yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HTC One S] Skillmister:
It shouldn't be just something to accept though. I'm not bothered about resale value and it doesn't affect the performance of the phone but it's just wrong.

I've had my previous phone (lg kc910) for 3 years it's got 2 minor scratches on the screen and the silver paint is wearing off the camera button. That's it. I've dropped it on pavement countless times and there is still barely any marks on the casing. Then HTC come along with this ultimate material and it is in worse condition than my 3 year old phone after a days use.
[HTC One S] Skillmister:
52 seconds in on the "Micro Arc Oxidation on HTC One S" youtube video :)

See what they say to that!
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
that was my answer to them, but they have not responded, and i had to close the dialogue to give them a customer service appraisal as well.

and we know how that went...
[HTC One S] onlyrider:
I've been using my One S for a month now without any case or pouch and it stills like new one, no coating issue as far... Except around the usb port.

Now i'm using a soft touch plastic case where the top and the bottom are not covered but still good as Day one

Serial num SH23 from Bouygues Télécom, french operator
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
do you find the chipping around the usb port acceptable?

if it chips around there, it will chip eventualy on the sharp edges on the top and bottom. i would cover those if i were you.
[HTC One S] jandari:
I got 2 OneS from amazon, and both had marks around USB out of the box. It was even corrected with a permanent marker, and it went away when cleaned with alcohol and you could see aluminium. Both the phones were factory packed and first opened by me, so HTC must done that when packed.

Both phones were also wery bad build from laggy speaker cover, marks on the plastic around the screen, morkson the SIM cover one even had a bad pixel. I returned them both and asked for a full refound. I will try my luck again by the end of June. Hope HTC improves the production process. Its unacceptable that is sells such issue full phone for that big money.
[HTC One S] kadison:
Sent my first one back after about 2 weeks with the coating coming away from the edge next to the volume rocker.

Replacement arrived today. Chipped out of the box :mad:

This is ridiculous. I'm going to have to pay AGAIN to post it back to clove.co.uk. If they can't guarantee a good one from a different batch I'm going to get a refund and wait until HTC sort this complete farce out.
[HTC One S] Skillmister:
Strangely the one i have now (my 2nd one) is flawless around the USB connector it is only the top edge that is chipping
[HTC One S] blind_gangsta:
Hi guys, first post...

Basically I bought the one S from eBay and the phone arrived in perfect condition however it has developed the chipping issues after I rooted it and flashed trickdroid's ROM. I have a backup of the original ROM.

Is it possible for me to flash it back to stock and un root it so that I can send it to HTC for warranty? I've had a look around but haven't found any tutorials specifically for the One S..

Thanks a lot.
[HTC One S] chic.geek:
This thread asks some of the same questions, though I don't think they had any definite answers:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1641317
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
For those that are still wondering.

There is going to be NO update from HTC

HTC denies that there is a problem with the phone's coating

People waiting for later phones will be dissapointed.

here are some answers from my correspondence with HTC:

When HTC is confronted with this thread:

Dear VP,

Thank you for providing me with the additional details to enable me to resolve your inquiry.

I can appreciate your frustration, however this has not been identified as a batch error or a manufacturing fault on these handsets.

We currently have no plans to change the manufacturing process.

The casing has a hardness near ceramic, but this does not mean that it cannot break, we have chosen to provide the replacements as a gesture to our customers.

In terms of the forums, I can guarantee that these 45 pages on XDA are actually quite a small number of people posting numerous times, in reply to each other.

Even IF each post was a different person, this would only be 450 people, when compared to the hundreds of thousand of HTC One S handsets that we have already sold, and continue to sell more each day, this is a VERY small proportion.

We do take customer feedback very seriously, and if we have any further information about this we will release it over our social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well on our website.

Sincerely,

P.

After telling them a good few weeks later on, but on the same conversation, that i have decided on a refund since HTC is still not admitting of the ceramic flaw and not willing to do anything about it, and apparently as you can see, they now have a different view of the issue!!

