Warranty repair denied because of "corrosion"

[Frustrated1001]

hey all,
30 days after purchasing LG Nexus 4, got the "Red Blinking Light of Death" and followed the postings on this blog...Nothing. Took it in for manufacturer warranty service and in the mean time, my wife's phone does the same thing (45 days after purchase). 3 weeks later the determination on my phone is "Water Damage." No info on hers as of yet. The Tech sent me the pictures of the damage and there is rust/corrosion between two contact points. The area can be measured in square millimeters. No where else is there any corrosion. The phone has never been wet, and the Tech is saying it could have come from the phone being in the bathroom while taking a shower or other high humidity conditions. From the pictures it looks like there is a volume or power button in close proximity to the site. I am really upset, my phone wasn't even a month old and my wife's phone didn't make it 6 weeks. Anyone have similar experience? I am out of 2 LG Nexus 4 phones in two weeks with if the TECH says is true no recourse...I might be going back to the iphone.

 

[srkmagnus]

Re: Corrosion

This is the first time I've heard of two Nexus 4's having this issue so close to purchase. Do you recall having the device in wet conditions such as the bathroom as suggested by the service tech? It also sounds like they are denying the warranty repair on the device?

 

[N4Newbie]

Re: Corrosion

If those are the only two points of corrosion then I would insist that it is a manufacturing defect and not caused by improper use. If it was caused by a too-high humidity environment, one would expect to see other parts of the electronics similarly corroded.

 

[Frustrated1001]

Re: Corrosion

Thanks for the reply and I can honestly say that I have no clue if my phone was ever in the bathroom while taking a shower. The only wet/humid condition my phone has been exposed to should meet a reasonable person's expectations for a cell phone to function. We live in Canada right now, I think it has rained maybe twice since purchase and the humidity here is absolute zero compared to where we just moved from in the SE US. Obviously there is constant variable in this situation for the two phones to have the same issue (I am presuming as the official word has yet to be received on her phone) . We just gave our 2 year iphones (no problems ever) to our kids without sim cards to use as ipods. We might be taking them back.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[frenziedfemale]

Re: Corrosion

If they were purchased new why did you opt to not send them back to Google? You may have voided your warranty by having an unauthorized repair service open your phones. If you purchased them used, it is possible they were damaged before. My understanding is that there is a moisture detecting strip in the phone that indicated water damage, what does the tech say about it?

 

[Frustrated1001]

Re: Corrosion

They were bought new. I returned the phones to the carrier and they forwarded them to authorized manufacturer repair service. I did not know about the moisture detection strip, I will ask about that. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Frustrated1001]

Re: Corrosion

I thought I was done with this thread.

After 2 hours on the phone with LG, no one could tell me how the corrosion occurred inside my phone just at one spot on the main board. And LG would not move from their position of any corrosion inside the phone voids the warranty. the cost was $339 to replace the main board.

In the mean time, my wife's phone comes back from the certified LG service company. The diagnosis was "Return without repair corrosion on mainboard and battery; beyond economical repair; return unit as is." No photos this time. I guess they didn't like that I posted the last photos online.

I still couldn't except this diagnosis. So when I returned from picking up wife's phone, I charged her phone to see what happens. Her phone immediately turned on, took a full charge and after being off the charger all night, only 3% of the battery was exhausted. All her apps, email settings, FB, texts, etc. are still on the phone. I would think that if the phone was disassembled and the main board removed, I would have expected the phone to return to factory settings.

2 issues I need help with:
1. Shouldn't the phone returned to factory settings if was disassembled at the service center?
2. Now that the service center stated the phone was beyond economic repair, LG no longer has to provide the remainder of the warranty (even thought the phone works fine).

I have a suspicion that FutureTel of Ontario has a case of the *** with me because I had LG to investigate their operations. If it is normal for a phone to go to factory reset when disassembled I can prove they did not actually disassemble the phone. Thanks for any comments.

 

[robbie langen]

i just bought a brand new nexus 4 on a 2 years term within first two weeks i noticed it would restart as i removing it from my pocket didn't think anything of it a week later. went to bed one night plugged her in by morning the phone was off and wont not start tried everything i could do to get to started already a bad day late for work and no way to contact boss driving to site, then the phone miraculously comes back to life i planned to leave early that day to get the phone looked at by a Fido representative, but it came back to life so i continued to use it a week later the same problem happens again but this time just wont turn on and i see the fatal red light of death assumed hardware problems the phone have never been subject to water. mint condition, ballistics case i returned the phone within 4 days it was returned stating that it has been water damaged... corrosion on the main board, there are three water mark strips inside this phone none showed indication of water so like the posts in this forum why should i be responsible for bad manufacturing... terrible product terrible company LG should be ashamed.

 

[04redgto]

View attachment 108794i just bought a brand new nexus 4 on a 2 years term within first two weeks i noticed it would restart as i removing it from my pocket didn't think anything of it a week later. went to bed one night plugged her in by morning the phone was off and wont not start tried everything i could do to get to started already a bad day late for work and no way to contact boss driving to site, then the phone miraculously comes back to life i planned to leave early that day to get the phone looked at by a Fido representative, but it came back to life so i continued to use it a week later the same problem happens again but this time just wont turn on and i see the fatal red light of death assumed hardware problems the phone have never been subject to water. mint condition, ballistics case i returned the phone within 4 days it was returned stating that it has been water damaged... corrosion on the main board, there are three water mark strips inside this phone none showed indication of water so like the posts in this forum why should i be responsible for bad manufacturing... terrible product terrible company LG should be ashamed.

Wow, that is one CRAZY long sentence! Also u may want to remove this pic, if that is your esn listed on the paper! I wouldn't want mine all over the web!

 

[HawaiianLaker]

I'm not sure I get what you guys are saying. You think that LG did this somehow? The way I see a manufacturers warranty is, if the problem I'm having would have happened IF I left it in the box bought it the entire time, would it be possible? From the pics, I HIGHLY doubt corrosion would have happened in the box, meaning YOU did something for it to appear. Of course they wont know how or when it happened, they are not mind readers. FYI just cause you cant recall when it happened doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

[Mil Dias]

I had the same problem with my LG G5. I made a complaint for manufacturing defect. I bought the LG G5 phone three months ago and treated it like a baby. All care has been taken and a silicone case was bought especially to protect the equipment. The use was perfectly normal for a device of this nature and has never been in the bathroom while showering, something that should be NORMAL in any case. I run three times a week and take the phone with me using a special bracelet to run and listen to music. I noticed at the end of the short time that the phone was wet with sweat externally. Then I also noticed that produced condensation internally and that the microphone stopped working. I sent the equipment to LG to make an inspection and was informed that the phone displays 'traces of corrosion' and it was necessary to ‘REPLACE the MAIN BOARD, the BACK COVER and the BATTERY', repair budgeted in € 294.11 + VAT. I do not think it is for me to take the repair costs. I do not think that is the consumer's responsibility that sweat enters the phone slot causing damage when I run, and the technical specifications do not mention any restriction on the use of the equipment for this sport. The warranty was refused and the customer service was absolutely terrible. This is unacceptable if so many people are having the same problem. I agree that LG shall be ashamed!