Samsung refusing to repair faulty phone

angryparcel · 11 June 2017 at 2:27PM

wealdroam wrote: »

Samsung offer a two year warranty on their phones. See here.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has only been available since March 2016, so the OP's phone will still be within the manufacturer's warranty period.

but look at Samsungs point of view the OP has had 4 replacements and now after a 5th in 12 months. Any provider would find this suspicious

wealdroam · 11 June 2017 at 2:29PM

angryparcel wrote: »

but look at Samsungs point of view the OP has had 4 replacements and now after a 5th in 12 months. Any provider would find this suspicious

Did I say otherwise?

You told us that the OP's phone may well be out of warranty.
I corrected you on that point alone. That's all.

wonkotsane · 11 June 2017 at 4:01PM

You're misreading or misunderstanding. I haven't dropped this phone, it's the replacement for the one I dropped. The small piece of glass that covers the read camera has shattered in a pattern like a bullet hole. There is no other damage to the handset, it's immaculate. I had one replacement because the phone stopped charging. I had another because of banding on the screen - a known problem with them, the person at Samsung only asked whether it was the grey, pink or green banding when I told him what the problem was. I can't remember if I had another replacement before I dropped the phone. The one I dropped is the only one I damaged myself and I didn't go to Samsung, I had it replaced under my mobile phone insurance. This handset I have now I have not damaged - it is immaculate with the exception of this broken piece of glass.

To address a couple of points:

1. The class action suit in the US is being brought by a law firm. They have enough appellants, they are preparing the case.
2. The evidence I have is of course circumstantial - information and pictures gathered off the internet. However, it establishes a pattern. There is a thread on Samsung's own forum with hundreds of posts from people who have had the same experience. There are reports on newspaper websites and technology/industry websites and forums. There are pictures people have shared to show that they have had exactly the same damage to the glass and they all say they haven't dropped or otherwise damaged the phone. There seems to be a common theme with all the reports which is that the handset is in a case or bumper when it happens - as was the case with mine.

Irrespective of how many replacements I've had - two sent to Samsung which clearly they've accepted as faulty and one insurance replacement - this handset is faulty and it should be covered by the warranty. I had this handset less than 6 months when the glass broke, the burden of proof is on the seller so should I be approaching the insurance company that replaced the handset?

Here is a picture of the broken glass. As you can see the phone has no other damage. I provided Samsung with pictures other people have shared saying they've experienced the same issue and they look exactly the same. It's a bit of a coincidence that everyone who's had this problem wherever they are in the world has dropped their phone onto the same shaped object and hit the exact same part of the glass covering the camera from just the right height to break the glass but not too high that it's damaged the camera underneath and the aforementioned object is surrounded by something soft like sponge or foam to prevent damage to the rest of the handset and the don't know they've done it. How plausible does that sound to you?

https://goo.gl/photos/uEavQiVfEm2DQS7RA

angryparcel · 11 June 2017 at 4:13PM

wonkotsane wrote: »

You're misreading or misunderstanding. I haven't dropped this phone, it's the replacement for the one I dropped. The small piece of glass that covers the read camera has shattered in a pattern like a bullet hole. There is no other damage to the handset, it's immaculate. I had one replacement because the phone stopped charging. I had another because of banding on the screen - a known problem with them, the person at Samsung only asked whether it was the grey, pink or green banding when I told him what the problem was. I can't remember if I had another replacement before I dropped the phone. The one I dropped is the only one I damaged myself and I didn't go to Samsung, I had it replaced under my mobile phone insurance. This handset I have now I have not damaged - it is immaculate with the exception of this broken piece of glass.

To address a couple of points:

1. The class action suit in the US is being brought by a law firm. They have enough appellants, they are preparing the case.
2. The evidence I have is of course circumstantial - information and pictures gathered off the internet. However, it establishes a pattern. There is a thread on Samsung's own forum with hundreds of posts from people who have had the same experience. There are reports on newspaper websites and technology/industry websites and forums. There are pictures people have shared to show that they have had exactly the same damage to the glass and they all say they haven't dropped or otherwise damaged the phone. There seems to be a common theme with all the reports which is that the handset is in a case or bumper when it happens - as was the case with mine.

Irrespective of how many replacements I've had - two sent to Samsung which clearly they've accepted as faulty and one insurance replacement - this handset is faulty and it should be covered by the warranty. I had this handset less than 6 months when the glass broke, the burden of proof is on the seller so should I be approaching the insurance company that replaced the handset?

