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[Q] Small question about warranty and bootloader unlock

I know that unlocking the bootloader void your warranty. But watch when for example my speakers get broken - this isn't anyway connect witch unlocking bootloader. Will ASUS repair it on the warranty. I am asking because I will buy a TF300T - it is a really grate device, the ideal fusion of laptop and tablet:good:, but buying a device on witch I can not change ROM or create my own custom kernel isn't acceptable for my.

Eh. If you're in the US, you may have a case because the laws about rooting and jailbreaking favor the consumer (not sure about other countries). However, when you run the app, you effectively sign a contract to have your warranty nullified. The big question is whether the contract outweighs your rights as a consumer. Only a lawyer can answer that for sure.

In Poland why have something called "non-conformity of goods with the contract". Hmm maybe I can use it if I loose the warranty. If some one have some infos about other countries can write in this topic, I will read it.

i'm pretty sure that even if your tablet has an internal defect they won't repair it for free if you've un-locked your bootloader.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T

In the US manufacturers love using that as an excuse but legally if they can not prove the unlocked bootloader caused the issue then they have to honor the warranty.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app

Asus support

So Asus has had my tablet for the last month because it randomly crapped out and wouldn't boot. It wouldn't even turn on the screen out respond to the computer. Asus said they would fix it but a month later I still hadn't gotten it back so I called them. They told me they wouldn't fix it because it was unlocked and tried to charge me $250 to replace the motherboard. That is half the price of the tablet! They even said it was a hardware error but they won't honor the warranty even though when I sent it in they said they would.
short story Asus sucks so don't unlock if you want anything from them. I will never buy an Asus product again.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Sorry about this but Asus does not suck. Everyone knows, new when unlocking it you void the warranty. Again sorry but I do not see how this is Asus fault.

Just the fact that they said they would fix it then they make me pay to shop it to them just to try and charge me another $250. I wouldn't be so pissed if they had said we don't cover unlocked devices up front but I was told that they would cover a hardware issue when I contacted them before I sent it in.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

I'm sorry for what happend to you but asus is right, once you unlock you can replace the kernel to an over clocked one which can causecthe hardware error you describe. I think that most companies will do the same.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

Yeah just about every company would do the same, some won't even touch a modified device. So ASUS is being nice saying for you to pay $250. That may be what you paid for the device but that's still half the price of the brand new retail Infinity.
Buckle up and pay, tax returns are coming around anyways.

the_game_master said:
Yeah just about every company would do the same, some won't even touch a modified device. So ASUS is being nice saying for you to pay $250. That may be what you paid for the device but that's still half the price of the brand new retail Infinity.
Buckle up and pay, tax returns are coming around anyways.
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I would completely agree with you if Asus said that up front. It is the fact that they flip flop and waste a month of my time under false pretense that makes them jerks not the fact it will cost to fix the device.

tpmullan said:
I would completely agree with you if Asus said that up front. It is the fact that they flip flop and waste a month of my time under false pretense that makes them jerks not the fact it will cost to fix the device.
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You broke the warranty 1st. I know for a fact no one ever told you "we know you voided your warranty and will fix this anyway". This has never been said to anyone. The reason took so long haha its ASUS. Just because some employee wants to be nice they in turn do not speak for Asus. The lucky ones get theres sent back but re-locked.
Like someone said just pay for it and move on. Me? I am no one.. I am a leaf on the wind.

Zeblade said:
You broke the warranty 1st. I know for a fact no one ever told you "we know you voided your warranty and will fix this anyway". This has never been said to anyone. The reason took so long haha its ASUS. Just because some employee wants to be nice they in turn do not speak for Asus. The lucky ones get theres sent back but re-locked.
Like someone said just pay for it and move on. Me? I am no one.. I am a leaf on the wind.
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If he lives in the EU, software modifications will not normally void the part of the hardware-related part of the warranty. I even think it was discussed a few weeks ago in this same forum.
Unless I'm mistaken (and, again, in the EU), the manufacturer is the one who has to prove that the software change (unlocking, rooting, whathaveyou) caused the hardware fault.
Of course, this doesn't apply in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, where unlocking your phone is a crime...

