[iLLusive]

Ok first off I know the whole "cool story bro" this was told to me as I exchanged for my 6th device today and was shown the new policy going into effect April 1st. So if you have ANY issues that warrant an exchange I urge you to complete them before April 1st. I was shared this information because as of April 1st is when my 14 days runs out and if I did an exchange of the 1st I would possibly be liable under the new terms if they found no valid issues with the device according to there procedures even if I felt there was valid issues.

All exchanges will be handled same as previously but customers will be informed upon exchange if the device is found to have NOTHING wrong with it and you abused the process you will be billed directly to your account $400.00 for the value of the device cost loss to Verizon. They are trying to cut down on folks exchanging new high end devices for no real valid reasons and costing them tons of money. Process is simple that they can not get credit or there investment back from phone manufacture if they device has no real issues. So then the device goes into the warranty replacement stock, which obviously has some use and they get partial investment back for the resell. Yet they are out hundreds on each device and they trend has been with recent devices for valid or not valid reasons they have seen skyrocking ammounts of exchanges they were not seeing before.

So yes this was directly from Store Manager and I was not allowed to take a photo with my new TB device because it is corporate company policy information. Take it for what you want but they are taking the validity of issues to be serious issue when going forward after April 1st for exchange of new devices and of course used.

[paulmike3]

You've had 5 bad devices? 0.o

[dajogejr]

If you exchanged the device 6 times in two weeks, I'd tell you that too.

[Edwill86]

In my opinon VZW should have made sure HTC had all the firmware fixes ready day one-7 of the release, not 14+.

I love my bolt, but I still see some issues that need to be fixed ota.

and why have you exchanged it 5 times? I highly doubt you had 5 defective devices in 2 weeks.

[willymakit]

It's always been like that for as long as I can remember,but it was the cost of the device not 400 dollars.

[iLLusive]

Correct

1. Light leaked
2. Light leaked / Power saving feature was hardlocking phone into 1x
3. Light leaked / ear piece was not straight / Power saving issue again
(Had one in between that had no functional power button but was never activated)
4. Light leaked / Accts & Sync not saving settings on shutdown
5. Light leaked / None flat screen was almost 1/8 inch uneven on right side

[lovy]

Ok first off I know the whole "cool story bro" this was told to me as I exchanged for my 6th device today and was shown the new policy going into effect April 1st. So if you have ANY issues that warrant an exchange I urge you to complete them before April 1st. I was shared this information because as of April 1st is when my 14 days runs out and if I did an exchange of the 1st I would possibly be liable under the new terms if they found no valid issues with the device according to there procedures even if I felt there was valid issues.

All exchanges will be handled same as previously but customers will be informed upon exchange if the device is found to have NOTHING wrong with it and you abused the process you will be billed directly to your account $400.00 for the value of the device cost loss to Verizon. They are trying to cut down on folks exchanging new high end devices for no real valid reasons and costing them tons of money. Process is simple that they can not get credit or there investment back from phone manufacture if they device has no real issues. So then the device goes into the warranty replacement stock, which obviously has some use and they get partial investment back for the resell. Yet they are out hundreds on each device and they trend has been with recent devices for valid or not valid reasons they have seen skyrocking ammounts of exchanges they were not seeing before.

So yes this was directly from Store Manager and I was not allowed to take a photo with my new TB device because it is corporate company policy information. Take it for what you want but they are taking the validity of issues to be serious issue when going forward after April 1st for exchange of new devices and of course used.

I ordered through BB and they give 30 days exchange for a new TB.

[iLLusive]

If you exchanged the device 6 times in two weeks, I'd tell you that too.

Yeah cause it's my fault there is issues with my phone right? *rolls eyes* I paid $250 x 3 so far so you can take your attitude elsewhere I was more then within my right. They could of declined it every time and they said it was valid problems.

[fattony666#ac]

Am I the only one around here that thinks light leakage is no reason to return a phone? How exactly does a little bit of light from the bottom buttons impair usage enough to warrant a new device? The only "light leakage" I have is only visible when I look down on those buttons from a roughly 60 degree angle. How is that a problem? I never came close to even thinking about a replacement for that reason. If someone wants to enlighten me as to how this could be a deal breaker, I'd love to hear it.

