Does Verizon check for root if you return te device?

[loganmo]

i was wondering if verizon checks for root or unclocked bootloader when you are returning the device. i am sort of on the fence about this phone and feel that installing a custom rom will solve some of my problems (battery life) and truly unleash the potential of this phone. Any help is appreciated.



thank you!

 

[twindragons187]

i was wondering if verizon checks for root or unclocked bootloader when you are returning the device. i am sort of on the fence about this phone and feel that installing a custom rom will solve some of my problems (battery life) and truly unleash the potential of this phone. Any help is appreciated.



thank you!

with the gnex, at boot up, the google one, at the bottom, shows a lock thats unlocked. so i believe they will know if they reboot the device. or if they look at the software. but don't be on the fence, unlock/root the device. if you still have problems, relock/unroot and take it back. its not hard and only takes a few minutes to do.

also, on a side note, the extended battery for the gnex is half off right now at verizon, it doesn't add bulk and can be used with normal cases.

 

[digitalslacker]

Generally speaking if any of my phones are hosed up and I'm thinking about exchanging it then as part of my troubleshooting, before I call VZW or head into a store, I'm going to completely restore the thing to stock first just to rule out something I did.
If the phone's stock, unrooted and locked and it's still having an issue then it's their software or the hardware.

I've flat out told VZW before that I used the factory images and returned it to stock before I called and most of the reps will even skip their normal troubleshooting step of making me do another factory reset.

 

[theAnj]

Generally speaking if any of my phones are hosed up and I'm thinking about exchanging it then as part of my troubleshooting, before I call VZW or head into a store, I'm going to completely restore the thing to stock first just to rule out something I did.
If the phone's stock, unrooted and locked and it's still having an issue then it's their software or the hardware.

I've flat out told VZW before that I used the factory images and returned it to stock before I called and most of the reps will even skip their normal troubleshooting step of making me do another factory reset.

Same here, though I've never told them that I "returned it to stock", I just don't mention anything about ROMs, as admitting that can get your warranty voided. I do tell them, however, that I've already done a factory reset and the issue still persists. This, as you said, makes the Customer Service Rep immediately send you to Tech Support where they pretty much will start the process of getting a warranty phone (in my experiences.) Had to do this earlier this month to get my phone upgrade date moved up from Dec 29th so I could get the SGN.

But to the TS, they absolutely check. It voids warranty and it's really easy for them to spot.
A) Your bootloader will be unlocked, so when your phone is booted up, there's an "unlocked lock" icon underneath the "Google"
B) If you're rooted, you will have the Superuser application in the drawer, or root-only apps
C) Kernels, Baseband and ROM versions are described in the "About Phone" in the Settings menu.

I know they check, because my brother has a Droid 2 that has had a multitude of issues since the day he got it; I've gone with him each time to a store to get a new insurance/warranty phone (I'm the head of the account) and each and every time they check the "About Phone" section, for sure (the first time they tried calling him out on hacking it because the OS version was a mismatch, but it was because he hadn't updated it OTA, his phone was absolutely not hacked.)

Anyways
Unlocking the bootloader, rooting, roms, kernals and basebands... it's all relatively safe as it's very, very hard to brick the phone. It's also very easy to return back to 100% stock (there's a stock unrooted flashable ROM floating around and locking the bootloader is just as easy as unlocking it.) If you're anything like me, you will have all the tools and files set aside/on hand for when they're needed.

 

[Jdm4292]

When I boot my nexus doesn't have any lock symbols its been.that way since I purchased it

 

[digitalslacker]

When I boot my nexus doesn't have any lock symbols its been.that way since I purchased it

Right, you are still locked
the icon only shows up when you are unlocked.

