FYI: Samsung and Their Worthless Warranty

Loremonger · Mar 18, 2011

I just got off the phone with Samsung Support concerning the headset jack. It's shorting out and getting progressively worse. Playing media, it only comes through one channel unless you put pressure on the jack. And because it's not registering correctly, the phone gets confused and thinks it's still plugged in when I'm trying to make calls so it doesn't play sound through the ear piece, making it useless as a phone.

So I figured: warranty issue. Made the call, but a malfunctioning headset jack is considered "physical damage" and is not covered under the manufacturer warranty.

Just figured you might want to know: the warranty only covers manufacturer defects, but not physical defects. Rather it covers the emotional, spiritual, and otherwise ethereal defects of the phone.

robhs · Mar 18, 2011

Call them back and tell the the USB port is loose. I have read that they will cover that.

2manyPHONES · Mar 18, 2011

did you try ATT and see if they will swap out the phone? i think you have like 1yr with them to get a replacement (but it will be a refurb)

Loremonger · Mar 18, 2011

AT&T is my next stop. If they won't help me, I'll go to the Better Business Bureau to see if that will light a fire under someone. Ironically, if I file a complaint, it has to be against AT&T and not Samsung.

If they give me a refurb, I'm going to sell it on ebay and get an HTC Inspire (probably). I'm done with Samsung. They make some cool stuff, but they don't stand behind their products.

Snow_Fox · Mar 18, 2011

First, do people actually TELL samsung they are running custom roms?

How is samsung going to know your running a custom rom unless you A. send it in with the custom rom still install or B. tell them.

Second, Go to at&t there are actually stores that only handle warranty claims.

I got my completely bricked phone traded in no problem what so ever.

When my phone got fried it didn't even turn back on at all, I tried a jig, I tried every button combo, somehow my phone got fried and the battery got fried.

You really think they are going to spend that much time and energy trying to prove I somehow voided the warranty when the phone itself is in perfect physical condition.

Loremonger · Mar 18, 2011

It's not a matter of the custom ROMs. I will flash back to stock and do a master clear before I even talk to AT&T about it. It's that the headphone jack was not properly soldered into place from the factory and wore out in a matter of eight months, and that isn't covered under the warranty.

The Shape · Mar 18, 2011

Snow_Fox said:
I got my completely bricked phone traded in no problem what so ever.

Every store and/or sales rep seem to make up their own rules. I've had some employees be really cool and others are complete jerks that show no interest in making sure you're a satisfied customer.

jpovis · Mar 18, 2011

Go to AT&T, call AT&T, or go to a AT&T service center, I wouldn't bother with Samsung. I have always had good luck dealing with AT&T as far as replacing equipment.

Snow_Fox · Mar 19, 2011

Loremonger said:
Just figured you might want to know: the warranty only covers manufacturer defects, but not physical defects. Rather it covers the emotional, spiritual, and otherwise ethereal defects of the phone, none of which apply to me since I've been running custom ROMs since they hit the forums.

Loremonger said:
It's not a matter of the custom ROMs. I will flash back to stock and do a master clear before I even talk to AT&T about it. It's that the headphone jack was not properly soldered into place from the factory and wore out in a matter of eight months, and that isn't covered under the warranty.

I think there is some misunderstanding why even mention custom roms and them voiding your warranty if they don't matter at all?

If it is poor soldering at fault, I would argue that IS a manufacturer defect but, I would go through at&t before samsung every single time.

Samsung has already made their money when at&t sold the phone, at&t has to recover the cost of the phone so at&t has more incentive to try and fix your issue.

The Shape said:
Every store and/or sales rep seem to make up their own rules. I've had some employees be really cool and others are complete jerks that show no interest in making sure you're a satisfied customer.

While this is true, and I personally hate customers with an over bloated sense of entitlement, if you know how to handle situations its very easy to get things done without ruffling too many feathers.

