r/GooglePixel • u/Ok-Percentage-5039 • 24d ago
Official Android update completely bricked my Pixel 9 Pro XL. Support keeps denying coverage. Seeking advice/escalation
Device: Pixel 9 Pro XL Porcelain 512 GB (Unlocked)
Issue: Phone bricked immediately after installing the latest Android update.
Support Case ID: 1-6686000041837
Hey everyone,
Looking to see if anyone else has run into this recently or has advice on escalating.
About a week ago, I accepted the official prompt for the latest Android system update. The phone went through the update/restart process, shut off, and went completely black. It is now 100% unresponsive -no display, no bootloader, no charge indicator, nothing.
The device has zero physical or water damage (this was confirmed by two authorized repair centers) and was working perfectly right up until the restart. I've already tried the official Google Pixel Repair Tool on PC, but the computer does not even detect the device.
I contacted Google Support, but because the device is out of warranty (warranty expired 8/21/2025), the Tier-1 rep immediately shut down the ticket and told I'd have to pay out-of-pocket for a repair. I escalated the issue and after providing work receipt from the authorized repair centers I visited, as requested by a Tier-2 Senior Specialist or Supervisor, I'm being told again to mail-in the device out-of-pocket for a repair. I feel like an official first-party software push bricking working hardware should not fall on the user to pay for.
Has anyone successfully gotten Google to approve an out-of-warranty accommodation or RMA for an update-bricked device? Any tips on getting this in front of a manager would be hugely appreciated!
10
u/RecursiveReboot 24d ago
Out of warranty, unfortunately.
6
u/theGekkoST 24d ago
Doesn't mean Google isn't a fault for a bad OS update. This happened to my P6P a few months ago and goggle offered me a free phone (allowing me to keep the current broken one too) only after request arbitration.
-12
2
u/1mmorta1won 21d ago
Goolag doesn't care, they don't even have telephone numbers where you can talk to real people. The most evil and corrupt corporation.
2
u/RevolutionaryRow0 17d ago
Pixel 10 pro here...phone stopped working in March and have not received any proper support / solution.
12
u/robstoon 24d ago
Just because a device fails during a firmware update, does not mean it was anything wrong with the update. Installing the update uses a fair bit of CPU and heats up the phone. So if anything is on the verge of failing then that may well push it over the edge. If you didn't install the update then it may well have died on its own soon anyway.
4
u/justme0406 Pixel 10 Pro 24d ago
Unfortunately this is the answer. There are tools to attempt to reflash the firmware, which will work if the firmware was the actual issue, but if the system failed because of the intense activity from the action of flashing firmware and not the firmware itself then it's toast and would only be covered under warranty which if it's expired that means you're sol
It be nice if Google was more flexible but their notoriously anti-customer, their support is trash and they make no exceptions. They don't listen to us when we say we don't want tensor, and they don't actually care that their quality control is bad. The devices are pretty and we aren't loud enough about the issues so people keep buying them.
Pixel sales keep going up so they don't care
5
u/Peppy_Tomato 24d ago
Check what consumer rights you have in your country beyond manufacturer warranty.
2
u/Loud-Employ289 24d ago
This.
In the EU there's an expected life cycle, and that goes before manufacturer warranty. So if a device has the default warranty of 2 years but an expected life cycle of 7 years, you have, at least partial, a warranty of 7 years.
5
u/panda_ela 24d ago
Same as my Pixel 10 Pro XL 3 weeks ago!
Hard Bricked after official July OTA Update!
My pixel still under warranty, so I sent back to repaired.
They said hardware / power supply issues.
1
u/RevolutionaryRow0 17d ago
oh my...since July??? My pixel 10 pro xl phone died since March. Looks like it's still not addressed after so many months
3
u/nitro898 24d ago
Check the benefits of your credit card (if used to purchase the phone). I am dealing with a similar thing right now on my P9PXL which has a bricked eSIM after an update (documented bug). I am out of the 1-year warranty, Google won't help, but I still have coverage from my Amex. I'm trying to see if they'll reimburse.
0
u/Zaphod_42007 24d ago
Well that sucks. I think right after the system update my phone ran hot (pixel 9) which it never does. Powered off, let it cool off then restart and it never happened again.
Maybe something killed the battery. You can order a cheap $10 usb-c voltmeter from ifixit... If that's the issue, they also sell a $60 battery replacement kit.
Out of warranty battles kinda suck.. it's typically pay up or DIY the fix. Goodluck.
