Note: This (very lengthy) list is provided as a quick reference, at no point should you go into your tech center and argue with your technicians because you read this list. Final discretion is always up to the technician. Any Liquid or Physical damage will nullify any authorization for repairs. /end note
This is just a quick reference for if you should or should not take your device in to your local friendly technician. This list should be a living list as guidelines for what can be fixed do change often. As I'm aware of them I will provide updates for the list, and if any other technicians have anything to add, have it added to the list! One last note, if I put something on here that we aren't authorized to fix, but your local technician does anyway, that is at his/her own discretion, and their stores charge back issues are their own. I'm just submitting the guidelines as they are provided to us.
I think the first thing I should cover here is TEP/ESP/ESRP and Asurion, what they are, what they do and what it means to you.
TEP: Total Equipment Plan – This insurance plan, and the one that I suggest the most, covers parts for your device, as well as replacement devices. This also allows you to file a claim with Asurion in the event of Liquid Damage and or Physical Damage.
ESP: Equipment Service Plan – Covers you in the event that you have to file with Asurion, that is it. Service fee's apply in the event that you need parts replaced, or a device ordered.
ESRP: Equipment Service and Repair Plan – Covers your parts and replacement phones, but if you get Liquid or Physical Damage, you are not covered by Asurion, and are out a phone.
Asurion: The insurance company, they are their own entity, and make their own guidelines. Sprint/Verizon/AT&T, so far as I know, really all carriers use them. We also have no control over the policies put into place by Asurion. A perfect example of this is that a few months ago I could replace cracked LCD's and or screens. Now, for any device, not just the Epic, we can't replace it if there are more than 2 cracks, or if they exceed an inch in length. I also get a lot of angry customers that want to take it out on us because the deductible for smart phones is $100.00 as opposed to the $50.00 that they are accustomed to. However, to be frank, it makes sense. Phones cost significantly more than $100.00, you paid 200 for your upgrade maybe, but it is still a $500.00 device, and buying one outright is going to burn up your pockets. Phones are more expensive to make, and because of this, deductibles are going to be more expensive – just like your car, the more expensive your car is, the higher your deductible will be. Which brings me to my next point...
REFURBISHED PHONES! - I see customers every single day that think they understand the system, and like, wanna stick it to the man, man. They think that throwing a temper tantrum in the waiting area will prevent us from ordering them refurbished phones, or yelling at Asurion over the phone in the store is going to get them a new device, or even into a whole separate device. It isn't going to change anything. You aren't bringing Sprint a brand new device that isn't working, they aren't going to send you a brand new device, except on rare occasions. If you have a device under 30 days that isn't working you have the right to exchange it for a new device. The same thing goes for Asurion, if you total your car they aren't going to give you the amount of money that you paid for your car, they are going to give you what your car is worth today, if you get a new car out of them, it will be a car that is worth the value of the vehicle you totaled, at the time you totaled it. Basically, you aren't turning in a brand new phone, so don't expect one.
Liquid Damage: Everyone freaks out when they hear this phrase. They take it to mean we are saying YOU WERE NEGLIGENT WITH YOUR PHONE, BE GONE. When in reality liquid damage is kind of a misleading name. It should really be called moisture damage. You didn't necessarily drop your phone in a puddle, but you did provide a way for moisture to get in your phone directly or indirectly. Do not take your phone in the bathroom with you when you shower, don't leave it on the bar when you're out having drinks, try to avoid getting caught out in the rain with it, and stop talking on your phones when you're taking a leak. People always look so upset when I refuse to touch their phone that they fished out of the urinal.
PS. Scraping your liquid indicator doesn't help – there are more than you know of, and it's an automatic flag in the system if we find your indicators have been removed.
Physical Damage: Cracked Housing, Shattered LCD, LCD separated from the keyboard, smashed phones, burned phones, really any variation of physically broken outside of missing keys is going to be considered physical damage.
Now on to the whole reason I figured I should make this list, a quick reference for what I see often with Samsung Epics and what our guidelines state on repairs, exchanges, and insurance claims. Hopefully it helps a couple of you when the frustration of your device malfunctioning starts to hit.
Cosmetic Issues:
Missing buttons, anything slightly cracked...basically anything that is broken and is simply cosmetic, is not covered for replacement. I do have compassion for some customers that just need a couple screws tightened, or a new back for their phone. However, that is my personal call as the technician using extra parts I happen to have.
Port Failure
if it's just port failure, and device is not charging, device is authorized for exchange. However, this is another issue that is at technicians discretion because if the charging port is broken off the board, it is an insurance claim. Thanks to kg6bki for asking the question that prompted me to add this to the list
Screen Issues:
Cracked screen: no more than two cracks, no more than an inch in length are authorized to be repaired, any more is an insurance claim.
Cracked LCD: Insurance Claim
Black/White/Blue/Garbled etc LCD: LCD is authorized to be replaced.
Screen flickers either randomly, or when opening/shutting keyboard: usually has something to do with the cable that connects your LCD to your board and can be easily replaced.
Dead Spots: LCD is authorized to be replaced
Unresponsive Screen: Calibration will be tried first, if does not fix, LCD is authorized to be replaced
Backlight out: LCD is authorized to be replaced
Keyboard:
Unresponsive keys: keypad can be replaced
Hitting keys brings up random screens: Factory Reset is the most likely course of action
Audio Issues:
Earpiece failure – Authorized for repair
Speaker Failure – Authorized for repair
Battery:
Not holding a charge: We can test it, but there are two types of test. The Cadex test, which basically test if the battery is able to gain a charge and send off a charge, takes about 45 seconds to do but isn't the most accurate. The other test is a 4 hour battery test, if the battery fails the store can replace it ONLY IF THE DEVICE IS STILL IN WARRANTY. If your device is out of warranty you will have to buy a new battery, batteries are not covered under insurance as they are considered it's own separate entity.
Note: Just because your battery life sucks doesn't mean you have a bad battery. It can also mean you don't know how to take care of your phone and have too much crap installed/running on your device. Smart phone does not mean superman phone, as awesome as the Epic is, it does still have limitations.
Software Issues:
This is most definitely, beyond the shadow of a doubt the number one reason I see devices coming in for service. These issues range from freezing, and unresponsiveness to power cycling and ghost dialing.
Software issues are some of the most frustrating and difficult things to actually troubleshoot. Is it that App you just installed on your phone, is it a fluke, is it liquid damage? I would say a huuuuuuge majority of these issues that I see are related to something customer driven (i.e. Apps (No. 1 offender), custom ROMS, liquid damage, messing with settings that they don't understand). Quite frankly a majority of smart phone users have absolutely NO idea how to take care of their devices. I don't blame the customer, I blame the sales reps for not educating them while selling them their devices.
To be honest Software issues a majority of time will be fixed by doing a factory reset, your technician doesn't have time to narrow down which app, or which setting, is causing your issue a majority of the time. We do know very fast things for some issues (texting issue, handcent app on there? Handcent has got to go!). Your best bet with this is to educate yourself BEFORE going on a app downloading spree, adjusting system settings, etc.
This is a list primarily for the Epic, although some parts of it can be applied to any sprint phone, smart phone or otherwise. Use common sense when operating your phone. Just because you THINK it should be able to do something doesn't mean that it actually should. Do some research, ask in the forums, don't just reach blindly into the dark and turn around horrified when you find you did something you can't undo.
If there is anything not on this list that you're curious about just ask, and if I don't know off hand it is extremely easy for me to find out!
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