Bought A Phone on Amazon

[bearcat22]

If Samsung says, "unless you buy it from our official site, it's not our problem" doesn't that make them the exact same type of dishonest weasel?

Had Tello service on TCL brand phone, model 5102L
It kept periodically not ringing when I dialed numbers, but instead immediately saying Call Ended. A couple times Tello did some kind of remote fix, but then I could not get their support to reply / respond any more, so I dumped their service.

Spent fifty bucks for three months trial of Mint Mobile. Physical SIM did not work, and even though it says compatible on their website, Mint insists the TCL phone is "Locked". TCL says it isn't as far as their records show.

Mint refuses to refund the SIM.

I thought I had found an alternative phone on Amazon. Samsung Galaxy A05s. Ad says "Global, unlocked, 4G". Does NOT say it is refurbished- Ad also says "In the United States, this device is only compatible with T-Mobile and their MVNO's(Mint, Ultra, Ting, Tello, etc.)". Amaaon page appears to say it sold via "Samsung store" but later Samsung denies they sold it to me.

Contacted Mint before purchase and they said absolutely yes, this phone WILL work with their SIM. So I went ahead and bought it.

Phone arrived defective. SIM tray wouldn't open. I couldn't take it apart to get at the SIM because they glue the case shut! Called Samsung and they told me to take it to a shop named "U break I Fix" and the repair would be covered under warranty. Nice guy there used a different looking SIM removal tool, and it came right out. He told me I could have the tool for free, and I forgot to take it with me. He installed the SIM for me. He turned on the phone and told me "We can see bars, so you know for sure you have a cellular connection".

Got home and it would not make calls. It says "Not registered on network".

Downdetector says that there is no network outage in my area.

Settings>Connections>Mobile Networks

Under 'Mobile Networks' it says data roaming is on, VoLTE calls SIM 1 is on, under Network Mode it says "LTE /3G/2G auto connect".

This is where things get strange. Mint says it will work only with a 4g/5g device. Amazon ad says this phone is 4g. Yet there is not any option to choose 4g on the screen. Why?

Under Network Operators,
Selected "Scan Operators" and the only one that shows up is "Mint". I tap on that, and a pop up says "registering on mint"

Try to make a call again, and it says "not registered on network"

Last time I checked, "Global" means everywhere on the globe, including America.
It says 4 G, says unlocked.

So, have I been burned by Amazon, by Samsung, or by both? Sure, I can most likely return it, but that doesn't put a working phone in my hand that will function with the Mint SIM I'm already out fifty bucks for.

Samsung said "do a factory reset" but I don't trust that at all.
They then said 'take it to a shop". Great.

 

[Mooncatt]

When buying from Amazon, you have to be careful to make note of the actual seller. I think this is the phone you have, or close enough, so I'll use this as an example

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG Galaxy A05s (128GB, 4GB) 6.7" Dual SIM GSM Unlocked Global 4G LTE A057M/DS (Black) : Cell Phones & Accessories

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG Galaxy A05s (128GB, 4GB) 6.7" Dual SIM GSM Unlocked Global 4G LTE A057M/DS (Black) : Cell Phones & Accessories

a.co

At the top of the list, it says to visit the Samsung store, but that is only a virtual store front to find same-brand items. Scroll down to the buying options and look at the shipped and sold by section. This phone ships from an Amazon warehouse, but it's sold by some third party virtual retailer. If you scroll down further to the other sellers section and select that, you'll find that all of the sellers are random third party sellers, not Samsung or Amazon. That is the first clue, and why Samsung will not have any liability here. I'll explain more in a bit.

I googled the phone and found this Samsung page.

