Brand new Galaxy S4 "broken" for no reason.

[ShoTime4]

I got an update on my situation. After fighting with Sprint for 2 weeks they agreed to give me a $100 credit towards my bill. So basically I will be responsible for $50 towards the insurance claim. I had to threaten to cancel my service to get them to offer me this. I hope this helps.

 

[Keith_wb]

My S4 is 4 months old, in mint condition, has never been dropped, sat on, given to my granddaughter or the dogs to play with.
I was visiting my mum in hospital during the week showing her pictures of my granddaughter and put it on the bed when I had finished. As I left I picked it up and it vibrated. The screen was black and when I pushed the lock button a thin green line flashed from right to left. I noticed later that there is a hairline crack in the screen top lefthand corner. Its on the inside.
I Googled this and found that LOADS of people have the same problem.
I spoke to Samsung in the UK this morning. Apparently if the phone is used for a long time or you're watching videos, looking at pictures etc. the battery gets hot and expands. When that happens it puts pressure on the screen and it cracks.
The first thing I was asked to do was take the battery out and see if it was thicker than normal or distorted. In my case it wasn't but the phone does get very hot if I'm on the web etc.
It's going away to the repair centre and heaven help them if they try to get any money out of me.
If you're dealing direct with Samsung don't take no for an answer. This is obviously a design fault. Good luck!!!

 

[Mattharvey31]

Follow this link to join the petition to stop their ability to blame consumers for their faulty machinery: MoveOn Petitions - Fight Against Samsung

 

[Melissa Omar Ramirez]

calling Samsung will do nothing I have the same issue and contacted them they want 200 to fix the phone cause the issue is considered to be out of the warranty. I have googled it and it has been a issue but Samsung refuses to fix it unless you pay to fix my phone is less then 4 months old. I have always had Samsung with no problems but after the S4 I will never buy any thing with Samsung on it there customer service is really bad they want our money but don't back there products .

 

[eriq1973]

Just had the same thing happen to me while walking from dinner at a restaurant to my vehicle. When my car's Bluetooth tried to connect to my Samsung Galaxy S4, I noticed three very fine "hairline" type cracks underneath the top layer of glass. Then I noticed what looked to be the fluid for the LCD screen seeping between layers. All this happened 18 days after I received the phone. Called Samsung and they are "unaware" of this issue as a problem; however, we even went as far as emailing them about 15 links from multiple sites where people are obviously having this issue. I called Verizon and finally spoke to a guy in Tier I customer service that was aware of this issue, then transferred to Tier II customer service where the guy there also said he was familiar with it.

So far, I have them sending me a replacement phone, but I'm worried I'm going to be charged for this phone once their warehouse receives the broken one. I'll keep you posted, but I think everyone needs to let customer service everywhere know of this issue and continue to post online.

 

[shelly sam]

So today I was on the phone with my ma. I put the phone down on my car seat and turned on my car, but then i realized i need to get directions somewhere. So I picked up my wonderful S4 and lo-and-behold, the screen wont turn on, or it turns on slightly but its all blurry and flashing. I happen to be right near a ATT store so I shoot right over.
What do these people tell me?
Oh its a pressure crack. You must have dropped it or pressed on it.
I said no, i was using it and put it down like a normal person and when i picked it back up it was broken. I didn't do anything to it.
They said, well i can see right here its obviously a pressure crack and we can't replace it because you dont have insurance on it, you are gona have to buy a new one.

Now here are some fun facts
1) I got this phone LESS than 2 months ago
2) it is in a plastic hard shell case
3) it was fully-functioning one second and then broken the next. No dropping or pressing happened.

WHAT THE HECK??? How the heck does a 300 dollar phone break like that for no reason. Am I the only person that thinks this is insane? Does anyone know of any way I can get a new one with out paying another 300-600 dollars for this piece of crap?