First, some stores do handle only warranty claims, and I assure you, if you have one around that does it, that is the place to go. flash to odin, go in walk out be done.

If you don't, then dial 611 and just straight up say you need to replace a defective phone.

I am speaking as someone who sold at&t phones for over a year, and never had any problems with at&t.

(I also sold tmobile and sprint at the same time, so I am not just trying to promote at&t here..I have nothing to gain by pushing them over anyone else)

gcobb · Mar 21, 2011

Loremonger said:
I just got off the phone with Samsung Support concerning the headset jack. It's shorting out and getting progressively worse. Playing media, it only comes through one channel unless you put pressure on the jack. And because it's not registering correctly, the phone gets confused and thinks it's still plugged in when I'm trying to make calls so it doesn't play sound through the ear piece, making it useless as a phone.

So I figured: warranty issue. Made the call, but a malfunctioning headset jack is considered "physical damage" and is not covered under the manufacturer warranty.

Just figured you might want to know: the warranty only covers manufacturer defects, but not physical defects. Rather it covers the emotional, spiritual, and otherwise ethereal defects of the phone.

I don't see anything wrong with their logic. If you trip over the power cord to your laptop and it breaks the power connector on the sys bd are you going to complain that they won't warranty that?

Come up with another reason for warranty or use Bluetooth.

Loremonger · Mar 21, 2011

gcobb said:
I don't see anything wrong with their logic. If you trip over the power cord to your laptop and it breaks the power connector on the sys bd are you going to complain that they won't warranty that?

Come up with another reason for warranty or use Bluetooth.

That's just the thing: it's failing from 8 months of normal use. I didn't drop it or trip it off the table or anything. It just wore out. And it's an easy fix. Unbelievably easy. It would cost Samsung a pittance to stand behind their product in this case, but instead they are losing a customer for life and creating a negative reviewier both online and to everyone who ever asks me, "What kind of phone should I buy?" Which a surprising amount of people do.

dingo99 · Mar 22, 2011

Probably a blessing in disguise that you can't go through Samsung warranty. I sent my Captivate in last week for the well-known standby power-off issue. My production date and IMEI are well within the affected range, and the person on the phone seemed familiar with the issue.

Once Samsung had the phone, however, they didn't do anything at all. The notes on my ticket:
*03/22/2011 //11:30:49 //RSI_SHIP2 // *03/21/2011 //14:46:20 //RSI_TECH17 // PASSED FINAL QC *03/18/2011 //12:59:59 //RSI_TECH14 // *03/18/2011 //12:59:08 //RSI_TECH14 // 

So, all I get for my week without my phone is 50 seconds of TECH14 glancing at the phone, and TECH17 slapping a "passed" sticker on it. :mad:

Looks like I'll be heading to the AT&T Device Support Center to get a refurb once I get my phone back. Samsung is a joke.

gcobb · Mar 24, 2011

I didn't have that problem. I spent probably a total of 10 minutes on the phone with them. I received a replacement in 2 days and the IMEI number was in the effected range. But I don't have the problems everyone else whines about. They're no joke to me since they honored my warranty.

dingo99 · Mar 24, 2011

gcobb said:
They're no joke to me since they honored my warranty.

Clearly then, Samsung warranty repair is a YMMV situation. Maybe I was just unlucky, and my phone happened to be handled by two clueless technicians there.

I sent the phone in for two issues: random power-off and a scratchy-sounding earpiece speaker. As mentioned above, Samsung did nothing but return the phone, saying it "passed all functional tests." When I got the phone back today, I easily verified that its problems were still present.

I immediately took the phone to an AT&T support center (as I should have in the first place). The technician there agreed that my earpiece sounded bad and replaced the phone with a refurb. Quick, easy, and he also ordered a free battery for me just in case the power-offs were battery-related.

Time will tell if the refurb has the power-off issue (it took months to develop on my first phone), but AT&T has, without hassle, given me a phone with a good speaker, working GPS(!), and soon a spare battery.