Do you have it in writing that it was stated they would fix it? Was this done in email? If it was in email and their error for saying it, you might on like .01% chance fight it. Chances are it wouldn't work anyway. Tons of posts about unlocking and losing all warranty that it was foolish to think they would fix it.
I can see how it can be misleading but did you mislead them by not stating up front the device is unlocked? If you didn't then who ever you spoke with assumed you did no modifications to it and warranty is in full effect. Either way again, you agreed to two warnings in the unlock app and the fine print probably states the policy. It was a gamble you took.

alx5000 said:
If he lives in the EU, software modifications will not normally void the part of the hardware-related part of the warranty. I even think it was discussed a few weeks ago in this same forum.
Unless I'm mistaken (and, again, in the EU), the manufacturer is the one who has to prove that the software change (unlocking, rooting, whathaveyou) caused the hardware fault.
Of course, this doesn't apply in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, where unlocking your phone is a crime...
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Judging from the fact that he used the $ in his post, I'm going to go ahead and guess that he's from the US. Here, if it's voided, it's voided completely. They say it in large red letters in the app and the download page. It's his fault for trying to get around it and not tell them that he unlocked it.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app

Unlocking Bootloader

Hi, im considering unlocking the bootloader, but the problem is it voids the Asus warranty. now i bought my tablet at best buy with the 2 year warranty because i tend to have bad luck with damaging electronics. if i unlock the bootloader and damage the tablet and take it in for repair will best buy still take it back and would i be able to get a replacement?
Thanks,
Ryan

i dont believe so. i think modifying the system will void it. i would go to best buys website and look at there warranty policy
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

ryanskeltis said:
Hi, im considering unlocking the bootloader, but the problem is it voids the Asus warranty. now i bought my tablet at best buy with the 2 year warranty because i tend to have bad luck with damaging electronics. if i unlock the bootloader and damage the tablet and take it in for repair will best buy still take it back and would i be able to get a replacement?
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Officially, unlocking your bootloader means losing warranty altogether -- I strongly doubt if BestBuy looks at your bootloader at all, but if they do not give you a direct replacement and send it in to ASUS instead, they probably will notice.

there is nothing on best buys website under the warranty section about anything related to unlocking/rooting and all that cool stuff
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

ryanskeltis said:
there is nothing on best buys website under the warranty section about anything related to unlocking/rooting and all that cool stuff
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
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Well, I doubt they would go into that detail. But I strongly suspect they won't cover anything where they are not backed from the vendor (Asus).

FordPrefect said:
Well, I doubt they would go into that detail. But I strongly suspect they won't cover anything where they are not backed from the vendor (Asus).
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^^ This. Iin Europe, warranty handling is explicitly assigned to the retailer during at least the first year, so in that case yo ucan go to the retailer and say "fix this". They'd still have to send it in, though, and if ASUS subsequently claims it is user error the retailer is going to follow that statement blindly. This means you'd have to pay.
Also, they probably put a clause in there regarding user interventions or user-induced damages -- falling off a table would be a prime example, but so would flashing a custom ROM -- software that's not supposed to be there at all in the first place -- by the end-user. You have made clear your intentions to do some funky stuff to your 700 by unlocking the bootloader, an action an average user in general would not perform, or even consider.

So pissed at asus support!!!

What should i do ? Basically the software has been modified and the device unlocked. I did not send my device in to do anything with software. basically all it needs is the power input replaced.. (Attached). now they are telling me the device is not under waranty do to the software, which has nothing to do with the hardware.
anyone know how to deal with these people ?
Thanks!
masvino

I understand you and i also think that it's abnormal that warranty is off when you unlock your tf700 if the issue is not hardware related, and it's also abnormal that we must unlock and install another rom to have good performance of our tab.
But at same time, the rules are not hidden by Asus and they are known by everybody : unlocking is a no go for warranty. You did unlock ? That was your choice, not Asus. It's a bit too easy to put responsability on other for your own decision.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

It really depends on where you live: I recently linked to an article explaining that in the European Union you cannot be excluded from hardware-related warranty claims just by modifying the software. I cannot vouch for other countries and/or continents.

masvino said:
What should i do ? Basically the software has been modified and the device unlocked. I did not send my device in to do anything with software. basically all it needs is the power input replaced.. (Attached). now they are telling me the device is not under waranty do to the software, which has nothing to do with the hardware.
anyone know how to deal with these people ?
Thanks!
masvino
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But you would have agreed to these terms when you unlocked your device. It's not the fairest system to begin with, no, but you signed your warranty away when you unlocked the bootloader. It was all there in the print plain to see. Hate to be blunt, but you can't complain about it after something goes wrong. It's not taking responsibility and it seems a lot of people do that on here. A manufacturer fault turns up and they question why it is the way it is when they knew the way it was when they could have prevented it.
As I said, not saying it's fair. But it is what it is. They're immovable. They have a contract with you so they won't budge if they can get $$$ out of you.
Unless....
---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------
MartyHulskemper said:
It really depends on where you live: I recently linked to an article explaining that in the European Union you cannot be excluded from hardware-related warranty claims just by modifying the software. I cannot vouch for other countries and/or continents.
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This works. Has ASUS obided by this in any cases?

