S4 just.. died. What now?

[happypeach]

Hi, The other day I was playing a card game and my s4 just shut off (did not shut down properly.) It felt hotter than usual. It wouldn't come back on and I knew it had some charge in it. I left it to charge overnight but it didn't respond whatsoever to being plugged in, it just got warm. Much warmer than usual. I tried taking the battery out, putting it back and holding down the buttons etc but nothing, not even an LED. This never happened before. A few months ago, I dropped it awkwardly (while sat down but onto a hard floor), causing the screen to shatter. The phone was no different so I assume that this is unrelated. My question is, can I get it repaired? Do I go to Samsung directly? Will it be covered by the warranty? (I know the screen shattering won't, but at least the phone could be made to work again.) Will I be charged? Is this a known issue? Thanks, guys

[LottieEady]

If it seems to be overheating, I certainly wouldn't try and charge it again until it's been looked at. Lithium batteries have been known to explode. (Removed in line with House Rules)

and this rather more worrying: Samsung 'attempts to silence report of Galaxy S4 catching fire' after angry customer uploads (Removed in line with House Rules)

What sort of contract have you got with it - how long to run?

L

[happypeach]

Thanks for your reply! I thought it might be an overheating thing yeah, so haven't tried to charge it since that first time. I wonder if I'll be blamed for it though, for having dropped it months ago..hmm... I have about 6 months left on my contract, but I can upgrade at the end of March. Does anyone know, can I cancel the contract in March then if I don't want to upgrade? (Bought an Xperia up front to replace the S4 with, hoping to get out of the overpriced contract nonsense.)

[hrym]

If the phone is damaged, Vodafone won't be able to do any work under warranty.   You could go to Samsung and see if they'll have a look - manufacturers will sometimes do a warranty repair if any damage is clearly unrelated to the problem, but in this case, there's a strong likelihood the two are related, or will be deemed to be.

It's possible your battery has simply reached the end of its life.   If you take it out, does it look swollen?  If you put it on a flat surface, can you rock it?   Either of these is a pretty sure sign of expiry and a simple replacement may fix the problem.

If March is your early upgrade date, you won't be able to cancel the contract without penalty, but you would be able to get a new phone (your new contract would run on from the end of the old one, not from when you upgrade).   Your contract end date is likely to be July or thereabouts.