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Galaxy S7 - Your false perception of perfection and quality. The truth!

JovHok

Newbie
Apr 18, 2016
13
1
DON’T HESITATE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE IF YOU ARE A SAMSUNG GALAXY USER

This is not me crying over the problems I had. I’m writing this as a piece of information for the Samsung Galaxy buyers.

Well urrrr yeah! Finally got my replacement(︶︹︺).

Bought the device(Galaxy S7 Unlocked version) just one day after the launch. There it starts the series of repairs which lasted till the half of the month May. Well talking about those quickly. To begin with the build quality issue, had a small scratch at an edge of the home button which developed into an crack soon (as in the Image 1) also some faded horizontal grey lines(noticeable in the white backgrounds) and finally ended up in a repair since it was past the 7-day replacement period. With that repair came a faulty screen(color uniformity issue) as in the Image 2[a] attached**. Then I decided not just go for a repair again because the exact same problem could repeat even after the repair due to human errors or mis-handling. So instead requested for a replacement. Waited a week to get a definite reply from them and they agreed to a repair but not a replacement for sure. Despite the lack of time I had to go through the repairs I agreed to that and yeah the same problem persisted even after the 2nd repair. But during the time of collection of the device they pretended like everything was fine with the device since they didn’t know what exactly the issue was which could be due to the lack of technical knowledge of the technicians.

Called them again and explained in a simple way (as in the Image 2) what the issue actually is instead of letting them self-define the problem as ‘Screen Discoloration’ . Even then with just dialling *#0*# and showing me HW Module Test with Red, Green, Blue screens which can only light up one kind of pixels in the display in which the the color uniformity issue can’t be spotted at all since multiple pixels aren’t being mixed to represent those three colors. They tried their maximum to not give me a replacement by showing me a video/image and asking me to spot the issue in that circumstance and this even continued to them claiming that I was faking the issue with some 3rd party app.

After a clear evidence from my side they were finally forced to offer a replacement instead of a repair again. But it is then they started acting totally irresponsible to me (being one of the worst customer service I’ve ever seen) by not even informing me that they have approved the replacement for me.

After few days I’d to call them back and ask about their decision and there begins the waiting again for the replacement even after more than a month of not using the device due to the repairs.

The service center being part of the authorized retailer of Samsung, I don’t know what made them to take more than a week time for the replacement in a place where these devices are not sold as hot cakes. That even made me to doubt whether they were waiting for a used unit to refurbish.

[Those moments involved lots of ill treatments from their side, lots of phone calls and commutes to service center even for asking whether the replacement was ready due to ambiguous answers from them through the phone calls]

Now going back to the statement “Well urrrr yeah! Finally got my replacement(︶︹︺)”. The issue still persists as it is clear for you from the Image 3 below ** at least not that worse. If it was a phone that was sold for at least 400$(having the production cost at just near 260$) I will be happily using the device despite the current issue. But for a phone that is sold at 700$ this is unacceptable in the age where there are strong competitors available. Which had made me to take a decision to never buy a Samsung product in my life even if they heavily dominate the market by creating a perception that they are the best.

As mentioned by respected forum members that Samsung could have done ultimately anything to make a less used unit new by resetting any counters to make any app like this one ** believe that the unit is brand new even if Samsung had denied that.

I don’t know whether display issues are there for other Galaxy S7 users but at least I had similar issues including the tint problems with my previous Galaxy S phones. Probably a normal user wouldn't be able to notice these type of issues. But it is good for anyone to know what you are paying for and what you are getting even if whatever I’ve dealt with doesn’t bother you. But all these can be avoided by being strict in quality testing from Samsung‘s side. This is where the companies like Apple truly shines.

I’m not sure whether these are typical issues seen in AMOLED displays but had heard a lot of people going for multiple replacements (like even 3-7 times) for silly issues especially related to displays. Well if I try for that at my place, first of all they won’t be ready for a replacement again and even if they are, not sure what other issue I’ll get with the next unit. Can’t imagine going again with these kind of issue like others did multiple times and to get ill-treated and to accept their own invalid assumptions and arguments and wasting lot of time. Also don’t know whether these strict replacement policies exists only at my place or elsewhere.

Would love to know your thoughts and comments. If you were in my position, how you would have reacted and proceeded? How you would have and taken this issue?

Couldn't attach the images due to forum restrictions. Please view it here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B97-LChbhDZBaXBYSmRJdmsya2M&usp=sharing
 
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We all know sometimes you get a Lemon.

Things can sometimes go wrong which I'm sure many accept, but then it's ultimately down to how it's put right that then counts ,and instills confidence back into the product and service.

Communication is Key.

If an issue was evident then Samsung have a Duty of Care to resolve it as long as those issue(s) fall within the remit of the manufacturing warranty.
 
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I'm talking about the perception related to the device buddy. This types of issue are faced by lots of people based on number the forum threads/posts regarding these.
What wrong perception? If people are having a great time with their device, how does your experience make it not perfect for them? In any case where there are several million items produced, there obviously will be several thousand with defects.

