Samsung repair centre advice

Vicky82

Last week my Dad's phone suffered the black screen of death. I tried and failed to fix it, but eventually got in touch with Samsung on Twitter as it's still under warranty. They were great and arranged for a courier to collect the phone the next day, to be sent to their repair centre, Anovo.

On Monday my Dad received an email to say that as the LCD is cracked, it wouldn't be covered under warranty. It was not damaged when it went to the courier. Fortunately my Dad took a dated photo of the phone before he sent it, but Samsung and Anovo are both just shrugging their shoulders, saying all packaging is inspected for damage or mistreatment before it's opened.!

We've been waiting since Monday for a call from Customer Relations and in the meantime, Anovo have given us 5 days to pay for the repair or pay to have the phone sent back.

Sorry TLDR, but does anyone have any idea where we stand on this?

JJ_Egan

< I tried and failed to fix it,>
That could have voided warranty dependant upon what you did.
The photos may help your case .
But Samsung have very very strict T&C .
If they have read your post title calling them crooks they may be disinclined to help .

Vicky82

I haven't called Samsung crooks, I've said the repair centre are. They claim the packaging wasn't damaged before they opened it, so sometime between them inspection it and opening it, the phone screen cracked.

All I did to try to fix it, was a hard reset.

I have sent them the photo and a video that clearly show the screen undamaged. It was taken in front of a dated newspaper.

But thank you for responding.

m0bov

I would only think you could pay for the repair, get the phone back. Then send an LBA with the photo you have. Did they notify you of the damage before they started the repair?

You can then open a money claim online for the screen repair.

BoGoF

A dated photo doesn't actually prove it wasn't damaged before sending.

I would be more suspicous of someone who actually thought of taking a photo with a newspaper in shot.

Vicky82

They haven't started the repair yet. They sent an email to say the phone as found to have a cracked screen so the damage wouldn't be covered under warranty. The actual problem with the phone is that it just wouldn't turn on and was completely unresponsive and this crack seems to have appeared out of no where.

The repair centre, Anovo, have given us 5 days to pay for the repair or to have the phone sent back. If we don't do either, they presumably dispose of the phone.

Thank you for your advice.

Vicky82

BoGoF wrote: »

A dated photo doesn't actually prove it wasn't damaged before sending.

I would be more suspicous of someone who actually thought of taking a photo with a newspaper in shot.

No, I guess it only proves it was undamaged between the date of the photo and the time it was picked up by the courier (although he could also testify that it was undamaged) and placed in their packaging.

But how else could you prove something was undamaged before it left your posession? Without a photo we wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

It would also be a bit stupid to think you could get a cracked screen covered under warranty.

Anyway I appear to have got people's back up, using the word crooks so I shall change the title.

JJ_Egan

Not getting my back up its just that a i believe in being nice and friendly when dealing with warranty .

Possible damage in transit if it left you at 100% and arrived damaged .

Vicky82

No, you're right of course. I'm sorry. I think I'm just suspicious because I've since read some bad and similar stories about this repair centre.

And now this is where we are stuck, as they say the packaging is undamaged.

Fosterdog

Have they sent you proof of the crack? It is perfectly possible to have a cracked screen that you can only see in certain lights and at certain angles, particularly if the screens backlight is not working so could it maybe have been cracked, that was the reason for the fault you sent it away for but you couldn’t see it due to lighting/angles?

This is quite common, especially when it’s the internal screen that is damaged by pressure but the outer glass screen remains in tact with no visible damage.

In your position I’d want photos of the damage they claim, if it is the external screen then your own photos (depending on quality) should be enough proof that it was undamaged when leaving you. If it’s internal screen damage then it is much harder to prove either way.

Vicky82

They have sent a photo. It looks like it's external damage, but I don't know how to know for sure.

I have given them a call, but I just have to wait for the customer relations team to contact me.