Help Warranty voided...

[FreyZ]

Hi, I totally created an account for this question.

I just returned in a Samsung Galaxy S6 which I pay monthly warranty on. My distributer is now telling me that I have downloaded an unlicensed root software on my phone and is asking me to pay alot of money in order to get it fixed. The things they want to fix is replacing parts and replacing the PCB which seems completely unrelated to the root software that I have absolutely no memory of downloading.

On this phone I have downloaded an Emulator from the app store in order to play Nintendo games, and when my phone broke I held in some buttons (Volume down + Home + Power I believe it was) in order to reset the phone which did not work. Did I overstep my boundaries here?

 

[chanchan05]

Nope. You didn't. You didn't root it at all. They're probably just trying to get you to pay. Unless you've had someone else do things to your phone, no they should honor the warranty. You don't even appear to know what rooting is.

 

[mikedt]

You didn't happen to see the Knox counter info before returning did you? Is your "distributor" Samsung authorized service?

Did the Nintendo emulator actually come from Samsung Apps, Google Play, Amazon App Store, i.e. trusted sources, or some other app store? Have you ever loaded apps or games from other sources?

For information: 0x1 is warranty void, it should be 0x0.

The warranty is void on this one.

 

[lunatic59]

when my phone broke I held in some buttons (Volume down + Home + Power I believe it was) in order to reset the phone which did not work. Did I overstep my boundaries here?

Absolutely not. As @chanchan05 pointed out, if you didn't know you were doing it, you didn't. I have no idea how anyone could 'accidentally' root their phone. If in fact your knox counter was tripped, I would suspect the shop did it themselves, either trying to fix it without knowing what they were doing, or in order to scam you. If they claim you downloaded this warranty-voiding software, make them prove it to you by documenting it. I doubt they will because around these parts we call that "evidence".

If your distributor is an independent shop, then I would get your phone back and take it elsewhere ... and file a complaint for unethical business practices. Replacing the PCB on Galaxies seems to be the scam du jour with disreputable shops as most people have no idea what it is or why the probably don't need it replaced.

 

[FreyZ]

You didn't happen to see the Knox counter info before returning did you? Is your "distributor" Samsung authorized service?

Did the Nintendo emulator actually come from Samsung Apps, Google Play, Amazon App Store, i.e. trusted sources, or some other app store? Have you ever loaded apps or games from other sources?

For information: 0x1 is warranty void, it should be 0x0.
View attachment 105478
The warranty is void on this one.

The Nintendo app came from Google play which I did download games for known as "Roms". My distributor is authorized for selling and providing phone services so I'm looking at the possibility of them getting the wrong idea more than them actually scamming me. I did see that screen or at least something similar when trying to reset my phone after it broke, I remember the name ODIN and saw that it was downloading something, naturally I turned it off... could this be it?

 

[chanchan05]

No. The ROMs for emulators are fine. These are not related to the phone at all. The Odin we are talking about here is a software on Windows which is used to flash custom Android ROMs onto your phone. It has no capability to download anything.

 

[FreyZ]

Thank you for your replies. I'm going to the store this friday to talk my case, hopefully I can reason with them.

 

[The_Chief]

Start nice, but if they refuse to budge don't be afraid to get... assertive with them. Let them know that this may result in legal issues for them. I wouldn't put up with this at all. Good luck.

 

[Phalon4]

Have them to connect the device and show you first hand of the alleged software that has been downloaded on your device so you can see the downloaded log date. This information can't be fabricated into the device. But what ever you do, do not leave the device with whom ever is making those allegations until you get that information as proof of the alleged software download. And if they can't for some reason produced that information that you're requesting, Then it's time to fight them tooth and nail because they're trying to railroad you out of a contract.

 

[El Presidente]

Are you based in the EU?

If yes, your warranty covers you for 2 years regardless of root status anyway: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1998801

http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20121106-01.fr.html

 

[Phalon4]

Hi, I totally created an account for this question.

I just returned in a Samsung Galaxy S6 which I pay monthly warranty on. My distributer is now telling me that I have downloaded an unlicensed root software on my phone and is asking me to pay alot of money in order to get it fixed. The things they want to fix is replacing parts and replacing the PCB which seems completely unrelated to the root software that I have absolutely no memory of downloading.

On this phone I have downloaded an Emulator from the app store in order to play Nintendo games, and when my phone broke I held in some buttons (Volume down + Home + Power I believe it was) in order to reset the phone which did not work. Did I overstep my boundaries here?

If there wasn't a written agreement on what can and what can't be installed on the device. They have no legal grounds on not honoring their contract with you. And if there was nothing in writing stating the procedures that you should take if you encounters a software issue with that device. That would be more of a default on their end.

