Samsung trade in scam

[Flo Salceanu]

I read about this and I didn't believe it. Now it happened to me, so I will give you my honest review.
I traded my Samsung S9 phone for 40 dollars. Removed it from the Beetle case it has been from day one, charged it, factory defaulted the phone, made sure it was wrapped nicely and added the case to the box I sent. Received a message that "upon inspection, have adjusted your Trade-in Value to $16.00".
Shame on you Samsung ! For the 24 dollars difference that you want, you lost me as a future customer for good.
I bought a 512 GB Samsung Ultra, the top watch, own a Samsung TV and a vacuum among many other devices. This was the last time I have purchased anything that has Samsung name on it, for the 24 dollars that you stealing from my pocket. I will not waste my time to refuse it but will take the time to distribute on social media, and tell everyone I know that Samsung is not what I knew it used to be. Shame on you Samsung ! The phone I traded and you took pictures of it, was in like new condition. Florentin Salceanu.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Flo Salceanu 

Welcome to the Eu Samsung Community Forum.

I appreciate your in the States who have their own Samsung Community Forum which you might also consider posting in. 

If Samsung assess a phone and find it not to fully meet the criteria of the Trade In Promotion , and thus not agree with your own tick box assessment of your phone they ask you to tell Samsung the condition of the phone they send details and usually a photo of the issue they have found after assessing the phone to the customer.

What have Samsung advised in regards to this ?

Now your region may be different but In the UK a person has then the option to pay the fee asked to complete Trade In, or can ask for the phone back { and then can sell the phone privately which can have the opportunity to have a better return }  and pay the trade in discount reduction back, or send the new phone back if within the criteia of a cooling off period time frame.

Unfortunately if a person ignores the request for payment then Samsung would imei Block the phone until a resolution has been found.

I'm sorry this has left a bitter taste in your mouth and has caused you to lose faith in the company. I assume your quite happy with the products.

Sometimes a person does not see issues such as a pixel problems etc.

It's not always a cracked screen or housing etc that causes issues.

Sometimes issues happen while in-transit which is why in the UK I always choose to pay extra to add adequate insurance.

If I can be of any further help then please don't hesitate. Take care.  😎 

[Handymanphill · Accepted solution]

I'm afraid to say everyone who offers a "Trade In" service is doing this. I recently traded in a phone through another well known phone operator. There were no marks or defaults on it at all, it waswas perfect. A few days later I got a message to say they are reducing the value because of additional faults. I couldn't be bothered to argue, meaning I'd have to return the new phone. Instead I will no longer use that service with not just them , but future other companies. They are all a scam

[S23Ultra1TB]

The only way to win at the trade-in game is to trade in any p.o.s sitting in the bottom of your drawer and select the "Other / Any Device" - "Any condition" option - not sure what it is exactly, but it's along those lines. It's not available on every phone though, but it's defo there for the S23

On an S23, it still pays out £100. As long as it turns on, its fine I think. I sent in some ***** worth no more than £25 and got £150 for it when the S23U launched back in Feb.

I can send in an S4 now - going for £25 online, and get £100 for it. As long as I select the 'Other phone / any condition' option, they can't really say anything..

[voltyvic]

The even more outrageous thing is that if you take out Samsung insurance they won't necessarily repair things that will impact on the trade in value. Got cosmetic damage or minor pixel problems that Samsung trade in says makes your tech worth less? Well Samsung insurance won’t fix it because it's not a big problem!

[abperiasamy]

It is a scam. I sent my gear s3 frontier watch in excellent condition and it was rejected as cracked. They pictures they sent back do not show any cracks. Samsung trade-in program is fraudulent. I am going back to Google Pixel product line for my future needs grudgingly. No more Samsung products.

[Members_LpsBYKB]

No Samsung trade in is a fraudulent scam - sent my phone off was perfect. Received a note saying there was screen burn and the price was reduced by £75, id used the phone daily watched a lot of content and would have instantly noticed it. Told them no thanks and to send the phone back - they refused until i paid the £210 difference which i did.

Got the phone back - its not mine!!! Scratch on back panel and screen burn so bad you can tell instantly. Was told the IMEI number is mine but the MAC address for BT and WiFi confirms its aint my phone.

Trying to figure out how to actually do something about this as not confident ill get a response from Samsung

[Flo Salceanu]

Unfortunately they do this and get away with it - that's why I complained here, and we see numerous folks having the same issue but nothing changes. It works for Samsung and the only solution is to sue but to do that, you need preparation and to work with authorities before sending the phone. I am sorry for your experience, the only good thing from here is that we learn and never do it again - tell as many people. Samsung will not care about a few yappers, they are big and people in the world buy their products no matter what, they don't know what these folks do to make money. I understand that all the big companies do the same, so it is not only Samsung but also Apple and such. It is dishonest and they truly don't care as they make money. That's all that matters to them. Have a better rest of the year my friend, think positive and look after yourself - Samsung leadership should be ashamed of themselves, they probably don't care but I believe karma will get back to them. Cheers !

[dave142]

Samsung trade in is a bait and switch fraud scam, based on my sample of 2023 and 2024 one year old pristine phones double boxed.  This year the Samsung rep claimed their video of opening my box showed the phone uncracked but the photo showed it was cracked, and he could not explain the discrepancy.  

If Samsung scams 5 million at $200 each, they stole $1,000,000,000 ... or multiples more!

I hope a class action law firm notices this and sues Samsung and attorney generals sue for this bait and switch fraud scam.

[r121]

same experience here in Australia. Feeling very ripped off, has severely damaged my views of Samsung.