[HTC One X] wman2:
Charged £200 for repair!!!

NOW RESOLVED

MY STORY - WMAN2 (continuously updated post):

Got an email saying there was Accidental Damage to my phone (which had this WiFi fault). It quoted £195 to repair it, or £23 to send it back unrepaired!!

I rang up and asked why as I had never damaged the phone. Turns out although I re-locked the bootloader they could still tell I'd unlocked it in the first place, and it's now voided warranty. I complained to him but he was having none of it, he said I have to pay to have it repaired or sent back.

EDIT 11/7/12

I have found in the HTC warranty document (http://member.america.htc.com/downl.../Android/0525_G_WarrantyEULA_76x126_US-BP.pdf)

... that the only way in which unauthorised modification affects your warranty is if the modification caused the fault that needs repairing. Obviously this is not the case for me:

7. THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL NOT APPLY IF THE DEFECT WAS

CAUSED THROUGH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

...use other than in accordance with the user manual, rough

handling, exposure to moisture, dampness or extreme thermal

or environmental conditions or a rapid change in such

conditions, corrosion, oxidation, unauthorized modifications or

connections...

I have emailed HTC asking for confirmation that the reason I am supposed to pay for the repair is because of my previously unlocked bootloader which I relocked, and I will update this post with more info I receive.

EDIT 12/7/12:

Got a reply from HTC by email:

Dear *******,

Thank you for contacting HTC regarding your HTC One X.

My name is Ryan and I am a Technical Support Agent for the HTC Written Team.

I’m sorry to hear that you are experiencing difficulties with receiving a quotation for your repair with us.

The reason for this is due to the bootloader of the phone being unlocked.

To resolve this, ****, I would like you to perform the following steps:

I have spoken to my supervisor and I can see that we are currently looking in to listening to the call you have had with the agent when you booked the phone in to repair to see if you were informed of the out of warranty information. Once we have listened in to your call we will be in contact with you as soon as possible to notify you of the outcome.

We do apologise for the delay in your repair.

To let me know I have successfully answered your query, please follow the link below to close your enquiry, you will have the opportunity to leave feedback about your experience contacting me today

Let me know if I have successfully answered your question, please click here to complete this.

To send a reply to this message, please click here.

Sincerely,

Ryan

HTC

So not very promising there. I did say in the original email that I didn't remember being told about the bootloader voiding the warranty when I rang up to book the repair which is true so that may mean I get it repaired for free.

Otherwise I guess I'm back to square one.

EDIT 13/7/12:

I just called up HTC and told them pretty much what you said, and said other people had had it repaired for free etc... The man said that because the bootloader was unlocked, the whole warranty was voided and so they couldn't tell whether a software modification had caused the fault or not. Of course I reminded him that this was an acknowledged issue by HTC and it had been happening before I unlocked the bootloader, but he didn't want to know. He said the case had already been escalated as far as possible (although they hadn't called me back for 2 days) and there was nothing else I can do. He said that they still haven't listened to the call yet and when they do they'll make their verdict on whether or not I should have to pay.

He said the people that had unlocked /re-locked bootloaders and got their phone replaced for free just "slipped through the net" and they were supposed to have been charged.

EDIT 18/7/12:

HTC rang me up (at 12pm rather than 4-6pm as requested) and I explained my whole problem to them again. They then said that the warranty was invalid and I told them that it shouldn't be according to their terms and conditions. He then said he had to pass me on to ANOTHER team who would call me back within 48 hours. I requested the same time period again. Sure enough, the next day at 1PM (still wrong time) someone rang up but they rang off after 2 rings so I didn't have time to pick up the phone. They left me a voicemail telling me to ring up to arrange ANOTHER CALL-BACK. He said there's nothing else they can do and that it doesn't seem likely that I'll get my repair under warranty.

Still awaiting that call, this is really unacceptable and I'm thinking about contacting Watchdog about it...

By the way they say the reason I'm being charged isn't because of the WiFi problem (which apparently is free for me) but they charge me £195 to replace the motherboard because they have to do that to get it under warranty again so the bootloader is locked. Complete bullsh!t in my opinion.

EDIT 19/7/12:

Some good news.

