Have you tried everything that you could think of to get your phone to work properly and nothing has worked? Here are some tips that you might find useful.
First of all, if there is no physical or liquid damage on your phone, make sure that you have tried to perform a reset on the mobile phone. There are many types of resets; the one that you need to perform is a Factory Data Reset (also known as a master reset or a master clear on basic phones, or a factory clear, etc). You need to perform the reset that wipes everything from the phone deleting all of the information as well as putting it back to its factory default settings. It doesn’t sound pleasant in the least but that fixes most phone issues permanently. If you have an android phone and have not yet done this then read This Step-By-Step Guide Will Fix Most Android Smart Phone Issues. If you have not yet performed a factory data reset because your phone won’t let you then try an article about How to perform an alternate reset on an android phone.
If your phone has been reset, or its being extremely stubborn and not allowing you to reset it, then there are still some options available.
Option 1: Warranty
If your phone doesn’t have liquid or physical damage and you have had it for more than 14 days and less than a year then you’re most likely still under the manufactures warranty. Contact your Service Providers warranty department and see if they can replace your unit for you. Some providers can even replace your phone in the store. You can find most of the information you need at How to File a Warranty Claim on my Cell Phone, remember that if your service provider can’t or won’t replace your phone then contact the manufacturer itself to see if you can send your phone in for repair. The contact numbers for your phones manufactures are on that same article.
Option 2: Insurance
If your phone has physical damage, liquid damage, or is out of warranty and you have insurance then use it. Insurance covers everything that warranty doesn’t. Now if you’re not sure if you have insurance then you most likely don’t, but there are a few ways to check.
Most of the time the option to purchase insurance is provided to you when you first buy your phone, and in most cases you need to choose to get it within the first 30 days of purchase. Sorry you can’t order it just to file a claim, for those of you shady characters who were thinking that. The majority of people that have insurance also pay a monthly fee through their phone company, so check your monthly mobile phone bill. Mobile insurance is usually around or less than $10 dollars a month.
Most mobile phone service providers use the same 3rd party insurance company, so if you do have insurance then it’s probably through Asurion. How Asurion monopolized this market I do not know but can you imagine if there was only one car insurance company, a little crazy but that’s a whole other post.
To file an insurance claim on your phone through Asurion go to their website at www.phoneclaim.com. You can then select your mobile phones service provider and start the claim process, it’s usually pretty quick online and you won’t have to wait to talk to a representative on the phone. Note: when filing an insurance claim there is going to be a deductable involved, this deductable can be anywhere from $50-$200+ dollars.
If you remember purchasing insurance and it wasn’t through your mobile phones service provider or Asurion then it might have been from the store that you purchased your phone from and you should take it back to them.
Option 3: Fix it yourself
This option depends heavily on what exactly is wrong with your phone. If its software related and a factory data reset won’t fix it, then you might need to proceed to Option 4 maybe even Option 5. If it’s a hardware issue like the screen is cracked or shattered (which is an extremely common issue) then you might be able to just replace your screen and you’ll be good to go. Do a search online for the parts or check out RepairsUniverse.com their pretty amazing when it comes to replacement parts for mobile phones. Replacing parts for a mobile phone it not as hard or as expensive as you might think. Don’t let someone talk you into paying $50-$700+ dollars for another phone or lock you into a contract when you can fix the phone you have for $35 dollars.
Option 4: Take it in to get repaired
If you’re not confident in your own abilities to repair your phone, then you should consider taking it to a local repair shop and have someone else repair it for you. Again just do a search online find a local store and get an estimate. Obviously it might be a tad more expensive, maybe not even by that much, and if they have your parts in stock then a little faster too.
Option 5: Use one of your old phones
You might be locked into a contract but you are NOT locked into that make and model of phone. Don’t let your service provider or the store convince you otherwise. If you have an older phone lying around the house and it’s the same carrier as the one you’re having problems with, for example both phones are supported by AT&T, than just take your SIM card out of the problem phone and place it in your other phone and it should work fine (Some exceptions might include iPhones, which sometimes have micro SIM cards instead of the standard ones).
On that note if you don’t have an old phone ask around to your friends and family and see if they have any spare phones waiting for you in a drawer somewhere. Many people hear that they are upgrade eligible; they get a discount on the newest phone with the newest fastest processer and all the new features and bells and whistles, so they upgrade and put their perfectly good working phone in a drawer and there it sits waiting for someone like you to rescue it.
Option 6: Purchasing another phone
If you need to consider purchasing another unit, contact your service provider, let them know what happened to your phone and ask them what they can do to get you into a working unit. Many wireless phone service providers have an out of warranty option for their customers, it’s not always the best but you need a phone. Contact them and see what options you have then shop around, choose the best thing for you, but try contacting them first, heck if you have a two year contract and don’t have a phone to actually use then what’s the point. I don’t recommend canceling your contract it can be pretty expensive, and there are more affordable options available.
Consider purchasing a prepaid phone sold by your service provider. They are often times very affordable and the perfect solution if you need a temporary phone while you wait for replacement parts or your upgrade to become available. Don’t bother activating it on the SIM or number it came with. Just using the SIM card from your malfunctioning mobile phone, should work fine. Using your original SIM should also allow you to keep your phone number and if you had saved your contacts to it previously from your original phone then your address book as well. If not ask the store representative to assist you. If it’s a store owned by your provider they can assist you with getting your prepaid phone activated and functional. As soon as you put the SIM card in the phone though, the phone should pretty much do everything automatically all by itself, power it up and enjoy your new phone. source
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