OUT OF THE BOOT LOOP
About 100 readers complained about the Nexus 6P rebooting itself and then dying for good.
I have exciting news for owners of Nexus 6P phones, made by Huawei and sold under the Google brand name.
Huawei will give free repairs under certain circumstances to remedy a design flaw known as boot loop. The phone keeps trying to turn itself on, drains the battery and eventually shuts down for good, becoming a paperweight.
I received about 100 complaints after a recent column, in which I asked Nexus 6P owners to tell me about boot loop problems with their phones.
Trevor Middel, for example, loved his Nexus 6P, purchased on contract from Rogers in October 2016. Then, it began rebooting continuously in January 2018 and he found himself being shuffled around.
Rogers said the phone was out of warranty and it couldn’t help, though he still had a $20 hardware amount owing. Try Google.
Google said it couldn’t help, since he didn’t buy the phone at the Google Store. Try Huawei.
Huawei said the phone was out of warranty, but it could replace the mainboard for $290 and give a three-month warranty on the repair.
“I declined and told them I would be staying away from Google and Huawei phones in the future,” Middel told me.
“My 6P now sits in a drawer and will still boot endlessly if I recharge it. I have moved on to a cheap Asus Zenphone, deciding not to spend on a flagship phone that a manufacturer will not stand behind.
“While spending hours trying to get my phone working again, I learned that Europe’s consumer protection laws require cellphones to have a two-year warranty. This seems a sensible policy, as this is the length of most contracts.”
Meanwhile, last fall, Google extended the warranty to two years at no extra cost on its newer Pixel phones after getting complaints about the display.
You may have read my columns about a boot loop problem with the Nexus 5X, made by LG Electronics Canada and sold under the Google brand name.
As a result, LG said it would fix the phones at no cost under an extended warranty that could go beyond the first two years of ownership under certain conditions.
To get LG’s agreement to fix the Nexus 5X by replacing the mainboard took persistence and, yes, pestering. Owners were pleased with LG’s quick service and courteous treatment after being turned away before.
In at least two cases I know of, LG will give a refund of the repair cost it charged to owners before the extended warranty came into place.
I’d hoped Huawei Canada would follow suit. But I couldn’t find a media contact even after I emailed and tweeted a few requests.
Then, I went back to Google Canada spokesperson Maria Cortellucci for help.
“Readers say Google is easy to reach, but will not take responsibility for failure of these phones,” I told her. “They feel your company is not acting ethically and they don’t want to deal with you again.”
I was going to refer to the giant tech company’s famous motto, “Don’t be evil.”
Then, Gizmodo revealed that Google quietly dropped the slogan from its corporate code of conduct after 18 years.
Never mind. A few days after writing to Google, I found a contact at Huawei, presented my case and received the reply I wanted.
In a written statement, Huawei said any Nexus 6P purchased in Canada from an authorized channel (such as a telecom service provider or the Google Store) may be repaired or replaced in the one-year warranty period.
But here’s the important part, which diverges from Huawei’s previous policy of writing off devices after the 12-month warranty period.
“For devices past warranty, purchasers who have contacted Huawei Canada customer service may have their devices repaired or replaced,” said Ron Cihocki, vice-president, sales and marketing, for the company’s consumer group.
“Depending on the nature of the issue, on a case-by-case basis, a solution may be provided, or may be subject to a repair fee.
“For service and shipping, purchasers will be required to provide a proof of purchase, plus a photo of the device.
“Huawei Canada will issue a prepaid shipping label to send the device to an authorized service centre for diagnostics and/or repair. Customers will be notified in advance if there is a charge for repairs.” You can see Huawei — whose head office is in Shenzhen, China — is being cautious. It’s not opening the gates to free repairs for every Nexus 6P phone ever sold.
Still, I see this as an invitation to those who had dead phones and no other option than to fork out $300 or so for repairs after reporting boot loop issues.
As did LG Canada, Huawei Canada is taking ownership of a manufacturing defect and covering the cost to make customers whole again.
Please keep me in the loop if you have one of these Nexus phones and you ask the manufacturer for repairs.
I want to see how the process is working out.