CiaronDarcOne said:
But you would have agreed to these terms when you unlocked your device. It's not the fairest system to begin with, no, but you signed your warranty away when you unlocked the bootloader. It was all there in the print plain to see. Hate to be blunt, but you can't complain about it after something goes wrong. It's not taking responsibility and it seems a lot of people do that on here. A manufacturer fault turns up and they question why it is the way it is when they knew the way it was when they could have prevented it.
As I said, not saying it's fair. But it is what it is. They're immovable. They have a contract with you so they won't budge if they can get $$$ out of you.
Unless....
---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------
This works. Has ASUS obided by this in any cases?
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Not that I know of at this point in time, but the case has been brought to a close only a short while ago (in the Netherlands). It might take a while.
The downside to this is that manufacturers may decide to permlock the bootloader -- it will take a new round of lawyer mud fights to decide if that is legally acceptable or not. Again, this discussion only applies to the European Union, and ostentatiously NOT to the US of A! Things are quite different on that side of the large pond (possibly unfortunately).
In relation to your first point, and as I posted in the thread I started on this: you cannot sigh away your legal rights by contract with a third party when that right has been secured by law. You cannot sign a document saying someone will pay you a million dollars if only you let him lock you up for a year wothout you being able to get if you so desire: incarceration is the sole privilege of the state when endorsed by law/jurisprudence; you can't sell your daughter or son (or your mother-in-law ) by contract: human trafficking is forbidden by law; etcetera, etcetera.
I wouldn't be surprised if ASUS still takes the stand that your warranty would have been voided by you unlocking the bootloader, but in essence you bought a device, you are free to do with it as you please. Ever bought a kitchen knife? Signed a contract promising not to stab anyone with it?

I don't think that there is much to be done here. When you unlocked the bootloader, you officially forfeited your warranty (coverage from both software and hardware defects). From a legal point of view, it is reasonable for ASUS to reject your warranty claim. It is an unfair system, but since we can't change the rules, we unfortunately have to follow them.

I don't get how people can think it's that absurd. If you open up ANY device, hard-or-software based, you break the seal and void the warranty. This has been the case for decades.
If you modify your Xbox software, you void the warranty. If you open up your pre-build computer or install a different version of Windows, you void the warranty. If you modify your car, you void the warranty. The difference is that Asus warns you as you do it, and everyone else puts it in the EULA which nobody reads. Have you ever read that agreement which you click 'yes I have read' on without reading? It always says the exact same thing.
I'm sorry, but voided warranty is voided warranty. It doesn't merely apply to half of the device. They didn't specify "You will void your software warranty only", the agreement concerned your entire warranty. You signed it, you agreed to it.
It has been a legal practise for many, many years. Heck my old Sony Walkman had a plastic sticker on the rim saying "if seal is broken, warranty is void." The EU has simply decided to modify the laws to fit this century. Sadly, every major non-EU company ignores the EU. Instead of the "Your warranty is void, these are the costs", they simply give you "These are the administrative costs."

Let's make it clear, that an unlock has nothing to do with the HARDWARE of the device being defective. I thought the law already applied to this on cell phones, and they overturned the cell phones rules, regarding that the company can not make you use the software on the phone, and you can apply your own software, while still retaining the warranty of the hardware. Doesn't this precedent apply ?

