Help htc hero "htc" screen frozen

[roksart]

i am in need of some help, I have a HTC Hero that was Sprint and got flashed to Cricket(before it came into my possesion).
I got service turned on, and I went back the next day and the cricket associate(real moron) did something to the phone, and now when you turn it on all you get is the black screen with "htc" and thats it, I did the "hard reset, and nada.. all that will happen is that HTC screen, i left it alone thinking possibly it needed some personal time, and it stayed like that all night. Cricket wont help(they said that its not their phone, so its not their problem, and Sprint said the same thing)
So please good people of Phandroid, I love this phone and dont want it to end up as a doorstop, or a paperweight.
PLEASE ADVISE, and I am a layperson, so if you would explain as if I am in first grade.
thanks
Roksart

 

[MahaloCat]

Roksart....is the phone rooted or running stock.

Also - any insight into what the "real moron" did would be helpful.

In my opinion...he broke it....he needs to fix it.

 

[roksart]

to be honest, im not sure but after reading up on what rooting is, i dont think that it is rooted, its just fully flashed from sprint to cricket, when i was able to go to the "phone identity" it said that the carrier was still sprint, but it had a cricket phone number.
as for the no-it-all at the cricket store, he took my info and the phone, which was downloading some songs by the way. and he said that he was going to resend the internet access to the phone wirelessly, he hit a button on his computer, and then he powered it off, and when he powered back up, the HTC screen came on and stayed there.

 

[roksart]

i took it to a third person just to ask them, they are from somewhere else and he doesnt speak too well, and he said that the firmwear was ruined????