Here is a picture of the broken glass. As you can see the phone has no other damage. I provided Samsung with pictures other people have shared saying they've experienced the same issue and they look exactly the same. It's a bit of a coincidence that everyone who's had this problem wherever they are in the world has dropped their phone onto the same shaped object and hit the exact same part of the glass covering the camera from just the right height to break the glass but not too high that it's damaged the camera underneath and the aforementioned object is surrounded by something soft like sponge or foam to prevent damage to the rest of the handset and the don't know they've done it. How plausible does that sound to you?

https://goo.gl/photos/uEavQiVfEm2DQS7RA

so you have no actual evidence, pics and hearsay on the internet is NOT evidence.
so apart from original phone you are on 2 or 3 from samsung and 1 from insurance, now you want another one.
Can you not see the issue here with the amount of phones you have had in 12 months.
It could be seen that you are mishandling them that is causing the damage in so many phones in a short period of time.

I had this handset less than 6 months when the glass broke,

maybe but this would go off the warranty, so after 6 months it is up to you to prove the fault is inherent, so you would need to seek an independent engineers report to show Samsung

custardy · 11 June 2017 at 4:13PM

wonkotsane wrote: »

You're misreading or misunderstanding. I haven't dropped this phone, it's the replacement for the one I dropped. The small piece of glass that covers the read camera has shattered in a pattern like a bullet hole. There is no other damage to the handset, it's immaculate. I had one replacement because the phone stopped charging. I had another because of banding on the screen - a known problem with them, the person at Samsung only asked whether it was the grey, pink or green banding when I told him what the problem was. I can't remember if I had another replacement before I dropped the phone. The one I dropped is the only one I damaged myself and I didn't go to Samsung, I had it replaced under my mobile phone insurance. This handset I have now I have not damaged - it is immaculate with the exception of this broken piece of glass.

To address a couple of points:

1. The class action suit in the US is being brought by a law firm. They have enough appellants, they are preparing the case.
2. The evidence I have is of course circumstantial - information and pictures gathered off the internet. However, it establishes a pattern. There is a thread on Samsung's own forum with hundreds of posts from people who have had the same experience. There are reports on newspaper websites and technology/industry websites and forums. There are pictures people have shared to show that they have had exactly the same damage to the glass and they all say they haven't dropped or otherwise damaged the phone. There seems to be a common theme with all the reports which is that the handset is in a case or bumper when it happens - as was the case with mine.

Irrespective of how many replacements I've had - two sent to Samsung which clearly they've accepted as faulty and one insurance replacement - this handset is faulty and it should be covered by the warranty. I had this handset less than 6 months when the glass broke, the burden of proof is on the seller so should I be approaching the insurance company that replaced the handset?

Here is a picture of the broken glass. As you can see the phone has no other damage. I provided Samsung with pictures other people have shared saying they've experienced the same issue and they look exactly the same. It's a bit of a coincidence that everyone who's had this problem wherever they are in the world has dropped their phone onto the same shaped object and hit the exact same part of the glass covering the camera from just the right height to break the glass but not too high that it's damaged the camera underneath and the aforementioned object is surrounded by something soft like sponge or foam to prevent damage to the rest of the handset and the don't know they've done it. How plausible does that sound to you?

https://goo.gl/photos/uEavQiVfEm2DQS7RA

You actually raise an interesting point.
That insurance replacement may give you a new warranty if it was brand new.
Have you approached your insurance provider about the 'fault'?

naedanger · 11 June 2017 at 5:23PM

wonkotsane wrote: »

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge around a year ago on their upgrade programme. You pay monthly for the phone through a finance company and you are eligible to upgrade every year directly through Samsung.

Samsung have replaced the phone 2 or 3 times for different faults and I have had it replaced once through my phone insurance after I dropped it and broke the screen. However, they are refusing to honour the warranty for the latest problem, claiming that I have physically damaged the phone.

A few months back I took my phone out of my jacket pocket and felt that the glass covering the rear camera was broken. I checked it and it looked like a bullet hole. When I got back to the office I showed a colleague and he said he had seen something on his news feed a couple of days previously about it happening to these phones. I did some research and indeed found a large number of articles - including some referring to a class action suit in the US - where people were having the same problem. Almost every person, though, was saying that Samsung were refusing the admit responsibility for it and were forcing customers to pay to repair the phone.

I contacted Samsung and told them what had happened, what I'd found online and asked for it to be repaired under warranty. I was told over the phone there and then that it wouldn't be covered because I had physically damaged the phone. They hadn't even seen the phone and had made their mind up that I had damaged it.

I have had lots of communication by phone and email with Samsung regarding this problem and they have said that they definitely will not honour the warranty. They still haven't told me how much it will cost to repair despite me asking several times, they have also failed to tell me what evidence the engineer found that pointed to physical damage despite me asking and in answer to my question as to how a small square of toughened glass could be broken in such a way without causing any damage whatsoever to the rest of the phone they have said it's not their place to explain that but that it wouldn't be possible to cause the damage without damaging the rest of the phone which is the point I was making!

