[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] GreenLanternX:
GS4 Broken Screen

Hey all,

Just wanted to post up my recent incident as well after reading through most of the 90+ pages of this post.

Took off work Friday to do some yard work, nothing crazy...pulling weeds and some trimming with the string trimmer (weed wacker). I was listening to music through Google Music and pulled out my phone to call the wife and the screen was black and wouldn't come on (music was still playing). The menu button and back button would light up but the touch screen was unresponsive. In the light I saw some small cracks along the upper right corner of the screen. Hello broken AMOLED. Sucks.:(

Came inside freaked out, pulled the battery, tried to charge it...nothing. I just bought the phone off craigslist 9 days ago and I was loving it. It was a major upgrade from my Droid Bionic...except in body rigidity apparently. I called around, looked online, and only had 3 options (can't go back to VZW since it was off craigslist):

1. Local repair shop - all 3 places I called wanted $300. I bought it for $400 and found more S4s on CL for $400 - No thanks, I can just buy another GS4.

2. Buy the parts myself and replace it myself (front housing/glass, LCD, and digitizer) - $220 plus risking fixing it myself. I work with a lot of electronic techs so they could've helped but again over half what I paid and fairly high risk - Meh.

3. Send it back to Samsung for repair. I was quoted $175 including parts, labor, and free shipping - My only option, lowest cost and lowest risk since it's at least official Samsung techs.

I called 1-888-987-4357 yesterday (9/28) after the Samsung website gave me an error when I submitted a repair request online. The very nice Level 1 CSR told me I had to submit a credit card for a charge hold. I got my shipping label after several issues (all the Level 1 CSRs were very nice, worked Saturday, and they were based in Colorado - no outsourced CSRs for me!). I won't go into issues with the shipping label unless people want me to but I had to get a Level 2 CSR and the wait was about 25-30 minutes. So the story ends with me taking everything out of my rooted S4 (battery, battery cover, SIM card, and SD card - the CSR instructed me to do this) and dropping it off at the local UPS store. The CSR told me they wipe all the phones for security purposes. Hopefully they don't flash me to the new software...I liked my root access:laugh: They claim 2 days there (Plano, TX - maybe they get Texas Instrument techs to fix it? :) ), 7 days to repair, and 2 days back. We'll see if that holds true. In the meantime I will write a letter/e-mail to Samsung and see if that'll get me anything (see Executive E-mail Carpet Bomb on consumerist). It probably won't but it never hurts to voice your concerns as a consumer.

I'm glad MOST people don't have a problem but "a lot" of people seem to with this phone and the LCD cracking. I was working in the yard in jeans and I'm not exactly skinny skinny but I'm not a giant lard [MENTION=237736]SS[/MENTION] either. I guess my pants were tight in the pocket and it bowed. I had it in an OtterBox case. I would consider that just above normal wear and tear so I'm willing to accept responsibility but these people who just get in and out of the car with it in their pocket...that is ridiculous. I'm back to my Bionic for a few days and that thing is slow as cr@p but it's a tank. Solid construction, doesn't bow and flex like the GS4. I wish the GS4 were a little sturdier. After I get it back it's going in a hip holster and I'm never putting it in my pocket again. Can anyone recommend one?

I didn't take any pictures before I sent it off, the cracks were so faint I doubt it would've come out in the photos. I'm just hoping it doesn't get lost in transit or in the mire of repair center Hell at Samsung. The GG3 glass was fine and the phone worked just a blacked out LCD and no response to the touch screen.

Good luck to all the GS4 owners out there, hope you don't experience the same problems some of us have had.