Pixel 3 bricked from Anker wireless stand - local shop cannot find problem

[tori729]

My Pixel 3 was working perfectly fine when I put it on the Anker wireless charging stand two nights ago that I have been using for a few months.
When I woke up in the morning, the phone was completely unresponsive. No lights, nothing at all.
I took it to the local UbreakIfix store. They tried virtually everything their shop could find (assuming first that it was under warranty - so they tried a lot more than they would have I think). They can't figure out what's wrong with it at all.

It's not in warranty. It was a perfectly working phone that I paid $300 for.
I could send it to Google to see if they can find an answer for me.
The ONLY thing I can think is the charger. There are a couple random reviews online that it bricked their phone too. I can contact Anker but I doubt they would be buying me a new phone.
I've had two Pixels with no issues like this. Never had a phone completely die like this.

I'm beyond confused.
And at this point, I think I'll probably wait until the 4a is released and just buy it new w/ warranty and no wireless charging for me!

 

[mustang7757]

might need try factory reset in recovery or flash the firmware again

 

[B. Diddy]

I assume you've already tried pressing and holding Power for at least 30 seconds, right?

Any phone can potentially fail -- it could be the battery or the motherboard, or possibly the circuitry connecting the charging port with the rest of the phone. I'd suspect that your use of the wireless charger was coincidence.

 

[tori729]

Accidentally didn't post this in the forum, whoops, not sure where it's exactly posted lol

My Pixel 3 was working perfectly fine when I put it on the Anker wireless charging stand two nights ago that I have been using for a few months.
When I woke up in the morning, the phone was completely unresponsive. No lights, nothing at all.
I took it to the local UbreakIfix store. They tried virtually everything their shop could find (assuming first that it was under warranty - so they tried a lot more than they would have I think). They can't figure out what's wrong with it at all.

It's not in warranty. It was a perfectly working phone that I paid $300 for.
I could send it to Google to see if they can find an answer for me.
The ONLY thing I can think is the charger. There are a couple random reviews online that it bricked their phone too. I can contact Anker but I doubt they would be buying me a new phone.
I've had two Pixels with no issues like this. Never had a phone completely die like this.

I'm beyond confused.
And at this point, I think I'll probably wait until the 4a is released and just buy it new w/ warranty and no wireless charging for me!

ETA: I contacted Google. If I go through repair process they want me to authorize a $400 charge to fix it which is unacceptable. The chat rep said he would have a supervisor contact me.

The store I took it to is a Google certified store. They tried everything imaginable. I just don't understand what could have happened. Maybe the charging stand is coincidence but the guy at the store said no phone should ever do this.
I just wondered if anyone else has ever experienced this.
The store looked at the motherboard but nothing stood out to them as being out of place. I guess maybe they can't change that part? And at that point, it's not worth it anyway. I just want an answer, dangit!

 

[the_boon]

Hope you can get it resolved and hopefully all your data was being backed up to the cloud before it died.

And as for Google wanting $400 to fix a phone that can be found for under $300 used these days, that's just completely ridiculous.
Maybe they're taking advantage of the data on there that could be important to the owner.

 

[mustang7757]

[Merged duplicate threads ]

 

[Mike Dee]

Hope you can get it resolved and hopefully all your data was being backed up to the cloud before it died.

And as for Google wanting $400 to fix a phone that can be found for under $300 used these days, that's just completely ridiculous.
Maybe they're taking advantage of the data on there that could be important to the owner.

Unfortunately labor and parts costs are not always in line with replacement costs.

 

[tori729]

Thanks for the merge. The phone is completely nonfunctional. I'm sure they tried to flash a new rom and stuff. It appears very bricked lol.
My data was automatically backing up so I'm not worried about that.

 

[blackhawkhot]

Thanks for the merge. The phone is completely nonfunctional. I'm sure they tried to flash a new rom and stuff. It appears very bricked lol.
My data was automatically backing up so I'm not worried about that.

Could be a component failure including the CPU or a solder failure somewhere on the PCB.
Try charging by cable if you can... see if that gets it.
Otherwise new phone time for you sorry.

 

[tori729]

At this point, I just want to know what happened to it.
The Google rep I talked to forwarded the case to a manager who got back to me but clearly English isn't their first language. She said I could get it repaired at a "service partner" but didn't give me any options. I replied but I'm not sure if it will go straight to her.

Has anyone had any experience trying to talk to Google and just diagnosing the phone's problem? I want to know if I have a case for the charger. Because that's the last thing it was used for and this is the first phone I've used a wireless charger on. That's the ONLY unusual thing I can think of. I could wait until their phone lines open back up again... I feel like boycotting Google b/c of the horrible service I've received.

 

[blackhawkhot]

At this point, I just want to know what happened to it.
The Google rep I talked to forwarded the case to a manager who got back to me but clearly English isn't their first language. She said I could get it repaired at a "service partner" but didn't give me any options. I replied but I'm not sure if it will go straight to her.

Has anyone had any experience trying to talk to Google and just diagnosing the phone's problem? I want to know if I have a case for the charger. Because that's the last thing it was used for and this is the first phone I've used a wireless charger on. That's the ONLY unusual thing I can think of. I could wait until their phone lines open back up again... I feel like boycotting Google b/c of the horrible service I've received.

A component level or solder failure can happen at anytime. Manufacturing defects are inevitable.
They are constantly dropped and suffer environmental insults throughout their life.
It's amazing these miniature devices are as reliable as they are.
It will take hands on by skilled tech with the proper training and equipment most likely to diagnose/repair it ie factory level support.

