Samsung complaint

JamesN

Hi everyone,

I'll try and keep this brief else i'll end up waffling.

I purchased a samsung tumble dryer and washing machine in 2022 directly from the samsung website (it was an employee purchase portal I got discount via work). It still cost over £1,000 for them.

I was told it was a 5 year warranty on both products as long as I registered them at samsung.com. This was a major factor in my purchase decision.

I received the products and went to samsung.com to register my device and did so within the prescribed 90 days.

3 years later, the washing machine develops a fault. Samsung say I've not got any warranty. I questioned it and they said they had no evidence of me registering for it. I've got a timestamped photo of the device being registered at samsung.com. I'm then told that its not samsung.com but a sub site within samsung.com for the warranty. This wasn't made clear in any of the literature. It feels like a deliberate ploy to avoid them having to pay out on warranty.

So I raise a complaint, which is like talking to a brick wall, they just keep stating I don't have warranty. No interest in instating the warranty I should have had.

I've just emailed their CEO in the hope they can do something about it. It’s a common issue with the washing machine (the bearings have gone). Thus, clearly a design issue so my next point was to go for the consumer rights act, any advice on getting a resolution using this? Assume I may need to go the route of small claims? I can’t wait that long to repair the washing machine though…

Does anyone have any advice on what else I should be doing? Has anyone else been caught out by this warranty sub site?

Thanks all

Alderbank

Advice? Don't bother with the Sale of Goods Act.
The Consumer Rights Act replaced it 10 years ago.

JamesN

Alderbank said:

Advice? Don't bother with the Sale of Goods Act.
The Consumer Rights Act replaced it 10 years ago.

Old habits. I did know that but keep calling it by its predecessor. Well reminded. 

MyRealNameToo

The SoGA wasnt repealed, it was changed such that it doesnt apply to consumer purchases, that was replaced with the CRA but SoGA does still apply to business purchases. This will probably add more confusion if you are quoting SoGA as it could imply it was a business purchase. 

So when you registered the warranty did you not get some form of email or letter to confirm its registration? Personally would want some form of confirmation of registration beyond taking a photo of my laptop and would have chased it at the time. My one exception is another white goods brand who dont confirm the warranty by email but you can see the device in their app/in your account and can see its warranty date so can self serve there. 

Ultimately a warranty is beyond your statutory rights and they can have any terms they want, more or less. By the sounds of it you likely didnt follow their process exactly as instructed and hence dont have the protection of the warranty. 

We used to get a discount on Bosch group appliances, though it was confusing as you had to phone their staff sales telephone line and always had a conversation about not being a Bosch employee but being entitled to their discount. The discounts were massive but the downside was there was no additional warranties on them that a consumer purchase would get. 

Undervalued

MyRealNameToo said:

The SoGA wasnt repealed, it was changed such that it doesnt apply to consumer purchases, that was replaced with the CRA but SoGA does still apply to business purchases. This will probably add more confusion if you are quoting SoGA as it could imply it was a business purchase. 

So when you registered the warranty did you not get some form of email or letter to confirm its registration? Personally would want some form of confirmation of registration beyond taking a photo of my laptop and would have chased it at the time. My one exception is another white goods brand who dont confirm the warranty by email but you can see the device in their app/in your account and can see its warranty date so can self serve there. 

Ultimately a warranty is beyond your statutory rights and they can have any terms they want, more or less. By the sounds of it you likely didnt follow their process exactly as instructed and hence dont have the protection of the warranty. 

We used to get a discount on Bosch group appliances, though it was confusing as you had to phone their staff sales telephone line and always had a conversation about not being a Bosch employee but being entitled to their discount. The discounts were massive but the downside was there was no additional warranties on them that a consumer purchase would get. 

That is also my reading of the OP.

Unless Samsung are going to show some goodwill the warranty aspects of this are going to hinge on whether the OP has enough evidence to convince (ultimately a court) that they did do what was necessary to register the warranty.

Otherwise there is still the CRA but for that the OP would need evidence (usually in the form of an expert report) that the fault is inherent and not as a result of misuse etc. If successful any refund could be reduced to take account of the amount of use the OP has had relative to the assumed life of the product. For most white goods etc six years "life" is common so the best that could be expected would be a 50% refund.

JamesN

MyRealNameToo said:

The SoGA wasnt repealed, it was changed such that it doesnt apply to consumer purchases, that was replaced with the CRA but SoGA does still apply to business purchases. This will probably add more confusion if you are quoting SoGA as it could imply it was a business purchase. 

So when you registered the warranty did you not get some form of email or letter to confirm its registration? Personally would want some form of confirmation of registration beyond taking a photo of my laptop and would have chased it at the time. My one exception is another white goods brand who dont confirm the warranty by email but you can see the device in their app/in your account and can see its warranty date so can self serve there. 

Ultimately a warranty is beyond your statutory rights and they can have any terms they want, more or less. By the sounds of it you likely didnt follow their process exactly as instructed and hence dont have the protection of the warranty. 

We used to get a discount on Bosch group appliances, though it was confusing as you had to phone their staff sales telephone line and always had a conversation about not being a Bosch employee but being entitled to their discount. The discounts were massive but the downside was there was no additional warranties on them that a consumer purchase would get. 

Interesting. I wasn’t aware of that distinction. 

So it would seem I haven’t ticked all the boxes for the warranty. My argument was that their instructions weren’t clear we the literature said to go to Samsung.com and register the device within 90 days of purchase. I did this and can evidence this. However, apparently I was supposed to go to a warranty section and register it there. This isn’t made clear at all. It may be hidden in the terms but the stickers on the unit don’t say this. They say Samsung.com. It feels a deliberate ploy. 