Dear VP,

Thank you for your reply.

This is considered cosmetic damage, and is not covered by warranty as it is user damage, I apologise but there is nothing more that can be done about this. I am able to arrange a chargeable comsetic repair for you but this will not be repaired in warranty.

Sincerely,

L.

I replied telling them that HTC themselves had advertised the phone as NOT needing a case!

Dear VP,

Thank you for your reply.

I am certain that at no point we have advertised that this device does not require a case. Can you please provide me with the link you read this on.

I am afraid that this is our policy regarding wear and tear, there is nothing more that I can personally do for you regarding this issue.

I apologise I am unable to help you resolve this.

L.

I provided the above guy with the HTC video of the micro arc oxidation and the appropriate time to look at, but then had to quit the conversation and grade it.

I am merely giving you all this evidence to allow you to know what you may end up getting as 'customer support' from this company.

I wish myself that the phone delivered, but it doesnt, and HTC wont give you any good news. So play your cards right and if you are considering waiting for an improvement, go for the grey, or another company!
[HTC One S] kadison:
So if it really is user damage, why did they agree to replace phones in the first place?

Something isn't right there!
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
exactly!

only as a good gesture!
[HTC One S] Skillmister:
So being placed in a pocket counts as user damage... :confused: Even when they say themselves it does not need a case!

Not happy with their response i'll be seriously considering a refund over the next week then however much i love the phone that's just not on
[HTC One S] Harrysoon:
I emailed HTC support about it and they said the new fixed batch are out, but it still doesn't stop them scratching altogether. I have a guy at Carphone Warehouse trying to find out more information about it as I'm the only one in the area who has gone in with the issue.

Quite annoying as more and more marks are appearing on the top of my phone.
[HTC One S] kadison:
Just the sort of miscommunication that drives me mad.

They should at least have the decency to tell the people with problem phones WHICH serial number range has been 'fixed'. According to HTC thousands of people don't have the problem therefore it won't make any difference releasing the information to people who do!
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
it drove me mad as well. I think they really need a good lawsuit to start getting them serious.

My refund has now gone through from my retailer so im happy with that. I have learned my lesson though. No matter how nice the phone looks, if the company backing it up sucks, then its best to leave it alone...
[HTC One S] qwerty warrior:
if they do this then they are confirming a recall

its better for the owner to replace it

if it was an issue
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
How can you say that?

why is it BETTER for the owner to just replace it and the company will just whistle casually as if nothing is wrong????

You are the first person i have seen in here actually being in favor of HTC. So nice! yes, its better for HTC to 'keep it quiet', a whole bunch of dissapointed owners nothing like the thousants that are happy, why should HTC do anything about it! Let them loose their money and value of a poor quality product, so that HTC doesnt lose face. Brilliant:mad::mad:
[HTC One S] biggles1000:
Jeez, what a bunch of *ssholes... So they deny their own advertising, they can't spell, they have no internal communication with each other, and they deny what may be a "small number of people", but with their so called 'maths', that's approx £400 per unit, max 730 people, that's £292,000 worth of flawed phones that they're disregarding. They may keep playing the "huh, it's just a few really angry people on a forum", but, be that as it may, there's undoubtedly hundreds of people who have this phone and either a) don't really use the internet so don't go on forums or notice and/or b) aren't that fussed about the damage and think it was their own fault. At least Apple had the common courtesy to apologise and provide a solution. They may have tried to compare every other phone manufacturer to be just as bad, by at least they fixed it. So what do HTC do? Disagree with themselves. I'm pretty sure that half their 'support' staff don't even know what phones HTC make, at least, that's the impression most of their dimwitted 'customer support' people seem to make.