Samsung Galaxy A05s Specs (Light Green, 128GB) | Samsung PH

Check out the Samsung Galaxy A05s (SM-A057FLGGPHL) specifications. Galaxy A05s features 6.7-inch HD+ display, 50MP Main camera & 5,000mAh Battery.

www.samsung.com

At the top, it defaulted me to the Philippines location. If I choose the U.S. as my location and search on their site for the phone, there's no results. That means this phone was not meant for the U.S. market. That, combined with the unauthorized third party sellers from Amazon means this is a grey market phone. Grey market items are ones that are legit and legally sold, but are imported from other countries (typically with more lax consumer protections) to be sold at a much lower price than similar in market products. Because of this, the manufacturer has no responsibility or liability for the product. They are only liable for support and warranty claims in the country of origin, and often times you would have to ship it back to the seller for the seller to handle the warranty claim in the country of origin. This is the risk of grey market purchases. Samsung letting you do a warranty claim on it here was actually a bit surprising to see.

The idea of being globally unlocked doesn't mean it'll be compatible with every network. It means the phone isn't locked to a specific network. If you buy a phone direct through a carrier, you may not be able to use that phone on any other carrier, even if it has the compatible radio bands for your carrier of choice. You can find radio specs for the phone here, and cross reference those with what Mint uses to see if they match.

Samsung Galaxy A05s - Full phone specifications

m.gsmarena.com

Even if they do match, that still isn't a 100% guarantee that it would work.

Honestly, I would return this phone to Amazon and get something from Mint. At least then you wouldn't have to worry about this hassle, you'll have a real warranty, and you aren't dealing with questionable grey market stuff. It may be more expensive, but more reliable serviceability.

 

[bearcat22]

When buying from Amazon, you have to be careful to make note of the actual seller. I think this is the phone you have, or close enough, so I'll use this as an example

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG Galaxy A05s (128GB, 4GB) 6.7" Dual SIM GSM Unlocked Global 4G LTE A057M/DS (Black) : Cell Phones & Accessories

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG Galaxy A05s (128GB, 4GB) 6.7" Dual SIM GSM Unlocked Global 4G LTE A057M/DS (Black) : Cell Phones & Accessories

a.co

At the top of the list, it says to visit the Samsung store, but that is only a virtual store front to find same-brand items. Scroll down to the buying options and look at the shipped and sold by section. This phone ships from an Amazon warehouse, but it's sold by some third party virtual retailer. If you scroll down further to the other sellers section and select that, you'll find that all of the sellers are random third party sellers, not Samsung or Amazon. That is the first clue, and why Samsung will not have any liability here. I'll explain more in a bit.

I googled the phone and found this Samsung page.

Samsung Galaxy A05s Specs (Light Green, 128GB) | Samsung PH

Check out the Samsung Galaxy A05s (SM-A057FLGGPHL) specifications. Galaxy A05s features 6.7-inch HD+ display, 50MP Main camera & 5,000mAh Battery.

www.samsung.com

At the top, it defaulted me to the Philippines location. If I choose the U.S. as my location and search on their site for the phone, there's no results. That means this phone was not meant for the U.S. market. That, combined with the unauthorized third party sellers from Amazon means this is a grey market phone. Grey market items are ones that are legit and legally sold, but are imported from other countries (typically with more lax consumer protections) to be sold at a much lower price than similar in market products. Because of this, the manufacturer has no responsibility or liability for the product. They are only liable for support and warranty claims in the country of origin, and often times you would have to ship it back to the seller for the seller to handle the warranty claim in the country of origin. This is the risk of grey market purchases. Samsung letting you do a warranty claim on it here was actually a bit surprising to see.

The idea of being globally unlocked doesn't mean it'll be compatible with every network. It means the phone isn't locked to a specific network. If you buy a phone direct through a carrier, you may not be able to use that phone on any other carrier, even if it has the compatible radio bands for your carrier of choice. You can find radio specs for the phone here, and cross reference those with what Mint uses to see if they match.

Samsung Galaxy A05s - Full phone specifications

m.gsmarena.com

Even if they do match, that still isn't a 100% guarantee that it would work.

Honestly, I would return this phone to Amazon and get something from Mint. At least then you wouldn't have to worry about this hassle, you'll have a real warranty, and you aren't dealing with questionable grey market stuff. It may be more expensive, but more reliable serviceability.

