[Trekker]

here is a pic of what happened to my phone. bad pic taken on my son's pos evo. No exterior scratch. I am going to call palm today.

That is a cracked screen and probably why they are refusing to replace it. There doesn't have to be any visible exterior damage for the screen to crack. Too much pressure or even twisting/flexing could cause it to crack.

I'm not saying you did anything to crack it, the fact that you only had it 5 days makes me wonder if there was already some underlying weakness that existed when they sent it to you.

I talked to 6-7 reps on the phone yesterday and got no satisfaction.

I am going to call palm next. thanks for all the support.

I've always had much better luck contacting Sprint's customer care via email, that's another thing you can try. Here's their address:

ecare2@cc.sprintpcs.com

[shadavis08]

also take the invisashield off . i believe if you send it into zagg they will replace it for free?? im not positive but i believe the are garanteed for life right ? or maybe you have to register them first at zagg.com not sure though how it works.

[GuyFromNam]

You could contact Hardbeatz. He works for Palm and is a member of this forum (and a great guy). He could get the ball rolling for you.
http://forums.precentral.net/members/hardbeatz.html

[pelikan3]

You could contact Hardbeatz. He works for Palm and is a member of this forum (and a great guy). He could get the ball rolling for you.
http://forums.precentral.net/members/hardbeatz.html

It may help to have someone who can facilitate. I've hit brick walls going to Palm, in the years since the Treo came out. They generally want me to mail my phone back to them to evaluate, and fix or repair (2 week turn around but I have heard over a month for some). OR, you can give them your credit card and pay them $35 for upgraded service to send you a replacement device.

Don't just threaten to cancel. Ask for retention services. Tell them what you have experienced. Be nice, try to elicit sympathy, and, be clear that you are not just some whiny customer or someone trying to get by the system. But, tell them that, this "if it's the screen it's the customer's fault no matter what" party line that so many stores and techs follow just doesn't fly. That there are too many known problems with the device, including external and internal stress cracks, discoloration, damaged pixels etc., for that to stand. If they want to keep you as a customer, they need to send you a brand new, in the box, Palm Pre in exchange for the damaged refurb you have.

Good luck!

[shadavis08]

i dont know if i would try the demand for a new in the box pre but its worth a try lol

[jen4muzik]

The fact that it was a refurb and you only had it five days screamed the word lemon to me. It's not like it was a brand new phone, they gave you a used phone, therefore could not guarantee that there wasn't a problem to begin with. Have you tried a different store? I know some stores have policies that aren't really customer friendly...

[bclancy]

here is a pic of what happened to my phone. bad pic taken on my son's pos evo. No exterior scratch. I am going to call palm today.

Can you send a picture of the screen with the LED off? (That would show others in this forum pretty clearly whether or not there are any cracks - especially around the USB port and the bottom button.)

[Trekker]

Can you send a picture of the screen with the LED off? (That would show others in this forum pretty clearly whether or not there are any cracks

There is no doubt that the screen is cracked on the left. In many cases, you can't see the crack with the power off. I see TV's with cracked LCD panels almost on a daily basis and most of the time you can't tell until the screen is lit up.

[bclancy]

There is no doubt that the screen is cracked on the left. In many cases, you can't see the crack with the power off. I see TV's with cracked LCD panels almost on a daily basis and most of the time you can't tell until the screen is lit up.

Thanks Trekker,
It didn't look like damage from a stress crack to me either. I just wanted to see if there are any stress cracks. I'm more and more agreeing with you that this looks more like accidental damage than anything else.

[pelikan3]

i dont know if i would try the demand for a new in the box pre but its worth a try lol

I've had good luck with that too. At least half my Pre's have been NIB

[Mikey47]

Maybe a really dumb question, since this certainly appears to be a hardware issue, but did you ever try doctoring? My touchscreen "died", completely unresponsive no matter what I did. Sprint told me the same thing -- $100 deductible as it was damage I did (since there were two small corner "dings" on the phone). However, this had nothing to do with those scratches which I got almost immediately after getting the phone.

I figured "what the heck", doctored and it has been working like a charm for the last 6 months. Before throwing in the towel, it is at least worth a shot.

[Trekker]

Maybe a really dumb question, since this certainly appears to be a hardware issue, but did you ever try doctoring?

Doctoring isn't going to fix a cracked screen.

[Mikey47]

Doctoring isn't going to fix a cracked screen.

Where in this thread does the OP say it is a cracked screen?

The only mention of cracks are other people talking about their issues.

Here is what the OP has said:

...when i pulled it out the left 3rd of the screen was not working...

