Good Bye Good Riddance Samsung

Before I start my article, I want to say I didn’t have any issue with the original Note 7 I owned nor with its replacement, which I still own. The one and only reason I returned the original was because my wife kept urging me to return it. At one point (regarding the original) she said to me: “How many warnings do you need!? The news media is saying to ditch it; Samsung has told everyone to immediately power it down and return it; your carrier has sent you texts along that line; even governmental agencies are urging people to get rid of it.”

My main reason for keeping it isn’t (wasn’t) customer loyalty. Although I’ve been a user of Samsung products for at very least six years now (in fact, presently I own the Note Pro 12.2 (tablet) and my wife (under my guidance) has the S5 and the Galaxy Tab S2 (tablet)), my main reason was that I hate all the fallout of having to reconfigure, reinstall, re-customize my phone. I have around 200 apps and it takes days to get my CLIP (Communications, Life-Management, Information Portal) (aka phone) back in working order.

Now, Samsung claimed that the issue was the battery in the original Note 7. From the burn patterns on the replacement Note 7’s, it also appears to be battery related. However, one anonymous commenter on one of the many phone-focused websites I read, boisterously insisted it was never the battery in the first place. He (she) claimed it was actually the circuitry inside the phone that was supposed to control the battery’s charging. Whether or not this is true, I don’t know. One thing I am certain of, this is not the first Note-series device that Samsung has made. Most of the technology already existed in the S7 and S7-Edge. There is nothing significantly different about the S7 and the Note 7. Not even the IRIS scanner nor the S-Pen and related software BECAUSE they are inconsequential in considering the issue of burning devices.

Besides the technical issues then, what else went wrong here. Most likely it was Samsung’s greed to be first to market, before the release of the iPhone7. They rushed production, probably including sub-par components made with sub-par standards. (I have no proof of this claim, it is just a conclusion based, again, on the fact that this was the 6^th iteration of the Note-series device and that it essentially contains the innards and “design language” of the S7-Edge.) The Note 7’s failure is what happens when profit and ego overshadow quality manufacturing and good reputation.

So where do I personally go from here? Samsung has seriously, negatively, and permanently affected my trust in them. And it is not based solely on this event. First, Samsung was criticized for dropping the Action Memo app from the Note 7. It was probably the singularly most useful app that Samsung has ever made. Samsung promised to bring it back toward the end of September 2016. It is now mid October 2016 and it was NOT deployed. They lied. Second, the COO and President of Samsung Electronics America said that Samsung planned on regaining their loyal base “through a series of unprecedented actions.” The only unprecedented actions I’ve seen so far are 1) deploying a second round of defective devices, 2) initial denial of the 2^nd issue (they’ve since acknowledged it), 3) no compensation for the trouble they’ve caused beyond a refund. What compensation?

My time is way too valuable to have to constantly be replacing phones. In a mere two months I have gone from the Note 3 to the Note 7, to an interim S7-Edge, to a replacement Note 7. In each case I had numerous hiccups with software issues. Samsung’s Smart Switch app is a piece of junk.

So I’ve noticed in the past several years, after just now reflecting on my experiences, that I’m actually fed up with Samsung. Year after year they have disappointed me. At present, I am waiting on the LG V20 to arrive (sometime this month). I am seriously thinking of buying it even though I love Samsung’s display. I am one of the few that actually love Samsung’s Android overlay (TouchWiz). But I can no longer tolerate Samsung’s ignoring the customers, poor customer service, and now catastrophic failure of the flagship device. Another reason that I am seriously considering ditching the replacement Note 7 is that neither Samsung nor the carriers will probably give any support for fixes, security updates, or OS upgrades to the Note 7 seeing as it is technically an abandoned, orphaned device. (In my experience, even with supported devices, Samsung typically only provides upgrades for one year. Why? Even Apple and Microsoft provide updates for the life of the device. Clearly Samsung has never really cared about customer support.)

Since I am no one of any consequence to Samsung, I don’t expect any attempt on their part to win me back. That’s fine.

Samsung Note 7 Replacement Fiasco

Monday, 9/12/2016

Note 7 originally purchased from: Best Buy

Carrier: AT&T

9:30AM: While waiting for Best Buy to open, I re-read the email they sent that mentioned 3 options: 1) Be put on replacement list (no mention of a temporary replacement phone), 2) Get the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge and accept that as a permanent replacement, 3) Get a full refund. However, their updated website (linked within email) completely removed option 1.

10AM: Walked into store and asked to hear the clerk’s understanding of the situation. She mentioned options 2 & 3. I asked why option 1 was no longer available. The answer was that they were being told that it may be up to 6 months before Samsung could be able to re-supply non-defective phones. Best Buy didn’t want to be left “holding the bag” that long.

10:30AM Drove over to the AT&T store and asked them what policy they are using. They said I could get the S7 or S7 Edge as a “temporary” replacement. AT&T personnel were told it may be anywhere from 2 weeks until some unknown future time before working Note 7 devices were available. I was told that to avoid upgrade charges and plan changes, I would have to pay for the phone outright. Between what I spent on the Note 7 and the potential cost of the S7, that would be nearly two thousand dollars until the refund on the Note 7 came back. I left the store to have time to think. I drove over to talk to a friend who also is facing having to replace his Note 7. He said he spoke to his carrier and to Samsung through the special 800 number that was setup to handle the issue. Samsung told him to deal with his carrier. His carrier (not AT&T) didn’t have the same options.

11:00AM: Drove back to AT&T and bought the S7 Edge outright. Tried to transfer (phone to phone via cable) my apps, but not all came over. Samsung's transfer app is NOT as good as claimed by others. (It took me 3 days to completely setup the Note 7 when I originally transferred from the Note 3 a few weeks ago). Samsung absolutely has shot themselves over and over again in the foot over this debacle.

12:00PM: Drove to Best Buy and returned Note 7. For some odd reason, even though I bought it on my credit card, they weren’t able to refund the whole amount to the card. I had to take over $100 on a gift card. I tried to merely cash out the gift card -- not allowed. I spoke to store manager and explained situation. He chopped up the large gift card in smaller $10 cards and then cashed them out. What an absolute fiasco! All this because of their policy not to cash out gift cards. I didn’t want any of it on a gift card in the first place.

Because I decided to do things the way I did, I did not qualify for the $25.00 apology gift from Samsung. That’s okay, Samsung. I will never forget this. If it weren’t that nobody had the Asus Zenphone 3, the Honor 8, or the One Plus 3, I would not still be a customer of yours. Do not ever expect me to be a customer of yours again. Do not expect I will have any kind words for you. If anyone asks, I will absolutely advise against buying Samsung products. They are overpriced, over-hyped, and not worth the hassles. Although Best Buy also holds some accountability here with their anti-customer policy about cashing out gift cards or even refusing to reimburse the whole amount to my credit card, I hold Samsung responsible for this whole event because if it weren't for their shipping defective phones in the first place, none of these other issues would have come up.