# Root Service for TBolt on eBay



## furrito (Aug 16, 2011)

Okay, this is nuts. I can't believe what they are charging.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Service-Upg...ell_Phones&hash=item336c864c54#ht_3484wt_1139


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## dickenam (Jun 14, 2011)

Just when I thought I have seen it all...


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## ProgHouse (Jun 13, 2011)

Lol... Check out Craigslist, you'll find it all over that site.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


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## bpyazel (Sep 20, 2011)

"and have more than a year of experience fixing up cell phones."

More than a whole year eh? Where do i send it? Lol

Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using Tapatalk


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

The sad part is I bet these people get tons of business because people are too scared to do it themselves. But I agree with everyone else, this is a major ripoff.


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## Adrynalyne (Jun 22, 2011)

I've had people in the local area offer to pay me to root their devices and hook them up with a rom.

I've always managed to walk them through it online, but these people do exist.


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## BennyJr (Jun 26, 2011)

Wow thats alot of money for a simple root...


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## shadowpunx (Jul 16, 2011)

After reading this i'm angry, we gotta put a stop to this shit asap

You should have killed me, when you had the chance


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## skinien (Jun 30, 2011)

Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


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## RichSimplicity (Aug 10, 2011)

"skinien said:


> Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


Lol wow


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

skinien said:


> Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


Or $225 to install a stick of RAM. Yep to put a rectangle into a hole.


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## dirtyfingers (Jun 7, 2011)

miketoasty said:


> Or $225 to install a stick of RAM. Yep to put a rectangle into a hole.


LOL... I just did that a few weeks ago in under a minute.


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## Sassyontech (Jun 16, 2011)

"shadowpunx said:


> After reading this i'm angry, we gotta put a stop to this shit asap
> 
> You should have killed me, when you had the chance


I disagree. People should have the right to be ignorant.


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## skinien (Jun 30, 2011)

Sassyontech said:


> I disagree. People should have the right to be ignorant.


Yep. If people don't want to spend 15 minutes to google it and learn that the instructions are all there for them, they can spend the money and let some grubby hands all over their phone. Just picture a heavy set guy working on your phone while eating fried chicken and wearing nothing but tighty whities.


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## furrito (Aug 16, 2011)

I can't help but wonder why they are charging $78.90. If you're going that high, why not just charge an even $80?? :_con:


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## hopesrequiem (Aug 10, 2011)

That way it looks like a deal haha you get a dollar and ten cents off!! Act now!!


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## defcon888 (Sep 28, 2011)

skinien said:


> Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


My brother took his computer into Geeksquad (I was with him), this was to upgrade to Windows 7 (free because they bought the computer with the free offer). I looked at the price and said in a loud voice "They want to charge $250 to reformat your hard drive?". The person looked at me weird. I told my brother, "I'm in the wrong business, I can do it and would do it for free".

I couldn't let this stand.....I emailed the eBay seller and said "You aren't advertising that ROOTING phones will void the warranty". I wonder if they put that, how much business would they get!


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## defcon888 (Sep 28, 2011)

furrito said:


> I can't help but wonder why they are charging $78.90. If you're going that high, why not just charge an even $80?? :_con:


Because in our minds $9.99 is way cheaper than $10.00


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## ThunderStick (Jul 3, 2011)

Looks to me like this guy is selling HTC / google software along with selling free market apps.
Illegal? as hell...

Sent while tapping my ThunderStick on a bolt of lightning...


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## shadowpunx (Jul 16, 2011)

ThunderStick said:


> Looks to me like this guy is selling HTC / google software along with selling free market apps.
> Illegal? as hell...
> 
> Sent while tapping my ThunderStick on a bolt of lightning...


Yea another Dick move by this guy

You should have killed me, when you had the chance


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## g00s3y (Jul 12, 2011)

Sent him a "nice" email, about his great "services", doubt I'll get a response back... :_con:


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## nolimitzr1 (Oct 2, 2011)

I'll root any Droid phone for a coffee and or a beer. In CT area. Unless you really wanna pay 80 bucks for my services lol

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


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## trott33 (Jul 15, 2011)

"dirtyfingers said:


> LOL... I just did that a few weeks ago in under a minute.


$13500 an hour, where do I sign up!!


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## Grnlantern79 (Aug 12, 2011)

"nolimitzr1 said:


> I'll root any Droid phone for a coffee and or a beer. In CT area. Unless you really wanna pay 80 bucks for my services lol
> 
> Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


I am in Az area if anyone needs help don't pay that crazy money


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## ThunderStick (Jul 3, 2011)

Ill charge 78.00 flat, no paypal though western union transfer to my residence in India. 
turn around may take a little longer as well...


