on USB). I sent it off to HTC's service centre and it took them a week to diagnose it. They said that there was water damage and that I would have to pay £277 for a new motherboard, new LCM and new casing!!!!
I took exception to this and said that I did NOT authorise all those repairs and only give authority for the motherboard. They wouldn't do it and just kept telling me that it's either £277 for the full repair or under £20 to send it back. What really pisses me off is that there is a water sensitive sticker on the picture they sent me and it's WHITE (ie. no water present).
What also pisses me off is that I paid LESS than that on eBay for it a couple of months ago.
I'm tempted to ask for it back, smash the screen and put a claim on my house insurance.
what is sprints policy on food in a phone? i went sledding and got snow on my phone so just to be safe i did the rice thing to absorb any water that might have got in my phone.
while i was trying to charge my htc hero cdma , the charger kept coming out. i noticed it was a small piece of rice inside it. i took it out and no my phone wont charge at all....
will my warranty cover this?
Im pretty sure food in your phone voids your warranty. And so does water damage. You will have to go through insurance to get a new one.
sitlet said:
Im pretty sure food in your phone voids your warranty. And so does water damage. You will have to go through insurance to get a new one.
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Manufacturer can tell when water damage happens, you can not trick them anymore.
they actually gave me a new phone
I dropped my A2 into a bowl of water amd now have the red dot of death (moisture indicator)....dried out in bag of rice and now seems that the screen is shading lighter in spots, like streaking. Would Moto take phone back with moisture damage? Moto knows I was rooted because of signing up for the soak test.I do have insurance on phone, but, it's $125.00 to replace it. Just looking for some cheaper alternatives if anybody has an idea. Thanks
body glove cover
with the cover from "body glove" made it 2 minutes in hot tub.
Not the smartest but kept all moisture out.
captaincado said:
I dropped my A2 into a bowl of water amd now have the red dot of death (moisture indicator)....dried out in bag of rice and now seems that the screen is shading lighter in spots, like streaking. Would Moto take phone back with moisture damage? Moto knows I was rooted because of signing up for the soak test.I do have insurance on phone, but, it's $125.00 to replace it. Just looking for some cheaper alternatives if anybody has an idea. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can fry the motherboard, and open a warranty service ticket through Moto, you can send it back to them. The will ask that you remove the battery (which has its own water sensitive sticker on it), the sd card, the SIM, and the back cover plate, and send to them. I actually removed the sticker under the battery, where the serial number is found, after hooking my A2's motherboard up to a car battery. They replaced it in less than a week. All this assumes you're still within the 1 year manufacturer warranty.
537magspc said:
with the cover from "body glove" made it 2 minutes in hot tub.
Not the smartest but kept all moisture out.
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This doesn't help the OP, nor does it address the concerns. If you're going to post something, make sure it's a useful post -not something that's just dribble (No pun intended).
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
@Apex_strider: That aint cool man. Thats fraud.
@OP: your SOL. Water damage voids ALL warranties.
MotoMudder77 said:
@Apex_strider: That aint cool man. Thats fraud.
@OP: your SOL. Water damage voids ALL warranties.
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It's no more fraudulent than purposefully flashing to perma-hard brick the device. Nobody asked anyone to agree or approve. Trust me, after you've had to deal with your new A2 after a while, you'll have no qualms in screwing Motorola if needed. A warranty is a warranty, if it doesn't power on, how it got there is inconsequential. I never stated I filed a claim through insurance for a new phone, that would have perhaps been the only way I could see something categorically considered as 'fraud'.
"@OP: your SOL. Water damage voids ALL warranties." So does rooting...
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
Ok, enough nonsense about "perma-bricking" etc.
I think most people, have rooted, bricked their device, tried installing some stock rom to screw it up enough so they can get warranty.
But, XDA is not a place to discuss how to "pull one over" on manufacturers. We can leave it up to the owner to decide.
So you guys give it a rest.
So you dropped it in the water. Suck it up, and own up to it.
MD
My phone was briefly dropped in water. I quickly dried it off, and powered down the device. After letting it sit in rice for a day or so, I powered it back on. It boots up just fine, but the touch screen does not work properly. I can't even get past my pattern lock screen, because the touch screen does not sense all the places my finger goes. I am considering two things. 1 - going the RMA process and returning the phone to Google for another one. I'm sure somewhere along the way they'll discover that the phone got wet, and I'll be screwed. 2 - I've read online that you can disassemble the phone, and put rubbing alcohol on it, and blow dry it and fix the water damage.
