HTC's lousy Warranty policy! (Anyone planning to buy any HTC phone read this)

[neelagopi]

This post is related to HTC in general not specific to 8X or Titan. Sorry if its a wrong forum topic to post in.

Yesterday,I went to AT&T Device Support Center... I had few issues with my HTC Titan... The technician had a look at my phone and said AT&T cannot issue a replacement, because my HTC Titan is devoid of warranty because the moisture/water sensor strip turned red. This strip is strategically located by HTC next to MicroUSB port. Any HTC Titan owner would know that the surroundings around microUSB port is not properly covered, even a slightest amount of moisture could easily sneak through! If its red or pink warranty is void!

My phone is never dropped in water (its not even dropped on floor also), or did not get in contact with water also... I never got caught in rain with this pocket or something... the closest it came was to sweaty hands when I went to gym or playing some sport!

Initially the technician saw that my screen has an issue and he said he could replace it, but this happened.

Think Twice before you get HTC... highly unexpected... I wouldn't expect this from companies like Nokia or Apple (Apple gave a replacement phone to a friend of mine after 2.5 years from purchase date for ~$80).

A WP fan... disappointed by HTC!

 

[marbla]

This post is related to HTC in general not specific to 8X or Titan. Sorry if its a wrong forum topic to post in.

Yesterday,I went to AT&T Device Support Center... I had few issues with my HTC Titan... The technician had a look at my phone and said AT&T cannot issue a replacement, because my HTC Titan is devoid of warranty because the moisture/water sensor strip turned red. This strip is strategically located by HTC next to MicroUSB port. Any HTC Titan owner would know that the surroundings around microUSB port is not properly covered, even a slightest amount of moisture could easily sneak through! If its red or pink warranty is void!

My phone is never dropped in water (its not even dropped on floor also), or did not get in contact with water also... I never got caught in rain with this pocket or something... the closest it came was to sweaty hands when I went to gym or playing some sport!

Initially the technician saw that my screen has an issue and he said he could replace it, but this happened.

Think Twice before you get HTC... highly unexpected... I wouldn't expect this from companies like Nokia or Apple (Apple gave a replacement phone to a friend of mine after 2.5 years from purchase date for ~$80).

A WP fan... disappointed by HTC!

I wouldn't put that on HTC alone. A lot of companies put their moisture sensor strips on this kind of location and it really depends on whom you get in support whether they give you hard time or not. I doubt it's a case of just HTC. You might want to try and contact them directly about your issue.

 

[jhguth]

I live in the southeast US, its humid enough here to change one of those sensors without the device ever getting wet. I've bought phones in the past with pink sensors straight from the store​.

Apple is really bad about this too with the sensor on the iPhone

 

[neelagopi]

You mean contact HTC?
Most likely they will say contact AT&T... but I will try.

 

[Nophix]

No offense, but if you tripped the moisture sensor, there was moisture in there. My wife's Inspire took a pretty good splash from a tipped glass of water, and it got in the sim area, right on the moisture indicator, and it barely changed. I was shaking water out of the thing.

The USB port on most phones is wide open, as well as the headphone port, and companies put moisture indicators in the headphone port, too.

I've had no issues getting HTC or AT&T to warranty a device.

As for tripping in humidity, I call bollocks. I usually have my phones sitting on the counter in the bathroom while I take a shower, and I usually have to wipe a good bit of moisture off of them when done, and I've never tripped one. We also live in a very humid area, never been an issue.

 

[ryan.kruger]

I work with a big tech company's warranty/replacements, and simple humidity should not set these off. I went for a drunken swim with my last phone for a good while, and the strips that were supposed to turn red only barely turned pink.

 

[sportrckr]

I don't think this issue is specific to HTC, I know for a fact that Apple uses a similar moisture detection pad and has them placed in just as open locations such as inside the headphone jack and on the inside of the dock connector. They also will not replace a phone if any of those pads have been tripped, whether or not is was due to humidity, sweaty palms, or actually being dropped in water.

 

[Coolknight1968]

Not sure what is going on in the US, but here in Switzerland I can buy a "no questions asked" warranty. If my phone is not broken because I dropped it, but just misbehaving they simply give me a refund or a new phone within 24 hours. Cost is $35.- for two years. I can also buy a disaster insurance for my phone, like $10.- a month. Has the US turned into a Socialist nation? Is AT&T not interested in making extra money? As to HTC, it is normal for them to use means to protect against fraud. I don't think HTC is to blame here, rather AT&T for not giving its customers proper insurance services.

