Warranty, "Sudden Death", cracked screen

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I'm trying to clarify if a cracked screen really voids the warranty on a phone, and in particular in the case of phone possible affected by "Sudden Death".

Of course, the situation will be different from country to country, but I see people from all over the world with similar problems.

My case: SIII bought from T-Mobile in Netherlands in June 2012, so still under warranty. Was bought full-price, SIM-free. Small crack on screen happened some 6 months ago, but phone was working fine since then. Now it died, with the symptoms of "Sudden Death". Seller claims that cracked screen voids the warranty and therefore they won't even investigate the problem, unless I pay 260 EUR to fix (and it's unclear what exactly will they repair).

I only want the "dead" part to be solved for free, under warranty. I am NOT asking them to fix the screen.

More to the point, my questions would be:

- Is there any OFFICIAL statement from Samsung, acknowledging the "Sudden Death"? We have the reports from Tweakers.Net and Engadget, but I haven't seen an actual confirmation from Samsung. Because then it could be more easily treated as a "known manufacturing defect".

- Has Samsung made any official statements about repair of defects on phones with cracked screens, when the said defects are not directly related to the cracked screen?

- Is anyone aware of any EU or Dutch legislation which would apply here, meaning to clarify the fixing of devices with multiple defects, when only some of those defects are covered by warranty?

Anytime your device shows physical damage, most manufacturers will refuse to honor warranty. Samdung isn't unique in this.

I know that it happens, but that doesn't mean that said manufacturers are right. Also, in EU actually the seller, not the manufacturer, is responsible for repairing/replacing products under warranty for the end-customer. But I digress.

My questions were specifically:

- If Samsung has acknowledged officially the "Sudden Death" as a known issue.

- If there is, especially in EU, any legislation or regulation that would obligate the seller (or manufacturer) to fix defects when the product has other, unrelated, defects.

And yes, it is difficult to prove if two defects are related or not. Interestingly though, in EU, within 6 months of the sale it is seller's responsibility to prove that the damage was caused by the customer. After that, the onus is on the customer to prove it. Of course, like any good legislation, it leaves to interpretation what is considered "proof".

Originally Posted by monitor84

I know that it happens, but that doesn't mean that said manufacturers are right. Also, in EU actually the seller, not the manufacturer, is responsible for repairing/replacing products under warranty for the end-customer. But I digress.

My questions were specifically:

- If Samsung has acknowledged officially the "Sudden Death" as a known issue.

- If there is, especially in EU, any legislation or regulation that would obligate the seller (or manufacturer) to fix defects when the product has other, unrelated, defects.

And yes, it is difficult to prove if two defects are related or not. Interestingly though, in EU, within 6 months of the sale it is seller's responsibility to prove that the damage was caused by the customer. After that, the onus is on the customer to prove it. Of course, like any good legislation, it leaves to interpretation what is considered "proof".

If Samsung has acknowledged officially the "Sudden Death" as a known issue: Officially, No! Un-officially, they have recognized it and have been releasing updates which supposedly fix the SDS.

Re: Warranty, "Sudden Death", cracked screen

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Cracked screen does not 'void' warranty. It is just not covered under warranty. If you present them a dead phone under warranty with a cracked screen, they'll only charge for the replacement screen. The phone will be repaired free of charge.

I should know. I had almost the same issue in December. They charged for the screen but the repair was under warranty.

Edit: I'm in India, BTW.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Originally Posted by samydroid

If Samsung has acknowledged officially the "Sudden Death" as a known issue: Officially, No! Un-officially, they have recognized it and have been releasing updates which supposedly fix the SDS.

What exactly is "un-officially"? Is there any evidence of this, any e-mails or release notes which support this? Or do we only have the statement from Tweakers.net?

One the vendor may have different warranty terms than Samsung .
In which case it would be worth approaching a Samsung service centre .

As you say regarding legislation EU etc the problem is getting the other party to understand that .

jje