Don't buy Samsung products

[Melih_K]

Hello Community,

I purchased a galaxy s21 ultra from the Netherlands. I reside in Belgium. I dropped my phone from 30 cm high and the screen cracked over the fingerprint sensor. The advertisement says it has gorilla glass, and it shouldn't crack at that height theoretically. I was sad, but at least the fingerprint sensor was working, so it didn't bother me, and I continued using it. 3 months later, the fingerprint sensor stopped working. I purchased a brand new A14 as a temporary phone because it was convenient for me to switch back after returning back to the original phone.

I realized that one side of the crack shown in the photo below, is higher than the other side. you can see from the reflection.

 The other side of the crack is leveled, as shown in photo 2 below:

That means during the manufacturing of this phone, there was a stress point at that glass. That means even in the factory it was a ticking bomb. I know the glass's fingerprint placement part is thinner than the rest of the glass, which creates a weak point in the glass. This is the design fault part of the issue and that explains why it cracked over the fingerprint sensor. Today I went to the Samsung store and tried to convince them it was a manufacturing and design fault. They said it is written terms and conditions, if the glass is broken your phone is out of warranty. This means if I need a battery replacement, they will refuse me again. I have searched for a certified expert on the internet and sent the photos above. I am waiting for their response. They might require the phone to do further investigation. After I proved that was a manufacturing fault, I will directly go to the courthouse and open a lawsuit against Samsung. I am pretty sure I will win. They will end up paying court costs + expert costs + lawyer costs + they have to extend my warranty because I am stuck with A14 (which is a cr*ppy phone), and I have proof when I stopped using this phone. My proof is the receipt of A14 + my time (my time = money). Most probably the lawsuit will take years and in the end, they will end up giving me the latest generation brand-new phone.

I gave them two options:

The easy way: fix the fingerprint sensor which costs nothing to a "brand" like Samsung + customer satisfaction.

The hard way: showing up in the courtroom and spending a lot of money for lawyers and time and losing the case, and paying me all the costs. I have time and money, and I am more than motivated. I am cursing to the day I switched from Apple to Samsung. Don't buy any Samsung products! After they got your money they will ignore you. I called the Samsung customer center 2 times today and in both cases when I try to explain that was a manufacturing fault they hangup on my face! Cr*ppy products + cr*ppy aftersales = Bad brand. I am an experienced computer engineer and all the people around me ask me what or which brand to buy, so Samsung didn't lose only one customer, they have lost hundreds of potential customers!

regards

PS: I specifically write "r" in the word "regards" lowercase

Melih Koca

[Glenntech]

Firstly, glass is glass whatever the name given to it.
Yes the Gorrilla Glass is to a certain extent less likely to be scratched in a lot of circumstances. Same with breaking.
But ultimately, hit at a certain angle or a particular force. It will still break.
I'm no expert, but being an engineer. I know glass such as this will have a high tensile strength. Once broken, the glass crystals will deform. It will also affect the way the glass reflects light.
It's possible that there could be a blemish in the glass structure. But that's a hard thing to prove.

Some bank accounts or household insurance can cover things like this sort of repair
Something to maybe ask about if you have such a thing

As it's out of warranty, can see if a third party repairer can do it cheaper

Having broken the screen on my 2 week old Note 20 Ultra I had at the time. I know it's an expensive repair to do.
But Samsung would guarantee the repair and use genuine parts

[PaulC59]

I've had a few screens replaced previously and you have to be careful who you choose especially when dealing with 3rd parties as many use cheaper alternatives and workmanship of the repair can be an issue. Glass is very unpredictable and I would say it's pure luck each time a phone is dropped as to whether it breaks or not toughened glass helps but is no guarantee on any phone. I have dropped my phone a few times but not damaged it but on a previous Nokia phone which had gorilla glass it slipped out of my pocket whilst I was on my knees fixing my son's bike probably barely a foot from the ground but as it hit the tiled floor corner first it broke the screen which shattered, it wasn't in its case at the time which caused it to land hard. Since then I have always used a good case to protect the phone if it's dropped which happens from time to time. I think the way a phone lands when it's dropped makes all the difference regardless of brand but things like protective cases etc help minimise risks but I still think luck plays a big part. Also I wouldn't be confident with a phone with a new screen due to the intensive process involved to replace it so I would probably see a new screen as a temporary fix before I upgrade.

[tinglish]

Sorry but ultimately the phone screen braking is your fault.glass is glass regardless how strong it's meant to be.
I would also be more than annoyed if I broke my phone but it would be myself I was annoyed with not Samsung 🤷.
If you have money like you say you do then just replace the screen and make sure you take better care of it,or just go back to apple 👍.

[Melih_K]

I am not demanding the screen replacement. I am asking them to repair the fingerprint sensor. secondly, European law says, you cannot sell any product that has unrepairable parts, so they are also selling something that is against the law. it doesn't matter it is embedded in the screen and the whole screen needs to be replaced to be able to fix the fingerprint sensor. 

The saddest part is, I have discovered that Samsung has a page that says, instead of fixing the screen let's upgrade it. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/cracked-screen-repair/ (pay attention to what the link says and the actual page says) It also smells fishy. Maybe this is their selling strategy, building parts that will certainly fail on purpose, so they can sell more products. That is also bad and it is a vendor-lock-in situation.

Btw, from the replies, I started to think that, almost all of them were undercover Samsung employees. 

[tinglish]

🤣 I'm sorry but you are just being silly.
You have a choice to upgrade or repair your phone 🙄(pay attention to what the whole page actually says).
Also your phone is repairable,they would most likely have to replace the screen to fix fingerprint sensor that you broke,which going by the link you shared is $269

[Melih_K]

They are asking for 800 Euros, does it make sense for to you fix it for 800 Euros for a phone that is worth less than 800 Euros in the second-hand market?

[Melih_K]

This is just a selling strategy, building cr*ppy products on purpose, that will certainly fail at some point and ripping off your customers by asking for overpriced fixes.

[tinglish]

It's not 800 euros to replace screen,so unless you have caused other damage to your phone I don't see how you've come up with that amount 🤷.

[SasamiPie]

Well, they pushed the UI 5.1 update 2 weeks after the warranty for my S21 expired, and that update fried the wifi chips in a bunch of phones. Then, when I contact them about it, they just want me to give them the S21 that I purchased from them and buy a new phone. It's not an "upgrade" if I have to pay to resolve a problem that they caused in the first place. In the US, Apple tried pushing out an update that slowed their older phones to influence people to upgrade to their new ones, and that lawsuit one in court. Just sayin~ I wouldn't put them past them. My faith in Samsung as a reputable company has been shattered.