Handsets

Google’s free replacement policy for broken Nexus 5 units seems to extend to the Nexus 6

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nexus 6 replacement

Broke your Nexus 6 and didn’t get any extended warranty? Google might still be able to help you out. One lucky (well, unlucky depending on how you look at it) soul on Reddit was able to get his shattered Nexus 6 replaced by Google with a freshly minted twin.

A free replacement for a physically damaged smartphone isn’t something Google entitles you to in their standard warranty, though starting with the Nexus 5 the company made it known that they’ll do what they can to get you situated with up to one replacement should you suffer an unfortunate fate. You could see it as another of many “Good guy, Google” moments that make so many of us fans of theirs in the first place.

Of course, this isn’t likely to sit well with everyone — how does a guy get a broken Nexus 6 replaced within a day when many folks still can’t even get their original shipment? The answer is likely that the replacement Nexus 6 units are refurbished, whether that’s from a smartphone that was previously broken or simply returned by an unsatisfied customer. Google can’t sell those units as new, so they store them in the warehouse for this very purpose or — once sales of new handsets slow down — sell them at a discounted rate through periodic deals.

It’s also possible Google could have replacement stock (as opposed to retail stock) available for situations like these, though we’re sure the refurbished track is the much more likely scenario. But the story here is that Google has your back if your Nexus 6 is cracked (see what I did there?) so keep that in mind should your device find itself face first on an unforgiving slab of concrete. We’ll be reaching out to Google to see if this is a policy they formally and publicly acknowledge, though considering the Nexus 5’s policy was “unofficial” we don’t expect things to have changed.

[via Reddit]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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34 Comments

  1. This thread should have been prefaced with a WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT in the title. Man that’s painful…

  2. Well, this is something Samsung can learn customer service from. Google/Motorola, HTC, and Apple are all ahead of them in customer service. It’s the 21st century, but they ask people to return their phone first for repairs. In what world should a customer go without their phone (say a Note 4 or something used for productivity) for 2 weeks at least, put down $50 for a cheapo phone from their carrier while paying for their monthly bill despite a loss in service, lose out on their daily usage and productivity just to be covered by Samsung’s “excellent customer service claim?” Each manufacturer should take care of the customer with expanded options like sending a phone while putting a hold on a card or ship a device quick as a replacement. The HTC Advantage is one of the best perks of owning a HTC device. When your good One breaks, you get another good One.

    1. NVIDIA also does this- shipped me a new Shield Tab w/o even putting a hold on my credit card when I got the dreaded corner cracks.

      1. Good, Nvidia is demonstrating solid customer service.

  3. Who has a shattered Nexus 6 ALREADY? Jeesh, be more careful…at LEAST in the 1st few weeks.

    1. There is a video on YouTube of a guy that drops his brand new iPhone 6 when he takes it out of the box. It’s not a big surprise that some unlucky fella already dropt his precious.

      1. I saw that. And said the same thing about that fool too. I’d never excitedly unbox my brand new phone on the street.

    2. Dude!! I used to work in a Cell Phone Repair shop. Within a week after the iPhone 6… We had at least 10 people show up asking for quotes because they broke their phones. LoL!!

      1. I’m sorry, I never said that it DOES NOT happen. I’m sure this guy is not the 1st on the planet to damage a phone within the 1st few weeks. My point was that people need to be more careful.

        1. ._.

  4. I just got my N5 replaced today. I was 2 weeks out of warranty when I broke my screen and they still replaced it for free given my history of Google Play purchases. I love this company.

  5. And you’re able to keep the shattered one? Maybe I SHOULD have gotten the 6 yesterday.

    1. Likely not. I had to package up the broken N5 and return it to Google for them to remove the hold on my card. If you don’t return it, they will likely charge you full price for the replacement phone.

  6. Some credit cards like amex gold will protect your purchases from theft and damage for 90 days. They’ll even extend your warranty by a year. They charge a high annual fee but the level of service is second to none. I’m sure there are other cards offering similar things for low or no fees. The one caveat I would note is that this is the downside to using Google wallet. If you paid with g wallet your credit card company might not recognize the purchase and deny your claim since they don’t see the actual purchase and instead they see google’s master card.

    1. As a European it kinda annoys me that the majority of Googles special offers are only for America. I know that Google is a American company but I see a lot of special offers on this site that are not available where I live.

      1. Why dont you move here but I am sure we have room for one more.

        1. So if anyone has ever read Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark, you would know of the short story, “Room For One More”.

          This lady was going around and she kept seeing this same person. I’m not too sure how the story started, but she would see like a bus full, and this guy would always say “Room for one more”, but she waited. This happened often, and it got to an elevator moment. The guy said “Room for one more.” She was about to get on, because she was really tired from walking on the stairs, but ultimately decided not to.

          The doors shut and the elevator fell and everyone died.

          So now when people say that, I don’t become that “one more”. LoL!!

        2. No thanks I prefer to live in a country without guns.

          1. See the King of England wanted to control our lives. So our Great Great Great Grandfathers set out for a new way of life. These Great men, our founding fathers, drew up a Living Document that guides OUR FREE WAY of life… It includes Free Speech, Religion, and YES Guns!

            It’s called The US Constitution. Maybe you should read it some day, it’s the basis of personal freedoms. We can also dissent without getting our heads chopped off…

            And, I’m Sorry YOU don’t approve.

            P.S.
            You or your country CAN start a nice small business like Google, Microsoft, or Apple… Instead of just bitching about it.

      2. I live in the UK and I was thinking the exact same thing, I highly doubt that we would get anything like this over here

      3. Wahhhh Wahhhh I live in the shitty EU. Wahhh Wahhh I want what others have. Shut up you wanker. You want specials from an American company? Move to the greatest country known as the United States of America.

        1. That last line, though.

          I bet you’re the jerk out of all your friends? LoL!! There’s always the jerk of the group.

        2. Greatest country? Sike

        3. Damn straight. These other guys are damn commies to think otherwise.

        4. I’m sorry. I can’t hear you over the sounds of riots, religious (Christian/Catholic) idiocy, insane gun violence, shootings every few weeks and a nearly consistent involvement in international conflicts for the past 50 years. If that’s not a great country I don’t know what is.

          1. That’s okay. While you play deaf, we are here defending every other democratic nation on this entire earth. Yooooooooooo Joe!

          2. Care to reconsider that statement?

            http://i.imgur.com/wL3H4bE.jpg

            Unyielding belief in anyone or anything will invariably lead to problems. Remember that next time you try and defend everything that is done in the name of “democracy” and “security”.

        5. Chil dude. It’s not only hardware offers but also with software. And America is definitely not the greatest country.

      4. If it makes you feel better, I don’t like how China and Japan gets those super cool phones that never come to America and importing them isn’t the best since I won’t get LTE and there’s no guarantee that it’ll be unlocked for my service.

        1. We have that to the only Japanese and Chinese phones that are easily available are Sony and Huawei.

    2. Chase Sapphire does it for about 1/3rd the annual cost of the gold card. Just throwing that out there for others as well. Ive used the return refund and purchase protection both with great results.

  7. Let’s see some drop tests people!!!

  8. I’m still waiting for tmobile to recieve stock.

  9. Got mine on t-mo two days ago

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