This is my fourth and, if they don't fix this and apologise to all of us, final HTC phone. It may be thin, it may look nice. But its just as slow as my TP2, and the chipping is unacceptable, especially given their advertising claims.
[HTC One S] aras1:
mine one s got replaced by htc .. i received the new phone 3 days ago and no problems with the coating yet.

only issue is that the louder button is not perfectly placed.
[HTC One S] jandari:
What about around the USB port?
[HTC One S] LeszekSwirski:
For what it's worth, HTC acknowledged to both me and to Orange (who rang them on my behalf when I contacted Orange about it) that this was an issue they were aware of and looking into. Orange refused to replace the phone as it counts as cosmetic damage rather than a manufacturing flaw -- although the guy on the end of the line claimed that this was more about the bureaucracy of pigeonholing handset issues than denying that this is a manufacturing flaw -- but HTC were happy to have me send it in for repairs. Got it back today, same phone but now with no visible damage, we'll see how well it holds up.

So yeah, HTC's not all bad.
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
So you had to be left without a phone you just bought basically and had to wait for a replacement. How is that a good 400+GBP investment for you?

And is that what is going to need to happen for everytime it reoccurs?
[HTC One S] 18inch:
http://recombu.com/news/htc-one-s-black-vs-grey-video_M17620.html

btw we just got the HTC one S in Canada, and no carrier is offering the black One S, only grey/blue...

makes you wonder .......................
[HTC One S] hemingway60:
Apparently the whole coating is flawed, not just the sharp edges on top and around the micro USB slot. As you will see from the video below, even the backside chips at random places and around HTC's logo. This almost certainly confirms a serious flaw in the MAO process HTC is implementing or perhaps a too thin coating. I can't post the link as I don't have enough posts, but here is the title of the video, search it on youtube:

HTC One S - Ceramic metal Body deterioration - durable?

I live in UAE and an authorised seller for HTC told me that the One S will arrive here in approximately 2-3 weeks time due to some production issues. I guess they're changing their manufacturing process before releasing it widely around the world?
[HTC One S] LeszekSwirski:
It's true that it's not ideal, that I'd rather have not had to get it repaired at all, but it's also better than the experience most people claimed to have where HTC denies that this is a fault. If it happens again -- well, I'll consider filing a small claims, but realistically I'll probably just live with it.
[HTC One S] hon kin:
UAE doesnt have the One S too!? o.o Seems like whole Asia dont have it! lol:D
[HTC One S] jandari:
Amazon.de has currently stopped sales of the OneS becouse of customer complains. Interested what is it about.
[HTC One S] Joh@n:
I have the same issues after a day of 5 as well. Have 2 spots where the black coating is missing already, but that should probably be more when I wasn't that careful with the device. My HTC Desire could be dropped without a scratch, the One S I don't even dare to place on a wooden table without anything underneath it....
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
that is a very good sign. Maybe if lots of retailers stop selling it, HTC will get their act together.

too little too late though, they have lost a few loyal customers already
[HTC One S] Android_Mark:
Hold on a minute! A lot of people getting hot under the collar about the above post. But HTC HAVE acknowledged the problem. The Verge reported the following response from HTC on 11th April (http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/11/2942239/htc-one-s-chipping-response)

"HTC is committed to delivering a high quality product and great experience for all our customers. There have been a few, isolated reports of this issue. The finish on the One S was laboratory tested as being at a hardness similar to ceramic. While that's hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible to damage. Regardless, HTC takes quality very seriously and are providing all customers with an immediate fix and we are implementing some small changes to ensure customers do not experience this issue in the future."

The Verge is a reputable tech site, and I assume got this quote from HTC head office. Can only assume above correspondance is between a local office??

M
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
my latest reply im afraid was on the 14th of May.

Initially i was getting replies from customer service inline with what some websites had been told. As if this is something that a few phones have had and as part of HTC good will, i should replace the phone with the retailer or HTC themselves.

however 1 month later, they are telling me its a cosmetic issue and not covered by HTC warranty.

To me that seems like a blunt change of attitude and line of the company

Have you seen any of the known websites for mobile phones chasing this issue up at all? NO! lets see what HTC says if any of those officially asks HTC about the matter.

also their update on the verge:

Update: We've heard back from HTC, and the "immediate fix" is simply to return the One S to the store where you bought it within the DOA period (typically 30 days, though it varies by country). Beyond that, HTC says it'll be happy to fix the phone under the standard warranty terms.

