Joe Maring / Android Authority

Google’s Pixel warranty troubles are back in the spotlight, and this time, a Pixel 10 Pro XL customer claims the company returned their phone damaged and unusable after a repair request.

The person shared a lengthy thread on X detailing their experience with Google support after their roughly seven-month-old handset began developing battery-related problems. According to the post, they tried several troubleshooting methods before finally sending the device to Google under warranty. That’s where things allegedly started falling apart.

After inspecting the phone, Google reportedly informed the customer that the Pixel had damage on the rear panel. The claim was immediately disputed, with the Pixel 10 Pro XL user saying the device had been inside a protective case since day one and showed no visible cracks or dents before shipment. The customer now suspects the damage may have occurred during the battery replacement process. Instead of acknowledging a possible repair error, however, Google allegedly blamed the issue on the person who submitted the claim and demanded payment before moving ahead with the repair.

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

The customer blatantly refused, and Google eventually shipped the handset back. But according to the X thread, the situation only became worse from there. The person behind the post claims there was no rear panel damage even after the repair attempt and says the Pixel now boots directly into a bootloader loop, rendering it effectively unusable. At the time the thread was published, the phone had reportedly been stuck in that state for hours. Frustrated by the experience, the Pixel customer went so far as to call Google’s warranty process “a scam.”

To Google’s credit, the official Made by Google X account publicly responded, apologizing and asking for additional details via direct messages. Since then, though, there hasn’t been any meaningful update on whether the matter was resolved.

What makes the entire situation harder to brush aside is how familiar it sounds. This isn’t some isolated complaint buried deep inside a support forum. Over the past year, multiple Pixel customers across Reddit and X have shared stories involving denied warranty claims, disputed physical damage, and repair experiences that allegedly left their devices in worse condition than before. Earlier reports ranged from charging port failures on the Pixel 8 series to claims that Google rejected repair requests over damage customers insist never existed in the first place.

Of course, online complaints don’t automatically prove wrongdoing, and repair disputes can sometimes involve details customers may not see. But when the same types of stories keep surfacing around the warranty process, it starts to feel like a broader after-sales support problem Google still hasn’t properly addressed. And that’s a much bigger issue than a single cracked back panel.

People spending flagship-level money on Pixel phones expect the ownership experience to extend beyond good cameras and clean Android software. After-sales support matters just as much. If customers start feeling nervous about sending their devices in for repair, that trust disappears very quickly. Right now, it’s quite hard to say those concerns are completely unfounded.