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## MasterTM (Jun 24, 2011)

skinien said:


> Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


Or charging $129.99 to install an application.. xD


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## revosfts (Sep 14, 2011)

I'm setting up a drive thru root Booth outside Pittsburgh. Obviously because if the convenience I will be charging 99.98(act now to receive this awesome 2 cent rebate.) We also have week old hot dogs and flat soda...

My name is Revos I'm a recovering flashaholic running Liquid Gingerbread 3.0


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## g00s3y (Jul 12, 2011)

I've started an unrooting service, $99.99. It's best to do this before you root your phone :money:


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## cyborg03 (Sep 4, 2011)

..ha.....some people cant count count back change. So you can expect this.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

Will root for a Coffee/Beer as well in the Pittsburgh area. Not too hard to plug a phone in and click a few buttons on a computer.


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## justin82 (Jun 15, 2011)

if someone buys the coffee i will gladly root your device..


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## rajuabju (Jul 12, 2011)

I've charged friends for doing stuff on their phones before, including root.


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## g00s3y (Jul 12, 2011)

rajuabju said:


> I've charged friends for doing stuff on their phones before, including root.


I sure wouldn't want to be a friend of yours...

What else exactly have you charged them for doing?


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## TodesEngel (Jul 6, 2011)

[Edit]:Though after reading this post, I also get a little irked and am curious if this raises redflags with people who aren't "tech savvy"

People should have the right to charge for a service what they think people will pay for it. If someone thinks that someone would pay $4.00 a gallon for gas, why would you charge $2.70?



miketoasty said:


> Or $225 to install a stick of RAM. Yep to put a rectangle into a hole.


#SideNote
Er...as a GeekSquad Employee I have no idea where that number came from. It's much cheaper to install RAM. Actually...it's one of our cheapest offerings.


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## Grnlantern79 (Aug 12, 2011)

"TodesEngel said:


> [Edit]:Though after reading this post, I also get a little irked and am curious if this raises redflags with people who aren't "tech savvy"
> 
> People should have the right to charge for a service what they think people will pay for it. If someone thinks that someone would pay $4.00 a gallon for gas, why would you charge $2.70?
> 
> ...


You geek squad people should be ashamed, most older people in 60s that had their kids doing everything for them now are long gone you are charging these people amounts that are crazy 80 just to look at it and wow just goes up from there. I charge people 80 bucks to find it, fix it, speed up the computer, find and remove adware/spyware, and load up some freeware they can use to maintain it with a quick example how to use it. Most of the money is just for my time and knowledge. Pretty sure you guys would charge well over 200 for that kinda service.


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## furrito (Aug 16, 2011)

TodesEngel said:


> [Edit]:Er...as a GeekSquad Employee I have no idea where that number came from. It's much cheaper to install RAM. Actually...it's one of our cheapest offerings.


But customers can buy a protection plan where it's no cost to upgrade, right? Ozzy said so in the Superbowl last year! ;-)


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## Mexiken (Jul 23, 2011)

I'm not going to lie, I've received money for a "root job"

To be fair, I root ANYONE'S phone for free (I have about 10 ppl running BAMF Forever at work) and my top rep asked how much I would charge another phone. His phone was already rooted but HE said I should charge (this was his own brother!!!!)....I had no idea how to respond and he came up with 20 bucks....apparently a friend of his tried rooting and it wasn't done correctly. So I fixed it, and got $20 for it....

Yes I feel guilty, but fuq, he taxed HIS OWN BROTHER!!!! I would have done it for free....but I wasn't gonna say no to free money....I consider it a donation 

Another rep offered to bring me "clients" for which I would root their phones for a price....I declined. He asked me to root his fiances phone, which I agreed to do, for free of course. I'm not gonna make money off our devs backs....

Moral of the story: there ARE LOTS of ppl willing to pay money for rooting, especially if you give them some kind of guarantee....


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## smitty870 (Jun 10, 2011)

"skinien said:


> Almost as bad as the Geek Squad charging $100 to setup your wifi network; also known as plugging in the wifi router.


Hey if there's a scam there is an idiot!

Sent from my thunderbolt using Forum Runner while on the crapper at McDonald's.


