HTC One: Here's the SKINNY on the infamous PURPLE TINT (thermal defect)

[TimmyB]

Seriously, they took 3 weeks to send me an entirely different phone with the same exact purple tint problem. Ridiculous.

AND it just up and died while running spotify and charging while driving Weds morning. Went silent, black, charging light still on, no way to wake it up. Unplugged it, and the light took forever to finally go off (no idea specifically how long because I was driving) but still nothing. Plugged it back in, no light, nothing. Went to two sprint stores (one without and with a repair center) to see if they could help. But I didn't have sprint's warranty, so they couldn't do more. I had a worth ave group plan on it, but with a new serial number on this phone than the one I have on file with worth ave, I doubt they could even do anything. And I wasn't about to be without a phone for another 3 weeks - I have finals next week, my mom is in the hospital, I really need to be reached and reach others when I don't have wifi and facebook messaging around. I have been upgrade eligible for a little while so I gave up and upgraded to the LG G3. I didn't go for the S6 because I think a battery pull would've really helped with the M7 straight up dying situation. And I'm kind of strapped for cash right now and hate the idea of leasing so I was going for something closer to $200 than $300 or more with cash, and that was the G3. I was hoping to hold onto the M7 for another year while saving up and watching for a flagship phone that would've been more of an upgrade and would have more than another year of updates coming, especially since I like holding onto phones a while. And if I had held onto my old phone, the one I initially sent into HTC, I doubt this would've happened. It had no issues besides purple camera and capactive back button not working. Whatever was refurbished on the one they sent back to me clearly just crapped out again after I had it for maybe two weeks. So, huge thanks to HTC's repair department! Ugh.

I already miss the front facing speakers. And the size. And sense's fluidity compared to occasional lagginess of LG's skin. I was totally sold on HTC before this whole comedy of errors.

I finally got mine back on Tuesday (four days ago). It was my original phone, not a replacement. I have gone through software hell, trying to get it back to where I had it. Neither my Google nor htc backups worked, so I had to re-install all of my apps, manually, and of course, all of their settings! Yuck.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, and the pressure that puts you under, as if finals weren't enough! Good luck to you with both.

Hopefully, the G3 will grow on you. In the meantime, since you have another phone, why don't you start a new repair ticket with htc, and see if you can get this one fixed for real this time? Then, you could still use it as a backup, or even switch over to it full time, if you want.

 

[digitallove]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing. I just really don't want to pay for the fix or even shipping it there since it is out of warranty and over two weeks since I got the replacement phone so I'm not sure if they'd be willing to do that, but I do want to ask. My old backup phone was a rooted lg optimus s and I somehow lost the microsd in it (which had the rom and everything on it) so it's basically a paperweight. Things would've been way, way less stressful if I had a working backup phone! I do want the one fixed if only for that.

The G3 is growing on me, I just made a very hasty decision that day to upgrade with little research and part of me wonders if I should've read more reviews and stuff. But I do like it. It also has sprint spark, which is both good and bad (faster, but GPS won't work while on a call unless you're on wifi). I'm excited that it can easily enable wireless charging! And I'm getting some NFC stickers - never used em with the One but I might as well learn tasker and get a car mode and a home mode and a class mode enabled. But it is a nice phone! Just miss those speakers every time I play sound now, ah well.

 

[elmspace]

Hi guys, so I guess join the purple tint club. I just contact HTC live chat, they said the free repair does not include Canada and it is only united states, so I kept saying that they should fix it and the agent told me that someone will contact me in few days who can actually help me, and he ask escalated my ticket, what ever that mean. I was wondering, what should I be expecting? the only fear I have is sending the device in and then them holding it hostage for inspection fees, if they decide not to repair it for free. anyway, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

[Mohammad_Ahmed]

If they make you pay for it then ask for the Supervisor or something, call them.

 

[Mitch Diamond]

I wore a one star review on CNET about this problem with Zoe and how it ruined my camera. The developers told me to email them and they would help me fixi . I emailed them and so far got no response. This stinks.

 

[kaushal101]

I bought an M7 on ebay UK, and it arrived with purple tint. Talked to HTC support (both email & chat), and they're saying the phone is just out of warranty (26th Sept 2015), and they would charge me to fix it. They're not giving an approx quote either. Tried to chat to two different guys, and they're not budging. Even tried to request them to talk to their manager. No luck. Any suggestions please?

 

[rozroz]

i wonder,
how will i SELL the phone when i'll need to??
maybe put it in the freezer before the buyer comes in?

this is ridiculous..

 

[posttal]

I know this is an older article but I wanted to add something... Today is Jan 2 2016...I purchased a used HTC M7 the other day from a user on Facebook and when I got it home noticed the purple tint issue...the facebook buyer has me blocked and I assume he knew of the problem and pretty much scammed me. After reading this posting I contacted HTC about 15 min's ago and as soon as I mentioned the purple tint issue she said they would send me a shipping ticket in an e-mail and all the information to send it in and it would be repaired at NO COST. The IMEI number on my phone...which they ask for...shows my phone as being just over 2 years old...well out of any warranty. So guys there is hope for all those with this issue.

 

[G_Scott]

Did you call or chat?

I know this is an older article but I wanted to add something... Today is Jan 2 2016...I purchased a used HTC M7 the other day from a user on Facebook and when I got it home noticed the purple tint issue...the facebook buyer has me blocked and I assume he knew of the problem and pretty much scammed me. After reading this posting I contacted HTC about 15 min's ago and as soon as I mentioned the purple tint issue she said they would send me a shipping ticket in an e-mail and all the information to send it in and it would be repaired at NO COST. The IMEI number on my phone...which they ask for...shows my phone as being just over 2 years old...well out of any warranty. So guys there is hope for all those with this issue.

 

[ghent96]

What person(s) did you guys talk to, that were successful in getting this fixed under warranty or for free?
I talked with a "Trish" at 1-866-449-8358 and she's sounding like there's going to be a cost for the purple camera fix.
I understand it's not her job description to give me a quote or make any promise, but I'd like a bit more certainty. They'll have someone else call back from a "back office" or higher up position of authority within 24 hours...

 

[y2jdmbfan]

Do you think I should re-flash the stock AT&T software before I send mine in for repair?

 

[ghent96]

no point to that, imo. They'll wipe it anyways, most likely, and they're more concerned with hardware, not software.

 

[ghent96]

i wonder,
how will i SELL the phone when i'll need to??
maybe put it in the freezer before the buyer comes in?

this is ridiculous..

The freezer doesn't work.
...don't ask... ;p

 

[pa0o]

same problem here with lower light it turns purple
it was okay in the begining
CCD is burned...
it fits with with your story thanks for sharing
Jaap

 

[pa0o]

in the freezer until the doctors find a cure...