My question is. Will removing the back, and trying to fix the device myself void the warranty. I would love to get the device working on my own, but also fear voiding out any possibility to use the warranty in the future. Or if I can't fix it on my own, I'd like the warranty/RMA rout to fall back on
Any help, or experience with this is much appreciated! Thank you!
joeman55 said:
My phone was briefly dropped in water. I quickly dried it off, and powered down the device. After letting it sit in rice for a day or so, I powered it back on. It boots up just fine, but the touch screen does not work properly. I can't even get past my pattern lock screen, because the touch screen does not sense all the places my finger goes. I am considering two things. 1 - going the RMA process and returning the phone to Google for another one. I'm sure somewhere along the way they'll discover that the phone got wet, and I'll be screwed. 2 - I've read online that you can disassemble the phone, and put rubbing alcohol on it, and blow dry it and fix the water damage.
My question is. Will removing the back, and trying to fix the device myself void the warranty. I would love to get the device working on my own, but also fear voiding out any possibility to use the warranty in the future. Or if I can't fix it on my own, I'd like the warranty/RMA rout to fall back on
Any help, or experience with this is much appreciated! Thank you!
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Click to collapse
You dropped it in water. You already voided your warranty. Opening the back and trying to fix it yourself really doesn't matter at this point does it. If you manage to use rubbing alcohol and through some magic of chemistry reset the sensor and return the device for RMA all you've managed to do is commit fraud. Be a man and accept responsibility for your actions instead of expecting Google to pay for your mistake.
This thread should be locked before I can't contain myself as nicely as poster above me.
WR
Sent from my Nexus 5
marleyfan61 said:
You already voided your warranty
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Not true. The warranty doesn't cover water damage but the warranty is still intact so long as you don't try and repair it yourself
To the OP - just claim on insurance or buy a new one. You're not gonna fool Google by trying to cover it up
Doesn't anyone get insurance? Mine is against damage, loss, theft, drops, water, whatever.
EddyOS said:
Not true. The warranty doesn't cover water damage but the warranty is still intact so long as you don't try and repair it yourself
To the OP - just claim on insurance or buy a new one. You're not gonna fool Google by trying to cover it up
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That makes no sense. If the device is subjected to things not covered by the warranty, it is null and void at that point.
Same with opening the the device and perfectly putting it back together. They may never know it was opened and probably will still honor the warranty for other claims later down the road however. Water damage isn't covered by warranty as you mentioned but that doesn't mean you have a warranty anymore either. The microphone could stop working tomorrow and it wouldn't be covered by warranty because of previous water damage.
shotta35 said:
That makes no sense. If the device is subjected to things not covered by the warranty, it is null and void at that point.
Same with opening the the device and perfectly putting it back together. They may never know it was opened and probably will still honor the warranty for other claims later down the road however. Water damage isn't covered by warranty as you mentioned but that doesn't mean you have a warranty anymore either. The microphone could stop working tomorrow and it wouldn't be covered by warranty because of previous water damage.
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Not true. Say someone dropped it and the screen cracked. This isn't covered by the warranty but if the microphone went this would be covered unless it can be proven that the drop damaged the mic. OK, in this instance the water has killed the phone but the warranty isn't technically void in its entirety
EddyOS said:
Not true. The warranty doesn't cover water damage but the warranty is still intact so long as you don't try and repair it yourself
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Click to collapse
Perhaps. Google MAY cover things clearly not affected by or caused by water. Something like the button rattle. However currently Google replaces the phone with a new one, not refurbished (at least according to the rep I spoke with).. They will NOT do that with a phone that has water damage. This would open the door for people to drop their phone in water and then get a new one claiming button rattle.
The OP is clearly having issues related to water damage and is therefore not covered under warranty.
To the OP, I would suggest leaving it in rice for several more days and trying again. Sometimes more time is required. Sometimes it doesn't help at all.
@joeman55 - if you paid for the phone using a credit card (that provides accidental damage warranty), you may want to go that route.
I wish. I just paid for it using my debit card. I think for now, I will let it sit in rice for a few more days. Then, if that's still not working, go the RMA route. I had a friend who did that, and it worked out for him.
I see, one guy has no honor, but he's your friend.
So its OK.
Things perpetuate if no one makes a stand to do different.
It's clear, the change won't start with either of you two.
WR
Sent from my Nexus 5