Generic batteries for Moment -- anyone have experience?

[Johnny Cakes]

One of the other threads had a couple of off-topic posts regarding generic batteries for the Moment. It is a good question and deserving of its own thread.

Has anyone purchased a generic battery for the Moment? If so, please comment on your experience vis-a-vis the Samsung battery.

 

[Jessica4332]

I would be extremely careful using generic batteries because it voids your 1 year manufacturer's warranty with Samsung.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

That's not exactly true. Use of an after-market part, be it battery, ink cartridge, etc. only voids the warrant if it is the cause of the damage to the product.

Congress enacted the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which provides: “No warranty of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name.” The citation for this law is 15 U.S.C.A. 2302.

So if your phone stops working and the damage can be traced to the generic battery, then yes, you are SOL. But if the phone stops working and the damage can not be traced to the generic battery, then Samsung must honor the warranty.

 

[Jessica4332]

That's not exactly true. Use of an after-market part, be it battery, ink cartridge, etc. only voids the warrant if it is the cause of the damage to the product.

Congress enacted the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which provides: “No warranty of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name.” The citation for this law is 15 U.S.C.A. 2302.

So if your phone stops working and the damage can be traced to the generic battery, then yes, you are SOL. But if the phone stops working and the damage can not be traced to the generic battery, then Samsung must honor the warranty.

I didn't say that it would ultimately void the warranty, I just meant that if it caused any damage to the phone then the warranty would be voided. I just warned you to be careful and that's all. If you post on a forum then you are gonna get feedback, you asked if anyone has any "experience" with generic batteries and I have, I work at Samsung. I cannot tell you how many times a phone has been sent back to a customer due to the fact the person used a generic battery that screwed up their phone or they had to pay for the repair. I have even had phones that were BER (beyond economic repair) and couldn't be repaired. Going forward I should have explained it a little better but you read way more into what I was saying and I apologize for the misunderstanding. Just be careful what you are buying you never know what you are getting if it isn't authentic.

 

[Johnny Cakes]

Sorry! I took a literal meaning to your phrase "using generic batteries because it voids your 1 year manufacturer's warranty with Samsung."

What you meant was "using generic batteries because it [might] void your 1 year manufacturer's warranty with Samsung [if and only if it causes damage to the phone].

Of course, buyers should always be careful of what they purchase. Even a "branded" Samsung battery could void the warranty if it turns out to be counterfeit and causes damage. Totally safe would be paying full price at an authorized Samsung retailer.

 

[Jessica4332]

Well said and I totally agree! I guess because I talk about this topic daily that I sometimes forget that not everyone is totally familiar with the subject and I should word it better for everyone to fully understand and not read to much into my lack of wording. But yes, totally safe would be paying full price at an authorized Samsung retailer. I would just rather be "safe" by getting a battery that I knew wouldn't screw up my phone than be "sorry" and get something that is branded with Samsung that screws up my phone and wasn't really a Samsung product. I would rather pay the 39.99 from samsung.com than pay for a new phone or the 70.36 it would usually cost for the normal OOW (out of Warranty) repair.

 

[njbianco]

alot of the generic batterys ive seen are under 1400 mAh so id make sure there at least that cuz the less mAh the quicker itll die