Hey all,
I am super stressed about this! I have had my Droid about 7 months and I have always had little problems here and there. For example, when I went to open my text messages, my internet would open. Or I go to open the navagation, and the camera opens up. Etc. Etc. There is obviously a short with my phone, but I've never done anything about it. Keep in mind this has been acting up since I first got the phone. Anyway, I usually do battery resets and one time I even had to do a complete factory reset. Both of those have worked in the past. But a few days ago, I dropped the phone about a foot (not in water, and nothing broke). I just was holding it and it slipped from my hand and seriously only fell a foot. No joke. ANYWAY, ever since then, all hell broke loose. The phone worked good right after that, and a few hours later the backlight that illuminates the phone was blinking while I was using it. And eventually, I went to use it, and the light wouldn't even turn on. I could tell the phone was on, but I couldn't really see anything because the light wouldn't turn on. I tried battery resets, probably about 10 of them, and nothing. Nothing would fix it. SOooo eventually my battery died, so I pulled it in, and the little white charging light came on, but the phone would not power on. I've had it on the charger on and off for hours at a time and I still get nothing. The little white charger light comes on every once in a while. Also, no obvious water damage, and no cracks or anything. Verizon is mailing me a new one because I live in a town where there is no store (Stupid, I know). They want me to send them my broken one so they can inspect it for damage. I am soooooooo paranoid they are going to charge me for the phone! First of all, I have had problems from the VERY BEGINNING with this damn phone. So there is nothing I did to cause this. I know dropping it, obviously, wasn't good for it, but I've dropped it before, and I think a phone should be able to drop a foot and NOT break, right? Anyway, I am super nervous to send it back. They said if it's damaged, they charge me the full retail price of $500. #$@*!! I can't afford that! I'm a poor college student. Any words of advice? Does anyone know if they actually PULL apart the phone and completely inspect it? Or do they just pull apart the back and look for water damage and other damage over the phone? Sorry for writing a novel! I'm freaking stressing here! HELP! HELP! HELP!

I think you're OK

Jess,

I wouldn't get too upset about this. If you returned your phone and it had a cracked housing, water damage or was all beaten up Motorola might want to claim that you abused it. But, if it looks like it has been taken care of and doesn't exhibit any of the above-mentioned abuse, they're not going to complain. I've returned a couple of phones - my daughter lost hers (Razr) at a fair and it was found in a tire rut in the grass parking lot where it had been run over. It didn't work, but we cleaned it up and and returned it after they sent us a new replacement - no charges.

Then, my own Razr started doing some of the things you've mentioned with your Droid. Same exact thing - they sent me a new one and I sent the old one back. End of transaction and no money changed hands.

It sounds like your phone has a problem with the little solder connections under one or more of the chips. That could be caused by subjecting the device to extreme heat, but more likely is the result of a problem during the soldering process. the chips are glued into place and then the board is heated which melts tiny blobs of solder that are fused onto the underside of each chip while pressure is applied. If one of the blobs is too small, if the pressure is insufficient, if the heat is not high enough (like maybe one of the first boards after starting the machine) or if the time in the hot chamber is insufficient the unit can fail in the field. That's probably what happened to you and they'll conclude that, too. Especially if the moisture indicators are clear.

The lesson for you, if you have a problem with an electronic device shortly after you get it, you can be almost certain it will get worse, not better. Better to bite the bullet and return it ASAP, while it still looks perfect and while every bit of warranty or 30-day store return and exchange policy is in effect. Then you won't get stuck with a big bill 'cause the warranty expired 2 days ago.

Good luck to you and let us know how things worked out.

Andrewoid