My experience with Samsung and the og Odyssey 27 ( as short as possible )
I bought the monitor in Jan 21 (2 yr. warranty) directly from the Samsung store on Amazon (£546) It was to be the beautiful centrepiece of my dream pc setup which I didn't yet have, I had a Ps4 Pro and got the monitor first, Best I could afford with the intention of it being somewhat futureproof whilst I saved up for the pc,At first I loved it, it was perfect, As the Ps4 doesn't have vrr/gsync it was only ever in fixed refresh. After a year or more I finally managed to save up and put together a weak gaming pc, ryzen 5 3600 - Rtx 2060 , I was so excited to finally try gsync for the first time ever, But I was greeted with awful fixed refresh tearing or horrible gsync flickering.!, I tried to live with it but it was causing migraines to which I am prone to anyway.
I had absolute no idea that vrr flicker was even a thing at the time, Certainly didn't say anything about it in the Amazon description , so at the time I thought well maybe the Rtx 2060 wasn't good enough or even maybe faulty , I saved up more and bought an rtx 3060 (best I could afford) , Yet still with the flickering ( this was long before the firmware update VRR Control was a thing , which only causes micro stutter anyway )
I took to the internet and found a staggering amount of threads about the monitor and its issues , scanlines etc which I had , but didn't even notice.! ,However some folks were saying their unit was fine with no issues, So with only 2 or three months left on the warranty I decided to ask for the monitor to be checked / rma'd , hoping that I might get it back with no issues or with less flickering at least , they arranged to pick it up (1st time) without question and two weeks later it came back. Still flickering as much , but now with extra faults ! , dirt inside the screen and an issue with the joystick toggle , when using it a red and green square would appear on the display then go black , needing to be power cycled to get back to the game/desktop.
I sent it straight back again (2nd time) and two weeks later it was returned , still flickering + dirt + joystick issue , but now with some sort of electrical problem where the rgb lights where on , even though off in the menu , turn them on and off again and restart the pc , and there on again , also a bigger issue where in games turning quickly , i.e. call of duty or battlefield 2042 would cause a horrible stutter/slowdown , frame spike/skip ,with gsync on or fixed refresh .
I asked for it to be returned again , but this time , all of a sudden proof of purchase was an issue , it was now just out of warranty of course .. after some emails they accepted it (3rd time) and two weeks later it came back with the exact same issues , as if it had never even been touched.
So again , this time I asked for a direct replacement (didn't even suggest new) , after checking the consumer rights act 2015 I was apparently entitled to do after two returns , but this was denied and I was given a qoute for £90 plus parts !, i sent a complaint letter 14 days response time before seeking a small claims court case and they eventually agreed to look at it again , picked it up (4th time) and returned two weeks later ,Flickering ,stuttering,dirt inside,joystick issue.
I then emailed the ceo team who assured me that the matter would be sorted with his keen oversight and there wouldnt be anymore problems , so it was picked up again (5th time) , i recieved the repair center test form email saying it had passed all test and was perfect , two weeks later it came back , Flickering,Stuttering,dirt,joystick,electrical problem , but now the rgb lights didnt work at all.! , i contacted the ceo team again and was told as far as they were concerned its fixed , its perfect and tough luck.
so i sent the ceo team a 14 day letter before court and that was ignored , then i paid £70 for the court fees and case to begin , i was then contacted by solicitors who asked if i would return the monitor for inspection and i stupidly agreed ( i should have had it indepenantly tested first) , it was picked up (6th time) , i was then contacted again by the solicitors weeks later who said the monitor is perfect and i dont have proof of purchase anyways so see you in court . ! ,
I'm a law abiding citizen and the thought of actually going to court is terrifying to me and i never expected/wanted it to come to that, and as i dont have money to pay for expensive London solicitors should i lose the case i had no choice but to withdraw after advice from my doctor , as all of this was having a massive impact on my mental health and panic disorder,So the monitor was eventually returned to me, Still flickering/stuttering , still joystick issue , still dirt inside ( diffrent place ) still electrical issue, but magically now with working rgb lights , off in menu but working at least.
I'm stuck with it now because i cant sell it , i wouldnt want to pass my problems on to somebody else unsuspecting, besides, ten minutes after they play a game they'd be round for thier cash back anyway.
This whole nightmare has left me feeling mentally exhausted and bitterly disapointed , it has sucked every last tiny bit of pc gaming enjoyment out of my life to where i dont even bother turning it on at all save for e-mails , i live alone and have a triple fractured spine and spend 95% of my life in bed with only a television and a computer for my sanity , hopefully i will soon be able to save up again for a diffrent monitor , its fine i like baked beans on toast anyway.
First world problems i suppose , other have worse problems of course , but when its all you have = its all you have.
Ps , Of course i dont expect anything from samsung now, even a reply for that matter , But i would like at least some people to read this and be aware of the timeline of events , even if its only maybe a feedback example for your next customer relations meeting, or something for the MD/CEO to read and have a chuckle at whilst waiting for his champagne to be served on his yatch in the med.
Thanks for reading.
Alan
