I saved money and purchased the S21 Ultra last March. I've had a 3 month ordeal trying to get my screen repaired and am at my wits end. I do not know what to do.
I dropped my phone and the screen cracked around December 9th. The screen is cracked at the bottom and is black It still works and responds to touch though it is only visible if I connect it to the computer to via the Your Phone app.
I contacted Samsung for help and they told me to purchase the Samsung Care. I purchased it and began a claim, mailing my phone to them because the nearest places to fix it in person at their suggested locations are at least an hour and a half away from me without a car. It is sent to Samsung in TX, and a few days later, they return my phone saying the screen wasn't unlocked. So I make sure absolutely everything is open so when the screen is touched the home screen is immediately available and begin a new mail-in claim. It is sent to the Asurion facility in FL. I call Samsung via Google Voice, because I do not have a phone, and they instruct me to use their phone system to enter my credit card info to pay for the repair. The system does not accept any of my credit card info correctly so I contact my friend so they can pay via their phone. None of this is accepted so they send the phone back.
Then I called and they told to take it to Ubreakifix and whatever machine they use was broken so I wasted an hour and a half to get there. So I tried to take it to best buy an hour and a half away in the other direction where they had it for two weeks and finally were able to tell me Asurion/Samsung blocked them from fixing it because they aren't *their* authorized service provider. I then decided to get back on the train and bus to another Ubreakifix and they told me they're out of S21 screens for the black version. They said I'll just have to wait until they're in and I have no idea when that'll be. This took my whole day to get to these two places telling me they can't fix my phone. It's been weeks and the screens are still on backorder as I call every few days to check.
Now a two weeks ago, I requested another mail in and I've just received my phone today, with a card stating they are unable to repair listing 3 reasons without indication on which it is: 1) damage beyond repair; 2) device doesn't match device on claim; 3) screen lock not disabled.
It's been 3 months without a phone and my work has been severely affected. I don't know what to do as my next step:
Request a refund on samsung care and spend hundreds of more dollars to have someone else fix it? Would Asurion still block them from repair?
Wait for Ubreakifix to have screens in stock?
Something else?
