Samsung Customer service awful.

[Sharkypal]

I reported my defective monitor on Monday of last week and was told I would have to wait 1 - 5 days. On Friday I called to ask what was happening and they told me that the supplier they had contacted to furnish me with a replacement didnt have any and so it had been held while they tried to find another one.

First of all, why not call me and tell me. Second of all, the only way to contact them is by 0870. No e-mail or anything and they refuse to call back even though I am sure businesses are obliged to do so if a callback is requested.

I called again this morning and yet again, the right hand doesnt know what the left is doing.

Result : Will not be buying Samsung again.

S

PS : Monitor was only 2 months old.

 

[Sharkypal]

agreed I also bought the samsung 930bf which blew 2hours after using it.

samsung tried to fob a refurbished monitor onto me!! from a brand new one ...
3 year warranty yah....thats how long it takes to get it fixed...
anyway ocuk sent me a replacement monitor.

Yep, they gave me some more BS yesterday and promised me a call back before 6 p.m. Guess what, no call back.

As I stated before, I will never buy Samsung again after this. Absolutely unacceptable.

S

**UPDATE** I will supposedly be getting a call back today b4 6. $$$ to donuts I dont get a call. I am logging all my calls to them and sending them a bill. Its unacceptable that the only means of contacting them is by an 0870 number, not even an E-mail address!

**UPDATE** I love their CSRs, they love to answer in very vague terms, for example :

Samsung CSR : So you can expect to receive a callback before 6 p.m today.
Myself : Ok thats great, so today before 6 p.m right?
Samsung CSR : Yes, most likely.
(Sound of record scratching in my head)
Myself : OK, but you said today.
Samsung CSR : Yes, most probably it will be.
Myself : Ok, "most probably" isn't very confidence inspiring.
Samsung CSR : Is there anything else I can help you with today?
Myself : No thanks you've been an unbelieveable help /sarcasm off
(me hangs up)

 

[Sharkypal]

Actually i know its a different product but getting my Portable Media Player repaired off them was a joke!

Lost warranty info, wrong repairs, repairs not completed.....

Great fun, all at the cost to the customer in which to send it back! ideal! especiailly when it was sent 3 times

Yes, they are unbelievably bad. I have dealt with many companies in terms of returning merchandise and this is by FAR the worst experience I have ever had. They're the type of company who keep telling you they are dealing with it, while never actually dealing with it.

If I don't get a callback by 17:45, I am going to call back and get a group leader or manager on the phone. I've had enough.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

I had a similar experience with Samsung when a CRT went wonky. They didn't have a replacement in stock but they didn't tell me this. Twice they led me to believe that I would have a replacement monitor by a particular date. Then when they eventually told me they didn't have any stock and they tried to escalate the problem up to someone who had the authority to deal with it, no one got in touch despite me being told many times that someone would definitely be phoning me.

It took months and months before they agreed to give me a 'better' (slightly) monitor instead since there was no prospect of them ever replacing it with the same model.

No one at samsung gave a crap about sorting out the problem. No one had the initiative to actually do anything about it. It didn't matter that I'd been waiting for months, they still wouldn't get off their backsides and do anything. They didn't offer me a temporary screen in the meantime either.

By the time I got my monitor I had long since given up on samsung and bought another from Viewsonic at a cost of £180. As it happens I wasn't as annoyed by the whole experience as you might expect, because the samsung monitor was terrible anyway (as indeed was the 'better' replacement) and the Viewsonic was far superior, so it was money well spent. My parents are using the Samsung now.

It's hard to imagine worse service though.

Every time I call I get that "they arent doing anything about this" feeling. Its totally ridiculous. I know I wont get a call back today. I also know that if I dont push them I wont get a replacement before October.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

try: **apparently you cant link to the website "say no to 0870" - so google it!!**

a quick search gave me this:

Samsung - 08702420303, try the geographical number - 01932 455000, also Customer services - 01952 297664

If the 0870 number you are using ISNT 08702420303, then try the site I linked to and see if there is another geographical number that they suggest.

It might save you a bit of money!

Cheers mate.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

More news : Apparently it is ** Policy ** that when they do a swap out, they replace the defective monitor with a refurbished one. One of their advisors just told me that. What a BS company!

