[Droid Incredible Android Development] fezzik77:
I find it interesting that the first time I Rooted my warranty stamp changed. The phone kept a record of it. It is odd. The day I rooted is the day of my Warranty stamp. In ##778 under the Display menu is a Manufacturers Date mine is 4/8/2010 (I am assuming this is April since I got it in May it wouldn't make sense for it to be manufactured in August but the warranty code is messed up then). There is also an Activation date mine is <no data>. Then Warranty Date Code mine used to read 8/8/2010 but now it reads 30/7/2010 15:47. I didn't do S-OFF until Friday so the Warranty was shot when I rooted not when I S-OFF'ed and it wouldn't have mattered if I reversed it. That is if the code means anything to anyone or if they even check it.

Now that is sad because warranty covers 100% but only for manufacturing issues. The reason rooting and the changes that come along with it affect the warranty is because you can give yourself hardware issues if you poke around in the system files. With Root you don't necessarily, but can get access to change files that could cause incompatibility issues, or conflicts with hardware or drivers. Most of us aren't interested in messing with that stuff but it is possible. With S-OFF it is worse. You can install anything. You can flash roms from unreliable sources that can wreak havoc especially if they aren't done right. So the manufacturer no longer stands behind it because there is no way to really prove what effect the mods you have done have on the phone. Really there isn't any way to track it. To make it easy they just say if you do it we will no longer cover it. No matter what the issue we blame you.

On the other hand Asurion doesn't just cover manufacturer defects. Asurion covers owner stupidity. If you leave your phone in a hotel room that is your fault. Verizon and HTC both say sorry Charlie but you can buy one for full price but we can't give you contract pricing again. If you are looking over the side of a boat and your phone falls out of your pocket. It's your fault. Your phone gets shot while you are being mugged, ok it's not your fault but it also isn't their problem. You leave your phone on the top of your car and forget it is there and drive off. The list goes on. They don't mention it but essentially the Asurion coverage is there to protect you from you. If you do something that renders your phone unusable Asurion covers it. There isn't any fraud there. You did something that rendered the phone unsuable Asurion is there.

A buddy of mine did some consulting work for one of their offices here. Part of it had to do with a machine that allows you to restore some phones that are dead. It was pretty cool. Not sure if it applies to these or any of that I tend to think that particular one didn't but I can imagine that they have a way to refurbish bricked phones. You don't get a free phone with Asurion. You pay the deductible which I believe is $89 unless it has gone up. One thing is the prices have gone up and do all the time to make up for the volume of claims and the expense of devices.

So in the overall scheme of ethics I suppose trying to get a warranty claim against your phone if you brick it by installing UnrEVOked Forever or any other software modification or for really any reason after you have done that then ethically speaking you are in the wrong. However, that is why we have Asurion. They are there for the ran over it in my car, left it on the bus, installed software that damaged it, dropped it off a building, hit a burglar with it in the heat of a battle, threw it out a hotel window in the heat of the moment, Got mad and threw it against a wall, etc., etc., etc., etc. Essentially though I think if you go that route you should just tell them what happened because it's what they are there for. Otherwise get rid of all your insurances and just be prepared to pay out of pocket.