Unlocking Bootloader means Warranty Completely GONE

[Razieltov]

Did you see the warning when you unlocked the bootloader? It did say you voided your warranty. You could have relocked it before you sent it in the first time. When you unlock the bootloader and flash custom software it could do anything to your phone. The warranty is pretty much saying that HTC guarantees their hardware and software that runs on the hardware. But when you change what software is running on the hardware they can't guarantee that somebody else's software won't brick the device. HTC did you a favor by fixing the phone the first time. Its like if you bought a car and then put in your own engine in it. The manufacturer won't guarantee that engine because it isn't theirs.

OEM's don't make bootloaders so they can void the warranty. You void the warranty by your own actions

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

To my knowledge there is a major difference here. When you unlock a bootloader it isn't void right away, I was wrong. It is considered VOIDABLE. It will most likely be up the whomever you speak to as to where it will go from there. If I am wrong someone chime in here but most of the these phones with unlockable bootloaders are voidable if it is done and therefore still able to be warrantied but it will be up to who ever you get first. Your warranty can be voided, or you could get lucky.

 

[BAlGaInTl]

Many years ago, didn't we go through this same thing with computers?

Computers used to come with a seal that if broken could "void" the warranty. Manufactures would try and "force" you to use their overpriced service to do simple things like a memory upgrade.

Wasn't it ultimately decided that the burden of proof was on the the manufacture to prove that you breaking the seal and changing something directly caused whatever the ultimate problem was? Otherwise, they couldn't simply ignore a warranty claim because of it.... Likewise, they can't deny service because you updated a MB bios, or computer software... Again, unless it was proven that what you did ultimately caused the warranty issue.

Why is it that phones are treated differently? Why do they not share the same burden of proof?

Has nobody challenged the manufactures on this yet? Clearly a software change does not (normally) create a hardware problem.

 

[cyanogen-man]

One be eg admit to root in unlocking the boot loader and even flash your stock from when you call them if you have to send it in unroot with that out of the way if you changed your pixel density for what ever reason or ppi or added more power for brightness it can mess with the s green badly they put limits on hardware for a reason

INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

 

[cyanogen-man]

And one more thing!! You gotta stand up to them and say hey I'm a geek ik what I'm doing you sit at a phone all day have you e er taken apart devices and soldered co ncections to make it over clock? Have you ever loaded a custom rom?? Hell I bet you use an iPhone and ask Steve jobs ghost to save you from the angry android that's open source and no nm norms on patented tech and you loose money and gotta sue most people for HTC on the phone that's all they are not nerds not geeks no tech skills and freak out if their office suite crashes or scared to put an extra stick of ram in their machine or call tech support BC their printers in plugged; the smart a$$ list goose on and a on but you get my point?

INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

 

[sunriseshell]

...Always return your phone to Factory condition before seeking Warranty service.

YES +1

Let this again serve as a caveat for all.

If you take the time to unlock, root, flash custom roms etc. Then take the time to UNDO what you did. If this step seems too hard to do then, ROOTING IS NOT FOR YOU!
You assume liability when you modify the software of your device, this is clearly stated in the forums which instruct on rooting/flashing.

It is unfortunate what happened to that guy but truth be told he was a victim of a situation he created.

 

[tokuzumi]

And HTC wonders why they are losing market share.

Glad you resolved your sim issue. I've always dealt with my carrier, since I pay for insurance, and have never had an issue. I stopped buying HTC phones once they started this whole watermarked bootloader nonsense. I hope to stick with Nexus devices from here on out.

 

[kychan060]

YES +1

Let this again serve as a caveat for all.

If you take the time to unlock, root, flash custom roms etc. Then take the time to UNDO what you did. If this step seems too hard to do then, ROOTING IS NOT FOR YOU!
You assume liability when you modify the software of your device, this is clearly stated in the forums which instruct on rooting/flashing.

It is unfortunate what happened to that guy but truth be told he was a victim of a situation he created.

And I think currently the device could be relocked only but not possible 'returning it to Factory condition' without s-off.

 

[kychan060]

deleted

 

[kychan060]

Many years ago, didn't we go through this same thing with computers?

Computers used to come with a seal that if broken could "void" the warranty. Manufactures would try and "force" you to use their overpriced service to do simple things like a memory upgrade.

Wasn't it ultimately decided that the burden of proof was on the the manufacture to prove that you breaking the seal and changing something directly caused whatever the ultimate problem was? Otherwise, they couldn't simply ignore a warranty claim because of it.... Likewise, they can't deny service because you updated a MB bios, or computer software... Again, unless it was proven that what you did ultimately caused the warranty issue.

Why is it that phones are treated differently? Why do they not share the same burden of proof?

Has nobody challenged the manufactures on this yet? Clearly a software change does not (normally) create a hardware problem.

This is exactly my concern. I dun mind warranty being voided if I did something stupid with root permission/ flashing funny drivers forcefully.(And this is why warranty MAY be voided to my understanding) But unlocking the bootloader alone ._____.? Really .____________. ?

Now that HTC s telling the clients to change board to solve every single thing, be it relevant or not. And they charge fees for boards which bootloader was unlocked by saying your warranty s voided.

And for those who reminded to restore to stock locked state, is there a way to do that? Actually I am not from HTC so I have no official way to do that nor can I s-off .

 

[cyanogen-man]

Step one back up your content/rom step 2 flash your backed up stock from wipe dalvic do factory reset step 3 go back to your root program and click unroot it will remove all root permissions and lock the boot loader

INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

 

[kychan060]

Step one back up your content/rom step 2 flash your backed up stock from wipe dalvic do factory reset step 3 go back to your root program and click unroot it will remove all root permissions and lock the boot loader

INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

Then the state will be relocked but not locked : (

 

[TenshiNo]

You raise an excelent point about the laptop, and how the mobile industry seems to think locking down phones is OK, but we would never stand for it on our PC's. I guess it comes down to the mentality of it. The mobile industry has grown so much, so fast that the carriers/manufacturers could not possibly hope to deal with all the "warranty" issues that people would cause if their boot-loaders were unlocked. Nevermind the inherent problem unlocked boot loaders create for the carriers in terms of being able to swap out radios and such. It's unfortunate, but it's the industry and we've all, basically, agreed to let it be that way by purchasing these devices under these terms.

As for "tracing your ROM" you are partially correct. While they could, most likely, find a reference to the custom ROM online and get a list of the changes, they won't be able to actually look at the code itself that is contained within that ROM. And even if they could, the amount of time that would be taken for someone at HTC to go through all the code for a given ROM and make a determination of whether or not the problem you're having is caused by that code would be immense, to say the least (and I say this as a software developer myself). They simply don't have the resources to realistically expect them to try and disassemble, analyse and debug a custom ROM to determine whether or not a given problem is caused by the software or not. This is the *reason* that they make you agree to the terms of voiding your warranty when you unlock the boot loader.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but it is what it is. And, frankly, you agreed to it. HTC is really not at fault here. They have to protect their profit margins, and that seems hard enough for them right now. I'd say that if you don't like it, you can spend your money with another carrier/manufacturer, but the truth is that this policy is pretty much industry standard. Sorry