I think my best chance is CRA and I’d be happy with a 50% refund. But I assume I may need to take them to court to get that? Is it likely they’d bother for the hassle of court and just settle it I issue a claim?

MyRealNameToo

My battles were with JL rather than Samsung, though it was on a Samsung device, but they fairly quickly agreed a CRA refund once the manufacturer had declared it unrepairable and confirmed a like for like replacement wasnt possible. 

The fight for me was buying a matched pair that physically join to each other but as only one was faulty they didnt want to consider the matched item bought in the same transaction. Mine took issuing court papers against JL but their appointed solicitors immediately conceded the claim and paid out in full. 

Alderbank

JamesN said:

I purchased a samsung tumble dryer and washing machine.

I was told it was a 5 year warranty on both products as long as I registered them at samsung.com. This was a major factor in my purchase decision.

I received the products and went to samsung.com to register my device and did so within the prescribed 90 days.

3 years later, the washing machine develops a fault. Samsung say I've not got any warranty. I questioned it and they said they had no evidence of me registering for it. I've got a timestamped photo of the device being registered at samsung.com. I'm then told that its not samsung.com but a sub site within samsung.com for the warranty. This wasn't made clear in any of the literature.

I have just visited Samsung.com to have a look.

The site says all products have a Samsung standard manufacturer's warranty (probably 12 months) and gives a process to register for that warranty.
The site also says that certain products bought from specific retailers have an additional extended warranty taking the warranty to 5 years if eligible. T&Cs apply.

@JamesN, what are those T&Cs?

Samsung's words:

We do, for certain product categories, provide a promotional (free of charge) extended warranty period. If you register an eligible product for extended warranty (within 90 days of purchase), you will receive an extended warranty period for that product. This is only available on selected Samsung Home Appliances and TVs purchased from selected retailers. T&Cs apply. Please see question 5 for more information.

Please note, registering or adding your Samsung product through Members, Samsung Account or through your TV does not apply any extended warranty to the product. To check eligibility and register for an extended warranty, where applicable, please refer to question 5.

To check eligibility and register for extended warranty please visit:

•Laundry [Register for Samsung 5 Year Warranty]

I assume that page Laundry [Register for Samsung 5 Year Warranty] is what you refer to as the sub-site within samsung.com for the warranty?

Samsung also provide a warranty checker to show how much warranty remains.

@JamesN, what did the checker say after you had registered your products? Did it say 5 years for each?
Or was their warranty website different 3 years ago?

JamesN

Alderbank said:

JamesN said:

I purchased a samsung tumble dryer and washing machine.

I was told it was a 5 year warranty on both products as long as I registered them at samsung.com. This was a major factor in my purchase decision.

I received the products and went to samsung.com to register my device and did so within the prescribed 90 days.

3 years later, the washing machine develops a fault. Samsung say I've not got any warranty. I questioned it and they said they had no evidence of me registering for it. I've got a timestamped photo of the device being registered at samsung.com. I'm then told that its not samsung.com but a sub site within samsung.com for the warranty. This wasn't made clear in any of the literature.

I have just visited Samsung.com to have a look.

The site says all products have a Samsung standard manufacturer's warranty (probably 12 months) and gives a process to register for that warranty.
The site also says that certain products bought from specific retailers have an additional extended warranty taking the warranty to 5 years if eligible. T&Cs apply.

@JamesN, what are those T&Cs?

Samsung's words:

We do, for certain product categories, provide a promotional (free of charge) extended warranty period. If you register an eligible product for extended warranty (within 90 days of purchase), you will receive an extended warranty period for that product. This is only available on selected Samsung Home Appliances and TVs purchased from selected retailers. T&Cs apply. Please see question 5 for more information.

Please note, registering or adding your Samsung product through Members, Samsung Account or through your TV does not apply any extended warranty to the product. To check eligibility and register for an extended warranty, where applicable, please refer to question 5.

To check eligibility and register for extended warranty please visit:

•Laundry [Register for Samsung 5 Year Warranty]

I assume that page Laundry [Register for Samsung 5 Year Warranty] is what you refer to as the sub-site within samsung.com for the warranty?

Samsung also provide a warranty checker to show how much warranty remains.

@JamesN, what did the checker say after you had registered your products? Did it say 5 years for each?

Or was their warranty website different 3 years ago?

I think it was different 3 years ago. I’ve been caught by this before so I was pretty thorough when registering the device. It’d be very unlikely I missed a sub site unless it was hidden in the terms. But then I’d argue such a key term should be more prominent. There wasn’t an obvious warranty checker when I registered the devices. I can’t see any tangible reason for registering the device at Samsung.com. It doesn’t give you anything extra. It doesn’t mention the warranty part. I’m trying to find the literature to make sure but the sticker that used to be on the machine said to to Samsung.com to register your device for 5 years warranty. I did that so can’t help but feel misled. 

I appreciate your efforts in checking the site. Thank you. 

JamesN

MyRealNameToo said:

My battles were with JL rather than Samsung, though it was on a Samsung device, but they fairly quickly agreed a CRA refund once the manufacturer had declared it unrepairable and confirmed a like for like replacement wasnt possible. 

The fight for me was buying a matched pair that physically join to each other but as only one was faulty they didnt want to consider the matched item bought in the same transaction. Mine took issuing court papers against JL but their appointed solicitors immediately conceded the claim and paid out in full. 

That’s good to know. Did you apply to the small claims court first or did you send a notice of intended action or something similar?

powerful_Rogue

T&C's for the 5 year warranty from September 2021 - August 2022

https://web.archive.org/web/20221005124050/https://images.samsung.com/is/content/samsung/assets/uk/fiveyearwarranty/5_Year_Extended_Warranty_September_2021_to_August_2022_terms.pdf