Complaint Review: Samsung - Ridgefieldpark New Jersey

I originally bought a Samsung Seek about several months back.  From the very beginning, after only a minute of use, the battery would heat up to the point it would literally burn your face.  I accidentally broke that phone.  I thought I had insurance on it but it appears when I told the associate at Radio Shack I wanted the insurance they didn't add it on.  I then bought a Samsung Galaxy Prevail.  After about maybe three months of having the phone I started to have issues with power.

It would show the battery was charged, however, when I would use it for not more than 30 seconds at a time it would show only 2% battery power.  Other times the phone would restart itself or just shut down on its own.  It got to the point to where I couldn't even power the device up.

Around November 28, 2011 I contacted Boost Mobile in regards to the matter.  The support rep did not even try to troubleshoot the problem.  He immediately told me I needed to contact Assurance, the company that Boost Mobile uses for insurance claims.  I contacted Assurance and was told that there was nothing they could do as the phone was not lost, damaged or stolen, it was only malfunctioning.

On the morning of December 16, 2011 I contacted Boost Mobile tech support again.  At this time I could not get the phone to power up and the battery was emitting an odor akin to nail polish remover.  I was given the contact information for Samsung support.  I contacted Samsung and after explaining the issues I was told not to plug in the phone as it may explode due to the odor being emitted from the battery.

I was emailed a prepaid UPS label.  I packaged the device, the battery, and charger.  It was mailed off on the morning of 12/16/2011.  I received an email stating that on 12/20/2011 at 12:35 P.M. (EST) my cell phone was received by Samsung.  On 12/22/11 at 11:09 A.M. (CDT) I received an email stating that my Samsung SPH-M820ZKABST was not under warranty.  In order for it to be repaired I would have to pay a total of $65.00 (Standard Repair Fee) and $5.36 (Tax).

I phoned their support in regards to the matter.  I was told that a speaker cover was missing.  They stated that because of this it meant that the phone must have been taken apart and therefore the warranty was voided.  I argued that I had not ever taken the phone apart.  I also argued that a missing speaker cover (whatever that is) has nothing to do with a defective and leaking battery.

I was put on hold for an executive representative.  After being on hold for over twenty minutes an executive representative came on the line.  I explained the situation.  She would not budge on the matter.  I asked her if it was possible that this speaker cover could have been missing in the manufacturing process.  She said it was not possible.  It seems to me that Samsung is the only company in existence to have a completely flawless manufacturing process.

I explained to her that I felt Samsung was trying to find a reason to not honor their warranty.  At first they kept talking about a scratch on the front of the phone.  As I stated to them that was cosmetic and was not affecting the phone.  That is when they started using the excuse of the speaker cover.

I warned the representative that if they did not repair the defective and dangerous product without cost to me then I would be filing a lawsuit against the Samsung corporation.  Also, since they were failing to address the issue of the defective battery I would be filing the matter with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  The lady seemed as if she could care less.

That night I logged in to the Samsung ticket system and clicked on Decline to decline payment as I was not paying for any repairs.  Within a minute or so I received an email stating that since I declined payment my phone would be sent back to me unrepaired.  On the morning of 12/23/11 I had another email stating my ticket status had changed.  It seems their system automatically set the ticket status back to asking for payment.  I logged in, declined, and received the same email about my phone being sent back to me unrepaired.  A few minutes later another email.  Once again requesting payment.

I called support and explained the situation.  This time I was on hold for about ten minutes for an executive representative.  I explained the situation to him.  He kept saying he understood but obviously he didn't.  What kind of company sells dangerously defective products and then tries to find reasons to void their own warranty?  The executive representative said he would cancel the ticket.  I gave him the final option of doing the right thing by repairing the defective product and reinstating the warranty.  He said he couldn't do it.

On 12/23/11 I filed a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in regards to the defective battery and Samsung's reluctance to repair the defective product without cost to me.  I am awaiting the report from the CPSC so that I can sign it and return to them in order to get this investigation underway.

On 12/28/11 I sent a 3-page letter almost exactly as I have posted here to the President of Boost Mobile, Matt Carter.  I suggested that Boost Mobile use less Samsung products as they are dangerously defective and Samsung does everything in their power to not honor the warranty on their products.  I also stated that it is possible for a prepaid provider to have Android phones other than those manufactured by Samsung.  Net10 has two Android phones manufactured by LG.  If I don't get the matter resolved with Samsung then I will be going to Net10.

Finally, I suggested to Mr. Matt Carter that Boost Mobile provide more service to assist their customers with defective Boost Mobile phones.  Currently, Boost Mobile customers are simply referred to the cell phone manufacturer and are left on their own to deal with the the manufacturers.  In this case I'm dealing with a nightmare with an unethical cell phone manufacturing company, Samsung.

I'd hate to leave Boost Mobile as I have not had any issues with their service (other than their terrible automated phone menu for support.. but then again I'm noticing most corporations are going towards dead-end phone menus).  I also enjoy the shrinkage where my monthly bill gets cheaper as I keep paying on time.  However, I will not stay with a company that does not support their customers.

I'm fortunate that I was able to suspend my Boost Mobile account and get an extension on the suspension.  I suspended it on 12/16/11 so that my time would not be used up while waiting on my phone to be repaired.

If things do not work out with the Consumer Product Safety Commission then I still do plan on suing Samsung in small claims court.  As I explained to their executive representative, it only costs me less than $100 to file a claim in small claims court against them.