What happened…
I broke my phone’s screen accidentally and ended up having one of the worst nightmarish service claims ever!
About my phone
The phone I owned was an S23 Ultra 1tb online exclusive model. My phone was stolen from Köln, Germany. I had Assurant insurance for my device, and I was covered for the loss with a small fee for the device on paper. I was sent another device, as a replacement for the original one that was initially purchased.
The problem
CTDI, the repair partner for Samsung refused to repair my phone. The reason cited for not repairing my phone was that I did not have the correct bill for the device. This was incredibly frustrating because the device issued was a replacement one and the issuing company Assurant did not generate a bill for it. When asked, the insurance partner for the bill, they refused and replied that I had not paid any vat on it so no bill for that device. I mean I was not throwing a fit about what I would like to pay and what not, if they had asked me to pay it I would have but there was no such request from the insurance company.
Fragmentation
Another reason that the entire process was so frustrating because there are three companies. And they asked me as a customer to go around the triangle between these companies and request for the relevant documents between the three companies which are
- Assurant
- Samsung (retail)
- CTDI (Repair partner)
One of the wildest customer journeys ever!
These companies do not share data internally of the customer, which is great, but the problem is, they have a bad service system that is not aware and is very premature in service at least in Germany. The way I was treated was like –
- Samsung re-directed me to Assurant
- Assurant said, “no we can’t help you”. They told me to contact CTDI and show the original bill thinking CTDI will repair it for me.
- When approached to CTDI and presented the original bill, they said “No” and redirected me to Samsung the original retailer.
I was circling between these companies for 2 months and no one helped. Until one of the engineers in Samsung, opened a window of request (images attached below). They needed me to upload the response that Assurant was sending and then they could communicate with each other.
Replies from Assurant
Replies from CTDI
Can someone explain me this?
The Fraud
Samsung sells the insurance in the name of “Samsung care+”. The problem with this name is that Assurant is not the same company as Samsung. So, selling a product/service on the same name is misleading because the customer expects Samsung to solve this issue than Assurant and they approach Samsung for this resolve only to realize otherwise. It took me quite a while to realize that I am dealing with an entirely different company.
Frustration and what I had to do
As someone who spent money on a very high premium product and service, I was expected to call them and request for the bill and wait for their answer. I have things to do in life and somehow, they think I am free to dedicate all my time trying to clean the mess of company/service they have.
- When asked Assurant over the phone to send me the bill as they straight up denied doing.
- There was no proof of the replacement phone that Assurant sent as an insurance claim device which created all the fuss.
- CTDI was not ready to proceed without any proof of purchase.
- This went on for 2 months and I was compelled to buy another phone. What the point of this service was if i had to buy a device no matter the situation.
Hi @Members_OA19LXN,
guess you already had a talk with our colleagues, but you can contact them via "Lob & Kritik" and give your feedback there, too: https://www.samsung.com/de/support/lobundkritik/
Kind Regards
