Today, Google unveiled the Pixel 3. At a whole 200$ more then the Pixel 2 as well. But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about my issues with Google and my Pixel 2’s warranty.
Back in December of 2017, I bought a brand new Google Pixel 2 (Non-XL, 64gb storage. Non-Verizon. ) I bought it for several reasons, but the foremost reason was the unlockable bootloader. This would allow me to run custom software on the phone that would extend the phone’s life span far beyond the 3 years Google has promised support. It would also allow the running of more powerful applications that I would use.
When my Pixel 2 arrived in December, it worked perfectly. I unlocked the bootloader and put my own custom software on there with no hassles. But I didn’t buy a screen protector. And where I put my phone at night is pretty rough. So the screen got badly scratched by February. So, in march I returned it via Google’s warranty policy with a company called Assurant.
Once I received this device, I waited a few weeks before trying to mess with the bootloader. But once I tried to unlock the bootloader, I got an error. Which is not normal on the Pixel 2 devices sold on the Google store. At the time, I shrugged it off and assumed that the next update would fix it. It did not. So, I called Assurant again. They we’re pretty nice and sent me another refurbed Pixel 2. It had the same problem. I called again. The same problem.
After three calls with Assurant I decided to try something else. Instead this time, I called Google. Google promised me that this device would have an unlocked Bootloader. When I received the device, I was surprised to find, it didn’t! It had the same errors that the others had.
After this device, I waited a little bit before calling again. During that wait, I accidentally dropped the device and chipped the corner of the face plate. So, when I called again, I had to go through Assurant again, to make an actual warranty claim. But I made it very clear, that it needed to have an unlocked Bootloader! As if it was only the face plate, I wouldn’t care enough, as it was only a small chip in the corner. It came. It had a locked bootloader.
So, I called Google again! This time, I got routed to Google’s Preferred care. (Which I bought when I got the device in December.) The guy, his name was Barry, promised me an unlocked bootloader with the device. When the device arrived, once again, it had a locked bootloader.
I called Google again. And this time, it was picked up by a guy, who told me he would assign a team to look into the issue, and call back in 24–48 hours. I asked him to call at around 3–4pm, and he said he would email me if they couldn’t call at that time. I never heard back from them. I never got an email with a case ID. I never got an email about the call. And they never called me back. I have no idea what happened this this call. I assume someone just didn’t want to deal with my problem.
After waiting 24–48 hours, plus the weekend, I called them once again. This time, I was told that the “Advance Team” would email me. And this time, they did. What I received was a form letter, asking for a bug report. I sent them the bug report, and the next day the responded with another form letter. To quote part of it:
“Thank you for providing that bug report. This issue is one we’re currently investigating, so we are unable to provide a work-around or resolution at this time. We are currently bringing this issue up to our engineers as this may be an issue within our systems. Google is committed to continually making improvements to our devices and regularly provides free software updates to customers — each update addresses concerns raised by customers like you, and includes improvements to the overall security of your device and data.”
Is it only me, or does this email sting of “Maybe we’ll get around to fixing it one day.”?
Now, here we are. The latest Google call. This one went… pretty well.
I called Google once again, after feeling like they blew me off with the last email, and went through basically the same process. Up to the point, you could tell they were about to blew me off. But I’ve had it. I got upset with the support guy, and the transferred me to to his supervisor. Although there were some weird things in this call, I’d say it went mostly well. They have now said they are looking into the possibilities of a refund for the Pixel 2.
The weirdest thing about the last call though, was that the supervisor told me that they cannot send me a NEW Pixel 2. This is not what their warranty page says. To quote it:
“Google will in its sole discretion and to the extent permitted by law either repair your Phone using new or refurbished parts, replace your Phone with a new or refurbished Phone functionally at least equivalent to yours”
Another thing to note real quick, is that this issue is only happening on the refurbished Pixel 2s. There are multiple reports on the XDA Developer Forms of this issue, and it’s exclusively with refurbished devices. Although Verizon devices do have locked Bootloaders, they actually are supposed to have them, for better or worse.
But why am I writing this? Because I wanted to warn people, as they get their Pixel 3s, to be super careful as Google is NOT sending functionally equivalent device under their warranty. If you break your screen, even if you don’t ever plan on using the bootloader, you could be losing your ability to do so. Please. I urge you. If you think you have a high chance of breaking your phone, don’t buy a Pixel 3. Not at least until Google promises to stop locking the bootloader.
I think it’s of the utmost importance that people know this. Google is NOT sending, at least for Pixel 2s, the same device back as you send in. (Unless you already have a refurbished warranty device.) And this isn’t acceptable. And you don’t want to spend 800$ on a Pixel 3 and risk losing a feature that is probably included in the price somewhere.