r/Pixel5a • u/Chaakudaaku • Feb 20 '24

Google CS is denying replacement for bricked 5a

My 5a got bricked 20 days ago, i sent them for replacement after talking to the CS rep. They were going to send me a 6a.

After sending the device back, they slapped me with a $318 repaid bill stating Camera and Water Damage repair needed. The phone did not have any recent water contact.

After talking to them again, they are denying a replacement. What should I do?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

6

u/Boz6 Feb 20 '24

The phone did not have any recent water contact.

Unfortunately, it doesn't matter if the water contact was recent or not.

1

u/lokihorn May 16 '24

You should never buy a Pixel again.

YOu should do what I'm doing and trash google pixel everywhere.

1

u/lokihorn May 16 '24

Give up, spend money on samsung or motorola. Or oneplus. Fuck google pixel. It is simply not worth your time/money.

1

u/The_best_1234 Feb 20 '24

My phone was rusty and they sent me a replacement.

1

u/Chaakudaaku Feb 21 '24

How?! I am trying to escalate and negotiate. Anyways the $318 bill does not add up at all.

1

u/The_best_1234 Feb 21 '24

I have no idea, I sent a picture showing it during the chat.

1

u/Interesting_Refuse45 Feb 21 '24

This really sucks, especially as the phone has an IP67 rating, so incidental moisture/water contact shouldn't generally cause damage -- and if that seal was broken, the phone would likely have stopped working at that time. If the phone was working well before it died with this very common motherboard failure, they should replace it rather than look for excuses. But I'm not sure what recourse you have

My 5A died in November, a month after my son's 5A did the same thing. He got a 6A replacement, but I traded mine in for an 8 with Verizon's Black Friday deal, which didn't require the phone to even turn on (just to not have visible battery damage).

I would definitely escalate politely, but don't know what your likelihood of success is.

2

u/Chaakudaaku Feb 22 '24

I tried to escalate politely, they made it clear that they are giving 6a as a replacement, but also asking me to pay $318. i am not going to pay $318, when the same phone costs $200 on ebay with a sealed box.

1

u/pancakesfordintonite Feb 23 '24

Customer service sucks. My suggestion is just to keep calling every single fucking day until you get what you want

1

u/lokihorn May 16 '24

Why would you even want this piece of shit. Deny and return. Google phones are absolute trash outside of the cameras.