Intrepid Disassembly

[splautz]

Being that there is a 1-year warranty on the Intrepid and the fact it was released less than a year ago, they didn't ask me anything regarding when it was purchased. All they needed was the serial number I think. Who knows if they have certain serials tagged as refurbished or not. But even if so, then they might ask you for more info. I kind of doubt it though.

[psiefer]

Originally Posted by Del30

Yeah Sprint Repair center will most likely just try to Hard Reset it to see if it was just "digital" dust. those people, for the most part, are trigger happy for that hard reset.

So a couple things,
1. If you open your phone your warranty is void and even having an equipment service plan (ESRP) won't help you. Your phone will most likely be flagged as non repairable in the store. If you have TEP, which also includes insurance replacement through Asurion, then you could get the whole device replaced for a $100 deductible, but that is all unecessary...just don't open your phone.

2. If you take it to a qualified repair center (preferably a corporate store and not a third party repair shop) they can, and almost always will, clean out dust under the screen and other small issues that do not involve replacement parts. However, if you just have a beat up housing or scratched screen/camera lens cover, that is considered cosmetic and is not covered under any service plan. Repariable items are warranty issues (button failure, garbled lcd, etc) and damage that causes the phone to malfunction (cracked screen etc.)

3. The reason techs jump on the hard reset option so often is that the majority of the time, people have jacked up a setting somewhere or installed something bizarre that causes intermittent issues so instead of spending 5 hours pinpointing the issue, they wipe it and call it good, lesson learned. Don't fiddle with things you don't understand and they don't have to put you back at square one. What happens on Mario Bros. when you run into an enemy? You start the level over.

Now, all that being said, if you ask nicely and don't just assume that they HAVE to help you, the majority of technicians will swap your housing as a courtesy IF they have a spare in the back. If not, you're out of luck, cuz they can't order those parts, the phone is end of life (EOL) anyway and economically speaking (from the company's perspective) you're better off with an upgrade regardless. Just remember to be polite. Technicians are people too, and compared to the sales people (who are usually souless flesh rending maniacs who only see dollar signs when you walk in), the Techs are really on your side. See, they don't make big money off commission so the only reason they still work for the company is usually because they genuinely like solving problems and helping people. (There are exceptions to every rule, but remember, those folks are exceptions, not the standard)

~Reefdog

[mulhiny]

Originally Posted by psiefer

However, if you just have a beat up housing or scratched screen/camera lens cover, that is considered cosmetic and is not covered under any service plan. Repariable items are warranty issues (button failure, garbled lcd, etc) and damage that causes the phone to malfunction (cracked screen etc.)

Physical damage and cracked screens are indeed covered under the new TEP..check it out.


Support - Article

edit : I think I misunderstood your post , but I'll leave the info here anyway.

[Dshults]

hey i was having the same problem. I got the 4 screws out but i couldn't get the phone to come apart. I put my finger nail in between the shiny grey and the black plastic on the side and just slide it from the top to the bottom. This popped the side off instantly so i popped the other side off and then did the same thing on the top and bottom and it separated easily

[vindication]

Did you successfully replace the screen and digitizer? I am about to attempt this and wanted to know if anyone successfully replaced their screen and digitizer