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## fishfood (Jul 11, 2011)

Grnlantern79 said:


> You geek squad people should be ashamed, most older people in 60s that had their kids doing everything for them now are long gone you are charging these people amounts that are crazy 80 just to look at it and wow just goes up from there. I charge people 80 bucks to find it, fix it, speed up the computer, find and remove adware/spyware, and load up some freeware they can use to maintain it with a quick example how to use it. Most of the money is just for my time and knowledge. Pretty sure you guys would charge well over 200 for that kinda service.


Do the individual Geek Squad techs set their prices? Or are they a slave to Best Buy and their corporate suits? Dude is just a smart guy with a job, fixing computers for Best Buy. I don't think he should be ashamed at all. How much of that money do you think HE actually sees?

As for the guy charging $80 for rooting on eBay, I agree, it kinda spits in the face of all the devs out there writing ROMs for $5 donations, unless he's out there writing his OWN ROM and using his OWN exploits. If that's the case, then he's spitting in the face of everything that open source stands for. Maybe he should go buy an iPhone...


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## g00s3y (Jul 12, 2011)

Mexiken said:


> I'm not going to lie, I've received money for a "root job"
> 
> To be fair, I root ANYONE'S phone for free (I have about 10 ppl running BAMF Forever at work) and my top rep asked how much I would charge another phone. His phone was already rooted but HE said I should charge (this was his own brother!!!!)....I had no idea how to respond and he came up with 20 bucks....apparently a friend of his tried rooting and it wasn't done correctly. So I fixed it, and got $20 for it....
> 
> ...


I have nothing against that. If someone insists that they pay you for services, that's awesome. But like the guy before me who said HE charged his friends to root and other services, that's just pathetic.

And yes best buy geek squad overcharges like crazy and capitalizes on people's lack of knowledge on tech. But look at pepboys, $40 just to change a headlight, PLUS the cost of a headlight. Doing your job is one thing, but to deliberately take advantage of people... :angry:


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## Snow02 (Jun 14, 2011)

I don't charge friends or coworkers. Strangers are $20, root, rom, whatever you want done and I'll show you how to do it for yourself in the future, and you can call me with any problems. It's a fair deal, and often times people toss in an extra $20 because they're so pleased. I get a couple referrals a week right now.

But I remotely installed cm on someone's touchpad a minute ago, for free. The online community gets different treatment than strangers in real life. If you're making an effort and are just getting stuck, you deserve to get help. You're putting in time just like the rest of us have to figure this stuff out. People that don't care and just want things done for them, get charged. Hate on it if you want. :shrug:


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## BlackDobe (Sep 2, 2011)

I hate rooting/ROMing other people's phones for the same reason I hate working on their computer. If *anything* goes wrong from that point forward it is your fault and/or you need to fix it for them. I won't touch anyone else phone with a 20' pole.


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## lennyjew (Jul 26, 2011)

"BlackDobe said:


> I hate rooting/ROMing other people's phones for the same reason I hate working on their computer. If anything goes wrong from that point forward it is your fault and/or you need to fix it for them. I won't touch anyone else phone with a 20' pole.


I won't unless I know the person has enough common sense to google an issue before running straight to me for a solution. I never charge though (other than a beer while I root it). Doesn't seem right since it's not something I made.

I made the mistake of breaking that rule once and he'd always go to me first, even when it was something as easy as a setting he screwed with.

My wife is the only exception to that rule now, but I don't mind since she has her way of paying me for it  .


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## TodesEngel (Jul 6, 2011)

I traded rooting my Toyota Service manager's new phone for a free major service. I wonder if that would be ripping him off? Service is 250...



Grnlantern79 said:


> You geek squad people should be ashamed, most older people in 60s that had their kids doing everything for them now are long gone you are charging these people amounts that are crazy 80 just to look at it and wow just goes up from there. I charge people 80 bucks to find it, fix it, speed up the computer, find and remove adware/spyware, and load up some freeware they can use to maintain it with a quick example how to use it. Most of the money is just for my time and knowledge. Pretty sure you guys would charge well over 200 for that kinda service.


It's $199 for one year of service anything software related except backups for upto 3 computers. That being said, remember Best Buy is a business, and as such they have to make profit, not just break even.



fishfood said:


> Do the individual Geek Squad techs set their prices? Or are they a slave to Best Buy and their corporate suits? Dude is just a smart guy with a job, fixing computers for Best Buy. I don't think he should be ashamed at all. How much of that money do you think HE actually sees?


