Dust under screen

[johncf]

So i just thought i would share with you my recent woes incase anyone is in the same boat and wondering.

ive had my sensation a couple of months, after one month i got dust under the screen, didnt gradually get it...it was 2 jets of dust half way up the screen on either side on the phone that literally happened in one day.

So called orange ( i have onrange care ) explained my problem, sent me a "new" phone out the next day i say "new" as apparently they sometimes will send refurbs out, but this one looked brand new.

1 month later i have dust under the screen again, same places.



this time i have chosen to send to htc ( who have recently expertly sorted one of my other problems for me http://androidforums.com/android-media/407373-android-music-sorting-alpha.html.
and just thought i would post the progress of the repair here, so everyone get an idea how long these things are taking. Up to this point i have to say HTC customer care has been great

oct 11 - reported dust under screen to htc
oct 11 - HTC asked for photo of dust ( i sent them two pictures )
oct 11 - they send me label and ask me to book a collection time - i choose monday 17th oct
oct 17 - phone collected by UPS
oct 18 - phone due to be delivered today but UPS have processed it incorrectly and it is in the wrong location
oct19 - phone out to delivery to the repair cener.
*update*
oct 19 phone delivered to htc - but not acknowlaged by them yet ( HTC send you updates through a tracking page )
*update 2*
oct 19 - according to htc tracking the phone is been repaired
*update 3* - according to tracking the phone is been shipped back ( no tracking number though as yet.
*update 3* - Oct 21 got my phone Back today in a nice white box , they have replace the screen, speaker, chassis and sub assembly, .

I'm very happy with the whole turn of events , this is the second time I have delt with the HTC customer service and repair ,and the speed with which they delt with it has been great

Once again , thumbs up HTC...Thumbs up .

So I cannot vouch for how any one else will fair but its been a painless time for me.




i will edit the post as it goes along

 

[Cornflake]

Euww - that's pretty dusty!

Very nice to know that HTC shows an immediate interest and they're happy to respond to these things - for reference (in case mine goes all dusty!), what contact details did you use for HTC in the UK?

 

[johncf]

that is my second one, the first sensation i had was at least twice as dust filled, to the point you could actuall see it when watching a movie.

HTC use a ticket system, you start by just going to HTC Help Center then scroll down and there is a contact button.

they reckon 7 days to repair from when they recieve it...ive just checked ups and it has been delivered to them so we'll see.

Hopefully you will not get any dust, my partners sensation shows no signs of getting it yet.

 

[Cornflake]

Excellent. Thanks for that, John - I'll bookmark it "just in case".

 

[master_yoda]

Unfortunately this is all too common on the sensation. Over on the XDA forum 66% out of roughly 200 people who voted in a poll had dust under their screens

I guess I'm lucky, so far after 3 months none at all under my screen.

 

[johncf]

yes, and most of the people are getting it in exactly the same places.

SO there has to be some kind of fault, its strange that it seems to happen over night, it is like the dust gets sprayed in

 

[jondread]

I was just about to make a post about this because the same thing happened to me. I bought my HTC Sensation 2 weeks ago from Phones 4 U here in the UK. Since then I have had to go in and replace it 4 times. The dust was coming back in the same place every time I got given a new handset and within hours of opening the box. The last resort was giving me a White Sensation from a completely different batch, this lasted about 3 days and then I noticed more dust. Quite upset and annoyed I went back and reluctantly changed it to a Samsung Galaxy S2, which I am enjoying and so far after a week the screen is still pristine. I'd get rid of it and ask for a completely different phone if I were you, sounds like the majority of Sensations are f***ed. Sorry to be blunt! But that's my experience.

 

[johncf]

indeed that seems to be the case, and if it had happened to me as many time it had you i would indeed be moving phones. but so far it has been a painless Experience as i had my first one replace in 24 hours.

Im hoping it is a known problem for HTC so with me sending it to them they have done a proper "fix".

i notice on the repair sheet they sent out with my phone they had completely replaced the screen and mentioned something about lamination.

So im hoping what they have done solves the dust issue, where as if i get another one from my carrier, they are just going to pull one "off the shelf" to send me, and the phone would likely be from the same batch as the original.

Time will tell i guess, and so far not a single spec, ive read a few forums with people sending them to htc with dust and they have not yet got dust again after the repair.

 

[johncf]

so, 10 days later....dust again, axactly the same places, and once again it seemed to happen overnight.

phone is getting collected from them again on wednesday :-(

 

[evohicks]

I was annoyed when I had the dust on my original HTC desire, and after hearing alot of problems with others having the same, it was one of the reasons I went for the Galaxy S2 instead, bit of a shame that HTC have had this with previous phones and it hasn't been sorted out yet.

 

[johncf]

i now have it back from repair again so we shall see how long this one goes for.....my faith however has slightly dropped.