BUT if that is true, why did they tell me COSMETIC DAMAGE, UNDER NO WARRANTY????
[HTC One S] mythek88:
i have the blue gradient TMOBILE USA version and have it for alittle over a week now, so far no sign of chipping yet...but then again im using the diztronic TPU case.
[HTC One S] h.han:
The blue one does not chip since it does not have Mao treatment but still better to keep it on a case cos it's so slippery.
[HTC One S] gingi007:
Clove

Hello,

I just had a phone call with Clove(UK mobile shop) regarding the issue.

they only sell the black version, and i asked them how does it work in case i buy it and see this thing on the device.

they told me that this happened only in the first batch of production and that HTC managed to fix it.

Moreover, they told be that only one buyer returned his device because of this and that HTC replaced(or fixed) the device(and they sold approx. 1000 pieces).

Do you think that in this time it is safe to order the Black HTC One S ?
[HTC One S] kadison:
No!

I have just posted the second one back to Clove after they sent me a replacement from the same batch (I made it clear I wanted a different batch, and this one was chipped right out of the box :mad:). I will be getting a refund for now as I'm not convinced they have any new stock at the moment.

Interestingly I'd asked them before ordering the first one about the chipping issues and they said they've only had about 1 phone back, and then when I spoke to them regarding the return of my second phone they said they haven't really heard of the issue!? They never once told me HTC have fixed the problem.

I bet they've had plenty of returns but IMO they are trying to clear the potentially faulty stock as much as possible.
[HTC One S] gingi007:
looks like i will order the metal version.

does it mean the the device is weaker ?
[HTC One S] qwerty warrior:
just bought a black one s

no issues here
[HTC One S] NienorGT:
From the start I don't understand why the hell HTC decided to make the One S with two different colours but making one of them "better" than the other...

By reading this lengthy thread I'm happy that I had only the possibility to get the gray one.
[HTC One S] gingi007:
final decision

I don't know what to do!

should I order the black one or the grey one?!?!

do you think that this chipping thing can get really worse? or this is something that we can live with ?

BTW - i am considering to order form Expansys-USA. does anyone know's if they are reliable?

Thanks
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
The way i think of it is this:

Grey version

: pure anodised aluminium, means that it will not rust!!! but it will be scratch keen. In other words forget about putting it in any pocket/bag/non phone designated area without a case. Best scenario you buy a case that you take the phone in and out of, and at least when you hold it it feels ok, and when you cover it is safe.

Black version

: You are SCR£&*"ed whatever you do.

-keep it out of a case to enjoy it, it will chip on the edges and more

-keep it in case permanently: it will still chip around the USB port

-Has to fully be covered at all times and protected so as not to lose it's precious ceramic face. Those that havent seen chipping yet, they will. Just wait. It will happen and you wont have mistreated your phone in any way. So long as HTC does not officially admit to a fault that is potentialy fixed, and produce evidence of that fix, i would stay away from the phone.

I do not believe any retailer that says that there are batches of new phones out there, as HTC themselves have admitted to me more than once that HTC has NO intention of fixing their manufacturing procedure,as they are not admitting there is actually anything wrong with it.

For those who can live with chipping around the edges of a black phone that is slowly turning to alloy, then be my guest. Surely though paying a s*&£t load of money for a phone you would expect to last AND not chip on everyday use, without needing a damn case.

Do the right thing and order a samsung galaxy S3! I have never used a samsung phone, never expected to be buying a huge phone like that, but i did and i thank HTC for setting me straight!;)
[HTC One S] 18inch:
i got the grey/blue(had no choice, no black ones in Canada), it is much nicer than the picture u see on the net though, i initially really wanted the black but the blue is quite nice and different... while it is slippery indeed, its like most phones anyway, my htc legend was slippery also ... the phone is a beast though, really nice ...

i dont know why they went all fancy with the body processing though, the HTC Incredible S has a really great flat black texture, they couldve just slap that processing in the design ?
[HTC One S] boojay:
I got the black MAO from Expansys and it's perfectly fine. Loving the phone! Would never touch a Samsung phone due to the poor quality build and tablet-like size, no matter how amazing the specs are.