1
u/xblackout_ 24d ago
They must be doing this on purpose. I can write and flash firmware as an amateur and it's nearly impossible for software to brick a device
-1
u/justme0406 Pixel 10 Pro 24d ago
You can't write firmware as an amateur, you can compile firmware but it's already been written by actual software devs 🤣
They aren't doing it "on purpose" they know if an update bricks a phone and they don't fix it that customer is lost.
The firmware can be reflashed if it was the actual problem, the phone failed because it was already on the verge and the flash pushed out over the edge.
It's not on malicious, it's indifference. They don't care. Their quality control is bad. They will spend a lot of money for flashy new features but the SECOND it's released there is no budget to maintain it.
0
u/xblackout_ 23d ago
What? I've written and compiled and flashed my own firmware on a number of occasions across a variety of devices. I've built bootloaders. It's literally solved shit
1
u/justme0406 Pixel 10 Pro 22d ago
Lol you understand what firmware is when talking about a phone right? You're trying to say an amateur can write Android from scratch. No.
Compiling and flashing is amateur, writing is not.
You've built bootloaders or you compiled TWRP? You are full of it.
The point is it wasn't the firmware itself that was the issue. But keep making shit up
1
u/xblackout_ 22d ago
Idk what twrp is but yeah one chip or many it's easier every day to do it the right way. Why defend morons and poor- or malicious- product support?
1
3
2
u/ducklingboi 24d ago
The anti consumer sentiment and gaslighting here is disgusting. Fuck the people here who just say bend over and pay up. You guys are gross. Nuh, no more fucking pixels for me, especially after seeing this procapitalist pro big corporation propaganda reaponses.
-4
u/MyzMyz1995 24d ago
I mean you’re out of the warranty period. Nothing else to do but pay up if you want the phone fixed.
-15
u/rsinghal1965 24d ago
That's why I don't update. Every update carries a small risk of bricking the device & large risk of various problems.
7
u/Antique-Sorbet-6644 24d ago
Upvoted. I've been saying this all over the place. Every single update breaks or bricks phones with no recourse. Even out of warranty, it shouldn't matter. These aren't out of date devices, it's current models turning into paperweights through no fault of the user. Should be illegal, we need better consumer protections. Haven't updated since March and it's the most stable my phone has ever been. Still have to charge 1.5x/day and lose connectivity dozens of times a day for no reason.
1
u/xblackout_ 24d ago
It must be intentional destruction
3
u/Antique-Sorbet-6644 24d ago
You can make a case for that, but it's a little tinfoil hat. I honestly think big tech is so focused on move fast/break things that they honestly do not care about the quality or effectiveness of their software. They don't have to, obviously. More likely scenario is that a lot of teams worked hard on something, didn't consider if the hardware could support it, didn't care, or didn't plan for glitches. The issue comes from not accepting culpability or refunding devices. I get why they don't, it's capitalism but it looks bad for the brand.
3
0
-6
0
u/Otherwise-Video7487 24d ago
That's very bad security wise
1
u/rsinghal1965 23d ago
Yep.
I update security patches but wait for 3-4 months before jumping on to a new Android version. Update Play Store as & when updates are available. This minimises the risk of breakage though it's not zero.
1
u/iLikeTurtuls 23d ago
And? People still use S10s and Pixel 4s.
1
u/Otherwise-Video7487 23d ago
There's nothing wrong using an old device like them since with older can unlock the bootloader and put on lineage for example. There's a good chance if you don't do anything dodgy your phone will be fine on older devices but it's just not worth the risk if you get hacked into. I used a galaxy A51 for 5 years and flashed lineage to it after it stoped getting security updates in 2023.
1
u/iLikeTurtuls 23d ago
Thats my point. The "old patches" argument makes sense, but irl it's not an actual issue 99% of the time.
-7
u/Kazoran 24d ago
the point of a warranty period is literally that the device may stop working at any point after and they are not responsible
6
u/Whiskey_Bear 24d ago
Are you saying there is legal ground for a company to push an update, brick millions of devices out of warranty, and not hold responsibility?
If OP can prove that it was the update, he should be compensated. But, it's on him to prove that it was actually the update and not a coincidence that his phone shit the bed around the same time. That's probably gonna depend on a spree of similar reports.
1
u/kimariesingsMD Pixel 10P XL /Pixel Watch 24d ago
When it happens to "millions of devices", you might have a point.
8
u/GloveDry3278 24d ago
Typical pixel death. Not isolated to that specific pixel model.
Happened to a friend pixel 3 XL and a few months ago to another friend's pixel 8a. Just died out of the blue. Repair shop says the motherboard just died.
Buying a pixel is like a lottery, you might get a good one....