I'm sorry I'm so frustrated right now, but I'm a friggin student. I don't have much but this thing has my life on it. What do these people think, its okay to rip off kids and their parents who are saving all their money trying to get thru school? "oops the flimsy material we made this crap with broke but its your problem now SORRY!"

Sorry, i'm really upset. this is crazy. does anyone have any advise?

 

[xBens]

Re: Brand new Galaxy S4 "broken" for no reason.

hello everyone,
thanks for the tips. I've tried to up load a picture but its not quite working....
file:///Users/christinagarces/Desktop/Photo on 2013-08-12 at 21.40.jpg

Anyway, there is no actual physical crack. instead, like someone mentioned, the whole thing is black except for a section in the top right corner that is kind of flickering white and neon green. then there are some horizontal lines that are kinda green on and off. But like I said, there is no physical crack on the screen itself, although now that i'm inspecting it a little further...when the screen is on lock (as in totally black) i can kinda see these little silver-ish lines that look like cracks but they are INSIDE the screen....

its definitely hot out here, but my car wasn't super cold or anything. it is possible that it was in my purse and banged into something else at some point, but i thought having a friggin' case and screen protecter would prevent that kind of damage. what the heck is the point of the screen protector then? why don't they tell you these things are so dang sensitive?

do you guys think i should send it in to samsung? they are offering to look at it for free...although, now that I've read your posts, i feel like they are probably going to say it was my fault and i have to pay for the repair. jeeze what a bummer..

@michaelBR where are you that this phone costs you double? Shiesh!
PS I will def get a better case AND insurance in the future. i just cant believe the "best" phone out right now could be so friggin flimsy.

Use imgur to upload the picture then put the imgur link inside the brackets
so [img] IMGUR LINK

- - - Updated - - -

hello everyone,
thanks for the tips. I've tried to up load a picture but its not quite working....
file:///Users/christinagarces/Desktop/Photo on 2013-08-12 at 21.40.jpg

Anyway, there is no actual physical crack. instead, like someone mentioned, the whole thing is black except for a section in the top right corner that is kind of flickering white and neon green. then there are some horizontal lines that are kinda green on and off. But like I said, there is no physical crack on the screen itself, although now that i'm inspecting it a little further...when the screen is on lock (as in totally black) i can kinda see these little silver-ish lines that look like cracks but they are INSIDE the screen....

its definitely hot out here, but my car wasn't super cold or anything. it is possible that it was in my purse and banged into something else at some point, but i thought having a friggin' case and screen protecter would prevent that kind of damage. what the heck is the point of the screen protector then? why don't they tell you these things are so dang sensitive?

do you guys think i should send it in to samsung? they are offering to look at it for free...although, now that I've read your posts, i feel like they are probably going to say it was my fault and i have to pay for the repair. jeeze what a bummer..

@michaelBR where are you that this phone costs you double? Shiesh!
PS I will def get a better case AND insurance in the future. i just cant believe the "best" phone out right now could be so friggin flimsy.

Use imgur to upload the picture then put the imgur link inside the brackets
so [img] IMGUR LINK

 

[Sheena Patel]

So what happened? Did they charge you?

 

[Floydfan47]

My S4 did this to me yesterday. I set my phone down for 1 minute and its cracked. But there isn't any visible damage other than the crack itself. I know i didnt drop it; I treat it like it was $600. Any advice would be great.

 

[butterfly210]

You guys should get together and file a glass action law suit... Tht is unfair they trying to say damages were caused by u guys!! Damn shame!

*My Sexy Note 4*

 

[CARTER BOWMAN]

My phone did the same thing i have found other reports of this happening and it seems that the phone can over heat especially when backing up to the cloud and break the internal screen. One way to check would be to run your finger over the cracks and see if you can feel them if you can then that means the outer screen is broken and it probably hit something. Another way to check is to see if there is a central point to the cracks that would suggest that it was hit. Here is some other reports of this happening - Search youtube for- Samsung Galaxy S4 Screen Defect Crack, Verizon Fails to Uphold Warranty and google- Don't Buy Samsung Galaxy S4 until they fix the Screen! Verizon Fails to Support Warranty!