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Internal policy makes absolutely not differnece to your rights as a consumer - either get your money back or INSIST on a brand new product with full warranty as that's what you paid for!

I told them today that I would not accept a refurbished unit and they told me that was their "policy". I do actually feel like asking for my money back, but as I understand it, they have 30 days to make good on a replacement. I'd rather have my cash back at this point.

S

PS : I also dont want to wait 20 years for them to cut me a cheque.

 

[Sharkypal]

I'm pretty sure they'd be on thin ice calling a re-furbished model a 'replacement' for the new one you bought! I'll have a dig about and see if I can find anything on this in the usual consumer locations - they're policy really is completely irrelevant - either it meets the legal requirements or it doesn't - trick is to know what that is!

Yah, Im in the dark on that. I will take a look on the web as well. Cheers for looking that up.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

So to the last option:

Section 48C: in order to insist on a return:



Basically you can't force them to do a refund unless repair/replace is impossible, or - the bit highlighted above - inconvenience/reasonable time.

That's the kicker - what constitutes a reasonable delay/inconvenience. Personally I would think for a system critical component like a monitor that renders your entire system unuseable (all that important work you can't do because their defective product is taking too long to replace... )

There are guidelines laid down on this and I'll see if I can find them - in the mean time, I'd write them a strongly worded snotogram explaining that you require a serviceable monitor to go about your business, they have taken an unreasonable time to repair/replace their defective product. A second hand monitor is not an acceptable replacement for the BRAND NEW one you got (that for the purposes of the law is deemed Defective from the time of arrival - you've never had a fit monitor!).

They have 3 choices

1. They replace your monitor with a NEW one within 7 working days.
2. They give you a full refund as you had less than 2 months use out of your monitor.
3. You'll see them in small claims court where you'll be claiming for the cost of the monitor and subsequent damages as a result of your machine being out of action .

Be polite but firm and ensure that you require them to reply within 5 working days. (You could always email and send a paper copy as well if you want to speed things up.)

I live by these words "Be nice, until its time to not be nice!"

Cheers for helping me out ... its been more than 7 days now and they told me they dont have a replacement so I am going to demand a refund tomorrow.

Cheers

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Hope it helps - I'll let you know if I find those guidelines - I remember them being disturbingly long (up to 2 months in some cases!)

To be fair to them, the girl I am dealing with now (at head office) is an Angel. She is trying hard to sort it out.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Check out this thread of which I was involved in. Samsung are a disgrace, but unfortunately I own a Samsung 930bf as was the best value gaming screen at the time. I hope for the love of god it never goes wrong.

Yep, seems to be the consensus across the board. I wont EVER buy Samdung again.

S

PS : I had a problem with a Hyundai monitor a year ago (a company I perceived to be far inferior to Samsung) to my surprise, they swapped out my defective monitor in 3 days with a better model. Lesson learned, big brands do not mean big service.

 

[Sharkypal]

This is exactly why I love the internet - doesn't matter how 'good' your name is - treat your customers like dirt and they'll tell all their friends - thanks for the service - I too will be adding them to my list

Yes, hopefully these idiots will realise that marketing and sales are not the only important aspects of running a successful business. You might have taken my money once Samdung, but you wont get it again. Repeat business is the foundation of good business.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Sharky - if its 2 months old, you should have returned it to the retailer. They have primary liability under the sale and supply of goods legislation. If they fob you off or aren't prepared to deal with it, then don't ever shop there again.

Well the retailer is OcUK, and they told me to deal with Samsung.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

As I said above - nothing a Retailer says can limit your rights under statute - It may be quicker and easier to deal direct with the manufacturer, the retailer may wish you to do this - but it's your choice. There really is nothing more of relevance. For my money, if the manufacturer were any good - I'd go straight to them as it's the quickest route to get a result - however, if they're going to bugger you about *cough* Samdung *cough* then your retailer will have a lot more clout with them than you do, so it's definitely worth going through the retailer (your threat never to shop with Samsung has considerably less weight than OcUK threatening to pull support!)

It's a bit late for you now unfortunately, and I hope your angel in head office sorts you out a nice free upgrade, but I'd still write a polite letter to OcUK documenting your ordeal and request that they contact Samsung on your behalf to complain - seeing as how they fobbed you off...