Swyped from my iPhone killer/Android
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
though i never had a samsung phone, i have played around with an S2 and i cannot see anything wrong with the quality of build. I beg do differ when it comes to that and all users have nothing but good words to say about it. No squeeks or poor mounting on the parts even though made of polycarbonate or plastic.

most importantly though, you scratch it, you buy a new one cheap, your phone looks like new!

Try doing that on your HOS!!!

by the way, recent news say that the SGS3 is polycarbonate much like the HTC One X, so no argument in poor quality.

I will agree that the HTC One S looks and feels much nicer on the hand and that was one of the reasons i bought it in the first place. If it had delivered, i would have kept it. But since i had to keep in a case 24/7 i thought eventually that i had bought a silicone phone, not a ceramic one.
[HTC One S] chic.geek:
As a fellow Canadian, you know you don't have to buy through your carrier, right? I'm in Vancouver and ordered the black one from Expansys.

Though if buying unlocked and outright is not your thing, fair enough.

What do you mean by reliable? I ordered a black one from Expansys USA (via the Canadian website). It came quickly, and yes it chipped. Returned it and got another - no hassle except from FedEx, but that's hardly Expansys' fault. I'd buy from them again.

I'm with you. The hand-feel of the grey HTC One S and especially of the Samsung phones just does not compare with the matte black HTC One S I have now. The others feel slippery. Plasticky. Cheap. The MAO feels solid, and the texture and aesthetics are lovely.
[HTC One S] kuroneko007:
Mine is chipped, it started with some tiny bits on the sharp edges and has grown to about 10 spots, not all on edges or corners. Dropping it once didn't help ;)

I bought mine in the UK and live in Japan, so I can't be bothered to go through the hassle of returning it. For now, I've touched up the spots with a black marked pen :D

If it gets too bad, I will put the thing in a case and hide its shame :)
[HTC One S] Dreamweaver:
we have 20 black-red and 1 grey-blue Ville's but the only phone which has a good finish is the grey one. So poor, HTC :(
[HTC One S] 18inch:
I used to do that in the past, but im tired of paying full price on a phone so getting it through carrier is MUCH more budget friendly, espicailly with all the problem reported on the chipping on the black one s !! that doesnt make me want to spend my money on such a thing regardless the amazing feeling/texture...
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
buying through a carrier is a good thing when you take advantage of the price they put on it. If you dont use the phone that much, then its always more expensive
[HTC One S] kadison:
Does anyone have any updates regarding this situation?

I'm waiting to re-order a One S with hopefully a revised coating. Would be good to know which serial numbers these might be.

If they aren't going to do anything about the process I might just get an X!
[HTC One S] djsubtronic:
Six days with heavy usage, no chips yet, thank god. But I'm sure it is only a matter of time.
[HTC One S] vasp3690:
as i said,HTC is not accepting any problems are there. There is going to be no improvement of the coating as the technique is hard as it is. If i were you i would stay away from HTC all together!
[HTC One S] Android_Mark:
Once again, let me point everyone to The Verge at

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/11/2942239/htc-one-s-chipping-response

Where they quote HTC saying...

HTC is committed to delivering a high quality product and great experience for all our customers. There have been a few, isolated reports of this issue. The finish on the One S was laboratory tested as being at a hardness similar to ceramic. While that's hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible to damage. Regardless, HTC takes quality very seriously and are providing all customers with an immediate fix and we are implementing some small changes to ensure customers do not experience this issue in the future.

It clearly states that there have been issues and they are updating their manufacturing process.

I agree, that from a customer point of view HTC could have handled this better, but to write them off is a little harsh. I for one will be ordering a One S in black in the next few days.

M