 

[mikedt]

If there wasn't a written agreement on what can and what can't be installed on the device. They have no legal grounds on not honoring their contract with you. And if there was nothing in writing stating the procedures that you should take if you encounters a software issue with that device. That would be more of a default on their end.

Well there's the Samsung warranty agreement, which includes as many phone manufacturers do, "unauthorized modifications", which with Samsung does include rooting AFAIK...and they did state "unlicensed root".

How that is in law..could be...customer vs Samsung....see you in court!!

IANAL

That's why I was enquiring if any apps were being loaded from outside of Samsung, Google or Amazon app stores. Because there is some malware that can gain root access in a device without you even realizing it, but would definitely trip the Knox counter and bring the system status to "custom". It's one reason why I never touch Samsung these days.

 

[FreyZ]

I can't see this ending up anywhere else than court. I have since googled the company and they seem to have a loong history scamming people (Not paying their callcenter employees, advertising faster internet than they actually give you, advertising free broadband and afterwards claiming money for it etc.) I am absolutely shocked that a company like this is allowed to stay in buisness.

Are you based in the EU?

If yes, your warranty covers you for 2 years regardless of root status anyway: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1998801

http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20121106-01.fr.html

I live in Denmark, could this be a valid argument in case some outside source rooted my software without me knowing it?

 

[mikedt]

I can't see this ending up anywhere else than court. I have since googled the company and they seem to have a loong history scamming people (Not paying their callcenter employees, advertising faster internet than they actually give you, advertising free broadband and afterwards claiming money for it etc.) I am absolutely shocked that a company like this is allowed to stay in buisness.

If it's a third-party and not actually Samsung themselves, do you know for sure if they're actually Samsung authorized dealers and service. Although in the UK, Samsung warranty and service is handled by a contractor, Anovo, who also contracts to Sony AFAIK. And there have been a few posts about lousy customer service with Samsung devices in this forum recently, people being given the run-around, fobbed off, long delays.

 

[lunatic59]

Might be 'squeaky wheel' time. While you are just one customer and whether they can con you into something you do or don't need, if they are authorized Samsung resellers and a service center, I'd take the complaint right to Samsung as in "one of YOUR authorized retailers is not honoring the warranty". If the question "what's going on here" comes from the company that is their bread and butter, it will have much more negotiating power.

I had a similar problem with a Toshiba laptop years ago. The Authorized service center said I had done something to it so it wasn't covered. I called Toshiba (and yes, it was a frustrating exercise in customer service, but eventually got to speak with someone with a little clout) and they called the service center. All of a sudden i was covered under warranty.

 

[FreyZ]

If it's a third-party and not actually Samsung themselves, do you know for sure if they're actually Samsung authorized dealers and service. Although in the UK, Samsung warranty and service is handled by a contractor, Anovo, who also contracts to Sony AFAIK. And there have been a few posts about lousy customer service with Samsung devices in this forum recently, people being given the run-around, fobbed off, long delays.

ATM there is simply no way for me to know if they are authorized Samsung dealers. It's a major danish company so I'd assume they are obliged to be authorized by samsung in order to sell their products? If it is so, I will take the case to Samsung.

 

[El Presidente]

I live in Denmark, could this be a valid argument in case some outside source rooted my software without me knowing it?

Absolutely.

What is the issue with your device btw? If you can find other people having the same issue (via Google), you could argue it's an inherent hardware issue.

Either way, they have absolutely no basis to refuse a warranty claim if the device is less than 2 years old and you've not physically tampered with it in any way.

 

[FreyZ]

Absolutely.

What is the issue with your device btw? If you can find other people having the same issue (via Google), you could argue it's an inherent hardware issue.

Either way, they have absolutely no basis to refuse a warranty claim if the device is less than 2 years old and you've not physically tampered with it in any way.

When I googled similar issues I read it's known to be a manufacturing fault in the hardware (don't know the details), one day it just didn't want to recharge. I have not messed with the hardware at all and the device is barely 3 months old.

 

[Brian706]

I hate issues like this. If this is in fact a hardware issue, there's almost 100% certainty that rooting didn't cause it, even if you had intentionally attempted to root the device. It's pretty bogus to not honor a hardware warranty because of a software issue.

 

[ceva321]

So to the OP, what happened? Did you get a new phone?

 

[hiredgun]

Even someone who knows nothing about rooting like myself knows it's IMPOSSIBLE to root a phone without trying AND have it work on top of that!! Just the sheer volume of "I bricked my phone please help" posts on this forum from people who did it on purpose bears out my point! This isn't a knock on the OP, I'm just saying how easy it is for people "in the know" like this distributor to give people like the OP the run around and take advantage of them when they have very limited knowledge of how things work!