Yes, I will do that.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Just a little update for any of you who are planning to buy anything Samdung. 16 days later and I do not have a new monitor, they have done absolutely NOTHING with regards to sorting out the problem at all. Apparently there is no one in the office who can deal with it. The people who "could" deal with it are all in meetings!

I cannot stress enough that if you insist on buying anything Samdung, pray it doesn't break.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

16 days?! Chill out mate, mine took months (yes the plural of month) to sort out. What you expected it done within a week or two like most normal companies? This is Samsung - this is diabolical service.

Nah, I'm not going to "chill out". It's that attitude that lets them get away with stuff like this. I cannot believe how bad their support is. I've seen bad support before but this is beyond a joke. They told me 1-5 days over 2 weeks ago

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Well, if it's any consolation I won't be buying anything Samsung after reading this, that's for sure. I've had problems with bad customer service in the past and there's no way i'll be subjecting myself to a company like Samsung! Truly on my struck off list.

I was considering one of their massive TV's, not any more.

I am happy to have been instrumental in your decision. Now they are ignoring my E-mails and phone calls. They are truly the most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with. I am going to make it my personal mission to bring their "service" practices into the undisturbed light of day.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

There are lots of review sites on the net - well worth composing a little expo on your experience and doing a 'cut-and-paste' across as many of them as you can find. Might make you feel a bit better too. Have you considered serving them with notice and taking them to small claims court - could be fun! (Cheap and very effective!)

Today was the deadline I had set. I will be contacting my Lawyer at 4:30 if I have not heard from them. They are now ignoring me. They are so unprofessional. It is really hard to believe that this office I am dealing with represents a company as large as Samdung. It's infuriating and outrageous.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Brilliant - the nice thing about small claims court is once you've been you will always know how cheap/easy it is. I'm almost looking forward to having something to complain about . Keep us updated as you go along, should be a real education, always nice to see the consumer taking the 'man' to task!

Yah, well I have to. I have been lied to and ignored and that is something I will not tolerate.

S

 

[Sharkypal]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I'm after a bit of advice.

Basically I bought a monitor a few weeks ago, and it arrived with a dead pixel on the screen. I contacted the original retailer (it was an online order) but they decided that they wanted to charge me a restock fee to exchange the item.

Instead I decided to contact LG (the supplier of my monitor) and asked them if they would exchange the monitor under warranty - they quickly sent an email back which said the following;



OK - fair enough I thought.. so I rung them the next day, and organised an exchange on my monitor explaining the faults I had.. they agreed to swap the unit and deliver me one a few days later..

It arrived 2 days later.. only to turn up as the model down from the one I had before with a much slower responce time, not only that, it came with a major fault involving large gamma haze across the screen. I rung LG and asked for another replacement, to which they agreed.. this time they sent me out a 19" model of the 17" I originally had, without asking me. If i wanted a 19" I'd of paid for one, the fact is it is the same res as a 17" which is why i choose the one I did (I like small text) - again the monitor came faulty too!! this time with a large dark spot at the top of the screen.

I rung, kicked off and they said they no longer had any replacements for my monitor.. to which I kicked off at, and they rung me later on that day to tell me they had managed to find one and it was in PERFECT condition.. I was a little suss.. I asked if it was the one I had previously sent back, to which they replied "No" and then I continued to ask "does it have any dead pixels?" to which they replied "No"... low and behold.. I got it today.. AND IT'S MY ORIGINAL MONITOR with the SAME DEAD PIXEL and what's more, it's got a scratch on it now !!!

Now the question is; where do I stand as a consumer? They've now put me out of my exchange policy with the original retailer.. and are now saying they will no longer exchange my monitor. I find this quite literally unacceptable.. they've ran me around in circles and just gave me my original monitor back - I'd of just paid the restock fee if I'd of known

I feel your pain. These ******* are getting away with far too much. Im sure they would have tried to get rid of me with a refurb by now but I had told them when I first contacted them that a refurb would be refused at the door.

I will run Samsung's name into the ground if they don't fix my problem. I have a friend in the press who has already agreed to look into my case. I suggest anyone with similar problems with any of these companies that have lacklustre support and warranty take a very hard line so that we send a clear message that this sort of **** will not be tolerated.

S