...i thought without any outside cracks it would be from faulty equipment....

...No exterior scratch. ...

Sure doesn't sound like a "cracked screen" to me, and the picture does not show a cracked screen simply a malfunctioning display. I think doctoring is certainly a viable potential solution. If he doesn't want to try it, so be it.

[Trekker]

Where in this thread does the OP say it is a cracked screen?

I guess you missed this post where it shows a picture of a cracked screen.

I work with LCD displays and from what I can tell from the picture, that LCD display is cracked, starting at the bottom left where the normal picture of the background stops and the horizontal lines start. The crack goes at least halfway up, and possibly all the way to the top.

Sure doesn't sound like a "cracked screen" to me, and the picture does not show a cracked screen simply a malfunctioning display.

Yes, the picture shows a cracked screen. Maybe to those who don't know that a cracked screen looks like, you can't tell, but trust me, it's cracked and that's why Sprint is refusing to replace it.

Edit:
Here's the picture showing where the crack is.

[Mikey47]

I guess you missed this post where it shows a picture of a cracked screen.

I work with LCD displays and from what I can tell from the picture, that LCD display is cracked, starting at the bottom left where the normal picture of the background stops and the horizontal lines start. The crack goes all the way to the top.



Yes, the picture shows a cracked screen. Maybe to those who don't know that a cracked screen looks like, you can't tell, but trust me, it's cracked and that's why Sprint is refusing to replace it.

That's strange because I don't see the crack, but I don't work with LCD screens all day (or even part of the day other than using them) like you do. Perhaps mikeiniowa will let us know for sure...

In addition to the quotes I included above, I would find it hard to believe that anyone would think Sprint (or Palm or Asurion) would replace a Pre for free with that kind of crack. I know they have replaced them for cracks emanating from the USB port and emanating from the button in the gesture area, but if the crack is where you describe ("starting at the bottom left where the normal picture of the background stops and the horizontal lines start"), then I don't see why he is asking them to replace it for free.

And, if it IS cracked, I agree with your assessment that doctoring won't work (but it would be really cool if it could ).

[Trekker]

That's strange because I don't see the crack

See my edited post where I point out the crack.

[Mikey47]

See my edited post where I point out the crack.

Yep, certainly see that. I guess I was looking for the physical appearance of a crack, not the manifestation of it by the output of the LCD (I hope that makes sense). I am sure, now, that it is the horizontal and vertical lines on the display that lead you to the understanding that the LCD is cracked. I still stand by that he never said it was cracked (whether he rightly or wrongly said that).

Here's a question though, is it possible the the LCD under the face screen is indeed cracked, but the plastic on the front of the Pre is not? This would make sense that he didn't say anything about a crack. To me it would seem possible that if you exerted some pressure on the screen, like by sitting on it or pressing it against something with a large surface area, that the LCD could crack but the plastic screen face would not crack. Possible? Impossible?

[Trekker]

Here's a question though, is it possible the the LCD under the face screen is indeed cracked, but the plastic on the front of the Pre is not?

Yep, that's exactly what it is in my opinion. I see this problem with LCD TV's all the time. In many cases, the outside of the display looks fine, you can't see any impact marks or obvious damage. Once you power it on, you will clearly see an impact mark and a "spider web" pattern of cracks where something obviously hit it. LCD displays are made up of layers and the outer layer doesn't always show damage but the inner glass layer is what gets cracked.

This would make sense that he didn't say anything about a crack. To me it would seem possible that if you exerted some pressure on the screen, like by sitting on it or pressing it against something with a large surface area, that the LCD could crack but the plastic screen face would not crack.
Possible?

That's very likely what happened. I'm just wondering if the display was overstressed at some point before he got the phone and then cracked when he started using it. Maybe the installation of the invisashield put added pressure on a weak spot, maybe he bumped into something while it was in his pocket, it's really hard to tell.

[Mikey47]

That's very likely what happened. I'm just wondering if the display was overstressed at some point before he got the phone and then cracked when he started using it. Maybe the installation of the invisashield put added pressure on a weak spot, maybe he bumped into something while it was in his pocket, it's really hard to tell.

Impossible to know now, but he did start the whole thread off by saying: "I put the phone in my pocket last night as i have done hundreds of times and when i pulled it out the left 3rd of the screen was not working."

[mikeiniowa]

Update:Went to a different sprint store told them everything and somehow they approved me for a new phone.
What a shocker but I am happy. Weird as I looked on my son's evo today at the app store and was looking forward to a audible app and maybe kindle.

thanks for all the support.