Dear Sprint, thanks for the memo!

What sets apart Android from other OSes is its customization. I’m not talking about like with iOS, “Oh look you can jailbreak it and install unauthorized apps and change fonts, what a rebel!” I’m referring to making your device YOUR DEVICE through rooting. This is done by installing a whole new ROM, kernel, or theme chosen from the many flavors that the development community has created while having the ability to tweak and control almost anything ranging from CPU frequencies to Voltages and of course you can still install unauthorized apps and change fonts.

Well, Sprint had a “policy” that that discouraged rooting. If you rooted your device and something went fubar, you were supposed to get your device back to a stock ROM and un-rooted before any repair center would even look at it. I documented a whole drama I went through >>>HERE<<< when my EVO’s power button broke. Repairman Douche threw me out of his store and told me to take a hike because my phone was rooted and I wanted them to replace it. From there I went on the long journey of getting my phone to stock. It was rather difficult to navigate through the bootloader and recovery when the “enter” button only worked once every thousand clicks, but I did manage to get it to stock and I got it fixed elsewhere.

I digress, ACS has uncovered an internal Sprint Policy document that negates this “policy” against rooting that dates from April 2011. Sprint somehow managed to use the Big Lie Theory on its customers and convinced everyone that rooting was taboo and unauthorized (even though it wasn’t). I went through my whole ordeal around October 2011, so I was thrown out of a store based on a this Big Lie.

We have attached the previously secret document that clearly states, “Since there is currently no way of proving that a device has been rooted by a customer, suspected rooted devices should be handled as follows.” The procedures include:  informing customers of the dangers of rooting, noting in the paperwork that the device was suspect of being rooted, attempting to reload device software (if it‘s a repair center), and exchanging the device if the issue could not be resolved. There is one caveat to all of this though, it says to do these procedures, “If the customer is having issues that are suspect to be caused by rooting the device.” Now speaking with our source, this has been widely interpreted to include hardware issues as well and rooted devices should not be treated any differently than stock ones. Unfortunately for everyone, Sprint has always been very hush hush about all of this and WE NEVER GOT THE MEMO! Not anymore.

Well wouldn’t ya know it? I got to try my new knowledge out firsthand, sort of. My wife’s OG Epic was dropped on the sidewalk  in a Max Payne Bullet Time slow-motion fashion, where a loud NOOO!!! was shouted from the rooftops; the end results were a permanent purple hue on the screen, no vibrations, a broken loudspeaker, cracked case, and loose sliders on the slide-out keyboard. It needed replacing, so I printed out the policy and had it in my pocket and went to the Sprint Repair Center. By now I’ve memorized everything the policy says since I’ve been working on this story off and on for a month and a half already by this time;  I was ready to whip it out should an argument erupt like it did the last time I tried to get a replacement. Guess what? The first thing that was asked was if it was rooted. I clutched the document in my pocket and was ready for an argument when the tech said, “I was just asking, don’t worry though because it doesn’t matter.” WHOA!!! THEY READ THE POLICY! wOOt! No need for fisticuffs, the phone was replaced and they even managed to save the data, basically cloning her old phone onto a new one.

So, the attached PDF is for all of  you rooted Android device lovers on Sprint. Whenever your device needs a fix, print out the attached document and use it to your advantage or don’t as in my case. If you have favorable or unfavorable results let us know! Before discovering this document, I never knew any better, let this be a lesson to everyone.

Please note, during my research I found this which shows the text of the same policy doc. I also came across this, which was published very recently and shows part of the same doc. Well, we’ve provided you the full text of this document so you can see for yourself. Just as a side note, there was actually an update to the policy to include iOS devices in October 2011, which are handled MUCH differently so stay tuned. The Android rooting policy remains unchanged.

Download the official Sprint Policy Document >>>HERE<<<.

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