It's beyond reason the lengths that Samsung goes to not support their current and prospective customers.
About 2 months ago I started my quest for a 64Gb or 32Gb version of the 7.7
Contacting the Portuguese Samsung Customer Support line, I was greeted by a Brazilian-Portuguese speaking operator (...you most probably don't know this but Brazilian Portuguese is not quite the same as the original language and, as such, the use of different expressions and pronunciation can turn any technical support exchange into a very irritating exercise...).
The lady was a-b-s-o-l-u-t-l-y clueless about what was being asked, so the inquiry terminated in frustration.
Since we are such a small market, I investigated a little and managed to circumvent the "official" (non)support network by obtaining the direct phone number to Samsung Portugal.
I've managed to talk to someone in charge over there and, luckily, things are on the right track now, as far as information for the Portuguese market is concerned...but only because I have "inside access".
...but, being that I travel a lot across Europe and have several days frequent stays in the Netherlands, I decided to contact Samsung Holland about the availability for the said models over there. I figured I might grab hold of one of the larger capacity models, while in Amsterdam.
Trying to get back to the Support phone line (Dutch version) proved impossible, as it features a 0900 number that is unreachable from outside Holland, so I resorted to an email inquiry.
Check out this "non-reply" I just received and tell me if Samsung is not testing their customers patience:
Hi,
I travel frequently to the Netherlands.
When will the 32 and 64Gb versions of the GT-P6800 be available and where can I find them in the Amsterdam area?
Thank you,
Client number: xxxxxxxx
Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
Thank you for your e-mail concerning the Samsung GT-P6800.
Samsung offers its customers an extensive dealer and distribution network throughout the Netherlands. An authorized Samsung dealer (and / or distributor) may specialize in a particular type of product. They also have a difference between stocks and groups of products from Samsung.
It is also possible that a "subtype" of an article is not displayed on our website because it is in limited edition and sold by one or more parties exclusively with different product specifications.
These are the reasons we can't give an exact price, inventory and comparative technical information to determine, in relation to deliverability for the product mentioned. We therefore advise you to inquire at a Samsung dealer, distributor and / or retailer in your area (available via internet, telephone directories, information services).
For further question, you can always contact us on the telephone number 0900-SAMSUNG(0900-7267864) for Holland or 022012418 for Belgium, on workdays from 09.00 -18.00 o'clock.
For a quick and efficient treatment of your problems, we advise you to have the following data by hand: Your Customer number, your IMEI-number and the type of your mobile phone.
We hope to have informed you sufficiently.
Yours sincerely,
XXXXXX
Contact Centre Employee
Wow!
XK
About 2 months ago I started my quest for a 64Gb or 32Gb version of the 7.7
Contacting the Portuguese Samsung Customer Support line, I was greeted by a Brazilian-Portuguese speaking operator (...you most probably don't know this but Brazilian Portuguese is not quite the same as the original language and, as such, the use of different expressions and pronunciation can turn any technical support exchange into a very irritating exercise...).
The lady was a-b-s-o-l-u-t-l-y clueless about what was being asked, so the inquiry terminated in frustration.
Since we are such a small market, I investigated a little and managed to circumvent the "official" (non)support network by obtaining the direct phone number to Samsung Portugal.
I've managed to talk to someone in charge over there and, luckily, things are on the right track now, as far as information for the Portuguese market is concerned...but only because I have "inside access".
...but, being that I travel a lot across Europe and have several days frequent stays in the Netherlands, I decided to contact Samsung Holland about the availability for the said models over there. I figured I might grab hold of one of the larger capacity models, while in Amsterdam.
Trying to get back to the Support phone line (Dutch version) proved impossible, as it features a 0900 number that is unreachable from outside Holland, so I resorted to an email inquiry.
Check out this "non-reply" I just received and tell me if Samsung is not testing their customers patience:
Hi,
I travel frequently to the Netherlands.
When will the 32 and 64Gb versions of the GT-P6800 be available and where can I find them in the Amsterdam area?
Thank you,
Client number: xxxxxxxx
Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
Thank you for your e-mail concerning the Samsung GT-P6800.
Samsung offers its customers an extensive dealer and distribution network throughout the Netherlands. An authorized Samsung dealer (and / or distributor) may specialize in a particular type of product. They also have a difference between stocks and groups of products from Samsung.
It is also possible that a "subtype" of an article is not displayed on our website because it is in limited edition and sold by one or more parties exclusively with different product specifications.
These are the reasons we can't give an exact price, inventory and comparative technical information to determine, in relation to deliverability for the product mentioned. We therefore advise you to inquire at a Samsung dealer, distributor and / or retailer in your area (available via internet, telephone directories, information services).
For further question, you can always contact us on the telephone number 0900-SAMSUNG(0900-7267864) for Holland or 022012418 for Belgium, on workdays from 09.00 -18.00 o'clock.
For a quick and efficient treatment of your problems, we advise you to have the following data by hand: Your Customer number, your IMEI-number and the type of your mobile phone.
We hope to have informed you sufficiently.
Yours sincerely,
XXXXXX
Contact Centre Employee
Wow!
XK