My experience with a damaged HTC One M9

Recently I took a trip to Australia. Day one I bought an HTC One M9, as the exchange rate meant it was cheaper to buy it there than at home. Day two the phone got a dent.

A picture of the dent, taken on my S3 Mini. You can also see where the screen pops out.

First thing the next day, I returned to the Telstra store I bought it from, to see what they could do. Warranty replacement would take over a week, which wouldn't do, as I was leaving the country before then. So I asked to use their phone to contact HTC to claim this "Uh-oh" cover I'd heard about. Supposedly HTC would replace your HTC One M9 no questions asked if you broke it or got it stolen or something. So I was bright red, holding the phone to my face with both hands screaming "Uh-oh!" loudly into the handset like a toddler who just watched somebody drop a carton of eggs. The whole time I was thanking goodness that I'd never see these people again in my life.

After putting me on hold to find out why this idiot was screaming "Uh-oh!" at them, the HTC representative came back to tell me that the "Uh-oh!" promotion was only available in the United States. I really should have checked that myself, but I honestly was never planning to take advantage of it. The guy gave me the number of the HTC-authorized repairer in New Zealand, and that was about all he could do.

For the rest of the trip I was a nervous wreck, worrying about insurance and warranties--specifically worrying about dealing with warranty issues on a phone I bought outside of the country I live in.

The first thing I did when I got back into New Zealand was panic and cry like a baby. The second thing I did was call the authorized repairer to find out what to do. They told me that repair was impossible, as HTC only send out replacement parts months after the release of a phone because then they'll know what the repair volume would be like, which I personally don't think makes much sense. Not even a couple of replacement parts? The guy told me he couldn't promise anything, but if I sent the handset in, he could take a look at no cost to see if it would be covered under warranty for replacement. Just for future reference, I asked what a repair for the M8 would have cost. I was told $349. That would have eaten not only the money I saved by buying the phone on my Australia trip, but also the tax refund I got upon leaving Australia, and even then I'd still have $200-ish dollars to pay out of pocket.

The next thing I did was contact my travel insurance, who told me I may have a claim, so I jumped on their website and printed out a frightening 12-page form, which thankfully only had two pages I actually needed to fill out (seriously CoverMore--you need to break that down into more, smaller, forms). I started filling it out, but then called to find out that I needed to get a repair quote before I made the claim.

On Monday I sent the phone to the repairer via courier. On Tuesday afternoon I got a call to confirm that they could cover the phone under warranty, but that the Gunmetal Grey version I'd bought wasn't available as a replacement unit, and that I'd have to get the (in my opinion, tacky) silver with gold-trim version. I was told I could get the Gunmetal Grey version if I went with a different, Australia-based, repairer, but that it would take a lot longer. I was hesitant at first, as the whole reason I'd bought the phone from Telstra was to get--what was in my opinion--the only color worth buying. But after a quick consultation with my friend, whose reaction was "Fuck that, you're getting a case anyway," I decided to go with the silver and gold handset to save myself the headache.

On Thursday afternoon, the replacement unit arrived. It was well-packed, and with some new warranty stickers I hope I never need. The first thing I noticed about the replacement device was that the gold trim isn't really that bright, and actually doesn't look as bad as I thought it was. Under certain light, it looks silver along with the rest of the handset. After holding and using the phone for only a few moments, I wished I'd gotten the silver and gold variant in the first place. It's honestly much nicer to look at.

A horrible photo of the replacement unit, taken with my S3 Mini.

The other bonus of the replacement unit is that it is free of carrier bloatware. Instead, only HTC bloatware remains.

If you've skipped down to the end to learn about my experience, it's this: despite the annoying lack of availability of "Uh-oh!" cover in Australasia (or anywhere that isn't the USA), HTC's warranty support--at least in New Zealand--is almost perfect. I was able to do everything through their authorized repairer, without having to check in with HTC; and I got my replacement unit--albeit in a different color--within four days of shipping the damaged one. I do however worry about how my experience might have gone had I not been willing to settle for a different color handset.

Stay tuned for my full review of the HTC One M9, where I'll cover the good and the bad points of the phone, all from the perspective of an average user who had to pay for their handset and will have to stick with it for the next few years.