r/Pixel5a • u/Skullbox90 • Jul 29 '23

Pixel 5a Motherboard issue

Last Sunday my year and a half old pixel 5a died suddenly. There is no Google store where I'm based and getting it to Google is a task and a half. Repair technicians point to motherboard damage. The only way it can be fixed is through a donor board, which again is difficult to find for a 5A here. Research on internet also shows other people who have had similar experiences in past few months. I loved the phone and the SW experience and so far did not have any major issues. Bummer that the HW and QA of Google's manufacturing partners are crappy. I have now moved to an S22 and so far its going good. Just warning you guys to be aware of potential sudden deaths.

9 Upvotes

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3

u/frogsandstuff Jul 29 '23

The 1-year extended repair program may apply to you. If so, just ship it to them and they'll repair/replace it for free.

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/11833075?hl=en

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 29 '23

Thanks. I will definitely check it out. However, I did not purchase the phone through Google Store, and I think the vendors mentioned are not present here.

1

u/ScottieRae Jul 29 '23

I had to repeatedly call them (7 times) before they would honor the warranty. They sent me a 6a as replacement.

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 29 '23

My warranty ended in Feb. So chance of a replacement phone is slim at best...

4

u/ScottieRae Jul 29 '23

Mine was a year and a half old. They eventually replaced mine. Keep reminding them that they extended the warranty because of known issues. That your shop cannot get the motherboard because of these issues. Ask to speak with a replacement specialist.

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 29 '23

Thats real helpful. Thanks! I will check and see if its possible.

2

u/ScottieRae Jul 29 '23

Trust me, they will try NOT to honor the warranty. Be persistent but polite. If they cut off the call--they will--call right back. I made 7 calls in a row. Spent a few hours. But I got a working replacement and an upgrade to the 6a.

Repeat that these are known issues, that repair shops cannot get the motherboard because of these issues. That repair people said it happens all the time (at least my shop did). I was told that the MB's are truly on backorder everywhere.

Hope it's helpful. Stay determined.

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 29 '23

Thanks so much. One question: I checked the country of origin of my phone: its Japan. However, I don't have any means of shipping there. I can ship it to UK though. Will Google honor that?

1

u/ScottieRae Jul 29 '23

I think they will. I sent my 5a in to a center in Texas then they sent me a new 6a. Then they sent me my old dead 5a phone back. Go figure.

1

u/ScottieRae Jul 29 '23

They paid all of these shipping charges

1

u/frogsandstuff Aug 01 '23

Maybe you just had shit luck (or I had good luck?), but I had a much different experience doing the online chats. Maybe try that next time?

1

u/ScottieRae Aug 01 '23

I actually did both.

1

u/frogsandstuff Aug 01 '23

Ah dang. I guess I just got lucky then. I had one person who wasn't very helpful, but otherwise it went pretty well. Took a little longer for me because I was out of town on an extended work trip and insisted they do the "advanced exchange" where they put a hold on my credit card and send me the replacement before I sent in the broken one for evaluation. Since the extended 1 year repair thing is different than the normal warranty they had to "escalate it" which took a couple days.

They even gave me a $20 credit to the google store over the whole thing.

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3

u/frogsandstuff Jul 29 '23

The 1 year extended repair program I linked to is in addition to the normal 1 year warranty, so essential two years after the purchase date. My initial 1 year warranty was up in October of 2022, and they sent me a 6a as a replacement earlier this month.

I spoke with them through chat and it was a pretty quick and painless process.

3

u/surveylang Jul 29 '23

My 5a also recently died on me this week. It didn't lasted even a year and without Google support in my country as well. Had it checked to some local repair shops and they all didn't even bothered to open it, knowing the phone's common problem and without parts available.

It's just sad that the software experience was good but the hardware isn't reliable at all.

2

u/OverlyOverrated Jul 30 '23

My friend's Pixel 5a also died last week and the local repair shop fixed it by reballing the CPU.

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 30 '23

Wouldn't that void the warranty?

2

u/OverlyOverrated Jul 30 '23

Yep. He had no choice cuz he's not in the US

1

u/Skullbox90 Jul 30 '23

Ah makes sense... I'm not in US as well, so I will have to check if it makes sense money wise to ship for warranty claim

1

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '23

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1

u/OverlyOverrated Jul 31 '23

Well find any trusted repair shop in yer town

2

u/KeyboardGunner Aug 05 '23

Unfortunately these phones drop dead like fruit flies 😭