In fact, unlocking is doing nothing to hardware, it's only software modification, you are right about that. But the problem is that this software modification allows you to do other modifications that may break your hardware. For example you could have overclocked your tab's cpu/gpu and you cpu/gpu has heated too much and is now broken. This is an example, i am not saying you did that. Only saying that unlocking may allow the tab user to harm its hardware, and that's why unlocking voids your warranty.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

The Asus rules were right on the warning screen before you pushed the unlock button.
Sorry to say is the only way for them to honor a hardware issue after you locked it is to take them to court and have their rules changed, even if the rules as they stand are right or not.
It is unfair but they have more money for lawyers than we do.

masvino said:
Let's make it clear, that an unlock has nothing to do with the HARDWARE of the device being defective. I thought the law already applied to this on cell phones, and they overturned the cell phones rules, regarding that the company can not make you use the software on the phone, and you can apply your own software, while still retaining the warranty of the hardware. Doesn't this precedent apply ?
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I'm not aware of a cell phone OEM that will let you unlock the device and keep the warranty. Are you referring to U.S. law or another country? It may be rooting the device no longer voids warranty. I've done that to my phone and TF700 without fear of warranty loss.

fsured said:
I'm not aware of a cell phone OEM that will let you unlock the device and keep the warranty. Are you referring to U.S. law or another country? It may be rooting the device no longer voids warranty. I've done that to my phone and TF700 without fear of warranty loss.
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It's specific to the European Union, as I've already said above.
I also agree that they probably will not comply with these rules unless forced to in a court of law.
And @ShadowLea:
I'm sorry, but voided warranty is voided warranty. It doesn't merely apply to half of the device. They didn't specify "You will void your software warranty only", the agreement concerned your entire warranty. You signed it, you agreed to it.
It has been a legal practise for many, many years. Heck my old Sony Walkman had a plastic sticker on the rim saying "if seal is broken, warranty is void." The EU has simply decided to modify the laws to fit this century. Sadly, every major non-EU company ignores the EU. Instead of the "Your warranty is void, these are the costs", they simply give you "These are the administrative costs."
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As you already point out here -- and I think that's the sore point -- your old Sony Walkman put forward a voided warranty label because you cannot repair it yourself (according to Sony) and have nothing to do in there. The same goes for the inside of the TF700, with which we have no business. However... the software side of things was a non-issue on your Walkman, whereas it is the main issue of the rooting/jailbreaking/unlocked bootloader 'controversy'.
You rightly state that the companies just stick to the old-law values and practices, and screw the customer over in the process.
As far as the comments above with regards to ASUS clearly stating that you void the warranty by unlocking the bootloader -- and I'll say it again and again till it sinks in: in the European Union this is probably against the law. No one can make you sign anything that is extrajudicial and hold it against you in whatever scenario.

MartyHulskemper said:
It's specific to the European Union, as I've already said above.
I also agree that they probably will not comply with these rules unless forced to in a court of law.
And @ShadowLea:
As you already point out here -- and I think that's the sore point -- your old Sony Walkman put forward a voided warranty label because you cannot repair it yourself (according to Sony) and have nothing to do in there. The same goes for the inside of the TF700, with which we have no business. However... the software side of things was a non-issue on your Walkman, whereas it is the main issue of the rooting/jailbreaking/unlocked bootloader 'controversy'.
You rightly state that the companies just stick to the old-law values and practices, and screw the customer over in the process.
As far as the comments above with regards to ASUS clearly stating that you void the warranty by unlocking the bootloader -- and I'll say it again and again till it sinks in: in the European Union this is probably against the law. No one can make you sign anything that is extrajudicial and hold it against you in whatever scenario.
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Forgive me, but, I was given the device by a third party as a GIFT. I did not sign anything. If so, ASUS, must show I signed anything agreeing with any terms of the warranty. ASUS, show me my signature! The cable input I/O as they call it is broken, it has nothing to do with overclocking etc...

masvino said:
Forgive me, but, I was given the device by a third party as a GIFT. I did not sign anything. If so, ASUS, must show I signed anything agreeing with any terms of the warranty. ASUS, show me my signature! The cable input I/O as they call it is broken, it has nothing to do with overclocking etc...
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Now you are just being ridiculous. Warranty is associated with the device itself, so it doesn't matter who unlocked it, as long as it is unlocked, there will be no warranty service. By using ASUS Unlocking tool (which connects to ASUS servers), the previous owner has given explicit consent to forfeiting the device's warranty. To put it simply, if you received the device unlocked from your friend as a gift, you should blame that person for giving you a device without warranty.

