Samsung support is garbage, my Note 9 arrived with a ding

[berfles]

I got my Note 9 yesterday, and upon examining it I saw a small flaw/dent/ding in the bottom right where the S Pen goes. I immediately called/chatted with Samsung and they told me not only do they not do exchanges, but I'd have to do a full return/re-purchase to get another phone and send back my promotional item as well. I got in on the AKG promotion and $300 trade in, both of which are over, so I would likely have to pay full price if I re-buy the phone.

All I want to do is get another phone, why are they making me send the promotion items back and why are they being so difficult and not just letting me get another phone? Has anyone had any luck in talking to someone higher than the useless reps who barely speak English? I'm going to try the sales team today, maybe they have someone who can actually help me out. To think I just spent $1000 on a premium phone to avoid these stupid manufacturing flaws for nothing is killing me.

 

[Ca_lvn]

They offered you a solution sorry it's not to your standards!

 

[Nakrohtap]

That sucks. I thought they had a one year warranty against manufacturing defects. They won't even honor that within one day? It should just be a warranty replacement. Period. Things happen that don't get caught during production.
Go through and read over the warranty. Maybe there is someone listed you need to contact instead of who you did already. Good luck.

 

[berfles]

They offered you a solution sorry it's not to your standards!

Yeah, the possibility of paying full price for a phone when all I want is an exchange for something out of my control is "not my standards". I had one agent tell me they would give me the price match, the other said they wouldn't. Both said I'd lose the promotional item which I should get fair and square; I'm still paying for the phone.

So basically, doing it their way, I risk not only losing the promotional item that I legally got, but I also risk not getting what I should for my trade in phone. Everything is basically up to Samsung, and they seem to not give a crap what the consumer says. Any other place would let you walk right in and exchange the phone on the spot. Don't even tell me otherwise. It's not unreasonable to just want them to give me the $300 for my S7 Edge like they promised, and even that's a long shot going by post history here and other places.

That sucks. I thought they had a one year warranty against manufacturing defects. They won't even honor that within one day? It should just be a warranty replacement. Period. Things happen that don't get caught during production.
Go through and read over the warranty. Maybe there is someone listed you need to contact instead of who you did already. Good luck.

Nope. I literally received and opened the phone yesterday and got right in touch with them. "Sir, there's plastic on the phone that will prevent these things from the factory, how do we know it wasn't you?" Yeah, well there's plastic on the phone everywhere BUT this spot, which happens to be right where the ding it. I know because I left all of it on, like I always do. It has a skin on the back and a protector on the front and went right in the case, and that's when I noticed it.

 

[berfles]

Funny, their own web site talks about exchanges for both quality and operational defects.

The guy I talked to on the phone told me that quality defects weren't covered.

 

[Ca_lvn]

Dealing with Samsung can be incredibly frustrating it took a BBB case once for me to resolve so I wouldn't purchase directly from them only a brick and mortar store where I can walk in for exchange .
Good luck

 

[felloffthetruck]

Can we see a picture of this ding/dent ?

 

[berfles]

Can we see a picture of this ding/dent ?

You're going to think it's ridiculous. I admit it is tiny, but I have borderline OCD with my things and I feel that for $1000 it should be perfect. I can live with it if I was the one who did it, but getting it when I pay this much for a "premium" phone doesn't sit well. I'll grab a picture a little later.

 

[ibcop]

Can you post a picture of said damage? While it does happen, it's rare to have a damaged product on delivery. I'm no way discounting what you said, but once the phone is in the box, I don't think it would be damaged.

 

[ibcop]

You're going to think it's ridiculous. I admit it is tiny, but I have borderline OCD with my things and I feel that for $1000 it should be perfect. I can live with it if I was the one who did it, but getting it when I pay this much for a "premium" phone doesn't sit well. I'll grab a picture a little later.

If it's that small, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not going to stay perfect but is it really worth the trouble and time especially to return the promo item?

 

[berfles]

They do stay perfect though, that's the thing. Every one of my phones looks like the day I got them, the bottom line is I as the consumer am not happy with it and I'd like to start off with a perfect device out of the box. As someone said, things get looked over before they're put in the boxes and this obviously was.

 

[JREwing]

I hate to admit it, but Samsung customer service sucks big time. I've tried the online chat to resolve some issues with orders, and I have waited over one hour. They must contract out their CS to a third party. I have to admit that Apple is light years ahead of Samsung in customer service.
To have a situation like yours in inexcusable. You should get a replacement unit PRONTO.