In all honesty it sometimes bugs me to have to charge people for certain things. But they are paying for the service. Sometimes, when I don't charge people I give them a LMGTFY link. (More typically the younger crowd, not elderly)


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## mcp770 (Jun 11, 2011)

I answered a guy on craigslist wanting a bricked D1 unbricked and converted to Cricket. In the end I did that for him for free just to tinker but he was willing to pay me for the trouble. After he got the phone back (running CM7 on Cricket) he wanted me to give him a list of fees to charge his friends if I would do more. Point is there are thousands of people that have too little time and/or ambition to follow 15 minutes of instructions with too much money laying around to pay others. A sucker is born every minute.


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## mcp770 (Jun 11, 2011)

BlackDobe said:


> I hate rooting/ROMing other people's phones for the same reason I hate working on their computer. If *anything* goes wrong from that point forward it is your fault and/or you need to fix it for them. I won't touch anyone else phone with a 20' pole.


I used to root friends phones all the time and put them on custom roms. Until they had bugs or upgrades came out and they wouldn't bother to learn 2 steps of flashing themselves so I became 24/7 tech support. Now unless you can show me by memory how to boot into recovery and restore a nandroid I have nothing to do with flashing friends phones.


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## NUNsLAUGHTER92 (Jun 18, 2011)

I put two phones on cricket for 30 dollars each. A Droid X and a Droid 2 Global. The only irritating part is bringing it into the store and hoping that the person behind the counter doesn't say it's not possible.

"Without man, there is no problem, no man no problem." -Stalin


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## defcon888 (Sep 28, 2011)

Mexiken said:


> I'm not going to lie, I've received money for a "root job"
> 
> To be fair, I root ANYONE'S phone for free (I have about 10 ppl running BAMF Forever at work) and my top rep asked how much I would charge another phone. His phone was already rooted but HE said I should charge (this was his own brother!!!!)....I had no idea how to respond and he came up with 20 bucks....apparently a friend of his tried rooting and it wasn't done correctly. So I fixed it, and got $20 for it....
> 
> ...


My issue was when I saw the price...no biggie....wasn't terribly expensive if you don't know what you are doing...but, knowing what we know....it is outrageous. The other issue I have is that no where in this person's description of service is there mentiond that ROOTING a phone will VOID your warranty. Maybe they tell the person before the person sends the phone to them who knows!.

My daughter has the TBolt like me. I am trying to convince her to let me Flash it.....but she looks at me and says "Dad, I am not a geek like you"......ouch daughter!....yet she is in the Army Reserve as a 25 Bravo.......communications!


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## ThunderStick (Jul 3, 2011)

BlackDobe said:


> I hate rooting/ROMing other people's phones for the same reason I hate working on their computer. If *anything* goes wrong from that point forward it is your fault and/or you need to fix it for them. I won't touch anyone else phone with a 20' pole.


+1

prosecuting attorney point of view

Same here, you can use my roms for what ever, I'll never charge you or even ask for a donation. But at the same time I would expect others to not try to profit off the work I have done. Like all roms it is a Hodge podge of work done by allot of different people that are doing it for all different reasons. 
If I was this guy I would read the licensing and legal notices on these phones he's rooting. He is putting himself out there for a considerable amount of risk. By distributing these roms in return for monetary gain.
Do I blame him for being a capitalist, no. Thief maybe. One in the same I guess.

...End rant...

Sent while tapping my ThunderStick on a bolt of lightning...


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## ThunderStick (Jul 3, 2011)

Now for the defense attorney point of view.

The cost he's charging is right in line what any car mechanic charges to work on you're car.
So is it expensive, no. takes about 30 minutes to root a phone. Start to finish. Taking time to repackage and deliver to UPS also overhead. So really, not bad. Subtract the Ebay fees, about $5, Paypal fees $2.50. Shipping it back to you, $10. in the end he makes $60, can't blame him at all. What would you expect an IT tech to get paid for an hour of work at his own shop?
Working for people he doesn't know...
Sent while tapping my ThunderStick on a bolt of lightning...


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## snicklet (Aug 3, 2011)

It's the American way. He has found a way to make money offering a service that people are willing to pay for. He should be applauded for being a capitalist and making some money for services rendered. He isn't doing anything illegal. And if developers put their work out there for anyone to use then so be it. Good for him. Its not like he is using copyrighted material. Developers didn't build the android OS from scratch, they ripped it off from google (completely legit) and modified it. And they hacked bootloaders and put it out there for mass consumption when phone manufacturers put in safe guards to try and prevent that. So this guy is profiting off it then good for him. American ingenuity at its best.


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