 

[sportrckr]

Not sure what is going on in the US, but here in Switzerland I can buy a "no questions asked" warranty. If my phone is not broken because I dropped it, but just misbehaving they simply give me a refund or a new phone within 24 hours. Cost is $35.- for two years. I can also buy a disaster insurance for my phone, like $10.- a month. Has the US turned into a Socialist nation? Is AT&T not interested in making extra money? As to HTC, it is normal for them to use means to protect against fraud. I don't think HTC is to blame here, rather AT&T for not giving its customers proper insurance services.

I'm not sure what AT&T offers, but I know that Verizon does offer an extended warranty that I do believe covers things such as water damage and drops however the biggest difference is that it certainly is no where near as cheap as $35 for 2 years. The plans usually run somewhere around an extra $10/month for however long you have the phone I'd assume. I usually don't sign up for these plans since I'll usually end up paying more in warranty service than in actually buying a new phone if it breaks.

 

[Nophix]

Not sure what is going on in the US, but here in Switzerland I can buy a "no questions asked" warranty. If my phone is not broken because I dropped it, but just misbehaving they simply give me a refund or a new phone within 24 hours. Cost is $35.- for two years. I can also buy a disaster insurance for my phone, like $10.- a month. Has the US turned into a Socialist nation? Is AT&T not interested in making extra money? As to HTC, it is normal for them to use means to protect against fraud. I don't think HTC is to blame here, rather AT&T for not giving its customers proper insurance services.

We have Squaretrade here in the US, unless you live in Wisconsin. A little more expensive at $99 for 2 years, but very reputable.

 

[Nophix]

Carriers also offer insurance, but the deductibles have gotten pretty expensive.

 

[DigitalDK]

Is this your first experience with water damage? This is nothing new to anyone or at least I thought as much. I sell cellphones and am constantly having to tell people there's nothing I can do unless they have insurance if there's water damage. Regardless of how it may have gotten there, this isn't HTC's fault so I'm not sure why you're saying their warranty policy is lousy when this is the case for EVERY MANUFACTURER. Day in and day out people try to pull the wool over my eyes on how their phone may have gotten wet and it's never their fault. Manufacturers have to crack down because too many people take advantage of the system and they're going to put sensors in places where water would enter first rather then bury them in the phone where they may never get touched. It's common sense, sorry.

 

[Coolknight1968]

Same here, we pay $10.- a month and then a truck can drive over it, you get a new one.
We can buy insurance against damage and against faulty hardware (quick exchange for $35.- for 2 years).

 

[Nophix]

Same here, we pay $10.- a month and then a truck can drive over it, you get a new one.
We can buy insurance against damage and against faulty hardware (quick exchange for $35.- for 2 years).

Funny you say that... I did exactly that! One of my phones fell out of my pocket getting back in my truck at the terminal, and I drove over it. Semi vs. Galaxy S Captivate. Guess which one lost?

 

[neelagopi]

No offense, but if you tripped the moisture sensor, there was moisture in there. My wife's Inspire took a pretty good splash from a tipped glass of water, and it got in the sim area, right on the moisture indicator, and it barely changed. I was shaking water out of the thing.

The USB port on most phones is wide open, as well as the headphone port, and companies put moisture indicators in the headphone port, too.

I've had no issues getting HTC or AT&T to warranty a device.

As for tripping in humidity, I call bollocks. I usually have my phones sitting on the counter in the bathroom while I take a shower, and I usually have to wipe a good bit of moisture off of them when done, and I've never tripped one. We also live in a very humid area, never been an issue.

Depends on phone model... TItan has a lousy placement for the sensor.. my phone never tipped in water... I dont see how it turned red/pink

 

[neelagopi]

I wouldn't have blamed HTC if my phone genuinely fell in water or something... but it dint... thats wat frustrates me... AT&T rep checked my phone all around... with a flash light in headphone jack etc. and told no physical damage, looking very good...

If I did not maintained it well... I would have thougt it as fair enuf... but it was maintained well...

I dont use a case etc for my phone.. .and as I said ther is a big gap arnd microUSB port... any amount of humidity/sweat will easily sneak thru... which is not a good design!

 

[Reflexx]

USB ports on HTCs suck. Well, that's what I was told by a phone repair guy.

 

[Villain]

90% of the time people take the phone in the washroom and listen to music while showering and then flip out cause they get a moisture damage sticker.

has nothing to do with HTC.... ALL companies (HTC, RIM, Samsung, Nokia etc) would refuse to repair.


and we got a titan board don't we?

 

[Scorpio5x0]

The AT&T warranty is different than HTC. What one will cover may be different than the other.