So, to me, Samsung is a joke because they did nothing but waste my time.

Sarius24 · Mar 24, 2011

For these types of phones you should definitley get a protection plan for your phone not many people realize this but it's highly recommended so when the phone breaks you can easily swap it for another or get an upgrade...like to SII

Loremonger · Mar 25, 2011

Sarius24 said:
For these types of phones you should definitley get a protection plan for your phone not many people realize this but it's highly recommended so when the phone breaks you can easily swap it for another or get an upgrade...like to SII

I do have equipment replacement coverage on my phone, but I didn't really feel like shelling out the $100 deductible to correct what was clearly a manufacturer defect.

And can you really use that to upgrade? I was not aware that was an option.

Sarius24 · Mar 25, 2011

Not really, see at my store here in Quebec the representative told me that he litterally just broke his phone and he got an upgrade to the Samsung galaxy S. I don't know what it is but Rogers gives a nice coverage plan. Litterally if my Samsung Galaxy s captivate breaks or whatever they'll give me a new one or just upgrade it to a next model (SGSII).

Now I'm probably not gonna try to smash the phone or anything but yea.

Buddha64 · Mar 29, 2011

dingo99 said:
Maybe I was just unlucky, and my phone happened to be handled by two clueless technicians there.

dingo99 said:
So, to me, Samsung is a joke because they did nothing but waste my time.

I had hopes, but no expectations, of a successful repair. Good thing too because mine came back just as it left... non-functional GPS.

Their report said they found (and repaired) a problem but given its cryptic nature (Problem Found AUTO POWER OFF W/BATT/TEST CAB WARRANTY, REPLACE PART Solution Replaced Component ), who knows what they actually did.

All I DO know is I can't get a lock any better than I could before sending them the phone.

Since I got AT&T to reimburse the price I paid for this, and change from the 2 yr contract to month-by-month (thank you BBB), I can go search for a better phone. Alas, I really like the Captivate (sans GPS issue).

kaepos · Mar 29, 2011

Buddha64 said:
Their report said they found (and repaired) a problem but given its cryptic nature (Problem Found AUTO POWER OFF W/BATT/TEST CAB WARRANTY, REPLACE PART Solution Replaced Component ), who knows what they actually did.

Chances are they didn't repair anything but simply reflowed the component. If they did replace it, I'd be willing to bet that it was replaced by hand and not by a machine (lots of room for error).

Since I've worked as a tech troubleshooting and repairing phones, I can tell you that workmanship leaves some room to be desired quite often. That's generally not the tech's fault, but the bureaucrat who lords over him and gives him an unfair quota of repairs he/she must meet everyday.

Did they give you the results from a RF/GPS/calibration test? If not, I'd press them on it. Every phone I worked on was required to pass said test to get it out the door. If it didn't, it came back to me to fix.

Buddha64 · Mar 29, 2011

kaepos said:
Did they give you the results from a RF/GPS/calibration test?

No.

kaepos said:
If not, I'd press them on it.

I wouldn't know who to press.

kaepos said:
Every phone I worked on was required to pass said test to get it out the door.

Oh, their (cryptic) report does say it passed final QC and that the GPS worked - but that was most likely with their ATE. How about going outside and trying to get a real lock under less than perfect conditions.

Mucsie · Apr 20, 2012

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy SII in Canada.
The phone was defaulted to Poland.

When asked for Tech. Support, Samsung Canada's Rep. represented that Samsung devices will only carry warranty in the country for which they are destined, at Samsung's discretion!

The individual who made the representation agreed to be quoted as a Samsung official!

Implication: Any device bought in one country, or another can and will be rejected for warranty at Samsung's sole discretion!

Advice (the writer of this post):
STOP BUYING SAMSUNG PRODUCTS!

thaseus · Apr 20, 2012

Thats pretty damn standard actually... Unless the manufacturer has an international warranty, its almost always like that.

FYI: Samsung and Their Worthless Warranty

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