Thank you.

If I take this into a Samsung Service Center, and it was manufactured to work somewhere other than the USA, can they do anything to get it working, or is that a waste of time and energy?

I saw in blue "Samsung Store" at the top, and that convinced me this was sold by Samsung. I have no idea how you navigated somewhere on the Amazon site that says otherwise. Seems extremely fraudulent for Amazon not to say prominently who you are buying from.
Amazon has already promised to make this right, but I'm still angry. I don't feel I was unreasonable or negligent in any way. I do feel Amazon and the seller were deliberately fraudulent, given that many similar results on my search said things such as "Latin American Version". This said GLOBAL and explicit language in the description stated it would work in the USA with Mint Mobile. In America, we call it fraud, a FELONY CRIME to misrepresent a product. Amazon needs to be shut down and fined a trillion dollars.

 

[Mooncatt]

I saw in blue "Samsung Store" at the top, and that convinced me this was sold by Samsung. I have no idea how you navigated somewhere on the Amazon site that says otherwise. Seems extremely fraudulent for Amazon not to say prominently who you are buying from.

Hyperbole aside, it tells you right below the Buy Now buttons who the item is shipped and sold by.



It's a case of buyer beware, not fraud. It's the risk you take buying from Amazon, eBay, Wish, etc.

 

[Mooncatt]

When buying online, you have to be vigilant whether you like it or not. Scams exist, but I wouldn't call this a scam. The seller was listed plain as day right next to the buy button. This is how Amazon works. If the sold by entry doesn't say Amazon, the manufacturer, or a reputable retailer, then you are taking a risk. Buying a phone based only on the Amazon listing, with no other research to verify claims, is a risk.

I'm not saying Amazon is great and I've had my issues with them in the past, but I suggest you make use of their refund policy. The yellow flags were there about this being a questionable item. Consider this a learning experience. If you are unwilling to look for those kinds of issues prior to hitting the buy button, then stick with established brick and mortar stores or their online options.

Since it seems like you have trouble keeping conversations civil and on topic, I'm done here. I've given you all the help I can anyway.

 

[mustang7757]

@bearcat22
Let's keep this on topic and stay away from politics or anything in that nature. Thank you.

 

[mustang7757]

(Mod Note)
Cleaned up some posts and changed the title

 

[Golfdriver97]

I honestly despise buying electronic devices or parts on Amazon, especially computer components. For example: I don't know how Amazon does it, but you can type the exact model number of a CPU in and (at least for me) I get more results that are not the product than the opposite.

I don't think Samsung is all "If you didn't buy direct from us, we won't help" because I am sure if you buy from a carrier, they will still help. But, in this case, if you did buy from some random third-party person, I can see why they may not want to deal with it. There are a lot of fake Samsung devices on the market.

 

[BEaRebel]

Not an official on the topic, but I purchased my Samsung SG23U from Amazon. A very decent deal.
Then traded up to Samsung directly for SG24U. Not as happy with this phone, but have 1tb.
I've purchased phones on Amazon for years.

Personally, I've asked these wonderful people for help B4 purchasing a phone.
You will learn so much here.

T.Y guys

 

[BEaRebel]

When signed on, all I saw was @Golfdriver97 's post.

Apologies if I was out of line answering.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I honestly despise buying electronic devices or parts on Amazon, especially computer components. For example: I don't know how Amazon does it, but you can type the exact model number of a CPU in and (at least for me) I get more results that are not the product than the opposite.

I don't think Samsung is all "If you didn't buy direct from us, we won't help" because I am sure if you buy from a carrier, they will still help. But, in this case, if you did buy from some random third-party person, I can see why they may not want to deal with it. There are a lot of fake Samsung devices on the market.

The only electronic components I bought from Amazon were a be quiet! CPU cooler, a Cooler Master power supply, and a tube of thermal paste.