S3 died. Samsung says warranty voided due to root. 8 days to decide answer

[slashster]

I have or had a Samsung SGH-I747MBC on Bell here in Canada. It was rooted and running stock.No other modifications had been applied. I placed it on the wall charger with it turned off.Tried turning it back on the next morning and saw no LED indicating it had been charged.

The phone could not get any power after switching batteries, chargers, cables, and switching from wall to PC charger did nothing as well. Several PCs failed to recognize the device.

After searching online, I've found several forums discussing many users having this problem, especially on the international S3. I emailed Samsung and they gave me a repair ticket to send it to them.My local Bell rep said he could send it in but I thought sending directly to Samsung thinking that would be faster. I had to include all my account info to Samsung to verify ownership of the phone.

After 2 weeks they email me and include a pdf stating "Unfortunately your unit is out of warranty due to UNAUTHORIZED SW MODIFICATION(PHONE ROOTED) which is not covered by the Samsung limited warranty." They claim they saw the phone was rooted and I have several options. Pay a $30 examination fee, or do nothing and after 8 business days the phone is returned as is, or pay $395.50and have the mainboard replaced.

WTF ?? The S3 would not power on.It had been running for months with no problems after rooting.Lately though it would rapidly discharge even after resetting battery stats. I wouldn't have been able to reset the battery stats after switching to a high capacity battery.

It would not boot to recovery, no logo, nothing.Not even an LED charging light.

My questions are :

Were they able to boot the phone ?

Is it repaired and working ?

Should I pay the $30 examination fee or just wait 8 days, then let them return it to me hoping it boots.

Is the $395.50 replacement mainboard a simple shakedown and the want me to pay for rooting ?

Do I go to court if the returned phone is not working ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Paul627g]

1st. You have voided the warranty sending in a rooted phone especially to Samsung themselves.

2nd. They probably did get the phone booting or at least were able to retrieve the information off the device they needed and once they saw an unofficial software and/or stock recovery changed that was again red flag, warranty voided. Even if they didn't get it booting I'm sure Samsung or any OEM has its methods for pulling valuable information off the internal memory especially the /system and /boot portions to examine if something was tampered with.

3rd. The only way you will get the phone returned in working order is if you pay their $395 dollar motherboard replacement fee or whatever they are asking for. I doubt they are going to send you back a working phone otherwise.

I'm not sure on the entire legal end of things what can/would happen but you have already knowingly voided your warranty/rights when you rooted the device and it was sent into Samsung/or carrier for repair in a broken but still " rooted " state.

Edit/Update: I apologize if the above comes off as being blunt but there really isn't any good way to put things into perspective here. I wish there was a better outcome but in this situation the OEM and its warranty terms prevail.

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

Rooting is not supported by oem's, what part of that don't you understand? When u mess with a phones software it is your problem from that point forward! Ya got to pay to play!

Remember what the doormouse said, feed your head!

 

[Almeuit]

I'm afraid you are in a bad place. You can't send a rooted phone in or they simply turn the other cheek

Sent from my Sprint S3 using AC forums.

 

[anon(631531)]

Well, i would say that a general rule of thumb is not to root until after the warrantee has expired. Sorry.

 

[slashster]

You did not come across as blunt. I appreciate you stating facts.I understood the root voided the warranty.

My concern is this was a hardware not a software problem.If the phone is shut off, there would be no software running, correct ? It will not accept charge.My understanding is the hardware failed and this has been happening on occasionally with others.This is similar to channel the channels on a tv and then it did not power off after. I understand I voided the warranty but the failure was not related to the root.Again this is just my understanding, not trying to sound combative.

I am going to take a few days to think it all over, discuss with others what the best approach is to do this.

 

[Paul627g]

I get what your saying ... Even if it was proven to be hard ware related you sent in the phone for repair in a rooted state so there is no ground for you to stand on.

That's why whenever someone does have a hardware issue the first thing they are scrambling to do is reset the device back to factory stock and remove root and any signs of rooting in the event of need of repair. Its the chances you take when you root a device that something can fail while your rooted and leave the device unresponsive/unrecoverable by the common consumers means and your left holding the bag. It takes either hardware replacement/repair or special diagnostic tools and methods to force a bricked or broken device back to life which only a limited group (mainly OEM or carrier/authorized repair centers) have access to.

