Help S6 Edge Has Liquid Damage...What To Do Now?

[RajCaj]

Thanks in advance for any advice offered...

Some orange juice spilled on my S6 Edge and caused liquid damage to PBA (motherboard) components. (By the way, thanks to all that called for a "cooler" looking phone...now it can't withstand a splash of liquid, but that's another post in another thread)

In my naïve nature, I assumed that Samsung would be able to repair the phone for me, albeit at a significant cost, so I sent it off to their repair center.

The ticket notes were updated after a Samsung tech looked at the phone and deemed it Beyond Economic Repair (BER) due to liquid damage to PBA components and send the broken phone in the mail without even giving me the option to pay to replace the damaged internals. After all, replacing parts of the phone should not be as expensive as purchasing the phone at full cost right?

I've done some reading online to see what options I have available to me at this point, but all seem to point to the damaged phone being a really expensive paper weight.

I just wanted to check in to see if anyone has had experience with a situation like this...or if anyone had advice on what options I have at this point.

Can the phone be repaired for less than the full retail cost of a replacement phone (approx. $900 for the model I have)?

If not, do liquid damaged phones sell for spare parts? (Screen & body of the phone are in mint condition)

 

[mikedt]

Thanks in advance for any advice offered...

Some orange juice spilled on my S6 Edge and caused liquid damage to PBA (motherboard) components. (By the way, thanks to all that called for a "cooler" looking phone...now it can't withstand a splash of liquid, but that's another post in another thread)

In my naïve nature, I assumed that Samsung would be able to repair the phone for me, albeit at a significant cost, so I sent it off to their repair center.

The ticket notes were updated after a Samsung tech looked at the phone and deemed it Beyond Economic Repair (BER) due to liquid damage to PBA components and send the broken phone in the mail without even giving me the option to pay to replace the damaged internals. After all, replacing parts of the phone should not be as expensive as purchasing the phone at full cost right?

It can be, yes. Especially if the manufacturer themselves or an authorized agent are undertaking the repair. Could be charging up to $100 an hour labour, plus parts.

I've done some reading online to see what options I have available to me at this point, but all seem to point to the damaged phone being a really expensive paper weight.

I just wanted to check in to see if anyone has had experience with a situation like this...or if anyone had advice on what options I have at this point.

Can the phone be repaired for less than the full retail cost of a replacement phone (approx. $900 for the model I have)?

If not, do liquid damaged phones sell for spare parts? (Screen & body of the phone are in mint condition)

One thing, orange juice(citric acid) can be rather corrosive to electronics. A replacement S6 Edge logic board might be half the entire cost of the phone, plus labour costs. Besides the logic board, could other damage as well where the orange juice has got in, but it hasn't failed yet, .e.g. touch-screen module. They'll only undertake a repair if they can warranty it. Given the nature of the liquid damage they might have to replace everything except the casing, just to guarantee it stays working. That's likely why it was returned as BER.

I busted the AMOLED screen on a Galaxy S once, it was about 18 months old at the time. Quote from Samsung too expensive, bought a new Lenovo phone instead.

You can sell it for parts on Ebay, many people do that sort of thing

 

[RajCaj]

It can be, yes. Especially if the manufacturer themselves or an authorized agent are undertaking the repair. Could be charging up to $100 an hour labour, plus parts.



One thing, orange juice(citric acid) can be rather corrosive to electronics. A replacement S6 Edge logic board might be half the entire cost of the phone, plus labour costs. Besides the logic board, could other damage as well where the orange juice has got in, but it hasn't failed yet, .e.g. touch-screen module. They'll only undertake a repair if they can warranty it. Given the nature of the liquid damage they might have to replace everything except the casing, just to guarantee it stays working. That's likely why it was returned as BER.

I busted the AMOLED screen on a Galaxy S once, it was about 18 months old at the time. Quote from Samsung too expensive, bought a new Lenovo phone instead.

Thanks for the quick reply Mike. I guess my curiosity is around how they arrived to the BER threshold. I hope they aren't using contract / subsidized pricing as the fiscal benchmark to determine if a phone is BER or not....as I burned my upgrade on this new S6 Edge, and would gladly pay $400 to repair it over $900 to replace it.

Unfortunate part for Samsung is this policy will likely drive me to another manufacture that can offer a cheaper alternative than purchasing a new S6 (as it did for you)

 

[S6edge46220]

Thanks for the quick reply Mike. I guess my curiosity is around how they arrived to the BER threshold. I hope they aren't using contract / subsidized pricing as the fiscal benchmark to determine if a phone is BER or not....as I burned my upgrade on this new S6 Edge, and would gladly pay $400 to repair it over $900 to replace it.

Unfortunate part for Samsung is this policy will likely drive me to another manufacture that can offer a cheaper alternative than purchasing a new S6 (as it did for you)

If it had just been water it would probably be repairable. OJ is much more corrosive (just like salt water) so Samsung is afraid of more trouble later on. Try a local repair shop, or as you said get a cheaper replacement. This is why I have insurance on my phone. Also, sorry to say, but Samsung likely could care less if you buy cheaper now. They already made their $$ off of you.

 

[RajCaj]

If it had just been water it would probably be repairable. OJ is much more corrosive (just like salt water) so Samsung is afraid of more trouble later on. Try a local repair shop, or as you said get a cheaper replacement. This is why I have insurance on my phone. Also, sorry to say, but Samsung likely could care less if you buy cheaper now. They already made their $$ off of you.

I went to a repair shop and they said they could try to remediate the current hardware problems, but couldn't guarantee anything.

The phone will not boot up at all while not plugged in. With the phone plugged in, the battery reads 100% charge, and will get to the Samsung boot screen, but makes a weird noise after you hear the AT&T sound start and the screen shuts off. I was able to get it to load the operating system using the Samsung USB Brick it came with, but cuts off after pulling the power plug.

Repair shop thought a new battery & some corrosion remediation might fix it, but again...no guarantees.

Suffice to say, I will re-think purchasing insurance going forward. I just assumed that replacing the internals on these phones (particularly the main board) was no where near the full cost of the phone and was worth the risk. Paying $460 over 2yrs ($10 a month for 2yrs + $200 deductible) is cheaper than paying $900 for a new phone.