Samsung Put The Final Nail In The Coffin

PHK

TW1103 said:

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

I think you have a hard task ahead, you'd need to counter the suggestion that the water damage made the connector likely to break and convince the court that Samsung didn't use reasonable skill in opening them. (Just saying that will not be enough)

Secondly, you can only claim for what you've lost which is a pair of water damaged earphones that are a bit rusty inside, didn't function perfectly and had a limited life left.

Considering a used working pair are about £50 and job lots of faulty pairs work out at a few pounds each I am not sure it is worth it. 

Everyone will have a different point of view but personally once I saw they were corroded inside I would have written them off. 

deannagone

I had a number of Samsung items three years ago (white goods and always bought Samsung phones up until then).  Now I have none after a problem that I couldn't get sorted with what turned out to be overly lauded, high price items that didn't work as advertised.  All items were high spec (and very expensive compared to others).., supposedly, but I had problems with each one.

I then read the negative reviews on customer service, that were similar to the problems I'd had.  So I never buy anything Samsung now.  And I've not had the problems I had with the Samsung items.  Look at what happened with the fold phones.  Glad I was out of Samsung before that.

I also won't pay over the top prices for 'new design' items that haven't any record of performing as advertised. I could have saved 2/3 of the price I paid for the Samsung white goods if I'd have just bought non top rank white goods, for example, and had the same performance.  Lesson learned ha ha.