Hello all.
I have never had to write to a forum like this before, but I am hoping to reach as many people as possible to make aware of my experience with Samsung Australia. About 6 months after purchasing my Samsung 5 Fold, one day I heard a electrical sound coming from the phone, when I opened it I noticed two symetrical 'pin sized' holes at the top corners of the inner screen with some kind of thin black material coming out of the hole, the pixels on at the site of the holes were dead and along the vertical axis of the right side hole. After closing the device, I heard a crunching sound where the whole inner screen along the fold line failed, killed the pixels, peeled up the screen protector (uncompromised along the fold line) and destroyed the touch capabilities of the screen.
Keep in mind, I purchased a case with built in front screen protector, and guard around the sides of the phone (the front screen remains undamaged and fully operational).
After sending it into the technicians employed at Samsung, they stated that it was not a manufacturing error, but user damage. Stating from the report: "Damages to hinge. Indentation marks on the hinge, Touch pad has cracks along folding line. Stab mark on touch pad at the top left corner and does not open flat." After asking them how the obvious "wear and tear" damage to a hinge (the hinge did not have any indentation from their own pictures supplied) and reported fault of symmetrical 'pin sized' holes reported on offical forums was 'user damage' (also how the screen protector along the folding hinge was not compromised), they did not have an answer for me and referred me to Samsung case management. They could also not explain how these 2 holes could cause the entire screen to fail (as reported on the forums).
Samsung case management was unreliable, I had to contact them two times to be contacted, when they did get in contact it was via phone call during the Christmas period when I was not available, attempts to get back in touch with my case manager was unsuccessful (even when I called back 10mins after a missed call), talking to other case managers did not resolve the issue - they told me they would get my case manager to contact back but they never did. After the last missed call they sent my device back unrepair without any other attempt to contact me through email or other means, just over text.
While discussing to the Case manager I did manage to get a hold of, I mentioned how Samsung's statment of "Your Rights Under the Australian Consumer Law" regarding the ACCC, that it: "Goods to be of acceptable quality, that is, fit for the purpose for which goods of the same kind are commonly supplied, acceptable in appearance and finish, safe and durable, based on what a consumer would reasonably expect given the nature, price and description of the goods. The goods should also be free from defects that were not obvious or drawn to the consumer's attention at the time of purchase"
I stated that it is reasonable to expect that the hinge should be durable to general wear and tear damage, and that it would be impossible to perfectly replicate the fault reported in the forums accidentally. They still claimed it was user damage.
I have reported this to the ACCC and posted this to Samsung Forms and JB HiFi forums in the hopes of raising awareness to this manufacturing fault, poor compliance to the ACCC and poor warranty practices.
I will keep you updated on any developments.
