This is a real complaint and to make people aware about Samsung as well as hope that someone in a senior role becomes aware of what is going on (assuming that this is not what they want to occur), but as Samsung does not have a true complaints department, just an "online support" service whose job is to get rid of you, I feel I need to post here.
On a Trade-In deal offered recently for S23 Ultra (trade in value of your phone, $500 bonus and $250 e-voucher), I found that the Trade In App was faulting, and it took days for Samsung to fix it to give me a Trade In ID. I did everything (uninstall, install many times etc.)
- First it wouldn't allow me to enter an IMEI as requested
- Then when it would it told me that my phone has already been traded in
- Once they fixed this finally (it took several chats online, and a few phone calls to actually get someone who could figure this out) - I got a Trade ID and they charged my VISA card the value of the Trade In as holding money against my phone
Once I got that, then the online ordering system would not apply the offer in full. It would apply the Trade In value of my existing phone, the e-voucher but not the $500 bonus.
So a few more calls, a few more chats online, many, many more emails...it rolled past the end date of the promotion. Suddenly when I tried again to order (which I was told to do by Samsung support) - it would now give me the trade in value and the $500, but no e-voucher.
At this time now, it is past the date of the original promotion, Samsung are refusing to honour this. They are telling me it would not be fair for them to do this...even though everything that occurred was due to errors in their system - not mine! But they are not going to honour the previous promotion even though they took money from me which is a form of contract acceptance on their part!
I have during this period wrote to several different departments trying to work this out:
- Online support email - Asurion - Online Chat - Via phone
They are sticking to the "it is past the date of the promotion" - regardless that I had been trying for 4 days prior to the original promotion finishing to get access to the promotion and working with their various divisions they kept sending me to and bouncing me back between them all as pretty much the majority of so called support people from Samsung had no idea what to do. They just kept sending me from department to department. Even when I pointed out that the department they are asking me to go back to has told me to come to them, they would stand by this and insist I contact someone else.
So, they advertised a promotion in which (for me at least) they were happy to charge me for but not deliver as per the promotion. They are bouncing me between departments and keep no records of this or any of my encounters.
They are also not refunding the charge that they made on my VISA card. They are also claiming that they have not one record of any issues with the Trade In App or the online ordering during this period...WOW...seriously?
Right now, Samsung Australia is guilty of:
- Fraud - Misleading and Deceptive advertising - Theft
What an organisation...such an ethical company. They should be in insurance as they sure act like it...happy to take your money, but when it comes to being honourable, they will do anything to get out of it.
I will never purchase any Samsung product again...I do not care how good the product is...a product is only as good as the support, back up service and the ethics of that company. It is clear to me that Samsung have no ethics and are happy to flout laws and stand by their internal protocols even beyond sense rather than look after a client
You are not alone. I preordered the Samsung S23, phone arrived before the case, chased the case and still waiting for the case manager who was meant to call me a month ago now and nothing. Samaung just wanted me to spend an additional $100 on a case without telling me or when ill receive it. I've followed up with call and emails (I have all the paper trails) and apparently they submit the queries to the 'back office being management' who never makes contact with the front line support or the consumer...
Also Asurion trade in department are just as bad if not worse. I was charged a late return fee and apparently the device I sent in was not as described after 5 weeks of them assessing it (and I had to follow up what is the status was). Asurion luckily enough sent my phone back and of course kept my deposit. I have since assessed my phone, I sent them pictures that what they assessed was completely incorrect. Last correspondence I received its up to the discretion of the assessor to accept the phone. Seriously how can a perfectly working phone with no issues not pass the assessors judgement 😵 . It's all a scam
Yes, I agree I'm sure there must be hundreds if not thousands that never ever get those bonus cash back offers, I purchased a TV and Sound Bar last year that had upto $2000 cash back offer, my particular purchase had $500 cash back but as you can't actually make the claim until you actually have the products serial numbers (it took over 2 months, faulty product that had to be returned and many enquiries to why it's taking so long for them to be delivered) by the time I received them the promotion had finished and no way of getting it even though it was in fact part of the deal when I made the purchase, definitely not a good experience thanks Samsung, guarantee I'm not the only person that's lost out on that scam, Samsung should be investigated by the ACCC
