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HTC says you can't put your phone by a cup of coffee

tricializ

Lurker
Dec 5, 2010
7
0
or the water damage indicator can react. Straight from customer service when I inquired as to how my phone could show water damage when I didn't take it in the shower, have only had it 2 months in cold and no humidity, not dropped it in water, spilled on it etc. According to the customer service at HTC, and I quote.

Even placing your phone by a cup or coffee or tea could activate the water damage indicator.

Just an FYI to anyone out there whose HTC is still working and hasn't gotten screwed by this company. What a great scam to void warranty work.
 
yeah i wish companies wouldn't rely so much on these moisture indicator stickers so much because of the high rate of false positives. I actually have my phone in the bathroom during showers where the entire bathroom gets foggy. So far, my stickers still look "dry." So... I think that customer rep is exaggerating a bit.

And if that's really the case, is putting your phone next to hot coffee worthy of a warranty void? Clearly it isn't, so basically, the rep just prove the point that the stickers are unreliable, and they can't void your warranty SOLELY on the basis of the sticker's state. They'd need other evidence.

This is definitely a time to stand your ground if they are denying you coverage because of the sticker.
 
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Well I hate to say it, but its true. Any kind of moisture, even steam from a cup of coffee, can set off those moisture indicators. The only advice I have is to keep your phone away from all types of moisture. These phones are sensitive electronic equipment, and any kind of moisture can affect how they operate or even short them out. That's why they put the moisture indicators in there in the first place.

This needs to be publicized. :(

It is. Read the manual that came with your phone. It tells you the same thing, keep it away from moisture.
 
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I seriously doubt a cup of coffee let alone the steam from your bathroom is going to set off this indicator. Otherwise living in Florida with 90+% humidity would do it. Sorry but I call BS on this one!

Do you really believe florida is more humid than a steamy shower???

I can't tell if your being sarcastic or not, but I'm laughing either way...
 
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Well I hate to say it, but its true. Any kind of moisture, even steam from a cup of coffee, can set off those moisture indicators. The only advice I have is to keep your phone away from all types of moisture. These phones are sensitive electronic equipment, and any kind of moisture can affect how they operate or even short them out. That's why they put the moisture indicators in there in the first place.



It is. Read the manual that came with your phone. It tells you the same thing, keep it away from moisture.
Doesn't matter what the "manual" says (mine did not come with my phone, BTW). We're talking about cell phones, equipment which isn't expected to be in a stable environment 100% of the time. There's no way in hell something so trivial should void a warranty. Next to a cup of coffee? Really? That's absolutely ridiculous.
 
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Doesn't matter what the "manual" says (mine did not come with my phone, BTW). We're talking about cell phones, equipment which isn't expected to be in a stable environment 100% of the time. There's no way in hell something so trivial should void a warranty. Next to a cup of coffee? Really? That's absolutely ridiculous.

That's my point. This is a MOBILE device; not the super computers at the pentagon. My daughter was working on some engineering project that required her to be in a clean room. When we went to see her, we had to suit up from head to toe, gloves, suit, foot covers mask, the works so that no dust, moisture etc. could get on her microscopic robot she was working on. That's about how I feel I need to act with this phone now.

What I can't believe is that legal let the HTC customer service put that in writing. The bottom line is that I can't find anywhere in my owner's manual (and maybe I'm missing something) that says I can't set it down next to a cup of coffee or tea. So, if something like that can now void my warranty according to them, the fact that it wasn't communicated in the manual or by the salespeople or in any support HTC literature, I believe I (or all of us who have been screwed by this) have a case to have the warranty reinstated. I'm not dropping it because it's wrong. Now, if I drop it in the toilet, wash it, spill a diet coke where it is sitting, or even splash something on it, I fully expect that I have no warranty. But this is just ridiculous.
 
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I seriously doubt a cup of coffee let alone the steam from your bathroom is going to set off this indicator. Otherwise living in Florida with 90+% humidity would do it. Sorry but I call BS on this one!

Not sure what you are calling BS on. I'm simply quoting what the HTC customer service person put in writing to me today. If you would like it PM'd to you, I'd be happy to.
 
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I would stand my ground on this one. My first course of action would be the "you catch more flies with honey" route. Simply do not take no for an answer and keep calling. First use the "I have been been a loyal customer to HTC for X number of years and X number of phones" route and "I would hate to have to start buying from another manufacturer over something as trivial as a false positive on my moisture sensor" and escalating to claims with the BBB (not sure if they care since they are out of Taiwan).

This is the warranty game. They try to make it inconvenient on you to make your claims in the hopes that you will give up and it will be profitable for you. If they just honored 100% of warranty claims they would likely go bankrupt.

Bottom line: stick to your guns.
 
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...........Now, if I drop it in the toilet, wash it, spill a diet coke where it is sitting, or even splash something on it, I fully expect that I have no warranty. But this is just ridiculous.

Dont start me on HTC customer service!! However, what you said made me chuckle. When my Desire HD broke, I had to start using my old 8 year old Sony Erricsson that has had beer spilt on it, and had been completely submerged in water when I was thrown into a swimming pool fully clothed on my 30th birthday!

Best of all, it works fine (a little sticky on the number pad after the beer episode, but the keys are fine now)!! and im using it now whilst waiting for HTC to sort out my Desire!
 
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AT&T has voided my warrentee as well. My camera stopped working. I did not call them right away and tried to find a fix for it. So I call today and they go through some things. Ask my why I waited 3 weeks to call and then had me take the battery cover off. The indicator was red. I have no idea how this could happen to a phone if it has not been dropped in water or had something spilled on it. I will be dropping AT&T as soon as our contract is up. If I had damaged the phone myself, I would have fessed up. I'm so dissappointed.
 
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AT&T has voided my warrentee as well. My camera stopped working. I did not call them right away and tried to find a fix for it. So I call today and they go through some things. Ask my why I waited 3 weeks to call and then had me take the battery cover off. The indicator was red. I have no idea how this could happen to a phone if it has not been dropped in water or had something spilled on it. I will be dropping AT&T as soon as our contract is up. If I had damaged the phone myself, I would have fessed up. I'm so dissappointed.

I too have experienced a water-indicator false positive.

i just repaired a broken screen on my wife's iphone. while the physical trauma was our fault (and by "our" i mean my 4 year old) i know for a fact the phone has never gotten wet. yet while changing out the screen i noticed the indicator was positive. not a big deal as i was already out of the warranty i would have been voiding by taking the thing apart anyway, but still, not cool.
 
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Speaking as an ex-mobile phone tech support customer service agent (whew) I completely sympathise with your position, but also with the position of the person you spoke to.

Often, if the phone goes off for repair and comes back OOW due to "water damage", that's all the CS agent knows. If the customer becomes angry or demands more answers, the CS agent has to try and find some way of explaining the situation, attributing the water indicator to any number of everyday occurrences to try and calm the customer. Even if you or they call the repair centre directly, you're speaking to the repair centre CS agent and not the engineer who looked at the phone, so they might not have any more detailed information.

While it's true that it's impractical to expect a phone to be protected from all of the elements, all of the time, it is an electrical device, and moisture will screw with the connections, and the company cannot afford to repair every phone that has been potentially been affected by moisture, so they err on the side of caution and avoid all water-indicated phones.

Do you know if the phone was looked at by the actual manufacturer, or by a repair centre on their behalf? See if you can get a second opinion on the phone; why was it sent in to begin with?
 
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