How Your Cell Phone Warranty Works

A one year cell phone warranty is included with every mobile phone you purchase new. If you purchased the cell phone used directly from the cell phone company or received it through warranty exchange or the lost insurance replacement program it has a 30-90 day warranty dependent on your cell phone company.

Your cell phone warranty covers manufacturer defect. So what exactly is considered ‘manufacturer defect’? A phone that is less than 1 year old and was purchased new from the direct cell phone company i.e. ATT Wireless, T-Mobile or an Authorized Dealer or Retailer, that displays one or more of the following problems:

* The speaker is not working or the microphone is not working (I can’t hear the caller or the caller can’t hear me)

* The phone will not charge because the charging port is loose from daily wear and tear and is not physically broken because you jammed your charger repeatedly into the charging slot 'upside down'

* The battery dies quickly (within 1 hour of a full charge) or constantly reads low battery no matter how long you have had it on the charger.

* The phone screen is faint or blank (usually you would notice this as soon as you open your new phone). Otherwise it is generally a result of water damage.

* The internal antenna is broken therefore even after you activated your phone it still receives no service even though you are in a service area

*Charger doesn’t work, meaning there is no indicator.

* If you have a phone with a manufacturer defect and the problem occurs within the cell phone warranty period the cell phone company will replace the cell phone through the warranty program at no charge.

In order to start a warranty exchange request the first thing you will need to is contact customer care to get the process started.

How to Make A Warranty Exchange Request:

1. You call the company and tell them you are having a problem with your phone and believe that it is a cell phone warranty issue

2. The representative will walk you through a series of pre qualifying questions and manual phone tests.

3. If the problem is deemed a warranty issue they will transfer you to their warranty exchange department

4. The representative will repeat many of the questions from the initial customer care representative and walk you through a series of pre qualifying questions and manual phone tests.

5. They will have you read some numbers off the back of your phone or battery, as this is how they determine that (1) The equipment you are calling about is what is shown in their system (2) Your issue is under the cell phone warranty which can be determined by the number and letter sequence on your serial number

6. After determining that your phone qualifies under the warranty exchange program they will mail you a replacement phone first with a mailer (may or may not be pre-paid dependent on your carrier).

7. You will have about 5-7 days to get the defective cell phone back without having your bill charged for it (they will provide you with the actual time period before they ship out the device.

8. You will receive what they call a ‘transceiver only’ which is the phone with no battery.

9. If the carrier gets the device back and it is physically damaged or something is wrong with it other than what you stated, they will charge your bill a fee that is equivalent of buying a refurbished phone. Either way you always keep the device they sent you and they will always keep the device you sent them, repair it and often recycle back into their own warranty replacement or insurance pool dependent on the age of the device and the problem.

Note: The carrier direct (i.e. ATT Wireless, Verizon Wireless) handles warranty exchanges for phones and hardware.

The manufacturer (i.e. Motorola, Nokia, Plantronics) handles warranty exchanges for accessories, such as bluetooth headsets, wall chargers and batteries.

Did your cell phone warranty expire? Follow this link for other options regarding out of warranty phones or insurance options.

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