Samsung J4 stopped working within a week from new and now it's out of warranty?

Forums › Android › Samsung J4 stopped working within a week from new and now it's out of warranty?

jjs1591

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#242751 12-Nov-2018 16:46

Hi guys,

I don't know much about phones so I thought I'd post this here hoping to get some insight on my situation.

I bought a Samsung J4 from Harvey Norman Wairau and within a week or so, the phone got stuck in a booting loop where it just kept on getting stuck at the logo screen. I tried factory reset (holding down home button and volume button? Google taught me how) but no luck so I gave it to Harvey Norman to fix it.

2 weeks later and after a number of phone calls asking about their progress, I got a quote from Telegistics for $110 saying that the phone's been modified and they've got a picture showing that it's got a custom software.
I know nothing about putting custom software on phone and the phone was working just fine before one morning when I woke up it wasn't working.

After so many phone calls with Harvey Norman, the store manager is saying that he can't do anything about it because Telegistic is saying that the phone's been modified so it's out of warranty.

This is so disappointing that I need to pay $110 to fix a $300 phone which I haven't done anything to break it. If I knew this would happen, I would've used that money to buy a better spec'd phone.

Does anybody have a similar experience? Is paying to fix the phone is my only option?

Thanks in advance for any comments :)

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#2124292 12-Nov-2018 16:49

I sent an email to these guys https://www.tdr.org.nz/ about a problem I had, they did all the communication on my behalf to resolve my problem - maybe give that a go?

You don't have to pay the fee at all. Just keep at it and don't let them win and you will get your rightfully deserved way.

evnafets

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#2124339 12-Nov-2018 17:47

I have sympathy for you, and based on your side of the story you haven't done anything wrong - so a CGA/warranty claim is completely valid. A week old phone should not just stop working.

Excuse the skepticism (I don't know much about the subject), but many people try things that "google shows them how to" and end up in problems like this. So did you do anything to the phone at all? Install some apps?

Asking some obvious questions

- What is their proof that you have installed custom software?
- What is the software under discussion? Does it ring any bells with you at all ?

jjs1591

19 posts

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#2124347 12-Nov-2018 18:31

Thanks for the comments.
I understand your skepticism but I didn't download anything to do the factory reset. I went into recovery mode by holding down the power and volume (if I remember correctly) and deleted user data and cache.
I'll see if I can find the actual instructions. .
They said they've got a picture of my phone screen showing 'custom' for software. I don't know what they mean by that.

Before the phone stopped working, I installed smart switch from Samsung to transfer stuff from my old phone. Then I installed two lifestyle apps from Google store.
I talked to Samsung service centre and they suggested that it could've been done due to an app I transferred from my old phone. When I heard that I installed a rootchecker app on my old phone but my old phone was not rooted.

evnafets

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#2124616 13-Nov-2018 09:49

"Pics or it didn't happen"

Do you have that screenshot of the "custom" software? If not ask them for it, then post it here.
I have faith that somebody around on this board would be able to give an opinion if it represents a "modified" phone or not.

MurrayM

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#2124618 13-Nov-2018 09:54

Does the J4 have Knox? I think that can detect if the stock ROM has been replaced with a custom one and they use that to see if someone has been fiddling with their phone.

TheoM

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#2124622 13-Nov-2018 10:03

MurrayM:

Does the J4 have Knox? I think that can detect if the stock ROM has been replaced with a custom one and they use that to see if someone has been fiddling with their phone.

Pretty sure all Samsung phones since the S4 have knox. Knox itself is incredibly obknoxious (see what I did there?) with it burning an efuse on the device when you root or flash a custom ROM. Telegistics could force a burn by rooting the device, but that's highly unethical. You'll want to get proof from them with the phone in ODIN mode, but I'd be more inclined to believe you haven't done anything

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SpartanVXL

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#2124665 13-Nov-2018 11:36

It does have Knox. I wouldn't put it past them to custom flash phones and intentionally charge a fee for 'breaking warranty'. Unless they have proof of Knox set to 1 and you have proof that it wasn't before you sent it in then you'd have to force their hand via Disputes.

Edit: and by Disputes I mean proving that the fault causing failure of the device is not related to whatever 'custom' shenanigans they're throwing at you.

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TheoM

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#2124670 13-Nov-2018 11:52

SpartanVXL: It does have Knox. I wouldn't put it past them to custom flash phones and intentionally charge a fee for 'breaking warranty'. Unless they have proof of Knox set to 1 and you have proof that it wasn't before you sent it in then you'd have to force their hand via Disputes. Edit: and by Disputes I mean proving that the fault causing failure of the device is not related to whatever 'custom' shenanigans they're throwing at you.

I would still take it back to the retailer, since the phone not working after a week with no obvious damage would be classed as a major fault, and under the CGA you're able to go back to the retailer and reject the device as it's not fit for purpose. Beware however they will likely try to fight you. The important thing to remember here is that the business cannot contract out of the CGA.

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jjs1591

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#2124690 13-Nov-2018 12:33

This is the image they gave to me.

TheoM

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#2124695 13-Nov-2018 12:38

jjs1591:

This is the image they gave to me.

Okay, so. From what I can get from that:

The phone has never been rooted
It's currently running Samsung Official firmware (i.e. stock)
You've never modified anything on that phone at a system level
The eFuse has never blown, as evidenced by "WARRANTY VOID: 0 (0x0000)". If the eFuse had blown, it would be: 1 (0x0001)
There is no way that you could have rooted your phone without unlocking the bootloader, and since it's locked...
Telegistics is lying.

What Telegistics is doing is tantamount to extortion, since the system is completely stock, the warranty is not void, and the phone is showing that it's using official firmware.

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evnafets

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#2124698 13-Nov-2018 12:43

What they appear to be complaining about is "System Status: Custom"

Anybody have any idea what that means?

TheoM

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#2124700 13-Nov-2018 12:47

evnafets:

What they appear to be complaining about is "System Status: Custom"

Anybody have any idea what that means?

That status indicator is only used internally by Samsung to indicate whether or not the image flashed to your phone is true stock (no carrier modifications), or a custom image built for a carrier (like for example, Spark). It does not in any way mean you've rooted the device. The only way to confirm that is if the eFuse has blown, in which case the warranty status would be void (i.e. 1 instead of 0)

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MurrayM

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#2124706 13-Nov-2018 12:56

I found this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/status-custom-solution-to-warranty-t2156165

robjg63

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#2124710 13-Nov-2018 13:04

This thread has some discussion about a similar situation:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-10-1-2014/354306-thanks-repair-device-status-custom-cant-update.html

On face value the only 'odd' thing is the "SYSTEM STATUS: CUSTOM" line - everything else points to it not having been modified.

Cant find a definitive description on the above message.

EDIT: Check the very last comment on page 2 of the thread

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dafman

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#2124741 13-Nov-2018 14:06

TheoM:

What Telegistics is doing is tantamount to extortion, since the system is completely stock, the warranty is not void, and the phone is showing that it's using official firmware.

Telegistics is a Spark owned company. Whatever you think about Spark's customer service, they definitely don't 'extort' customers or deliberately flash ROMS (as someone else suggested) to avoid warranty claims.

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