I have provided Samsung with evidence that this is a fault with the manufacture or design of the handset. I have pointed out that the internet is awash with reports of people having the same problem, that there is a class action suit in the US being launched for this problem and provided them with pictures I downloaded off the internet of people reporting the exact same issue and how they are identical.

I am not willing to pay for repair of the handset when it is defective. I have been without this phone for months but have made several hundreds of pounds in payments for it. Samsung have been evasive and contradictory. What do you think my chances are of successfully obtaining judgement through the small claims court? I just want it repair for free and my costs refunded or for them to pay off the finance and I'll get a phone from someone else.

My suggestion, read the following article:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

Then check to see whether your purchase is covered by section 75. (EDIT: I am not sure it will be covered under section 75, partly because it was replaced under warranty.)

If so then claim against the finance company. And if they don't provide you with a satisfactory solution ask for a copy of their complaints procedure and follow it to the end i.e. the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If that is unsuccessful, or not an option in your case, you could still take the matter to the small claims court but this involves cost and risk. (As far as I am aware that the usual rules on evidence at a court hearing do not apply to small claims cases and it is up to the judge to decide what evidence to permit. So I think a judge might permit you to provide details of reports from the internet. In any event your own testimony is evidence. Of course it will be up to the judge to decide what weight to give either party's evidence.)

Fosterdog · 11 June 2017 at 5:25PM

Did the case you have also include a camera protector? If not the it would be perfectly possible and in fact quite easy to damage the camera while the rest of the phone is left without a mark due to the protective case. The thing with glass is it doesn't necessarily break as soon as it is dropped or knocked but it could have been previously weakened significantly by a knock and just moving around in your pocket was enough to push the weakness over the edge.

You also say the phone is otherwise immaculate but just in the one photo you've posted I can see a few different minor scuffs and scratches, that's a lot considering you say it's been kept in a protective case. Chances are whatever happened to cause that damage could have also cause weakness in the glass.

wonkotsane · 11 June 2017 at 7:36PM

I contacted the finance company, they said take it up with Samsung. I haven't contacted the insurance company.

The case didn't have a camera cover but I sent the case in with the phone to show that there was no damage to the case either.

The scuffs and scratches are smudges and grime that have collected between the phone and case, it's immaculate.

naedanger · 11 June 2017 at 7:42PM

wonkotsane wrote: »

I contacted the finance company, they said take it up with Samsung.

Well they would, obviously they would rather not deal with it.

Personally I would demand they repair it stating they were jointly liable under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Then if they deny liability review their reasoning. (If it does not seem valid then I would proceed with a formal complaint. If they did seem to have valid reasoning then I would drop that approach.)

daytona0 · 11 June 2017 at 10:20PM

wonkotsane wrote: »

1. The class action suit in the US is being brought by a law firm. They have enough appellants, they are preparing the case.

Did a quick google search and sounds like they *MAY* have used cheap glass in the manufacture of the lens, so I'm not going to rule you out right off the bat....

BUT you aren't part of this class action suit so, unless it results in a win for the claimants and a product recall, it serves little to no purpose in your situation at this time.

You'll need to pursue this independently. AND some instances of a cracked lens will be the fault of the customer.

2. The evidence I have is of course circumstantial - information and pictures gathered off the internet. However, it establishes a pattern. There is a thread on Samsung's own forum with hundreds of posts from people who have had the same experience. There are reports on newspaper websites and technology/industry websites and forums. There are pictures people have shared to show that they have had exactly the same damage to the glass and they all say they haven't dropped or otherwise damaged the phone. There seems to be a common theme with all the reports which is that the handset is in a case or bumper when it happens - as was the case with mine.

That is not evidence of anything. And frankly there are many people in this world (I asusme) who are happy with the phone, who do not experience an issue, and who do not feel the need to post that on the internet. So you only see one side of things and it can appear to be more widespread than it really is....

You'll need some sort of independent fault report showing a manufacturing fault.

Irrespective of how many replacements I've had - two sent to Samsung which clearly they've accepted as faulty and one insurance replacement - this handset is faulty and it should be covered by the warranty. I had this handset less than 6 months when the glass broke, the burden of proof is on the seller so should I be approaching the insurance company that replaced the handset?

Well yes.... but if you've had replacements then it doesn't reset! It is 6 months from the day you received the very first one! So the burden of proof is on you...

Same with the warranty.... not sure if you have a valid warranty or not though.

May be an idea to approach your insurance company.

Though I do find it funny how many phones you've had! Gone are the days of the Nokia 3210! Even throwing it off a 5 storey building didn't stop it from working! Slaves to technology we are .....

Samsung refusing to repair faulty phone

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