Samsung S7 screen cracked from underneath. Covered under warranty?

Brummie85 · 8 July 2018 at 9:57PM

Hi everyone,

After a short drive today, I got out of my car and noticed that the screen on my Samsung Galaxy S7 has suffered from cracking on the underside of the screen, centred around the home button.

The screen was fine when I left home. The drive was about 20 minutes and the phone didn't fall or suffer any damage.

I'm still in warranty until November, but I'm not sure about where/who to claim from.

I carried out the upgrade on my EE contract via Carphone Warehouse, But I'm not sure who to ask to get it repaired..Would I be better approaching EE, CPW or Samsung?

Really, really annoying. The phone has lived in a decent case since the day I got it and other then a couple of minor light scratches to the frame from sharing the odd pocket with keys is otherwise immaculate.

neilmcl · 9 July 2018 at 9:58AM

Good luck in proving that you're not responsible for the damage. Cracks do not always appear straight after a drop, you can drop the phone one day then some days later the crack could appear, usually because of additional stress, maybe the heat or simply carrying it around in your jeans pockets.

My previous phone had been dropped left, right and centre and survived completely unscathed for years then all of a sudden the whole screen shattered without it being dropped, in fact it was simply sitting on the sofa, probably because of unseen weakness caused earlier.

JJ_Egan · 9 July 2018 at 12:23PM

Warranty thats Samsung and its a limited warranty that excludes damage including scratched screens ..
Your Consumer Rights against the vendor CPW . But again they are going to say user damage .

Brummie85 · 9 July 2018 at 6:07PM

Okay.

CPW were as shirky as ever. They just old me that they would send the phone of to Samsung and that Samsung would reject the repair claim as being accidental damage.

My S7 has on occasion gotten extremely hot whilst charging - others in this situation have argued successfully that the heat (and the cooling) underneath the screen weakens the glass over time - leading to cracks appearing from the underside of the glass.

EE have let me go early, because the signal at work is so poor and they couldn't offer me a solution that worked for it. But I am sticking my guns. I want the phone repaired and then to go SIM only.

JJ_Egan · 9 July 2018 at 6:38PM

<My S7 has on occasion gotten extremely hot whilst charging - others in this situation have argued successfully that the heat (and the cooling) underneath the screen weakens the glass over time - leading to cracks appearing from the underside of the glass.
>

Just go down that route then and get the evidence from these people to back up your case .
CPW will probably ask you to prove your assertions via an independent report .

pmduk · 9 July 2018 at 8:20PM

'Anecdotal evidence' is rarely of much use in these cases I'm afraid. You'll need your own evidence. I'd advise you to be ready for a battle.

Brummie85 · 10 July 2018 at 12:18AM

Thanks for the replies.

As CPW have stated that they will only send the phone away to Samsung anyway. I figured that with the likely claims of accidental damage and the difficulty in proving that I didn't damage the phone, I should just deal with Samsung directly.

Samsung are sending a courier out to me at work on Thursday to collect it. But I am expecting initially for them to try and knock the claim under warranty back. I may have to complain harder and see.Otherwise I'll end up going for a new phone and network - EE's advertised deals are poor!

The quoted costs for replacing the screen range from £150 - £180. I did think about claiming under my home & contents insurance, but I literally took out a new policy on Friday and A) it would look dodgy (even though it's genuine) and

there's a 7 day period before I can claim anything for items that leave the house. Even then it's a £50 excess and would knock my premium up next year for a claim being made - so probably not worth it anyway.

JJ_Egan · 10 July 2018 at 9:37AM

Yes warranty gives you less rights than the law .It also gives you less avenues to complain eg only avenue is Samsung .

neilmcl · 10 July 2018 at 11:08AM

Brummie85 wrote: »

Okay.

CPW were as shirky as ever. They just old me that they would send the phone of to Samsung and that Samsung would reject the repair claim as being accidental damage.

My S7 has on occasion gotten extremely hot whilst charging - others in this situation have argued successfully that the heat (and the cooling) underneath the screen weakens the glass over time - leading to cracks appearing from the underside of the glass.

EE have let me go early, because the signal at work is so poor and they couldn't offer me a solution that worked for it. But I am sticking my guns. I want the phone repaired and then to go SIM only.

I don't agree. The phone wont produce enough of a temperature fluctuation to have any effect on the integrity of the glass screen and certainly wont cause a crack unless it was weakened by previous damage.

almillar · 10 July 2018 at 12:37PM

No marks at the front or back of the phone, and the inside is clearly cracked? I think CPW/Samsung have a question to answer.
I would also note that batteries can bulge - this could also be causing this kind of damage.

Brummie85 · 11 July 2018 at 12:17AM

With the power of Youtube, Screengrab and free photo hosting, I can show you pretty much an s7 with identical damage and from what the video poster says similar circumstances.

My screen has gone on pretty much exactly the same point next to the home button - whilst it was also on charge at the time. It wasn't even switched on. It was fine when I got in the car - not fine when I got out 15 - 20 minutes later.

Neil, For someone to manage to accidentally damage the glass in this location and from underneath would be quite difficult and probably impossible without some telltale sign of impact to the sides or back. Other then a tiny single spot of paint peel on the top my phone is (was) perfect cosmetically. The report I saw for the screen cracking was from a post where the phone became so hot it melted the cable and charger port. Mine hasn't been that bad, but repeatedly high heat cn gradually weaken the glass. I think that's what happened to mine.

JJ I'm strongly reconsidering CPW. They will slow the repair down and their policy is to claim accidental damage when a customer shows the phone in store - even before the phone has been looked at. But as you say, the consumer law is weightier then the warranty.

Samsung S7 screen cracked from underneath. Covered under warranty?

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