Samsung U600 "Warranty" Service

xill

I would like to let people here know what Samsung describe as their "Warranty" repair service and how I would describe it as

A COMPLETE AND UTTER RIP OFF

I bought my daughter a Samsung U600 mobile phone for her birthday in October 2007 (£147) and by December 2007 (8 weeks later) the touch keys on the front had stopped working. I contacted Samsung and they booked it in with Kuehne & Nagel their approved service centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire who sent a prepaid envelope for us to return the phone in. Three weeks later at the beginning of the New Year we received a letter stating that the Main Board had a crack in the resin and it was a non warranty repair and would cost £70.50 for it to be replaced. I called the repair centre and said that the only problem was with the two touch keys everything else was functioning perfectly, they said it was the main board and that needed replacing.

I was dumbfounded and asked what the options were, one was to return the mobile to me at a cost of £18 which is what I chose to do. The other alternative was to have them "recycle" it at no cost to me.

Two days ago we took it to a local independent mobile repair shop who have replaced the key pad board and the connecting ribbon for a total cost of £30 and the telephone is fine. They also stated they checked the main board thoroughly and there is "nothing wrong with it". The people in the shop were as dumbfounded as I was when I recounted the tale to them.

Now I looked around the internet and this seems a common fault with this model of telephone and the part can be bought for £6.99 all you need is an expert to fit it.

Needless to say I have written a letter of complaint to Samsung UK and will never buy another one of their products again unless my letter receives a satisfactory reply.

BEWARE OF SHARP PRACTICES BY COMPANIES SUCH AS THESE

Liquorice_Twirls

I have to absolutely agree with you about the shoddy "warranty" repair service offered by Samsung.

My daughter's 7 month old phone would not charge up. The charger worked on another Samsung phone so it could only be her mobile that was faulty.

The mobile is in pristine condition and has not been dropped or damaged in any way. We sent the phone off and after 2 weeks are chasing it up.

It turns out the phone has been sent to Kuehne & Nagel too. I was given their number to chase up the repair (though why this is my job and not Samsung's is anybody's guess) and they tell me it is a non warranty repair and will ring me with an estimate.

They haven't bothered to ring back and I rang Samsung again who say that I need to give K & N another 5 business days!!! And then I will have to pay the £18 to get my phone back.

This 2 year warranty is not worth the paper it is written on. I wish I had taken it to Carphonewarehouse where I bought it from.

Samsung phones clearly are not built to even last the length of the 18month contract that we have on the phone.

Just wondered xill - did you ever write to complain to Samsung and if so what did they have to say?

xill

I actually did write a letter to Samsungs "Customer Support" who 6 weeks later replied it was nothing to do with them and I should take the complaint up with K&N. To be honest I have not followed it up with them as it seems a complete waste of my time. Take it on the chin.
The U600 has design flaws- the touch buttons and the connecting ribbon are obviously poorly designed and/or manufactured as the repaired mobile has once again failed in this regard. I am loath to throw more money down the hole that is a U600 so am buying my daughter a nice £40 Nokia that will undoubtedly last several worry free years as have all the Nokia phones we have owned and used without a problem in the past.
Unfortunately for them this is the first SAMSUNG product we have ever purchased and despite their reputation in other products like TVs and monitors We will never buy anything of that brand ever again.

Liquorice_Twirls

Thanks xill.

They quoted me £90 to repair the phone!!! They said the main board was cracked, through dropping or crushing.

I know that this phone has really been looked after and even the case is pristine. I did wonder if indeed posting it could do that.

Although overall I think the warranty repair service is a total con. K & N get the work and I bet hardly anything is done under warranty.

My daughter still loves the phone so we have ordered one from Asda and it is only £54 so almost half the price of getting the old one repaired!!!

I've always stuck to Sony Ericsson and been very happy with the quality, real workhorses.

Thanks for your reply.

xill

Well its all fine now I got a nice new 3 Skype Phone for her and she can text me for free for just £10 a month top up on PAYG the phone is a cracking little tool and only cost £35.99 from 3.:money:

Prudent_Scotsman

I bought my U600 on an 18 month contract over the internet from e2save.
Fortunately, e2save customers can take phones to Carphone Warehouse shops for repairs.

I had to take the broken U600 to a Carphone Warehouse shop, and collected it a few weeks later.

On the major plus side:
+ phone was replaced for free, with a brand new one, by e2save/Carphone

On the negative side:
- Was repeatedly assured by Carphone Warehouse Oxford Street staff that I'd be e-mailed when the phone was ready to collect. This did not happen. Liars.
- Lost a £5 Java game from old phone, and Samsung has made it impossible to back up Java games.

On the extremely negative side:
- Samsung's offical repair service is awful! I called Samsung Customer Services/Repair (on 0845-SAMSUNG) and they sent me out an envelope in which you can put the broken phone, once you have paid for special delivery. Yes, Samsung uses Kuehne & Nagel and yes, Kuehne & Nagel want a ridiculous £18 for the phone to be posted back to you.

Other:
DO NOT USE THE WORDS "spilt water" or "friend spilt a beer on the phone" etc or you will never get it repaired by Samsung (Kuehne & Nagel) or by e2save / Carphone Warehouse. Water damages are not part of any warranties. So claim the phone had intermittent problems since the day you got it, and the problems reently got worse, and then hey presto you get it replaced. Of course, you lose all data from old phone.

Grems

My U600 was purchased in January. In the last couple of months the LCD screen developed a fault to the point where it showed complete garbage. Samsung sent out the envelope for K+N and it was returned within three weeks with the LCD screen working (no charge), but with a new fault that wasn't there before. The phone number for K+N (01295 662102) is just constantly playing a message to contact Samsung, although Samsung say this is the "busy" message and the caller should hold on. So the first time I spent 45 minutes holding and this time I have been waiting for 60 minutes!! No answer either time. Samsung only offer to send out another envelope to go around the whole route again. I really think Samsung should look into their customer service aspect with K+N, this and other reports here are not good for their business!!

xXxhotstuff_xXx

i bought the samsung u600 in january 2008 and had to send it back in march as a black patch, that got bigger every time i used the phone(which is very often), appeared on the screen so i couldnt read all of a message etc.. i sent the phone back and got it back about a month later fixed free of charge.. last sunday all of a sudden all the buttons on the top of the phone, not just the touchscreen ones, wouldnt work unless i slid it down and then after about 2hours wouldnt work at all.. i am now thinking i will ask for a refund instead of a repair as this is the second time it has broken in less than 3months ,i just hope they give it to me ha!!