 

[buzzy3970]

OP would you happen to have a Samsung store in your area? Maybe you can go there and see about a replace on the spot.

 

[felloffthetruck]

You're going to think it's ridiculous. I admit it is tiny, but I have borderline OCD with my things and I feel that for $1000 it should be perfect. I can live with it if I was the one who did it, but getting it when I pay this much for a "premium" phone doesn't sit well. I'll grab a picture a little later.

Waiting on picture......................

 

[jhimmel]

Unfortunately, Samsung store is one of the worst to deal with when something goes wrong. You are going to need persistence (and luck) if you are planning on seeing this through.

 

[stackberry369]

I got my Note 9 yesterday, and upon examining it I saw a small flaw/dent/ding in the bottom right where the S Pen goes. I immediately called/chatted with Samsung and they told me not only do they not do exchanges, but I'd have to do a full return/re-purchase to get another phone and send back my promotional item as well. I got in on the AKG promotion and $300 trade in, both of which are over, so I would likely have to pay full price if I re-buy the phone.

All I want to do is get another phone, why are they making me send the promotion items back and why are they being so difficult and not just letting me get another phone? Has anyone had any luck in talking to someone higher than the useless reps who barely speak English? I'm going to try the sales team today, maybe they have someone who can actually help me out. To think I just spent $1000 on a premium phone to avoid these stupid manufacturing flaws for nothing is killing me.

Does it affect the functionality of your phone? If not then why are you crying over spilled milk?

 

[KupKrazy]

My experience at the Samsung Customer Service Center in NJ has always been positive. If you are near it, maybe give it a try? I prefer it over the Samsung Experience store in Manhattan. The stores seem to not operate with the same compassion as the service center. Anyway, I recall stuff like this during launch of the Note 8. Basically it is so new, they don’t have new exchange units and they make you go through the whole process again.

 

[berfles]

My experience at the Samsung Customer Service Center in NJ has always been positive. If you are near it, maybe give it a try? I prefer it over the Samsung Experience store in Manhattan. The stores seem to not operate with the same compassion as the service center. Anyway, I recall stuff like this during launch of the Note 8. Basically it is so new, they don’t have new exchange units and they make you go through the whole process again.

Just tried them as they're the closest to me, but they're a service center only, so they do repairs and such and don't actually have any devices on hand for a quick swap.

I also just got a call back from sales and he seemed more helpful than the customer support I talked to last night who barely spoke English, he gave me some sort of drawn out process to keep my promotional item and get the $300 for my old phone, but if I understood him correctly, the new phone would take 3 weeks to get here and I'd have to send my trade in as soon as possible which leaves me without a phone. Waiting to hear back from him.

And here is the picture that is going to get me a lot of flack, but I don't care. It's the principle of paying a grand for a phone and having it come already damaged. If someone can't understand why I'm upset it doesn't really matter.

 

[jlczl]

You're going to think it's ridiculous. I admit it is tiny, but I have borderline OCD with my things and I feel that for $1000 it should be perfect. I can live with it if I was the one who did it, but getting it when I pay this much for a "premium" phone doesn't sit well. I'll grab a picture a little later.

Waiting on picture......................

Looking forward to it as well. Have a feeling it's microscopic. That being said, that does suck that you can't easily get it swapped. That's one of the downsides of not buying in store and looking it over before walking out the door.

 

[jlczl]

Just tried them as they're the closest to me, but they're a service center only, so they do repairs and such and don't actually have any devices on hand for a quick swap.

I also just got a call back from sales and he seemed more helpful than the customer support I talked to last night who barely spoke English, he gave me some sort of drawn out process to keep my promotional item and get the $300 for my old phone, but if I understood him correctly, the new phone would take 3 weeks to get here and I'd have to send my trade in as soon as possible which leaves me without a phone. Waiting to hear back from him.

And here is the picture that is going to get me a lot of flack, but I don't care. It's the principle of paying a grand for a phone and having it come already damaged. If someone can't understand why I'm upset it doesn't really matter.

https://i.imgur.com/TiDtIxz.jpg

Thanks for posting. That is exceptionally small but it does look like it would have to be from the factory as there is no chipping or anything else that would indicate a drop. Even though it is exceptionally small I probably would be upset about it as well after paying $1k. That being said, I'd probably not go thru the hassle of exchanging it.