Bad customer support, Samsung can and should do better.

[Reylob]

Samsung’s customer support is appalling. I have not had a single good experience with Samsung’s customer support. If all is good, then Samsung is good, but as soon as there is a need to contact them all hell breaks loose. I rather have pins on my eyeballs than contacting their customer support.

Calling them is an absolute disaster. Waiting times can be longer that one hour. Calls dropped after waiting. Agents answering the phone are following a script without listening what has been said or give accurate information.

The Chat has a quicker response time, if there are agents available. However, the level of support is not better than the phone. Agents simply do not read. They ask us to do, what we have already said that we’ve done. Copy and paste text void of any meaningful information.

A good example is the £30 Galaxy Store voucher promotion. Let’s be clear, there should have been no need to call customer support for this. It should have been a simple procedure. You pre-ordered the phone, here it is the code, simple. Especially on those phones ordered using the Samsung online shop or the Samsung store app.

We all know that several users had problems with this. There was a support page with 9 steps. If nothing worked up to the 8^th step, the 9^th was to contact support via the App.  After contacting them via the app, I got an email saying that I should contact Samsung support. Trying to phone them is a waste of time, and an impossibility if one is on full time employment.

The chat had no available agents at times and when I eventually got an agent. They recommended to do all the 9 steps which I have already done and informed them about it. The last reply was the claiming period was over, despite me trying to sort this multiple times within the right time window.

I know that £30 promotions might not be the most useful thing, but that it is not the point. The point is that Samsung customer service is really awful. They can and should do way better. It is not good producing an excellent device, if the customer experience is dreadful. It is like going to a restaurant, if the food is bad or the staff is rude or careless, the whole experience is ghastly.

Premium devices require premium services.

[Da6xn9]

I completely agree; it's a great phone, but the customer service is lacking.

[davehorne]

I find that using WhatsApp to contact Samsung works very well and very quickly.

After going through a bot, you have contact with customer support. 

Give WhatsApp a try. 

[MrJCharming]

There's a qr code on the box that takes you to a Web page with all the things you can claim

[Piper123]

@Reylob

Whilst I appreciate Samsung sell millions of items every year, and we only hear about those few who have issues, the fact remains that you are 100% correct.

I spent months quite literally fighting with Samsung over the truly awful modem in the S21 Ultra devices. Every time I got "we are looking into it and will send you an email". What is the point of that? Almost every time IF you got the email it generated more questions. They seem to be terrified to speak to customers.

I'm currently looking for a new television. I hear good things about Samsung but quality seems to be a recurring issue so I'm not even looking.

I'm happy with the S23 Ultra and the S24 Ultra but feel my next device may well be a One Plus as you get more for less £. (I'm sure one plus have their own issues).

Samsung have got away with poor service for far too long and the concept of paying a high price for a premium device and then being expected to pay a subscription fee each month on top WILL be the final straw for me and many others.

[Reylob]

The QR code was not on any of my boxes. The phone came in posting bag, with posting box with the phone box.

In any case, I have enough tech literacy to go around any technical hoops, but there is no way navigating their support with ease.

I just mentioned an example, I could have gone over list longer than my arm. I really like Samsung products, but their support is seriously lacking. If product is good, then the Samsung experience most likely will be good. However, customer support is needed when there is an issue or problem, not when all is good.

[Reylob]

Thanks for the suggestion. Funnily enough, it seems that we do not have WhatsApp as a contact method.

Samsung contact us

[Reylob]

We are in agreement. I really like Samsung phones, but I have considered moving away from it. I also like Sony's but dislike their 21/9 dimensions.

I hope my S24 Ultra holds strong, but I will be looking a future possibilities outside the Samsung ecosystem.

[GreaterGalaxyUK]

Man that is not good to read. I hope you have positive experiences in the future.

Personally, they have been great for me regarding my Watch5 being sent for repair and two S23+ orders I needed cancelling last year.

After S7, I had OnePlus and Pixel phones and ended up coming back to Samsung. If I was to leave Samsung, I would probably choose OnePlus or Xiaomi.

You can't leave us, we need your expertise by the way!

[davehorne]

Even though you don't have an option for WhatsApp (though I do here in the Netherlands), try searching Samsung in WhatsApp in your country and see if anything pops up.  

Just a thought. 

I've used WhatsApp twice in the last two weeks and after jumping through a few bots, I 'spoke' with a human.