Ohhh...
Persistence pays..
1. Bought a Phantom Black S21 Ultra 5G (512GB) with the clear view case (advertised by Samsung as 'protecting the phone) which came with a pen and got the Buds and that tracker thing as freebies because it was bought on the pre-order thing in Jan.
2. All above delivered at stupid o'clock in the morning on the 28th Jan.
3. Set the phone up on the same day and took it to work with me... proper chuffed and a happy teddy...
4. Phone worked as advertised (and always did).
5. 31st Jan.... Spotted scratches all down the righthand side of the screen caused by the cover... Not a happy bunny.
6. Rang the Samsung Shop, spoke to their agent for about 40 mins explaing situation and asking for advice, was told to return the phone for replacement and the agent arranged collection via DPD with a pick up on the 2nd Feb 2021... (I should point out that I did NOT know about the plastic screen saver fitted during production and the so called 'expert' agent made no mention either).
7. Phone was collected as arranged and went back with a promised 3 to 5 day turnaround for the replacement...
8. After a week I hadn't heard from Samsung so rang to find out what was happening... Only to be told it was out of stock and they were waiting for stock to come in. And that the 'system would automatically send one out when the stock came in...
9. I checked the shop page and hey, in stock.... Rang up... told out of stock... rinse and repeat for about two weeks, still no phone.
10. Shop now showing out of stock so signed up for stock alerts and over a number of weeks have received close to twenty of them.... Each time I got one I rang the Samsung Shop agents only to be told..... Yes, you guessed... Out of stock.
11. The matter went on until May (remember me saying patience)...
12. Mean time I've bought another Identical phone (new and still sealed in box c/w Sam galaxy phone3 and a pair buds) for a k.
13. Samsung shop agents now pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and the duty manger offers a refund but I have to send the freebies back to get it.... lol... Gave the buds to the daughter when I got them and she loves them... Convo went along the lines you can have them if your brave enough or was it stupid enough... either it was going to cause me pain lol... I got them.
14. After much negotiation the freebies went back with Samsung promising the full refund plus a voucher to use in the shop to replace the freebies...
15. Voucher came first (which didn't work lol.... seems they had changed the back system and the new one didn't recognise the code, it was replaced the next day with a working one) and the refund was on the card 3 days later...
16. So I would say... When dealing with Samsung Shop (UK) ... Be clear, be polite at all times, make sure every conversation is confirmed by email, be persistent and stick with it.
At no time did I have to resort to the email the ceo option, although I did end up dealing with the duty manager at few times and the voucher had to authorised by senior management due to the value.
This was written on the A21 Ultra 5G 512GB I got from the bay, a very good phone which I use for work etc. Lots of photos, emails and browsing. Plus linked to the watch. I have never needed to charge the phone or watch it during the day (both sit on the Samsung wireless charger at night) and I've never had overheating issue's with them either. Very happy with phone etc now.
Good luck...
Current Phone S23 Ultra (1TB)