 

[johncf]

had it back now one day, there is now dust under the screen. All faith has gone.

It cannot be general dust,there is not a single speck behind the cover. it has to be something there using to seal the device, that is failing and getting sucked under.

 

[UKseagull]

That's a real shame, what's your next move?

 

[johncf]

its gone back to them today, and i have sent a recorded letter of complaint to their head office.

they have said if it come back this time and gets the dust again then they will send out a new handset, but i got a new hand set the first time around and it made no differance.

so im not holding my breath.

 

[ttuk]

This is an absolute disgrace... I'm an iPhone 4 user who is just about to sell up and move to Android (HTC Sensation or Sensation XE) and after reading this i am really put off by the idea. The one thing about the IP4 is that the screen is always immaculate - never a hint of dust on it...

Dont get me wrong, i'm not on here to praise Apple and belittle Android.

I just find it hard to believe that HTC can allow such a scenario.

I might just hold off now until I hear the outcome - I cant be bothered to send my phone away once a month to be replaced.

 

[johncf]

it is as they say, "piss poor", i will update again when i get it back, and if i get dust again.

in contrast though my partner has the same phone for the same amount of time, she has not even a spec under hers.

 

[MJQX]

Just found this thread... I got my Sensation about a month ago. Vodafone have since exchanged my phone twice because of the dust comets. Now on my third handset and once again have the dust. Exactly the same place, halfway up on the left and a smaller plume in the same place on the right.

10000% a manufacturing flaw that HTC don't seem to be acknowledging. Particularly bizarre as the network operators must be returning thousands of handsets to them!

I've emailed Vodafone but I'll probably call them tomorrow to moan some more.

The annoying thing is that other than the dust obscuring a part of the screen this phone is totally amazing!!

 

[johncf]

I know, i love the phone also.

i got mine back (3rd time) yesterday, no dust yet lol, but it only took a day last time

 

[MJQX]

After 3 replacements, Voda are refusing to replace it again but are sending to HTC for repair.

I phoned HTC to see if they are aware of the problem and they are. Apparently some phones have not been sealed properly. Great.

She seemed confident that once the repair had been done it wouldn't happen any more. And to be fair, I'd prefer to have mine repaired and be dust free for good than to receive another new phone and go through it all again!

 

[johncf]

well hope you have better luck with it than i did

 

[Wardogz]

Just found this thread... I got my Sensation about a month ago. Vodafone have since exchanged my phone twice because of the dust comets. Now on my third handset and once again have the dust. Exactly the same place, halfway up on the left and a smaller plume in the same place on the right.

10000% a manufacturing flaw that HTC don't seem to be acknowledging. Particularly bizarre as the network operators must be returning thousands of handsets to them!

I've emailed Vodafone but I'll probably call them tomorrow to moan some more.

The annoying thing is that other than the dust obscuring a part of the screen this phone is totally amazing!!

I'm sorry to hear of the troubles you have had, it must be bloody annoying!!

I wonder how widespread the problem is though, my HTC Sensation XE is fine (although the XE could be immune?). Could this be just a case of people usually only post in tech forums when they have a problem but when all is good they say nothing? Perhaps the percentage of faulty units is tiny?

It is strange how some people have had no problems while others have had 2 or 3 handsets fail.

 

[Wardogz]

well hope you have better luck with it than i did

3rd phone still dust free?

 

[johncf]

second phone, 3rd repair, and so far so good, not a single speck, so here`s hoping.

like you say, you look online and you get the impression every handset on the planet has the problem, but in reality, its likely a very small proportion of owners.

another thing i notice also is alot of people will go to forums and moan about it, but never actually do anything about it, if everyone actually contacted htc/their carrier it would help put more weight behind the problem.

i dont think alot of people realise either, that you can get the phone swapped outright with your carrier for dust under the screen, i have orange care also, so the it did not cost me a thing to get replaced, and it was replaced the day after i called it in.

 

[MJQX]

second phone, 3rd repair, and so far so good, not a single speck, so here`s hoping.

like you say, you look online and you get the impression every handset on the planet has the problem, but in reality, its likely a very small proportion of owners.

another thing i notice also is alot of people will go to forums and moan about it, but never actually do anything about it, if everyone actually contacted htc/their carrier it would help put more weight behind the problem.

i dont think alot of people realise either, that you can get the phone swapped outright with your carrier for dust under the screen, i have orange care also, so the it did not cost me a thing to get replaced, and it was replaced the day after i called it in.

Vodafone are refusing to swap it now. They're sending me a pack to post the phone off for repair in. Haven't got any insurance. Wish I had now!!

On saying that it's a real pain to have to set up an Android phone every time they send a new one!!!

 

[johncf]

Ill second the pain in the arse setting it up each time, when HTC repair the phone they restore it to factory settings so i would make a back up before you send it off just incase, as i think its just standard practice