 

[dsfarag]

No, when I used to be with Verizon, I bricked a phone and also switched between phones and had full cyo mod roms on it and they didn't say anything. 99% of the doobies working at any wireless carrier location have no idea what a root even does!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[digitalslacker]

No, when I used to be with Verizon, I bricked a phone and also switched between phones and had full cyo mod roms on it and they didn't say anything. 99% of the doobies working at any wireless carrier location have no idea what a root even does!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

yeah, most don't care...
but they could care...and it could void it...so it's safer to clean it up first.

I also do it out of principle because I don't want some dummy to get it and say the custom ROM is the reason the mic stopped working...when that's probably not the case. Helps stop them from blaming hardware issues on custom ROMs.

 

[theAnj]

No, when I used to be with Verizon, I bricked a phone and also switched between phones and had full cyo mod roms on it and they didn't say anything. 99% of the doobies working at any wireless carrier location have no idea what a root even does!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

Interesting. Yea, my experiences have been different. I'd still wouldn't risk it though; if your phone does have a hardware issue and the warranty gets voided because you went to/spoke with the wrong person, you're out a lot of money.

 

[reidoreilly]

with the gnex, at boot up, the google one, at the bottom, shows a lock thats unlocked. so i believe they will know if they reboot the device. or if they look at the software. but don't be on the fence, unlock/root the device. if you still have problems, relock/unroot and take it back. its not hard and only takes a few minutes to do.

also, on a side note, the extended battery for the gnex is half off right now at verizon, it doesn't add bulk and can be used with normal cases.

I wouldnt exactly call that battery they have on sale "extended", or maybe im just not looking in the right place.

 

[digitalslacker]

I wouldnt exactly call that battery they have on sale "extended", or maybe im just not looking in the right place.

1750mAh vs 2100mAh, that's extended...

I like it...doesn't add much bulk to the design at all...the (not awesome) car dock VZW has it fits fine in with the extended battery.

I'm sure some people would probably want more juice but I kinda like that it doesn't compromise the design at all.

 

[loganmo]

Thanks for all the help guys I think what i am going to do is unlock and root, and if i decide i can always unroot and lock.

 

[mannw1977]

I returned phones rooted and loaded with a rom. 3? by the way. Lol! As long as it boots your good. All they do is hook it up to a computer and wipe it.

 

[twindragons187]

1750mAh vs 2100mAh, that's extended...

I like it...doesn't add much bulk to the design at all...the (not awesome) car dock VZW has it fits fine in with the extended battery.

I'm sure some people would probably want more juice but I kinda like that it doesn't compromise the design at all.

I thought the gnex came with a 1850mah.......

 

[oxidant11]

so I work for them and at least in my store there is only two of us that would recognize it being rooted (and wouldn't care) but some always have there suspicions because they don't recognize something, one of my fellow workers replaces a nexus with the unlock symbol so yeah your probably safe but its easy to lock and unroot, if you find you can't do so when needing a replacement go to a store instead of calling because tech support can see your current software version and if its a rom they will know it, most in store reps won't know the difference.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Ian Hoag]

If the phone does not start, is there any way they can tell that it was rooted?

 

[iFebby]

Yes there is tools to check even if phone is bricked. Does Verizon have them to check? Probably not since they probably ship off defective phones to samsung but I know Samsung does check if you send in directly for repair.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[KWKSLVR]

In my experience, yes. My original GNex had the radio package completely die. To be on the safe side, I flashed back to stock completely and relocked the BL to see if it would magically make a difference. Of course it didn't, and I took it to the local VZW store. They did the normal pointless exercises like rebooting, swapping Sims, factory resets. I just played dumb the entire time. They resorted to calling Technical Support. The first instructions tech support gave was to go into About Phone and read off the Android version, OS, and build number. Then the tech started taking the store employee through the process of booting into the bootloader and recovery (which was painful to watch because the dude couldn't figure it out). The FIRST question I could tell that was asked was if the Bootloader was locked. Now, maybe it's because the Galaxy Nexus is a "Developer Device" and they don't treat all devices equally, but yes, they checked.

It really surprised me.