 

[tori729]

A component level or solder failure can happen at anytime. Manufacturing defects are inevitable.
They are constantly dropped and suffer environmental insults throughout their life.
It's amazing these miniature devices are as reliable as they are.
It will take hands on by skilled tech with the proper training and equipment most likely to diagnose/repair it ie factory level support.

I guess it's just frustrating that no one seems to be able to help me and I'm completely SOL with this $300 phone.
I am careful with my phone. I take care of them. I've had lots of phones in my life and NEVER had one do this to me.
I'm unhappy that Google can't give me more support. They don't seem to care at all. It's all canned, all from someone foreign. I can't even talk to anyone b/c that's completely shut down which is asinine to me since it's PHONE support. You can't catch viruses through the phone...

This is Google's fault for making a phone that can do something as crazy as this.

 

[B. Diddy]

I understand this is frustrating, but any company would behave this way, since you didn't buy this phone brand new nor under warranty. This is why I always try to get phone insurance for used/refurbished devices (like from Square Trade or similar companies), because otherwise there's no other option besides paying full price for a repair shop.

 

[blackhawkhot]

If you can't send it in for warranty repair do so but short of that it sounds like it's now a parts queen.
Sorry

 

[Mike Dee]

I guess it's just frustrating that no one seems to be able to help me and I'm completely SOL with this $300 phone.
I am careful with my phone. I take care of them. I've had lots of phones in my life and NEVER had one do this to me.
I'm unhappy that Google can't give me more support. They don't seem to care at all. It's all canned, all from someone foreign. I can't even talk to anyone b/c that's completely shut down which is asinine to me since it's PHONE support. You can't catch viruses through the phone...

This is Google's fault for making a phone that can do something as crazy as this.

The harsh reality is that any device can fail at any time.

 

[blackhawkhot]

The harsh reality is that any device can fail at any time.

The main reason I get carrier variants and keep insurance of them until they are paid out
A good case is important because it limits the G loading on the internal components; it helps protect them as well.
Normally it takes hundreds of G's to damage them and the phone's outside covering adds a buffer zone.
This is no guarantee that a drop won't cause mobo or even chip level damage though.

Fortunately most manufacturers still use lead based solder otherwise failure rates be much higher.
A "lead free" electronic it's not a good thing... Thanks EU

 

[Mike Dee]

The main reason I get carrier variants and keep insurance of them until they are paid out
A good case is important because it limits the G loading on the internal components; it helps protect them as well.
Normally it takes hundreds of G's to damage them and the phone's outside covering adds a buffer zone.
This is no guarantee that a drop won't cause mobo or even chip level damage though.

Fortunately most manufacturers still use lead based solder otherwise failure rates be much higher.
A "lead free" electronic it's not a good thing... Thanks EU

If you keep carrier insurance for 2 years you could be at the same cost as a replacement phone once you factor in the deductible if you need to use it. The only advantage to some carrier warranties over buying extended protection direct from the OEM or aftermarket is that they cover loss or theft.

We all know a case is important but I doubt anyone really concerns themselves about G loading or what kind of solder is inside their device. It's just not something that most of us need to worry about.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I guess it's just frustrating that no one seems to be able to help me and I'm completely SOL with this $300 phone.
I am careful with my phone. I take care of them. I've had lots of phones in my life and NEVER had one do this to me.
I'm unhappy that Google can't give me more support. They don't seem to care at all. It's all canned, all from someone foreign. I can't even talk to anyone b/c that's completely shut down which is asinine to me since it's PHONE support. You can't catch viruses through the phone...

This is Google's fault for making a phone that can do something as crazy as this.

Honest question....did the wireless charging unit cause a lot of heat? The soldering inside could have been immaculate and excellently done, but heat is still heat, and softens solder

 

[tori729]

Honest question....did the wireless charging unit cause a lot of heat? The soldering inside could have been immaculate and excellently done, but heat is still heat, and softens solder

No, I never noticed the phone getting hot with it on there.
I had it in a Ringke case with an Anker magnetic sticker on the bottom (still charged with it on there). I would charge it that way.

I remember - earlier that day I had it outside in the sun for maybe 30 minutes. My son started using it right after that for an AR game that uses a lot of its memory. I saw a notification after that that it was going to power off b/c of the heat but I guess it never got hot enough b/c he said it never did that. It was just hot when he got it but then it cooled down. After that I charged it with a cord for a bit and used it normally the rest of the day. Then that night at around 11pm I put it on the wireless charger.

So - could a combination of these things cause failure? It was working normally all evening after the heat incident.

I contacted Anker and they want to help me figure it out. They are helping more than Google.

 

[B. Diddy]

I contacted Anker and they want to help me figure it out. They are helping more than Google.

It would make sense that Anker wants to help more -- they don't want the liability if their product is borking phones. Again, Google has no obligation to help if their device is out of warranty. If you were calling Anker about an Anker product that wasn't working any more and was out of warranty as well, I suspect they wouldn't help either.

Excessive heat is never a good thing for a phone, so it's certainly possible that what you describe contributed to the hardware failure. Perhaps it was related to the expansion/contraction of internal components from heating up and cooling down that weakened some connection, which then finally failed later that night. It could've been completely unrelated to the wireless charger, or perhaps the wireless charging was what caused things to finally tip over due to heating it up again (even though at a much lower degree than when it was out in the sun).