 

[firesteed]

My husband's phone has done the same thing that all of you are describing. He used it, set it down and a minute later it was not working, black screen and then upon closer inspection, we found tiny cracks hear the power button. It was in a hard case, with a screen protector, not dropped. We thought maybe it was the super cold weather that caused the problem. After seeing these posts, I called Samsung. They representative was terrible, you could barely understand her. I told her all the details including the part that this phone was not dropped, had no accidents, was not under pressure, etc. She said to send it in and they would look at it under warranty. We had had the phone only a few months. So, I sent it in. We got an email today saying they were sending us the phone back, and their determination was "ABUSE". What the heck! I told her nothing had happened to the phone. Makes me so darn mad. So now folks, what recourse do any of us have?

Carol

 

[virgorod]

Mine just did the same thing about an hour ago and it follows the same discription on the screen and it was just sitting next to my computer. i went to pick it up and the screen was black with thin line of a yellow then green light, at a round slant across upper R corner. I remember noticing the extreme heat some time before that and thinking that cant be good so I set it down inches from my R hand, where it didnt move till "!" So far to this point what route has gotten the best results? I have sprint and read the 100 coupon towards ins co pay. Samsung is still completely worthless when contacting?

 

[sshasany]

Hi. i'm sorry for asking this here but I'm really desperate to get help.
A week ago I dropped my moms S4 and it was not protected at all. We had been thinking it had a glass protector on but turns out it was just a normal one and mom had recently taken off the flip cover off of it and it had just that rubber cover on. Well it was an accident how I dropped it on the floor without any protection and it fell on its face. And when I picked it up it was completely black. I can hear all the sounds and the screen unlocking when I slide my finger on the screen but the screen is black. When you tilt the phone in light You can see a little semi circle crack on the top right but it's hard to notice that and its inside the lcd. A new screen replacement will cost us a $100. Please, I would really appreciate some legit suggestions.

 

[Ram mani1]

i had the same issue,slightly fall down the mobile not morethan 1/2 meter.the screen crack(3cm only) then its not swipe the screen. but mobile is working(call coming but cant attend) .i think very poor hardware setup by Samsung in S4 model? see still S4 sale in market but problem persist cant fix by samsung.
the repair cost and spare also very expense(150$) for digitizer.

 

[scruffyjate]

This exact same thing happened to me at half past midnight on new years! My Mum and I took our older dog with a heart condition for a drive while the fireworks were being set off, I snapchatted the fireworks and my phone was working fine, we got home, I sat down and took my Galaxy S4 out of my pocket, went to unlock it and it didn't unlock, upon closer inspection I discovered a small crack inside the screen, next to the lower volume button. Luckily I was due for a new phone anyway, but I did want to get it fixed for the pure fact that the phone still works fine, interface wise.
I went to a phone repair shop today that I had been recommended to go to...$195 to get it fixed! Forget it.
I've been disappointed in Samsung as of late, and I used to stand by them completely, I have Samsung everything, TV, Stereo, I had the Galaxy S2 a few years back (which still works fine, definitely one of their best models), I even used to have a MP3 Player made by them when I was 15! But lately, when it comes to their phones especially, I feel like they've gone down hill, and that's disappointing. For my next phone I'm getting an iPhone, which I never thought I would do, but after reading the other people have had the same problem (with even newer models as well), I'm not so sure I really want another Samsung.

Thank you everyone who replied to this too, I was starting to question myself and starting to think that I must have done something for it to crack.

 

[craigfox1969]

hi i have a samsung galaxy s4 and was using it on e mail when it suddenly just switched off. i now can not get the screen to come on at all. just a white flashing line on right hand side of the screen. i did drop the phone about 2 weeks ago and do have a small crack on the top left hand side of the screen. is this fixable or am i having to pay out for a new phone. with regards. craig