My Galaxy Buds claim was validated on March 10th, but I have still not received them. Here's my story getting to the bottom of why that's the case.
On April 10th, I emailed asking for an update as I had received no emails regarding the delivery. An hour later, Samsung replied saying:
'I can confirm that your order has now been dispatched with the tracking number XXXXXXXXXXX. You can track your order via the link provided [DX tracking site]'
But this tracking number didn't work when I entered it into DX's website. After I told Samsung this, they replied (April 11th):
'Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The tracking number should most certainly be live on DX's system by now, but I can see also that it isn't being recognised for some reason. We are raising this with our Fulfillment team right now. Please allow us a short while to investigate and come back to you with a proper response.'
On April 13th - I received the generic email I have seen others post on these message boards:
'We are contacting you regarding your recent claim on our Samsung S10 Pre-Order Galaxy Buds promotion.
Due to the popularity of this promotion, some customers may experience a slight delay in receiving their Samsung Galaxy Buds. We would like to sincerely apologise for the possible delay. Please rest assured that we are working as fast as we can to send out your reward. Whilst we hope to avoid any delay with your shipment, we are aiming for your Galaxy Buds to be shipped out to you within the next 10 days at the very latest.'
On April 16th, I received this email:
'Please be assured, we are currently investigating this matter for you with the fulfillment team and also the courier company, we must advise however that sadly, we are unable to provide further information in regards to the delivery of your free promotional gift until a response has been received from the courier and fulfillment team as the required information is not something which we have access to and as such, we do rely on their response to update yourself correctly as to the delivery of the free promotional gift.
Whilst we do appreciate the free promotional gift has not arrived with yourself within the time frame advised within the terms and conditions of the promotional period, this is something which is out of our control and which we are investigating as a matter of priority with the companies concerned. Further to this, we can confirm, the tracking information which was provided to yourself on 10.04.2019 was correct at that time and as such, we felt confident in providing this to you. The fact that something has regrettably gone awry with regards to the shipment of the free promotional gift after this point is exactly why we are investigating this matter.
We must also advise that, unfortunately, as this is free promotional gift and not a paid for product, no compensation will be provided due to the delay in receipt of the free promotional gift and we do apologise for any further inconvenience which this may cause.'
On April 18th, in response to me pointing out Samsung have plenty of Galaxy Buds lying around that they could deliver instead of my pair which 'disappeared':
'Whilst we do appreciate the online store and other retailers do have stock of the Earbuds, the free promotional gifts are allocated separately. We can confirm we do have stock of the free promotional gift for this promotion but in this instance the gift seems to have disappeared upon arrival with the courier, this is why the tracking was supplied but would not work. DX were provided with the free promotional gift but it was then not scanned upon arrival at their depot following collection from the fulfillment team. This is why we must investigate this matter with the courier prior to dispatching a replacement gift to yourself. Whilst we do fully understand this is not your fault and you should not be penalised for this, we must follow the protocol and procedures and await the investigation result from DX which would then allow us to proceed accordingly. Please be assured, your free promotional gift will be received by yourself but we must receive the investigation result from DX before we are able to proceed. We can guarantee this matter is looked in to by ourselves with the courier as a matter of priority.'
Samsung have clearly broken the Terms and Conditions of the promotional offer. Without the promise of the delivery of the Galaxy Buds within 30 days of validation, I would not have pre-ordered the Galaxy S10 at a cost of £799.
It is now 6 weeks since my claim was validated, and despite Samsung clearly stating to me that they have stock of the Galaxy Buds, including those specifically allocated for this promotion, they are refusing to deliver a pair to me.
I am frankly disgusted by the complete disrespect I - a loyal Samsung customer of a decade - have been shown through this debacle.
In fact, this has all the hallmarks of a scam.
If others have had a similar experience, and/or have yet to receive their Galaxy Buds after 30 days of validation, please reply to this post to show your displeasure at how Samsung advertised and implemented this preorder promotion.
