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AT&T replacing a water-damaged phone?

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Heinzler
Posts: 1931 - Karma: 125
will at&t replace a water-damaged phone? i dropped my pantech impact (if that matters) in my sink last night. i have insurance for it, and i saw nothing on at&t's website about their insurance policy.

HALP PWEEZE
May 25 2011 11:47AM
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Heinzler
Posts: 1931 - Karma: 125
did this overnight, i turned it on and it shit the bed. no chance of making it work that way anymore :(
May 25 2011 11:50AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
If you have insurance, then it should cover water damage but you will have to pay the deductible.

They will not swap the phone out under warranty for water damage. Without insurance, you're looking at buying a phone outright.
May 25 2011 11:51AM
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rigzz
Posts: 1768 - Karma: 147
I know this won't help, but when I choosed the insurance for my phone, I had 2 choice, the first one which was manufacture damage or defect, and the second one which was 4$ more was for anything, she even told me, If I took a hammer to the phone, they would change it no questions asked.
May 25 2011 11:52AM
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Heinzler
Posts: 1931 - Karma: 125
it's covered by their mobile insurance, not warranty. so i'd just have to pay the deductable?
May 25 2011 11:54AM
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PeeDuBzz
Posts: 1010 - Karma: 134
if your paying for insurance they should replace it no problem
May 25 2011 12:13PM
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COskier
Posts: 1066 - Karma: 131
Just gonna throw this out there but on most phones there is a little white dot that turns pink when it gets wet indicating that your warranty is voided (usually under battery or something). If you are careful, you can put a little white out on that bitch and they will never notice.
May 25 2011 12:14PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
yep
May 25 2011 12:27PM
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Heinzler
Posts: 1931 - Karma: 125
cool. thanks man
May 25 2011 12:29PM
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WikiWiki
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 426
not water damage

anything water damage related is not covered unless it is marketed as a water resistant phone-
May 25 2011 12:49PM
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StreetsOfRage
Posts: 1180 - Karma: 4
Dude its insurance. which means anything. when you buy car insurance for you car, and oyu get in a crash will the insurance company say "no we wont pay to fix your car because it doesnt market itself as crash resistant." no they fix it because you payed for the insurance. same with a phone you pay them money and they will do it. its not the same as the warranty.
May 25 2011 12:57PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
Go to the store and buy a Tide to-go bleach pen thing. Dye the water damage sticker back from red to white. Take your phone in and claim you have no idea what's wrong with it. Profit?
May 25 2011 12:57PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
how have they not caught on to this yet?
May 25 2011 12:58PM
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Skittle.
Posts: 2537 - Karma: 718
this. my brother did it and it worked
May 25 2011 2:02PM
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danbrown
Posts: 11939 - Karma: 21,826
a friend of mine scratched off the red dot sticker on his blackberry entirely, the idiots working at verizon didn't even notice. he just said it stopped working and he didnt know why, and they gave him a new phone.
May 25 2011 2:07PM
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failtown
Posts: 107 - Karma: 13
Only works if your sticker is solid white to start with.  Every phone I've ever had has a white sticker with red crossmarks. dying it straight white wouldn't work. could be worth a shot though, who knows
May 25 2011 2:10PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
90% chance he completely made up that 80% chance part.
May 25 2011 2:12PM
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seward
Posts: 5233 - Karma: 2,174
im thinking your 100% correct 50% of the time
May 25 2011 2:15PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
truth - most phones have a red "x" pattern in the watermark, so it is pretty obvious if it's been tampered with. Fortunately, most people that work at cell phone stores are morons, so they wouldn't know the difference anyway.

I'd take it off and give it to them, tell them it stopped working, and then play it from there. Maybe they'll swap in store and you won't have to go through insurance. Make sure you don't have any other obvious signs of liquid damage on the phone, i.e. corrosion on the charging port, moisture under the display, etc. though.
May 25 2011 2:32PM
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Travapple.
Posts: 6787 - Karma: 88
This. My drunk ass fell out of a canoe yesterday while attempting to piss, my phone went with me. I was sure i was fucked. but i took the battery and SD card out and put it in a bag of rice overnight and now it works 100 percent.
May 25 2011 2:39PM
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WikiWiki
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 426
yeah because I sold cell phones for 2 years and have no idea what they do and dont cover- and by the way go take a look at your auto insurance policy if thats what you really think




kill yourself
May 26 2011 12:16AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
well, i sold them for 7 or 8 years and i'm going to tell you you're wrong. liquid damage is covered under the equipment replacement plans for all major carriers in the us.
May 26 2011 12:32AM
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WikiWiki
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 426
orly?

please explain to me which carrier will sell you a phone with insurance that covers liquid damage?- ATT sure as hell doesn't- same goes with verizon, tmobile, and sprint- the only time water damage is covered in an insurance program for a mobile device is if the device is marketed as water resistant- ie the waterproof phones



working at a walmart doesnt mean your a phone expert- and unless they just started doing this in the last year then there is no way-
May 26 2011 12:41AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
haha, working at walmart...good one. you're wrong. i've done it and seen it done hundreds of times at t-mob, verizon, sprint, and at&t. why would they cover a lost or stolen phone, but not liquid damage? you are wrong.
May 26 2011 12:58AM
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wait.what
Posts: 1694 - Karma: 529
I'm pregnant you guys. :(
May 26 2011 1:10AM
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ShredTheGnarnia
Posts: 2544 - Karma: 79
I am his brother. He speaks the truth. Just put a drop of bleach on the sticker and a couple hours later it was totally white, brought it in, swapped it out.
May 26 2011 1:25AM
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ShredTheGnarnia
Posts: 2544 - Karma: 79
I am his brother. He speaks the truth. Just put a drop of bleach on the sticker and a couple hours later it was totally white, brought it in, swapped it out.
May 26 2011 1:25AM
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rigzz
Posts: 1768 - Karma: 147
You guys know that on certain phone they have more than only ONE white dot. Company often check if every dot is white when they get the phone back.
May 26 2011 11:07AM
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failtown
Posts: 107 - Karma: 13
I think one of you is referring to the phone manufacturers' warranty, and the other is referring to the insurance programs you can buy for your phone (through companies like Asurion).  A phone manufacturer warranty will NOT cover water damage.  But, if you pay the extra $7/month or whatever it is for seperate phone insurance, then yes water damage is covered. that insurance covers pretty much ANYTHING.  But you still have to pay a $50 or $100 deductible.
May 26 2011 11:14AM
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moonofendor
Posts: 1484 - Karma: 14
peel the sticker with the red on it off of yours. then carefully take the sticker from a phone that hasn't been water damaged and put it in the spot that yours was in. take to at&t store. boom new phone.

also the battery might have one of these stickers on it too.
May 26 2011 11:41AM
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dylanb
Posts: 379 - Karma: 86
If they won't replace it you can buy one of the cheap go phones from walmart and just put your sim card in it
May 26 2011 11:52AM
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KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,629
this....

verizon has the same thing similar to this idk if your talking about at and t or verizon but every few years i will break my phone run it through the wash or something and get the new latest phone equivalent for free.Definatly worth getting the extra protection plan for the 50 bucks a year it costs or whatever it is becasue people fuck there phones up all the time especially if you have a nice iphone or something.
May 26 2011 11:59AM
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