Z fold 4 hinge fault

[mr_browning]

Hi,

I have been using my z fold 4 one moment, put it down, and the next the hinge will not open. There was no impact or anything that caused this it just seemed to happen out of the blue when I picked it back up to use it. 

I am still within my warranty period but this has allegedly been invalidated due to some small broken plastic in the corner of the phone, which I don't ever remember seeing in the first place and is nowhere near the hinge. I have had this phone for about 14 months and I have seen this is a common problem with the z fold 4 especially in this time frame. 

There is no other damage aside from scratches and normal wear and tear. All I want is the hinge fixed which has happened all of a sudden. Samsung were also not willing to even investigate this to prove it was caused by any damage. 

I was even told by the customer service representative that they thought 9/10 times this hinge issue was caused from damage, which I find hard to believe considering how many of the z fold 4s this happens to, and that it did not happen after any impact or anything like this just out of the blue. 

The after care is this awful considering multiple flagship purchases I have made and they are unwilling to fix their known defect in these phones. 

Has anyone else had this problem? Please let me know if there is something else that has been done. 

[OmegaMutant]

Any physical, or liquid damage, on a phone does void any warranty you have regardless of the fault you're experiencing.

They should provide a quote for all necessary repairs to get the phone back up to warranty standard so they won't do a partial repair, from my understanding anyway.

As you can't say for sure if the damage was, or wasn't, there before sending off I don't think you have any option but to pay for any repair or get them to send it back unrepaired or continue to speak with tech support or even customer service if you're disputing anything they're saying.

[mr_browning]

Thanks for the comment, I was after some experiences though of those with the z fold 4. I have seen many people with this same issue online, and it appears even after this hinge is fixed it's likely to happen again within a short amount of time.

[mr_browning]

The damage in this case is minuscule, and really a shameless aftercare experience considering this is a widespread issue among a fold 4s and their design and it is clearly a defect. Provided there was no hinge fault with it would be in perfect order, and I'd have no reason to get anything replaced or repaired

[Artindoril]

Unfortunately Samsung aren't acknowledging the fault.

It means your phone has to be in pristine condition to get any chance of a warranty claim - otherwise Samsung are saying it's user fault. Only way around it is to either pay for the fix, claim on insurance, or fight it (read £££s).

I managed to get mine fixed but it was in perfect condition. Only wear and tear from the official Samsung case that EE happily accepted and repaired it under warranty still

[mr_browning]

Its unbelievable they don't acknowledge this problem as a fault when in every thread and video I see endless people in the comments with the same story

[Artindoril]

I know, and it's not just Samsung. Seems to be an industry wide issue that means if you have a foldable you can't rely on the warranty

https://youtu.be/U2CF527wZcQ?si=EPu-NigIh4eDO-OW