I bought an S9 in early April from Samsung's website, and they were running a deal for $150 off with trade-in of my phone (the 1G Pixel 5"), along with a 99$ bundle that included the Gear VR, IconX, and wireless charger. That plus 720 for a brand new phone with rave reviews (basically the great S8 + a better camera, processor, etc) sounded like a good deal, and my Pixel's bluetooth issues were nagging as I had more accessories using it than before. Things were going well enough after this, but I had mixed feelings about the phone - the camera quality is incredibly inconsistent, really worse than the Pixel, battery life seemed worse than my 1.5 year old phone, and I wondered about future updates (or lack thereof), but I was happy enough with it.
Just over two weeks after buying it, just outside of my return period, Samsung informed me that my Pixel was not up to their terms for trade-in and they would be charging me $125 of the 150 trade-in value. $25 for my perfectly functional phone that I'm now honestly convinced was better in the first place, all things considered. They sent me two photos which show light paint specks missing, which on a metal phone is par for the course under "normal wear and tear" - which they said it was beyond. Absolutely ridiculous. Try sticking your phone in a bag with anything else and that not happening. The phone was in great shape when I sent it, well packaged, also in its nice fabric case, which I thought was a fun idea at the time. I have been back and forth with them on the BBB after waiting over two weeks for response from their support channel (I doubt they would ever have come up with an answer for me otherwise), and they are standing fast on not honoring their agreement while referring to me annoyingly as "valued Samsung customer" (whatever). I've seen this isn't a unique case and wonder if some sort of class action lawsuit is brewing (sign me up!).
The absolute lack of scruples they've shown in jipping me on this has turned this into a nice lifelong boycott for me, and I just wanted to warn anyone else against sending in their old baby (RIP Pixel ), if not buying their products entirely. I've since sold that S9 and bought a Pixel 2, which is such a better experience across the board (camera, battery, software, speed, not touching the screen because of tiny bezels, security updates, et. al) it's not even funny - despite running older hardware. Good learning experience for me, and I'll know never to expect anything from the brand again. I hope Samsung enjoys the $125 - I have a number of friends/family who take advice from me on phones, and I'll gladly inform them on my Valued Samsung Customer experience.
Just wanted to get my story out, so I'm sending it around. People should really know what this company is up to... Either way, thanks for reading!
Just over two weeks after buying it, just outside of my return period, Samsung informed me that my Pixel was not up to their terms for trade-in and they would be charging me $125 of the 150 trade-in value. $25 for my perfectly functional phone that I'm now honestly convinced was better in the first place, all things considered. They sent me two photos which show light paint specks missing, which on a metal phone is par for the course under "normal wear and tear" - which they said it was beyond. Absolutely ridiculous. Try sticking your phone in a bag with anything else and that not happening. The phone was in great shape when I sent it, well packaged, also in its nice fabric case, which I thought was a fun idea at the time. I have been back and forth with them on the BBB after waiting over two weeks for response from their support channel (I doubt they would ever have come up with an answer for me otherwise), and they are standing fast on not honoring their agreement while referring to me annoyingly as "valued Samsung customer" (whatever). I've seen this isn't a unique case and wonder if some sort of class action lawsuit is brewing (sign me up!).
The absolute lack of scruples they've shown in jipping me on this has turned this into a nice lifelong boycott for me, and I just wanted to warn anyone else against sending in their old baby (RIP Pixel ), if not buying their products entirely. I've since sold that S9 and bought a Pixel 2, which is such a better experience across the board (camera, battery, software, speed, not touching the screen because of tiny bezels, security updates, et. al) it's not even funny - despite running older hardware. Good learning experience for me, and I'll know never to expect anything from the brand again. I hope Samsung enjoys the $125 - I have a number of friends/family who take advice from me on phones, and I'll gladly inform them on my Valued Samsung Customer experience.
Just wanted to get my story out, so I'm sending it around. People should really know what this company is up to... Either way, thanks for reading!