And it's not because you received your tab as a gift that you may have the warranty yiu want ! You didn't sign anything, don't worry the person who bought it has signed for that warranty and the warranty conditions were given to you as part of the gift.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

huy_lonewolf said:
Now you are just being ridiculous. Warranty is associated with the device itself, so it doesn't matter who unlocked it, as long as it is unlocked, there will be no warranty service. By using ASUS Unlocking tool (which connects to ASUS servers), the previous owner has given explicit consent to forfeiting the device's warranty. To put it simply, if you received the device unlocked from your friend as a gift, you should blame that person for giving you a device without warranty.
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Ghorin said:
And it's not because you received your tab as a gift that you may have the warranty yiu want ! You didn't sign anything, don't worry the person who bought it has signed for that warranty and the warranty conditions were given to you as part of the gift.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
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Again -- you guys don't seem to read -- depending on the location of the user, you may or may not be able to void the warranty: if in the European Union, warranty is a legal right and cannot be voided at all by signing anything, because that would go against said law, and therefore be illegal per se.
I cannot recall to have seen a location for the OP.
EDIT/ADDITION: being given an unlocked device is not legally different from having bought it yourself and subsequently unlocking it yourself, provided you have a receipt. If you do not have a receipt, you're screwed anyway.

Until now, that european warranty is pure legend : nobody in Europe as yet been able to win against Asus for that reason, maybe a case is in progress but not yet finisged and we don't know what will be its conclusion.
PS : i'm european (France)
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

Ghorin said:
Until now, that european warranty is pure legend : nobody in Europe as yet been able to win against Asus for that reason
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Asus is irrelevant for the European warranty - the seller is responsible for all your warranty claims under this law, not the manufacturer. The manufacturer is free to offer you any additional warranty they want, under whatever conditions they want.

_that said:
Asus is irrelevant for the European warranty - the seller is responsible for all your warranty claims under this law, not the manufacturer. The manufacturer is free to offer you any additional warranty they want, under whatever conditions they want.
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Yes and no : that was always true years ago but now i'm seeing that more and more sellers are using the manufacturer warranty : they tell you that in case of issue, you have to call the manufacturer (they give you the phone number). I had that case a few months ago for a baby phone that I had bought at Amazon. After a few weeks it was not working anymore and on Amazon web site it was indicated that for this product I had to call the manufacturer (which I did and my device was replaced without any problem).
So the warranty was from my seller but the repair was done by the manufacturer. And if we go back to our tf700 tabs, what I will have with my seeler (french shop FNAC) : i give them my tab, they send it to the manufacturer that answers them that it has been unlocked and then the warranty is over, and the FNAC shop would answer me the same. ps : i have not unlocked my tab and i'm waiting that my warranty if over before i unlock it

MartyHulskemper said:
Again -- you guys don't seem to read -- depending on the location of the user, you may or may not be able to void the warranty: if in the European Union, warranty is a legal right and cannot be voided at all by signing anything, because that would go against said law, and therefore be illegal per se.
I cannot recall to have seen a location for the OP.
EDIT/ADDITION: being given an unlocked device is not legally different from having bought it yourself and subsequently unlocking it yourself, provided you have a receipt. If you do not have a receipt, you're screwed anyway.
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I know that the topic of warranty law in the EU have been brought up quite a few times before in other threads, but I am not aware of anyone being able to unlock without voiding the warranty from ASUS, ever, regardless of regions. Back to the problem of the OP, since ASUS has already rejected the warranty claim from the OP, are you suggesting that he should sue ASUS if he lives in the EU? Otherwise, I can't see how this whole discussion about warranty law can help at all.

Make AT&T listen

Maybe this will help AT&T to hear it's customers. Granted, most subscribers are not interested in rooting and or flashing their phones, but there are a number of us that are. We have paid for this device with upgrade fees and agreeing to ETF's if we break our contracts early. Either way, AT&T is not going to be out money. SO why are they and Verizon holding us hostage and not allowing us to do with our devices as we please? I can understand them not supporting unlocked bootloaders and non-AT&T ROM's. We all know the risks in rooting and flashing and understand that we could very easily create a $600 paperweight, but that is our decision, not theirs.
Anyways, I am thinking the only way to get their attention is to go straight to the people who are in charge and making decisions as well as have the ability to change policy. Below are the names and email addresses of the major players in these positions. Let them hear from the entire XDA community how fed up we are with their dictating what we can and will do with our property.
If anyone does use these addresses, be responsible in your wording to get the point across. As we all are aware that writing a letter telling them that they're stupid and a bunch of asses will not get anything done. You can catch more bees with honey than you can with vinegar. Maybe, just maybe they will listen and reverse their locked bootloader stance. I'm not asking nor expecting them to cover a device that I have screwed up, but to let me make the decision to do it.
Carlton Hill VP-Consumer Devices Email: [email protected] Fax: 1-404-986-9923
Jeff Bradley SVP-Devices Email: [email protected] Fax: 1-425-580-8269
David Christopher Chief Marketing Officer-Mobility Email: [email protected] Fax: 1-404-986-1259
Ralph De La Vega President & Chief Executive Officer-Mobility Email: [email protected]
Randall Stephenson Chairman & Ceo Email: [email protected]
Speak up and be heard.