By the logic that your experience makes the perception of others wrong, then that also means that my so far perfect experience with my S7 Edge make you wrong.

Using the number of forum posts having issues with the S7 as a baseline to compare with those having no issues is wrong. This forum alone would give you less than 1000 individuals. Even if you find 100k individuals with issues, that's a perfectly ok number for defective units considering that it's less than 1% of all S7 units sold. The S7 and S7 Edge combos hit 10 million units sold by the end of March, and sales haven't looked to be decreasing.

In the end there's no wrong peception on the device. What's only important is the perception of the user. Sucks you got a lemon, but it doesn't change the fact that you are in the minority, and for most of us, the device has given an awesome experience. And your experience does not make ours false.


As to how I would have reacted, knowing myself I'd likely spotted these things within 7 days and would have gotten my replacement.
 
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I'm talking about the perception related to the device buddy. This types of issue are faced by lots of people based on number the forum threads/posts regarding these.
Well I'm sure people have had various problems and have posted here on AF about them. Which is probably the same with any popular device. Of all the millions of phones that a company like Samsung makes, there's bound to be a few lemons get through the system. Same with HTC, LG, Moto, Huawei, Apple, etc, etc. Which actually is the truth AFAIK.

I have my own opinions and thoughts about them anyway, not necessarily false.

I know we've had a few posts in recent weeks about apparently terrible repair and warranty service from Samsung, both US and UK, with people been given the runaround. So perhaps the next step is legal recourse.
 
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Well I'm sure people have had various problems and have posted here on AF about them. Which is probably the same with any popular device. Of all the millions of phones that a company like Samsung makes, there's bound to be a few lemons get through the system. Same with HTC, LG, Moto, Huawei, Apple, etc, etc. Which actually is the truth AFAIK.

I have my own opinions and thoughts about them anyway, not necessarily false.

I know we've had a few posts in recent weeks about apparently terrible repair and warranty service from Samsung, both US and UK, with people been given the runaround. So perhaps the next step is legal recourse.
Aren't the service problems from UK are all from Anovo, the guys from Carphonewarehouse? I still remember the days when I was a 'guru' (that's what they call Guides there) at Nokia Discussion Boards that they were already like this some 8 years ago. And they're still like it. Somebody should sue them really. Lol.
 
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Eh. I had to go through six (!) S6 Edge phones when they first came out, in order to get two that worked. Turns out the early batches were prone to auto-rotation lockup and a weird issue where the night-clock would cause the entire screen to glow (and subsequently kill the battery.)

It happens. Don't make your life revolve around a defective device. Do what it takes to get the situation resolved (and, trust me, after going through six replacements I know what that involves) and move on. You're unlikely to be as unlucky as I was - at least in sheer quantity of replacements - and you'll wind up with a properly operating device in the end. Done.

Surprised you haven't gotten the glib "So, get an iPhone. Bye!" response that most of the whine-sessions here will generate.

Was I pissed for a while? Yeah. Did I get over it? Yeah.

You will too.
 
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Aren't the service problems from UK are all from Anovo, the guys from Carphonewarehouse? I still remember the days when I was a 'guru' (that's what they call Guides there) at Nokia Discussion Boards that they were already like this some 8 years ago. And they're still like it. Somebody should sue them really. Lol.

Anovo are a supply-chain logistics and service contractor that Samsung uses, Sony uses them as well. About 9 years ago, I had terrible service from Sony over a VAIO laptop, took them months and multiple returns to get it right, and has always left a bitter taste in my mouth about buying another Sony computer.

I'm pretty sure Carphone Warehouse customer support and repair service is provided by Geek Squad now, a joint venture between them and Best Buy.

There was another one in the UK, Mastercare, originally setup by Currys. And from experience they were notoriously bad, god help if you ever needed to get service from them. They were often featured on consumer TV programs, like BBC Watchdog.

I've just stuck with Oppo for my last couple of phones, and I know that service for them in China is provided by Oppo themselves on a local level. With country wide walk-in service centres in every city, who'll repair or replace the phone while you wait. But on the other hand with an Oppo in the US or UK, have a problem, you'll be sending it back to China! :thumbsupdroid: And when it comes to laptops now, I have Apple, and not NOT Sony!
 
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Eh. I had to go through six (!) S6 Edge phones when they first came out, in order to get two that worked. Turns out the early batches were prone to auto-rotation lockup and a weird issue where the night-clock would cause the entire screen to glow (and subsequently kill the battery.)

It happens. Don't make your life revolve around a defective device. Do what it takes to get the situation resolved (and, trust me, after going through six replacements I know what that involves) and move on. You're unlikely to be as unlucky as I was - at least in sheer quantity of replacements - and you'll wind up with a properly operating device in the end. Done.

Surprised you haven't gotten the glib "So, get an iPhone. Bye!" response that most of the whine-sessions here will generate.

Was I pissed for a while? Yeah. Did I get over it? Yeah.

You will too.
Probably you must have done the replacements within the replacement period. Correct?
 
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