Experiences with HTC manufacturers warranty

[Mr_Alexander]

I have my service through Alltel. When my first TP had a problem with the screen I took it into the store to show a rep & see what I needed to do. He helped me fill out a warranty return form & set up for my exchange by mail. I got my new (I checked) TP in 3 days & all I had to do was mail my original back. No hassle at all. No cost to me at all.

I recently damaged that one badly & had to use my insurance to replace it. Cost me a $95(!) deductable but I was given a completely new TP in the box. Again I went into an Alltel store.

GOD I'm GONNA MISS ALLTEL!!

[mrrogers1]

Originally Posted by mikey1234

do you have insurance on the phone? b/c i dont

Yes but it doesn't matter, within the year of purchase, if it's a defect you shouldn't be paying for NOR waiting for a replacement.

[darnell]

Not good to hear sending the device to HTC is sometimes less than helpful, but I guess if the device fails their tests they'll fix it.

According to these Sprint help pages, without insurance or their repair plan, they don't owe a customer anything. Not even free processing of a manufacturer warranty issue.

How do I replace my device under the manufacturer's warranty?

How much will my repair or replacement cost?

In the event of a problem, sounds like the $55 is the most hassle free method when you don't have insurance or a repair plan.

[Glitch4583]

Mine's out right now to see if they'll replace it with a unit that won't overheat in 15 minutes. *crosses fingers* Knowing my luck though, I'll get the same one back that with a "p***** all test" sheet on it.....bah!

- Glitch

[mrrogers1]

Originally Posted by darnell

Not good to hear sending the device to HTC is sometimes less than helpful, but I guess if the device fails their tests they'll fix it.

According to these Sprint help pages, without insurance or their repair plan, they don't owe a customer anything. Not even free processing of a manufacturer warranty issue.

How do I replace my device under the manufacturer's warranty?

How much will my repair or replacement cost?

In the event of a problem, sounds like the $55 is the most hassle free method when you don't have insurance or a repair plan.

Truth be told, the BEST replacement/warranty plan out there is what you get from Best Buy. They charge $10 a month for their plan and it's really no questions asked and NO FEE to replace either.

I got my phone from BB and didn't realize what a great deal that was until my buddy did the same and had an issue with the phone. It got ran over and all he did was take the busted phone in, and was out the door with a new one at no charge in under 20 minutes.

*Not sure how the "stolen device" replacement works (which is just $55 from Sprint) but defective/physically damaged replacement is a sweet deal.

[darnell]

Originally Posted by mrrogers1

Truth be told, the BEST replacement/warranty plan out there is what you get from Best Buy. They charge $10 a month for their plan and it's really no questions asked and NO FEE to replace either.

At a rate of $120/year it makes sense that they don't have a deductible. A bit higher than I'm caring to pay.

[gameday22]

Originally Posted by mikey1234

I'd like to hear peoples opinions on how good/bad an experience they had with the manufacturers warranty (Touch Pro preferably).

I've had the phone a month and a half and the hardware keyboard is shot. I had it flashed to a custom rom, now i have it back to stock and relocked. I dont have insurance through sprint but they will replace it with a refurbished touch pro overnight if i go through them for $55... basically what do people think of sending it to HTC? do they try to fix urs or do they just send u out a replacement? would it be refurb or new? how long does it take? is it free besides paying for shipping expense?

any input is appreciated

My experience with HTC direct for any sort of assistance has been poor at best, they seem to push blame for anything off onto the carrier. On the other hand Sprint has been very helpful in getting my devices replaced when it stopped working correctly for me (my volume down key kept getting stuck on the 1st one forcing the phone into silent mode and not allowing the phone to go to sleep which drained the battery at an alarming rate). The 2nd phone kept randomly restarting or hard locking 5+ times a day.

I pay my $7/month for the Sprint ESP insurance plan, normally it charges you a $50-100 deductible to replace a broken unit with a refurbished one, but this is the 2nd HTC Touch Pro that they have replaced with a brand new one each time and waived the fee (your mileage may vary). I guess it depends on how sympathetic of a customer service rep you get, both of mine have been excellent to say the least. They replaced both broken phones via overnight service. The reps even told me to keep the batteries each time and all of the accessories....top notch service in my book, it seems Sprint is doing everything it can to keep their customers satisfied.


Really looking forward to the new Palm Pre...wish that it would come out already lol.....but then again I would rather wait if it means they will tweak stuff more before releasing it in some sort of a "rush" to start making sales and wind up bringing a substandard device to the market.

[mikey1234]

Originally Posted by gameday22

My experience with HTC direct for any sort of assistance has been poor at best, they seem to push blame for anything off onto the carrier. On the other hand Sprint has been very helpful in getting my devices replaced when it stopped working correctly for me (my volume down key kept getting stuck on the 1st one forcing the phone into silent mode and not allowing the phone to go to sleep which drained the battery at an alarming rate). The 2nd phone kept randomly restarting or hard locking 5+ times a day.

I pay my $7/month for the Sprint ESP insurance plan, normally it charges you a $50-100 deductible to replace a broken unit with a refurbished one, but this is the 2nd HTC Touch Pro that they have replaced with a brand new one each time and waived the fee (your mileage may vary). I guess it depends on how sympathetic of a customer service rep you get, both of mine have been excellent to say the least. They replaced both broken phones via overnight service. The reps even told me to keep the batteries each time and all of the accessories....top notch service in my book, it seems Sprint is doing everything it can to keep their customers satisfied.

wow, i thought i had my mind made up that i was going to send it back to the manufacturer, however, ur post is making me really think about getting sprint to replace my phone for $55 (b/c i'm not currently insured) and then i will be allowed to sign up for the TEP or whatever insurance

[gameday22]

I am not sure if they will let you do it that way. I have always had the optional insurance on the phones just in case something like this ever happened. What they did for me was waive the deductible costs as a matter of customer relations/service.

I think the insurance has either a 30 or 60 day grace period before 1st use, though I am not 100% sure on that. The deductibles just increased from $55 to $100-110 this month (the Touch Pro is considered a top tier phone and has the highest deductible payment on it). The monthly insurance cost remained the same at $7. You must have the insurance in order for them to do this, it is not something you can purchase after the fact.


Best of luck to you, hope everything works out.

[mrrogers1]

Originally Posted by darnell

At a rate of $120/year it makes sense that they don't have a deductible. A bit higher than I'm caring to pay.

$84 + deductible and seemingly serious hassle (not for me though) vs. $110 and NO HASSLE for sure.

Easy choice I think.