If a device is gonna have a locked bootloader, it should be like the htcs. HTC locks their bootloaders, however they have a site called htc-dev that will allow you to unlock your bootloader but by doing so they now know you have an unlocked bootloader and your devices flagged to avoid fraud. Its genious really as it gives us a choice if we want to unlock and lose warranty or stay locked and keep warranty...but I guess that kinda of thing is up to manufacturers not carriers
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4

mg2195 said:
If a device is gonna have a locked bootloader, it should be like the htcs. HTC locks their bootloaders, however they have a site called htc-dev that will allow you to unlock your bootloader but by doing so they now know you have an unlocked bootloader and your devices flagged to avoid fraud. Its genious really as it gives us a choice if we want to unlock and lose warranty or stay locked and keep warranty...but I guess that kinda of thing is up to manufacturers not carriers
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
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You REALLY shouldn't blanket lose your warranty for unlocking the bootloader.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

sign the petition
I can't post the link to the petition due to post restriction.... I read a lot post not so much.. but the petition for unlocking the S4 boot-loader is on changedotorg and the link is in the general section as well.... So let get this done. @ last check it was 80 + signatures needed. I know some will say this does nothing but it's a step in the right direction... in addition to pounding these Exec's will phone calls and Fax's.

eallan said:
You REALLY shouldn't blanket lose your warranty for unlocking the bootloader.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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With the amount of people that dont read before flashing and end up bricking their devices and sending into warranty due to bad flashes...I find waiving your warranty for a bootloader unlock perfectly understandable.
Anyways technically you waive you warranty the moment you root your phone...or flash anything...hence the disclaimors on almost every dev thread "YOUR WARRANTY IS NOW VOID" sooo....unlocking a biitloader should waive your warranty
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4

mg2195 said:
With the amount of people that dont read before flashing and end up bricking their devices and sending into warranty due to bad flashes...I find waiving your warranty for a bootloader unlock perfectly understandable.
Anyways technically you waive you warranty the moment you root your phone...or flash anything...hence the disclaimors on almost every dev thread "YOUR WARRANTY IS NOW VOID" sooo....unlocking a biitloader should waive your warranty
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
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Technically you can't up and void a warranty in its entirety. That's not the point though a million things unrelated to software can go wrong and getting a claim rejected for some software tweaking is wrong.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

mg2195 said:
With the amount of people that dont read before flashing and end up bricking their devices and sending into warranty due to bad flashes...I find waiving your warranty for a bootloader unlock perfectly understandable.
Anyways technically you waive you warranty the moment you root your phone...or flash anything...hence the disclaimors on almost every dev thread "YOUR WARRANTY IS NOW VOID" sooo....unlocking a biitloader should waive your warranty
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
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I have to agree. Just as if you put a supercharger on your car and the engine blows, the manufacturer is not on the hook and not going to cover it under warranty, and they shouldn't.
Hopefully the emails and faxed letters to the executives will wake them up to the fact that this could be very damaging to them in the long run. Just because AT&T and Verizon are the two biggest, doesn't mean that the mighty can't fall. I read today that T-Mobile added 277k customers in the last quarter I believe...and as they grow so does their coverage. Wake up AT&T, don't alienate your customers.

eallan said:
Technically you can't up and void a warranty in its entirety. That's not the point though a million things unrelated to software can go wrong and getting a claim rejected for some software tweaking is wrong.
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The software put out by the companies is hardcore tested and then put under warranty so if something happens you're covered. But if you tamper with the software in anyway then that's your fault and not the companies. It's not fair to AT&T when they seal the device for your safety and then you go and tamper with it, **** up, and then point your finger at them when they did nothing wrong.
Sorry but waiving warranty is only fair once you begin going against what they advertise. I mean if they covered you for bad flashes, they would get bricks left and right and lose a lot of money over people not reading and following proper procedure.
I totally agree with how HTC does the unlocking, it's fair for both sides, you get your unlocked device, HTC doesn't have to worry about you committing fraud. Simple.

