Samsung 1, Battery 0

[lunatic59]

Way to go Samsung!

Just one month out of warranty and the battery on my wife's S7 edge swells up and pops the back cover. Samsung's response to this?

"Send it in, we'll be happy to fix it for you. Oh, by the way, there's a charge to evaluate the problem, and a fee for the repair. Let's warm up that credit card and we'll take good care of you."

"AND, just in case we need extra money, those figures I quoted you are contingent upon our techs finding any other problems that we can charge you for."

My, aren't they so helpful?

 

[Jfalls63]

I've always thought that the last great Samsung phone ended with the S5/ Note 4. Non removable battery sucks in new phone design.

 

[no one]

I'm pretty sure your wife's phone is.....expecting. The samsung is well aware of this. Once that phone pops they'll be a bunch of little S11s running around. The samsung samsung can not have this. So sure, they will "repair" it for you. All the while they'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[dt7301]

Are you in the UK?

If the thing was bought from new, then the thing must be of 'merchantable quality' and this means that (I am paraphrasing) it must last for a 'reasonable length of time'.

So if it was fifty quid and packs in after a year then that's probably fair. If it cost £500 and that happens after 18 months, you have right of recourse with the retailer. Because that cannot be said to be 'reasonable'.

Unless bought directly from Samsung their position is irrelevant; your first right of recourse is with the retailer who wold it to you.

Who will probably tell you that it has nothing to do with them, it's out of warranty, and you should contact the manufacturer.

Wrong on all counts.

 

[lunatic59]

Are you in the UK?

Unfortunately in the US our consumer protections laws only mandate a 1-year manufacturer warranty against defects, unless there is a danger potential. I think the argument could be easily made that Samsung has a POTENTIAL hazard here, but unless I actually get hurt it's really an academic argument.

Anyway, replacement battery kit is on it's way, it's just a nuisance that I have to do this. These phones are a real pain to work on.

 

[Hadron]

I'm pretty sure your wife's phone is.....expecting. The samsung is well aware of this. Once that phone pops they'll be a bunch of little S11s running around. The samsung samsung can not have this. So sure, they will "repair" it for you. All the while they'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Swollen battery - more likely to have a brood of little Note 7s

 

[Member243850]

I am disgusted with the way some companies have gone today... If they are not careful they will cease to exist.

If you just had ONE highly competitive and customer first focused ethos you knock out all of the other competitors with ease!

I would have SO gone and made an unbrickable phone with upgradable internal SD... You could have gained a very untapped market that I believe might have quite a bit of potential.

I had a Chinese tablet back about 7 YEARS ago that had a removable internal SD card... I was so amazed I just wish I could remember the name now it had a cortex A8.

I removed the SD card many times I remember it all quite well.

Everything is moving backwards and everyone is the same... There is no real or true innovation or competitive spirit any more.

Only the "me too" players that all want to cash in and Rob people like a bunch of criminals.

It's actually very disgusting / disturbing ...like a Borg mindset that seems to be everywhere now in technology... Nothing is removable ... Nothing is changeable to your liking... Nothing is replaceable or upgradable... Everything and everyone is just... "The same"...

I hate the Borg.

Until we are all just one very... "happy" ... "Family"...

All these cartels are scaring me.

 

[bcrichster]

I'm pretty sure your wife's phone is.....expecting. The samsung is well aware of this. Once that phone pops they'll be a bunch of little S11s running around. The samsung samsung can not have this. So sure, they will 'repair' it for you. All the while they'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Lol, sounds like the only thing 'expectcting' would be Samsung expectcting someone to pay out for another device.. Dang, sorry to hear that @lunatic59

 

[lunatic59]

I have no reservations about opening up the phone and replacing the battery myself, and replacement parts are cheap enough. My biggest concern is going to be losing wireless charging, which Mrs. Luna has come to enjoy since she got this phone.

 

[Jfalls63]

Is that the AT&T self destruct logo I see on the back?

 

[lunatic59]

You mean the death star?

 

[Jfalls63]

IT'S A TRAP!

 

[lunatic59]

Update:

New battery kit arrived last night. I took the back off the phone and boy was that sucker (old battery) bloated. It didn't take too much effort to get the old battery out although because of the swelling the outer foil was punctured in the process. Luckily it didn't short (or explode )

New battery fit fine, put it back together and powered up the phone. After a few tests I confirmed that everything was working.

I was sure that because it wasn't an OEM battery that Qi (wireless) charging wasn't going to work. I put the phone on the charger and ... nothing. It took me a few seconds to realize that the wife had unplugged the Qi charger. She loves to unplug things. Anyway, after plugging it in, I put the phone on it and it started charging!!!

Before we put her sim back and declare it fixed I want to run it through a couple charge cycles and test it further, but so far, it looks like a WIN for team Lunatic.

To paraphrase the old MasterCard commercial ...

Replacement battery kit: $14.60
Amazon Prime 2-day shipping: Free
45 minutes with Samsung Support: Worthless.