The Real Samsung Experience - BE AWARE OF WHAT YOU'RE BUYING INTO

[lostojic]

I'm making this post out of pure frustration and desperation. This is the nightmare that Samsung and their customer service are putting me through.

In July 2017 I purchased a Samsung Galaxy 8+, at the time what I thought to be a great phone to switch to Samsung with. Little did I know this would become one of the worst mistakes I've ever made.

Last week, less than a year after I bought the phone, the charging port became completely fried. I usually plug in my phone to charge when I go to sleep and leave it on my bed close to my head. It was just a regular night and I did the same as usual, expect a few minutes after plugging in the phone I smelt a horrible burning, acrid smell. I went to check the phone and unplug it at first, however when I pulled the charging cord from the phone it was so intensely hot it hurt to touch and I dropped the phone off my bed, cracking the screen. I thought the problem was with the charging cord or type of charger, but I tried multiple different cables and chargers (including the ones from the box) and the results were always the same - after a few minutes the port would become searing hot and release a burning smell. Since this happened in the middle of the week (during which I'm working full-time) the phone was unusable as it couldn't charge until I went in to the Samsung Experience store on the weekend, 3 days later. Now you're probably thinking "Oh no problem, they'll just replace the phone, right?". You couldn't be more wrong.

I went to the store on Saturday. At first they informed me that since the screen was cracked (even though I mentioned it occurred after the defect, in fact was indirectly caused by it) I would have to go through Mobile Care, which I purchased for $200 CAD a year ago with the phone. This process would take about 5-7 business days and would cost me $130 as a service. They want me to pay $130 to fix their own defect?

After informing me of this they say I'll have to use a loaner phone and transfer the data from my S8+ to it, while my main phone goes through their system. They say they're out of S8+ loaners and give me an S5, which only has 16GB storage compared to my S8+ 64GB, which was almost full. So now they make me purchase a 64GB micro SD card for about $100 CAD, if I want to save the information on my phone, which included about a years worth of photos, messages, and all the contacts from my previous phones. (CONTINUED IN COMMENTS)

[Shaggyskunk1BLM]

Were you always using the OEM USB cable & charging block?
I don't know if I'd say that they "made" you buy a 64 Gig sd card - You could have waited to transfer the data yourself to your computer etc.
Haven't heard or seen any else having issues with charging any S8+... I certainly haven't.
Anyway - Good luck
And yeah about the title "real Samsung experience".. That's your experience - I've had Samsung devices since the Skyrocket & only ever had one issue - Note 4 after a few years emmc failed.

[lostojic]

I would've done that beforehand but the port can't charge or connect. It was essentially bricked when the battery ran out. This seems to be an issue with the S8 as I see a lot of posts like:

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/Smartphones-Tablets-Wearables/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-wont-charge-and-charging-port-heating-up-and/td-p/426943
https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/826843-my-galaxy-s8-wont-charge-burning-smell.html
https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/Smartphones-Tablets-Wearables/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-Plus-charging-port-heating-up-and-burning/td-p/403285

[RichMan1]

so only 3 problems among 'million' units sold. There will be some unfortunate people and cases, for a phone that's sold over millions.

[lostojic]

It's unfortunate for sure, but there's many more posts regarding the same topic and I'm sure those only represent a minority of the actual amount of cases.

[Echo1]

The problem is that you say that you cracked the screen after the fact that you had the charging issue which in your words was a direct result of the over heating/smelling issue... please don't take this the wrong way but it's only your word that it happened as you say...
I think it's a hard sell and that you'll end paying for the screen to be repaired.
For me the main issue is the charging.... Did you plug the phone in while you were in the service center so you could show the Samsung service member 1st hand the charging over heating and the smell as that maybe would go along way to prove your argument..
Goid luck but I don't hold much hope for you.

[lostojic]

Yes the Samsung service member at the Experience Store plugged it in and confirmed that the port doesn't function and emits a burning smell after being plugged in. I understand your point about the cracked screen but it doesn't change the fact that the charging port is completely nonfunctional and the phone is unable to charge or connect by USB.

[lostojic]

CONTINUED:

I noticed the post was cut off due to length so I figured I'd post the rest of it here.

The SD Card malfunctioned in the S5 and maxed out the memory, rendering the phone almost useless. The majority of my data from the SD card didn't transfer and most of my photos that did don't show up in the gallery so I'm in unsure as to whether or not the data is even properly saved.

After this I phoned customer service to open a request, only to be informed that my Mobile Care Warranty was canceled. Apparently the plan was canceled a whole 2 days after I purchased the phone, which they attributed to a computer glitch. I had to phone 3 times and go back and forth for hours to confirm various information that was incorrectly inputted. They said how they'd have to conduct an internal investigation to see what went wrong, that could take 2-3 business days. Now I was faced with ~10 business days before receiving a fixed phone or replacement, about 2 weeks in total time. During this 2 weeks I would be forced to use the S5 loaner which has no usable memory left and a highly deteriorated battery.

In conclusion I have spent $1,500 CAD on a Galaxy S8+, with $200 Mobile Care on top of that, and now ~$250 in the past few days dealing with this. I am forced to jump through dozens of hoops to open a simple service request and get a functioning phone. Over the past year I have spent thousands on a variety of Samsung products and gear and am currently regretting every cent.

[Samesung]

Device protection through carrier would've solved your financial woes. Only had the same issue you had and it was because I used a crap cable I had to buy in an emergency charging situation since I forgot my back up battery for my Note 4.

[RichMan1]

Though I have a lot of questions about your case, I'm not going to ask them. It's just pure plain bad luck, I have seen people who spend over $1500 dollars on a Samsung phone and can't use it even for a month. I have also seen people buying a Samsung phone and use it over 5 years without any problem. Depends on luck.