Note: this applies to Samsung UK, your mileage may vary in other territories.
At the start of January I bought myself a
Samsung SM930BF LCD monitor based on reviews on the website I bought it from and the 3 year warranty. The free copy of Myst wasn't really a consideration (although this didn't actually arrive, gah). When it arrived I was extremely pleased with my purchase, this was to continue for the next 5 and half months.
In May the monitor began to develop vertical lines of solid colour which gradually got worse and ended up creating a block approximately an inch wide on one side which rendered it almost completely useless. On the 24th of May I popped an email off to the Samsung Customer Care email address which I had a reply to the next day telling me to ring the Customer Care phone number (National Rate applies.)
On the 30th of May I rang the number provided and reported my fault to a very helpful Customer Care representative who told me I would be receiving a *new* (more on this later) within the next 5 days and that I should pack up the monitor and it's peripherals ready for the eventual swap. The phone conversation ended with me calling him a star and all was well with the world.
The very next day a delivery driver arrived at my house ready to pick up my now faulty monitor, which I duly brought up to his van ready to receive my new one. Unfortuanately somewhere along the line somebody had forgotten to send my new monitor and the driver had no idea that he was supposed to be bringing one with him on his trip. It was agreed between myself and the driver that I should keep hold of the old one to avoid any further problems.
At some point over the next few days I received a phone call from someone at a company called Teleplan, who apparently deal with Samsung's faulty goods in the UK. She explained that there was a mistake on the part of the original Customer Care Rep who had apparently flagged my monitor as a repair and not a replacement, d'oh. She also told me that they didn't have any replacements in stock and that I'd have to wait. Thanks, love!
On the 9th of June I went off to my sister's to spend some time with her and watch the Cosford Air Show (which incidentally is an excellent day out) leaving instructions with my parents to wait for the new monitor to arrive and return the old one.
On the 15th of June still away from home I received a text message from my dad saying that an attempted delivery had been made which came as a slight surprise to him as he'd been in all day and nobody had knocked on the door. I should probably note that we have a gate leading to the house with a loud bell on it and two dogs that bark loudly when any strangers arrive.
My dad then tried to phone the delivery company to arrange a re-delivery and spoke to an apparently disinterested chap who asked for the 12 digit tracking number which the driver hadn't actually bothered to write on the delivery notification docket. When they finally managed to track down the parcel via our address it was noted that there was no notification of a pickup - only a delivery. First they don't want to give me a new monitor and now they won't take my old one away.
The delivery was promised for the 21st of July. My mother stayed in all day after changing her plans. At 4:30 that afternoon the delivery company were phoned, the driver of the vehicle was contacted via his mobile phone. He didn't have a package for me. Cheers lads.
That day I decided to check the Samsung Online Repair Tracker to see that the last entry on the 20th was 'Product Received'. Knowing that the monitor wasn't at my house I decided to find out who it was that had it by phoning the Customer Care line again (National Rate applies) only to be 10 minutes too late - they were shut.
The next morning I phoned the Customer Care Line and spoke to a chap who apparently sympathised with my situation and gave me a phone number so I could get in contact with Teleplan myself to chase the delivery up. Quite why I should have to phone a 3rd party is beyond me, but I did it anyway.
I then phoned the new 'Teleplan' number only to be greeted with a voice saying something about 'Samsung'. It turned out the number I was given was, in fact, another Samsung department and not Teleplan at all. The lady on the phone then gave me a new number to ring, with the promise that it was now the correct one.
Armed with this I was back on the phone, after dialling I was treated to the sound of a flat tone. I tried at least three times with the same result.
At this point I wasn't exactly pleased, to say the least and I rang the Samsung Customer Care line again and was greeted with a pleasant Scottish accent (more on this in a bit), after explaining the situation to yet another rep 'Michelle' told me she would email somebody and get back to me that afternoon. Not wanting to spend another day in the house I gave her my mobile phone number and went out.
That afternoon I received a phone call from an Irish number, which I thought was slightly odd. 'Michelle' had now developed a fine Irish accent. She then told me my monitor would be arriving the next day (23rd of June) and asked me to confirm someone would be in. I told her there would be and confirmed again that the monitor would definitely be arriving the next day. Thinking the whole sorry saga was drawing to a close I thanked her and closed the call.
Friday came and went with no delivery, after 5pm I phoned the Customer Care line yet again and gave out my reference code. The chap on the phone was again very helpful and explained that the lady on the phone shouldn't have promised the delivery for a specific date and that there had been a delay with the delivery. When I pointed out that delivering a new monitor shouldn't be akin to the parting of the waves he told me that Samsung have a policy where an acceptable turn around time was 28 days.
This is where the whole tale takes a new and unexpected twist. I asked him what would happen if the 28 days passed before the issue was resolved, he then told me I could either get a credit letter or I would receive a *new* monitor. This struck me as a little bit odd, I was expecting a new monitor after all, he then told me I was to receive a refurbished model. Having had some unpleasant experiences with refurbished electronics before I pointed out that I was told specifically that I was getting a *new* monitor by the original rep almost a month ago. 'We could get in trouble for that' was pretty much his only reply as I tried to get my head around it. I then asked if I could just get a credit letter now as the whole thing had become ridiculous, but sadly Samsung's policy prohibits that as only 24 days had passed. The phone call ended.
I then seethed for a short while.
At least I'd have a new monitor early the next week I thought.
Monday came and went with no contact.
It's not Tuesday at 4:15 pm as I'm typing this, the delivery company finishes at 5 o'clock so they've got 45 minutes to turn up or I'll be on the phone to the Customer Care line again. 'Thankfully' it's now been 28 days since I first reported the fault so I should be able to get a credit letter or a *new* monitor.
According to the Samsung Repair Tracker my 'Repaired Goods' were despatched yesterday, which will probably give Samsung an excuse to delay this whole thing longer and not send me a new monitor or credit letter.
tldr: Over the course of the last 28 days I have been misinformed and misled to the point of being lied to by Samsung's Customer Care representatives and I still don't have a replacement monitor. Add that to the fact I've wasted days sitting around the house waiting for deliveries that haven't materialised and spent far too long calling National Rate telephone number I'm really not a happy bunny at all.