 

[whatsitsname]

Samsung does seem a bit harsh since they already acknowledge the board needs to be replaced. On the international galaxy s3, motherboard were replaced because they were defective. I also read that since it's a defect they would replace the motherboard even if the phone has been rooted. It's a shame they they extend the same courtesy to North American versions.

Here is the article. http://www.phonearena.com/news/Some-Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-units-are-dying-young_id37944
Perhaps you can use it to persuade Samsung to repair it for free. Good luck

My nephew's Verizon gs3 died suddenly for no reason either. That thing was totally lifeless. Luckily Verizon sent us another one.


Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Shawn Magm]

This has given me second thoughts about rooting, as much as I'm tempted to do so.

 

[Paul627g]

This has given me second thoughts about rooting, as much as I'm tempted to do so.

And you should take good consideration about doing so. I'm rooted and always have been but I know the risk and take every precaution I can but that still doesn't protect you from the occasional unknown hardware failure that can get you caught with your pants down. Although most of the time its a great experience and opens a whole new world to taking control of your android device.

I wouldn't personally base my decision on one persons bad luck of a hardware failure but it does and can happen from time to time.

 

[Shawn Magm]

And you should take good consideration about doing so. I'm rooted and always have been but I know the risk and take every precaution I can but that still doesn't protect you from the occasional unknown hardware failure that can get you caught with your pants down. Although most of the time its a great experience and opens a whole new world to taking control of your android device.

I wouldn't personally base my decision on one persons bad luck of a hardware failure but it does and can happen from time to time.

I may wait until my warranty is up. Or buy one of those cheap Chinese Android phones to root and play around with.

 

[ansextra]

I rooted my Droid X for the first time about a month after the warranty ran out just because I was afraid of a situation like this. We only pay a fraction of the cost when we first buy the phone and the rest is subsidized. If you need an out of warranty repair you pay the exorbitant retail price for a replacement. For now I'm not rooting my S3 for that very reason. I'll live with it until the warranty is up and then it's playtime.

 

[richcuffs]

I hear all this talk about how great rooting is but have yet to find a single reason to do so. Everything I've wanted to mod I've been able to without root.

Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lanhoj]

I hear all this talk about how great rooting is but have yet to find a single reason to do so. Everything I've wanted to mod I've been able to without root.

I'm definitely with you on that.
Out of my almost 10 Android devices I've owned (4 of which were Nexus) the only device I rooted was my Fire to get rid of the horrible Amazon UI & have access to my Google Play Store content.

I must say though that I buy ALOT of Apps, often to get the same functionality I'd get for free from either a custom ROM or an OEM skin. If I was new, I might root. However, at this point with all my purchases I can't justify rooting.

Sure there's maybe a couple features I'd like, but they're not compelling enough & don't outweigh the risks IMO.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I hear all this talk about how great rooting is but have yet to find a single reason to do so. Everything I've wanted to mod I've been able to without root.

That's fine. But understand that some people want more out their phone than you do. There are lots of things that can only be done with a rooted phone.

 

[audi2000]

Spotify data on Note 2 only will be stored inSD0 unless rooted. Then you are able to store on the external. That is the reason I rooted.

I hear all this talk about how great rooting is but have yet to find a single reason to do so. Everything I've wanted to mod I've been able to without root.

Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk 2

 

[richcuffs]

Maybe if i had more games, but i already have a ton of games and some are huge like GTA, max payne, NFS, PvsZ, and i still have 5gb left on internal. That's the only thing that really even put a dent in my 16gb.

Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk 2

 

[Greg C]

You root... you void your warranty. You know that when you do it. Then you send it to the manufacturer and expect they will fix it? Root sounds like it can be kind of expensive... huh?

 

[Gekko]

maybe get your S3 back and sell it on ebay "for parts" and try to get a few bucks for it. perhaps someone needs to replace a cracked display etc. then i'd take that money and apply it towards the price of a new Nexus 4 from the Play Store. chalk the whole thing up to experience and move on with life. cost of doing business.

good luck!

 

[scaryhumor]

Bad software can absolutely affect hardware. The 2 are not mutually exclusive. Read: Stuxnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paraphrasing, bad software/virus put Iran's nuclear hopes (thank God) back by at least a few years, by destroying their centrifuges.
I have not rooted my current or 3 previous Android phones, but did with my Palm Pre. The Palm webos was great for it's day, but was nowhere near as customizable as stock Android.
Other than not being able to kill bloatware, I have no regrets for not rooting (triple negative in one sentence? Still seems to work).