[lovy]

Am I the only one around here that thinks light leakage is no reason to return a phone? How exactly does a little bit of light from the bottom buttons impair usage enough to warrant a new device? The only "light leakage" I have is only visible when I look down on those buttons from a roughly 60 degree angle. How is that a problem? I never came close to even thinking about a replacement for that reason. If someone wants to enlighten me as to how this could be a deal breaker, I'd love to hear it.

Hi Fattony,

some people have worse issue's than others with light leakage showing through the bottom of their phone, for some they can basically see clear through it, that's scary because not only do you see the light leakage but the possibility of dust getting through is what i think most people are concerned with. I have light leakage at the bottom but chose to keep my phone due to it doesn't bother me that much and too afraid to replace and get a dud lol. Hope this helps

[iLLusive]

Am I the only one around here that thinks light leakage is no reason to return a phone? How exactly does a little bit of light from the bottom buttons impair usage enough to warrant a new device? The only "light leakage" I have is only visible when I look down on those buttons from a roughly 60 degree angle. How is that a problem? I never came close to even thinking about a replacement for that reason. If someone wants to enlighten me as to how this could be a deal breaker, I'd love to hear it.

Had mine been only viewable by looking at crazy strange angles I would agree with you. Have you actually seen the threads with photos showing this issue that is not how you precieve it? Mine was had a LINE on top of menu bottom once and other time was 3 times the size of a pin hole under menu / back arrow button that could be seen looking straight at device. Now don't get me wrong I don't mind a small issue but when you add that to another 1 or 2 additional things on a BRAND new high end phone when OTHERS are having no issues you desire one of those phones. I did not pay good money for my phone to look like it was assembled by monkeys but hey to each their own.

[fattony666#ac]

Alright, you got me. I actually haven't seen the pictures of the leakage you are talking about. I see your point and have to agree. I guess I've just always been lucky to get good builds in the past. Best of luck getting a solid device like mine. It is really a joy.

[AndroidXTC]

Ok first off I know the whole "cool story bro" this was told to me as I exchanged for my 6th device today and was shown the new policy going into effect April 1st. So if you have ANY issues that warrant an exchange I urge you to complete them before April 1st. I was shared this information because as of April 1st is when my 14 days runs out and if I did an exchange of the 1st I would possibly be liable under the new terms if they found no valid issues with the device according to there procedures even if I felt there was valid issues.

All exchanges will be handled same as previously but customers will be informed upon exchange if the device is found to have NOTHING wrong with it and you abused the process you will be billed directly to your account $400.00 for the value of the device cost loss to Verizon. They are trying to cut down on folks exchanging new high end devices for no real valid reasons and costing them tons of money. Process is simple that they can not get credit or there investment back from phone manufacture if they device has no real issues. So then the device goes into the warranty replacement stock, which obviously has some use and they get partial investment back for the resell. Yet they are out hundreds on each device and they trend has been with recent devices for valid or not valid reasons they have seen skyrocking ammounts of exchanges they were not seeing before.

So yes this was directly from Store Manager and I was not allowed to take a photo with my new TB device because it is corporate company policy information. Take it for what you want but they are taking the validity of issues to be serious issue when going forward after April 1st for exchange of new devices and of course used.

These policys make me laugh. The only way Verizon can get $400 out of anyone is if they give it to them. They can certainly ask for it but I wont give it to them. I will keep the bad handset port to another carrier and tell Verizon where to shove there bill. Let them send it to collections there is still nothing they can do and even the credit history dng from a cell phone company is virtually meaningless.

[Edwill86]

Wow! it seems the quality control guy at HTC when your bolts came off the line was blind.

I am truly sorry for your bad luck so far. I wish you the best of luck.. 6th time is the charm!

[pheatton]

I would think this would have to be something that all VZW customers would have to formally notified of before it goes into effect.

This is just asking for a lawsuit IMO.

[lovy]

I ordered from BB and like the fact that they give 30 days from purchase for a new device, not that I am having any problems with my phone, it's just nice to have that as an option.

[SPD]

Correct

1. Light leaked
2. Light leaked / Power saving feature was hardlocking phone into 1x
3. Light leaked / ear piece was not straight / Power saving issue again
(Had one in between that had no functional power button but was never activated)
4. Light leaked / Accts & Sync not saving settings on shutdown
5. Light leaked / None flat screen was almost 1/8 inch uneven on right side

Does your 6th one still have the light leakage?

