Samsung Put The Final Nail In The Coffin

TW1103

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

About a week ago, my Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro stopped charging properly. The left headphone charged, but the right one didn't. The earbuds themselves otherwise worked absolutely fine.

I took it into their store in Kings Cross to get looked at. In the store, they opened the case up, to find that it had rusted inside and there was water damage. I do not know how water would have got inside it, but the little red tab showed that it was water damaged, which took them out of warranty, so there's not much I could do from there. They quoted me £210 for a repair on headphones which are currently £169 to buy brand new.

I told them I couldn't afford that, so I asked them to put them back together so that I could make do with what I had for the time being. When they gave them back to me, they had stopped working completely. No lights came on it, neither headphone would charge. I noticed this immediately, and asked them what had happened. They re-opened the case, and found that the Samsung staff had snapped a connector inside the case, which is why they were now completely unusable.

I told them that I wasn't happy, and I should have, at the very least, been leaving the store with the headphones in the exact condition that I bought them in with. I spoke to the store manager, who said that they wouldn't be issuing any repair or replacement as my warranty was invalid, regardless of whether or not their staff caused damage.

I escalated the issue through their complaints procedure. Long story short, they investigated themselves and found themselves not guilty... Four times. The company stood by what the manager told me - If I bought them in for repair, I had to expect potential further damage to my product whilst they investigated the issue.

I think this is unacceptable, as Samsung caused further damage to my product, rendering it ultimately unusable. What can I do in this situation, after exhausting their complaints procedure?

user1977

Sue them for the value of a semi-faulty pair of headphones? But that doesn't sound worthwhile.

TW1103

user1977 said:

Sue them for the value of a semi-faulty pair of headphones? But that doesn't sound worthwhile.

Is that pretty much my only option at this point? I'm disgusted because I have been a Samsung customer since I was 14 (I'm 29 now) and I'm fully into their ecosystem at this point... And I don't want to make the jump to Apple, but it feels like my morals are going to force me that way.

km1500

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

TW1103

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

Aylesbury_Duck

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

Time to take yourself out of their "ecosystem" then.  If what you say is true, they've done a good job creating a massive amount of inertia among their customer base.  It's a good business model.

TW1103

Aylesbury_Duck said:

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

Time to take yourself out of their "ecosystem" then.  If what you say is true, they've done a good job creating a massive amount of inertia among their customer base.  It's a good business model.

Yeah, I am done now. I was hoping they'd just replace the cradle for me, but they seem to not care about their customers at all. I'll not be buying from them again.
Not a big fan of Apple, but looks like that's my only decent option going forward.

RefluentBeans

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

When you took them in - I assume it’s like Apple with a Genius Bar where they attempt to diagnose the issue? Normally - they do software issues first, some basics hardware diagnostics, but if they need to take the products away to open it up - they normally make you sign a ‘Authorisation Form’ - did they do that here?

If they did - did you read the terms, and do you have a copy of the terms via email or paper? 

If you didn’t, did the verbally say anything along the lines that they’ll look into it, but do not accept responsibility for further damage?

If the answer is no a you’re on solid ground for a like for like replacement. And even if they did remove risk from themselves, there’s an argument to be had that it requires ‘reasonable care and skill’. The latter is harder to prove as if the cable was already weak due to water damage, then it could be argued that opening the case up would have always resulted in damage to components that are already damaged. 

You first need to see if Samsung made you sign anything and what you signed, and then make an argument that the case was opened without ‘reasonable care and skill’ by their technicians and you want the product repaired to the state it was before the opening took place. It also helps if the person who examined your device remembers how it worked before the opening - or it could be a your word vs their word situation. 

With regards to if, after any action following this boards recommendations, Samsung still has no plans to repair/replace or refund you, your next step is letter before action, then small claims court if they still don’t concede. 

RefluentBeans

TW1103 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

Time to take yourself out of their "ecosystem" then.  If what you say is true, they've done a good job creating a massive amount of inertia among their customer base.  It's a good business model.

Yeah, I am done now. I was hoping they'd just replace the cradle for me, but they seem to not care about their customers at all. I'll not be buying from them again.
Not a big fan of Apple, but looks like that's my only decent option going forward.

FWIW - no big tech firm is pro consumer. Apple, Samsung, and the others are just as bad as each other. 

TW1103

RefluentBeans said:

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

When you took them in - I assume it’s like Apple with a Genius Bar where they attempt to diagnose the issue? Normally - they do software issues first, some basics hardware diagnostics, but if they need to take the products away to open it up - they normally make you sign a ‘Authorisation Form’ - did they do that here?

If they did - did you read the terms, and do you have a copy of the terms via email or paper? 

If you didn’t, did the verbally say anything along the lines that they’ll look into it, but do not accept responsibility for further damage?

If the answer is no a you’re on solid ground for a like for like replacement. And even if they did remove risk from themselves, there’s an argument to be had that it requires ‘reasonable care and skill’. The latter is harder to prove as if the cable was already weak due to water damage, then it could be argued that opening the case up would have always resulted in damage to components that are already damaged. 

You first need to see if Samsung made you sign anything and what you signed, and then make an argument that the case was opened without ‘reasonable care and skill’ by their technicians and you want the product repaired to the state it was before the opening took place. It also helps if the person who examined your device remembers how it worked before the opening - or it could be a your word vs their word situation. 

With regards to if, after any action following this boards recommendations, Samsung still has no plans to repair/replace or refund you, your next step is letter before action, then small claims court if they still don’t concede. 

Yes, it was similar to that with the Apple Genius Bar.

I was given no paperwork to sign, nor was I informed of anything saying they wouldn't be responsible for further damage. This is a point I've put forward to them, and they've told me that it is "just to be expected" that there could be further damage whilst investigating the matter.

They have tried to claim that the cable may well have broken regardless of whether they opened it or not, due to the water damage. However, from what I can tell, the water damage was not as severe as Samsung are leading me to believe. There is absolutely zero cosmetic damage to the case, and the use of the product was temperamental, rather than outright broken.

The staff that I spoke to in the store have told me that they logged the condition and functionality of the product on their system when I bought it in, and the condition it left in.

Samsung have confirmed four times that they do not plan to repair or replace my product, and their argument is that the product was already water damaged, thus out of warranty.

What should I do, in terms of my next step, then? What is letter before action? Is there a template I should follow?

Thanks

born_again

TW1103 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

TW1103 said:

km1500 said:

I wonder what Samsung's T and C are for diagnosing a fault at customer request?

I have no idea, unfortunately. Looking at Samsung's subreddit, however, issues like this seem to plague Samsung's customer base daily

Time to take yourself out of their "ecosystem" then.  If what you say is true, they've done a good job creating a massive amount of inertia among their customer base.  It's a good business model.

Yeah, I am done now. I was hoping they'd just replace the cradle for me, but they seem to not care about their customers at all. I'll not be buying from them again.
Not a big fan of Apple, but looks like that's my only decent option going forward.

Plenty of Android phones out there, that are as good if not better than Samsung.