Thermalwolf said:
The software put out by the companies is hardcore tested and then put under warranty so if something happens you're covered. But if you tamper with the software in anyway then that's your fault and not the companies. It's not fair to AT&T when they seal the device for your safety and then you go and tamper with it, **** up, and then point your finger at them when they did nothing wrong.
Sorry but waiving warranty is only fair once you begin going against what they advertise. I mean if they covered you for bad flashes, they would get bricks left and right and lose a lot of money over people not reading and following proper procedure.
I totally agree with how HTC does the unlocking, it's fair for both sides, you get your unlocked device, HTC doesn't have to worry about you committing fraud. Simple.
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Never said they should cover anyone's screw ups. They should honor the warranty 100% if you didn't cause the issue. Period. My bad flash won't cause the casing to crack or a dead pixel.
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Its all about money. Locked bootloader prevents people from getting this phone for 99 or 199, then sell on ebay for $400-500.
You want unlocked phone? Get developers edition.
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They are not to listen to customers who have already bought from them and have their service, once they lock you in, you are had, period!

Here's the deal... The AT&T bootloaders are not open source. They do not have to unlock them. Samsung cannot unlock them. At&t would have to allow Samsung to unlock them. Not saying I don't want unlocked bootloaders, but it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. I am honestly tired of seeing these topics and posts. It is mucking up the forums with redundancy. We get it. You want unlocked bootloaders. But stop making a new thread about it every day. It is ridiculous. I have seen just as many of these topics as I have seen about people bricking their phones on MF3 in the last week.
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You want to make a statement, get 200K to cancel their service in a quarter. Avg plan $100 and that's $20,000,000 you better believe that will get some attention.
Not email or faxing your discontent on the product they provide.
On T-mobile, we have been upgrading their network and right now, their LTE is faster, in at least NYC and Boroughs right now. ATT is just starting to do their upgrade but they are behind in at least this market.

I don't think any number of letters or petitions is going to change AT&T execs' minds. I also don't think that locking the bootloaders has to do with warranty replacements, after all, whomever wants to flash different software are still going to try to. If they really were looking to reduce the number of replacements due to bad flashes, the software would be as open as possible so there wouldn't be a need for workarounds and custom recoveries, which is where people usually mess up. You messed up your flash? Just download the original software from AT&T, put it in your microSD, turn the phone in this way, and press reflash. No need to send for repairs.
I think it has to do more with the culture of control that AT&T has, either that or AT&T and Verizon keep daring each other to fu/&%k more with their costumers. It goes with forcing a data plan even if you buy your own smartphone from Ebay, rather than just letting you pay by the Kb. Same as forcing stupid and redundant apps (contacts, navigator, locker) and making then not removable in the stock firmware. And putting their logo everywhere on the phone, including a big animation on the boot screen that you cannot remove to let you know that you're using their stuff.
It may also have to do with advertisement and collection of personal info. A custom ROM would probably not send the personal info they rightfully deserve, you know, after also getting our money (or so I would hope).

mg2195 said:
With the amount of people that dont read before flashing and end up bricking their devices and sending into warranty due to bad flashes...I find waiving your warranty for a bootloader unlock perfectly understandable.
Anyways technically you waive you warranty the moment you root your phone...or flash anything...hence the disclaimors on almost every dev thread "YOUR WARRANTY IS NOW VOID" sooo....unlocking a biitloader should waive your warranty
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in a perfect world it would void software support, htc has done a *pretty* good job, then again im not sure if they stopped unlocking bootloaders for the att htc one yet.

I've been with AT&T for seven years, back when Cingular was around, and today I switched to T-Mobile. I don't know why they decided to pull the locked bootloader card and frankly I don't care, but the blanket statement they issued a while back gave me all the reason I need. T-Mobile has fine coverage where I live, good speeds, unlimited data and tethering, two upgrades a year and most importantly an unlocked bootloader. It's really a no-brainer at this point. I just renewed with AT&T in late July so I had to eat the cancellation fee, but the new plan is so much cheaper I make up the cost in a couple of months anyway.
I wish everyone on MF3 the best of luck, but I'm voting with my wallet on this one. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing TWRP on my screen again.

Well I guess I will switch up when my contract ends.
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