[jamesbecker79]

Am I the only one around here that thinks light leakage is no reason to return a phone? How exactly does a little bit of light from the bottom buttons impair usage enough to warrant a new device? The only "light leakage" I have is only visible when I look down on those buttons from a roughly 60 degree angle. How is that a problem? I never came close to even thinking about a replacement for that reason. If someone wants to enlighten me as to how this could be a deal breaker, I'd love to hear it.

I don't understand this comment. If it's not a deal breaker for you (it happens to not be for me), then cheers. However, a part of the selling point of a phone is aesthetic. Some may feel that the light leak effects the aesthetics, therefore the phone is not the value they bargained for, so back it goes.

And to this thread in general (and actually message boards in general), I don't understand all the hating. All the OP did was share an experience. Why do some people feel the need to flame, insult, question how many phones he returned, why, etc. He wasn't looking for that.

[dbdynsty25]

Far as I'm concerned, and have experience with, there are two different light leaks that aren't "As Designed". The two lights that sit on the bottom of your screen when you look down on them are perfectly normal. As designed.

The two cases that are NOT normal are the one where you can look directly at your menu buttons at the bottom and see a little line of light between menu/home and between back/search. It's almost like they didn't paint the underside of the glass, down far enough to hide that completely. I've seen four Thunderbolts in my house and two of the four had these lines. My wife doesn't notice it and doesn't care about those things, so she's keeping hers, but it annoys the hell out of me so I exchanged mine. In fact, I haven't even told her I notice it on hers because I don't want to point it out to her so that SHE notices it.

The second issue is the little filler bar underneath the glass...if that gap down there is even slightly off, you'll see a couple of specs of light right under the glass (and above the plastic). This one is pretty difficult to see unless you are in complete darkness and are looking at weird angles. This is on each of my four Thunderbolts I've seen, but it doesn't bother me at all because you can't see it looking straight at the device.

[jcastag]

how about this VZW and HTC. How about you take the responsibilty for NOT having good quality control of your product instead of passing the hit onto your customers. The light leakage is OBVIOUSLY an issue, and I find it IMPOSSIBLE that nobody at HTC or VZW saw this during testing or production of the handset. They clearly new about it, and chose to ignore it in the hopes of saving the money and time it would cost to retool and FIX it before going on sale. They didnt take responsiblity now, so F THEM!!

Now they can eat the cost to replace handsets that are defective from the factory.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT CARRIERS AND MANUFACTURERS KNOW THAT WE WILL NOT ACCEPT GARBAGE PRODUCTS!!

ANYONE THAT HAS ANY ISSUE WITH THEIR PHONE SHOULD RETURN IT!! THIS IS A $600 DEVICE, OR A $250 WITH A 2 YEAR CONTRACT!

[iLLusive]

Does your 6th one still have the light leakage?

Nope no light leaking on this one and no issues with earpiece of screen been not on straight. They did point out they had just receieved this batch and showed me the new TB on box had Green and Yellow dot on box and all previous shipments had Green dots. Also when I went to Bestbuy to get my Zagg shield switched over I asked if I could see their supply and he showed me all boxed only had Green dot. So here is to hoping I got a second generation build or at least updated from orginal batch.

[DROIDFREAK]

Am I the only one around here that thinks light leakage is no reason to return a phone? How exactly does a little bit of light from the bottom buttons impair usage enough to warrant a new device? The only "light leakage" I have is only visible when I look down on those buttons from a roughly 60 degree angle. How is that a problem? I never came close to even thinking about a replacement for that reason. If someone wants to enlighten me as to how this could be a deal breaker, I'd love to hear it.

Because when you watch the Verizon thunderbolt commercials that come on 95 times a day, they don't really say " hey come in in and grab this sleek new device that does all of this cool S#!&, and ........It has this sweet "unfinished" look where light shines through the freaking buttons!!!!!!!! and its only 250.00 (if you qualify for promotional pricing)....


Thats why

sorry

[KingChicago]

I see nothing wrong with a policy that causes people who abuse exchange periods to have to pay...it costs VZW money to keep refurbing these phones. 6 is alot. I would charge you too.

[jamesbecker79]

I see nothing wrong with a policy that causes people who abuse exchange periods to have to pay...it costs VZW money to keep refurbing these phones. 6 is alot. I would charge you too.

So if they sell you 5 subpar devices you should keep the 6th so you're not a bother?

[jmz768]

You should never buy anything again if you're that damn anal about a little light leakage. I'm OCD as hell and the light leakage doesn't even bother me.