LG G3 Overheated and Melted in Three Places While in Pocket

You are watching too much late night cable tv or listening to right wing/libertarian talk radio.

Unfortunately, these companies have us by the short hairs with their quite legal warranties on these devices. Just another reason why I don't do ATT 'Next' agreements, among others.

FWIW, paying in full for products using AMEX can sometimes give additional warranty on certain types of electronics, but it's something that wouldn't help AFAIK with the installment system ATT has moved much of their customer base towards currently.

To the OP> You might try to drum up some sympathy via LG social media channels. Find someone there who will listen and take the ball on your behalf to the end zone. Be firm but polite, supporting their products/features in a public space as such to get the best reponse IME.
Just don't expect much since really, they know the mobile phone marketplace is not consumer friendly and priced at a premium.

Good luck.

Looks like the cable is at fault here, not the phone. I'd guess the wires got bent/cut/trapped and shorted out.

I do not believe the cable is at fault. It appears to be in perfect condition. There is no observable damage and it is fairly new, 9 months at the time. There is no damage by the charging port and it did not overheat while charging. I was out at the time and the phone was in my pocket. It would have been nearly 6 or 7 hours after its last charge.

but here in the USA, your rights are not abridged to where you can't sue the company in small claims court. The cost to do so is low, and if the company fails to provide a defense on their side, it's often an automatic win for the one who filed. It's then up to you to locate something the sheriff department can seize, inform them of it, and then get a order filed for the seizure and it is auctioned off, the amount you are owed is given and the rest that's left is returned to the one sued. You don't seem to know much about this process.

I do agree that there is the potential for success going that route. I am going to give ATT one last opportunity to correct the situation. If it does not work out I am going to do a little research and try and figure out what the total damages would be and what I may get in return. Then just need to weigh that against the cost of missing work and see if its worth the effort. I think it may be in the end but hoping to avoid the process if I can. Thanks again for the advice.

You basically have to weight the costs vs benefits. Cost of legal representation vs cost to simply pay for a replacement phone (even a used model counts here). For 99.9% of consumers this means paying out of pocket to replace your own phone.

Your scenario does not even remotely apply to a failed consumer electronics device. Use a local sheriff to seize property? ROTFL (What are you smoking exactly?) Ask any attorney with two years worth of law school even to set you straight.

I appreciate the advice and have considered both filing in small claims court and trying to apply some social media pressure. I would agree that they really do have us at a major disadvantage. They know they are in the wrong but also know that for the most part legal action is not worth the time and or money for the price of a phone. They are expensive but not quite enough that missing work or hiring an attorney is necessarily worth the cost. They figure they can bully the consumer and we really cannot do too much to stop them. That being said, I am still considering filing a claim. Currently I am dealing with ATT again and potentially making a little headway. I need to call them back tomorrow and give it another shot. Thank you both again.

There are some videos there of people who have had phones burn their beds they were sleeping in and other fires caused by them. Let the company know they have a limited time to correct the problem or you will file, send them reports on other incidents you are aware of. Often their own legal department will advice them to "shut him up, give him what works to do that" to keep you from causing a bigger problem for them. I once complained about some tea bags that floated too much due to a change in bag fabric and they ended up sending me 100 more of the tea bags I didn't like, LOL. I ended up with another provider, but did use the eternally floating tea bags up eventually.

LOL, good work on the tea bags.

You are right and I know there are other incidents out there. Just from a quick google search I have noticed a number of people who have had problems with overheating. Generally when charging but I bet by spending a little more time with it I can find situations like mine. To be honest I made the mistake, despite my frustration, of actually thinking LG would come around and do the right thing. I figured that the potential embarrassment of such a malfunction might motivate them and I gave them more time than I should have. However, at this point it seems clear that they are not going to cooperate. I am accepting that and now making a greater effort to research it further and gather evidence. I figure a few pictures of the phone on social media (maybe on their Facebook page or through twitter) might help. In the least it will draw some, albeit not a lot of, attention to what happened and more importantly the way they handled it. I know I do not have a lot of weight to throw around with this. However, I do feel like they deserve some negative attention. More and more consumers have no voice and these large companies get away with treating us worse and worse as time goes by. It is unfortunate.