“Value for money”, a sentiment
which resonates strongly with my beliefs, that when you buy some product or
service, it must be worth it. The recent events and my tussle with Samsung
India, has led me to believe otherwise. Whenever I set out to buy any
electronics, I always read not just the specification and the data sheet, but
the consumer manual, and the manufacturer’s terms & conditions as well.
Point of interest: The motherboard had blacked out at the area which was almost opposite to the camera key. Water could actually not even reach that part, as the damaged area was too constricted.
So what happened?
I or more precisely, my Father
bought a Samsung Primos S5610. It was barely 2 days, when the phone developed a
snag, due to which the screen blacked out. Since, the Samsung consumer policy-
dictates product replacement within a window of 4 days only, we went to the
service centre immediately.
Point
of interest: Most manufacturers offer replacement policy of 30 days, 15 days or
at the very least 7 days. But Samsung beats them all with its 4 day policy.
So, I return to the service centre,
and after waiting for half an hour, we get to the service engineer- the ultra
smartass dude who seemed to have invented the telephone. And then he drops the
bombshell, the phone can’t be serviced, as warranty is void. Why? Because, the
defect was apparently due to liquid damage.
Point
of interest: Samsung declares warranty void on its mobile phones if there’s any
water damage, which though a little harsh, is actually fair, considering people
actually flush their mobiles and then take it back to get it serviced. Urgh!
He then proceeds to show us where
the damage was done, pointing to a small corner of the phone motherboard where
it was blacked out. Not only this, he also points out that liquid had entered
through the small crevice where the camera key was situated. See a picture of
the mobile below:
Point of interest: The motherboard had blacked out at the area which was almost opposite to the camera key. Water could actually not even reach that part, as the damaged area was too constricted.
Nothing would convince the
jackass that it was a manufacturing defect. And so he proceeded to his next
scam, where he tells me that it would take 3000 INR to repair a mobile which
cost me 5000 in first place itself. Not only that, the repair will have no
warranty of any sort, and if the mobile undergoes any damage during the repair
itself, the service centre will have no liability.
I quietly collected my mobile,
after I had declined his offer and made up my mind to go to another service centre.
And I was in for a surprise; the world is full of bozos, who really are drunk
on stupidity. My little experiment had the same result again, and boy, they are
consistent! I do actually give them that credit.
Returning home totally exhausted,
I looked up the Samsung mobile website again, this time the “Contact Us”
web page. I find “Contact the CEO”,
though it was totally pointless and I had little hope of being heard, I anyway
wrote them an email detailing the events.
I got a return call from his
office next day itself, but there is no end to stupidity. These guys had
contacted the service centre, and tried to explain me that the warranty is
void. And all this, when I had actually complained not just about the mobile,
but the incompetency of the service engineer itself, but they conveniently skipped
that part.
Almost 10 emails, and an equal
number of telephone calls, and a dozen threats of lawsuits. The guy caved. But
he would still not replace my mobile, and only agreed to full repair and
warranty intact. And though this was a violation of their own terms, I compromised and settled, as I had had
enough of the phone calls.
I went to the service centre
again, the same jackass greets me and repairs the mobile. Yet, this time he
actually lets slip out, that Samsung’s 4
day replacement policy is a farce, and they never replace any mobile, unless it’s
beyond repair.