I was rung up today and I managed to answer it in time. The woman repeated the same stuff that everyone else had said but after a bit of arguing she said she'll talk to the repair centre and see if they can get it done for free under warranty!

No promises apparently but it's looking good, I'm awaiting a call either tomorrow or on Monday to confirm whether it'll be done or not.

After seeing other people who had unlocked bootloaders and waited less time than me are getting brand new devices I'm still feeling a little fobbed off because I've been without my phone so long but I can't really complain at the moment.

EDIT 26/7/12

A woman from HTC rang me up on Monday and said the case had been reviewed by senior management after she had said she'd try to get it done under warranty. She said that the final decision had been made and they weren't going to do the repair under warranty after all! I quoted the normal bits from the terms and conditions but she said that it says the unlocked bootloader may void the warranty subject to HTC's discretion, which is not how I read it at all. She said that was the final decision and there was nothing I could do except pay to have the phone repaired or sent back.

I'm thinking of writing in to Guardian Money or something similar as I've been without my phone for nearly a month and I'm clearly being messed around here. Suggestions much appreciated, cheers.

EDIT 27/7/12

I have emailed Play.com asking them to pay for the repair or pay for the return of the phone and replace it themselves in accordance with the Supply of Goods and Services Act 2009 Jersey. I will update this post when I receive a response.

EDIT 28/7/12

Play.com sent me this email this morning:

Dear ******,

Thank you for your recent enquiries.

We are very sorry to hear that you are having problems with your order.

Our head office have now advised we can take the item back for either a refund or a replacement.

So we can arrange a collection at your convenience, please contact our customer service team on 0845 800 1020 (UK only) or +44 (0)1534 877 595 (outside UK). Our opening hours are 9am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 5pm Saturday and Sunday.

We can then issue you with a return authorisation code and give you full instructions on how to return the product.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you and thank you for your patience and valued custom.

Kind Regards,

Andy,
Customer Support Team
Play.com

I rang them up and talked to a helpful person who said that they'd have to check with head office but that Play.com should be able to pay the £23.70 to have the phone returned, then collect it from my house and send me a replacement. So this isn't definite but a great step forward

She's going to call/email me back on Tuesday regarding the payment for HTC. I won't be able to send out the device to them until next week so it will be a while until I can confirm my case has been resolved but things are looking good.

EDIT 31/7/12:

Play.com forgot to ring me back about the refund of the £25 charged by HTC for return of the phone unrepaired, so I rang Play.com up myself. They're happy to pay the £25 and this will be added on to my full refund when I send the phone back to Play.com, since I have to pay for the return from HTC myself. Unfortunately they require a receipt of the payment and when I paid to have the phone returned it didn't send me a receipt. So I called up HTC and they have to escalate the case to head office to get a receipt sent with the return of the phone! The HTC tracking page now shows "In Repair" again for some strange reason.

EDIT 05/08/12:

Received my phone back from HTC unrepaired yesterday (Play.com is going to refund the £23.70 it cost to have it sent back). It came back in an "All Good" box with a thumbs up on it. Inside was my phone and a grainy photo of the Relocked status with a bad MS Paint job edited upside down on the photo saying "ILLEGAL SOFTWARE" :P The phone wouldn't switch on when I received it but it seems they completely drained the battery even though it was full when I sent it in. Charged it up and it's just like it was before sending it in.

Play.com are picking up the phone tomorrow for a refund, it's all packaged up and waiting.

So when Play.com receive the phone I should be getting a refund, hopefully this will be my second to last update to my case!

EDIT 07/08/12:

My phone just arrived at Play.com returns department - now to wait for the confirmation email :)

EDIT 08/08/12:

Play.com are now saying it can be up to two weeks for confirmation of the return and processing of the refund to take place, so don't expect an update any time soon :|

EDIT 27/08/12:

Finally my case is closed :)

Play.com received my phone almost three weeks ago. They said it would take up to 2 weeks to process in the warehouse but they "lost" it. After speaking to a manager they magically found the phone again and said they'd process the refund. Just checked my online banking and the refund has come through :)

Massive thanks to everyone on here for the help, I would have probably paid £200 for the repair otherwise :\ I'm just glad that almost 2 months later it's all resolved :)