Note 8 is my last Samsung product

[Phredeee]

I have used Samsung for a long time (including the Note 7 fiasco) and have many of their products in my house. I like using Samsung Pay, except it doesn't work on Apple Pay capable terminals in my area, but they have now gone too far. I'm done.

My rewards points were substantial. I was not aware they expired so I was just letting them roll. I tonight find out that they do expire and they have all been devalued at some time in February of this year I think. This devaluation has cost me $120+! There was no grandfathering or adjusting existing points with this unannounced and uninformed change. Further accumulating points has also been cut in half, basically.

If you take the time to dig you can find out about the expiring points on the Samsung Site, but you MUST dig. I was told by more than one Samsung Rep that they did NOT expire. If Samsung were a decent company it would appear in the FAQs. There is nothing anywhere about the devaluation of existing points, a $100 card went from 40,000 to 50,000 points or 20%!

They could have emailed notice of the redemption change, or prorated the old points, or grandfathered the redemption rate on old points, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Basically, we are taking back some of that money we promised you when you bought our product, too bad. I'm done with their big company bullying.

Does this break the bank? Of course not. It is the principle. There is too much decent competition out there and I'll live without Samsung Pay. By the time I buy another phone the world around here may have caught up and it will not be "special" anyway.

So if you have Samsung Rewards points, sorry about your luck.

 

[winol]

Well, I can see your point, very valid as you expected some benefits when you made your purchase, but for many people, like me, the only reason to buy a note 8 was the device itself, I really did not care about points, bonuses, gifts, bundled goodies, etc, I just wanted the supberb device the note 8 is, but that is my opinion

 

[mlock420]

Well, I can see your point, very valid as you expected some benefits when you made your purchase, but for many people, like me, the only reason to buy a note 8 was the device itself, I really did not care about points, bonuses, gifts, bundled goodies, etc, I just wanted the supberb device the note 8 is, but that is my opinion

Same all that extra ish....I never cared for.....am i even a loyal Samsung guy....no....even tho i favored Samsung phones over others from note 3 to 8....from Samsung epic 4g(s2) to s8+...
The only thing that would make me leave Samsung phones are the locked bootloader...but guess what it's still locked and I'm still here because the phones are just to good to pass on.....points? Meh.....but I do get it....its the principal of just letting us know....

 

[Phredeee]

I too normally feel that way about points programs. But this was a $200 rebate that is now $100 and other rebates from item purchases. I may have bought the products without the rebates IDK.

Samsung said at the ti. e of the purchase "here's the deal", paid me off in points, then reduced the value of the points WITHOUT notice. They retroactively changed the terms of the sale.

I dont buy Apple products because of company practices, so now Samsung has grown too big and developed that same "Do as we want to the customer" practice. Tired of their lies. What is the next lie to me?

 

[BigMosley]

I tonight find out that they do expire and they have all been devalued at some time in February of this year I think.

Yes the points you earn were cut in half, yet the cost of items have remained the same which will take you twice as long to get something. I have been occasionally using Samsung Pay to get the $20 gift-card at 6000 points since they cut the points in half then I am probably dropping it. It was a great incentive to use Samsung pay but now it will take forever to get anything which makes the point system dang near useless. The only reason I may still use Samsung Pay is the security regarding those "skimmers" people are using at gas pumps/etc to help cut back on someone stealing my credit card number, even though it still happens every couple years or so...

 

[Phredeee]

Samsung Rewards rip-off

..., yet the cost of items have remained the same .....

Not true. The cost of items increased by 20%. See my example of a $100 rewards card increase from 40,000 points to 50,000 points. This happened across the board on the Rewards Cards. I've heard that gift cards and Samsung product redemptions also increased but can't confirm.

So it is a double whammy for their customers. You earn less AND it takes more at redemption. Done without notice or concern for their existing customers.

Sure, companies revamp their rewards programs. But they either pro rate existing points or notify the customer of upcoming changes or both. Samsung did neither.

 

[myechophone]

Not true. The cost of items increased by 20%. See my example of a $100 rewards card increase from 40,000 points to 50,000 points. This happened across the board on the Rewards Cards. I've heard that gift cards and Samsung product redemptions also increased but can't confirm.

So it is a double whammy for their customers. You earn less AND it takes more at redemption. Done without notice or concern for their existing customers.

Sure, companies revamp their rewards programs. But they either pro rate existing points or notify the customer of upcoming changes or both. Samsung did neither.

I believe there was a notification on the SamsungPay app/ email (I do not remember which or both). So, they are not deceptive. Maybe you missed it/ blatantly choose to ignore it?

Also, when you signup for Samsung Pay, it clearly says points expire after 1 year, so....

Sure, they did not grandfather the point values, but, those are points and if you really wanted to get something, you should have redeemed it. There is no reason to flak a company if you did not take pains to understand how and when the points expire. If its hurting your bottom line so much, did you try calling SamsungPay support and talk to them and inform about your concern? I have done that multiple times and they have been reasonable.

Reward programs and all will always change at the will of the company, thats what they mention in the fine print. So, if you "agreed" to the terms, you have little to no choice. As an individual, if you want to stop buying Samsung products, sure, its your choice. Will it change Samsung or anyone else? Not really. C'est la vie!

 

[Phredeee]

Yes the points you earn were cut in half, yet the cost of items have remained the same which will take you twice as long to get something. I have been occasionally using Samsung Pay to get the $20 gift-card at 6000 points since they cut the points in half then I am probably dropping it. It was a great incentive to use Samsung pay but now it will take forever to get anything which makes the point system dang near useless. The only reason I may still use Samsung Pay is the security regarding those "skimmers" people are using at gas pumps/etc to help cut back on someone stealing my credit card number, even though it still happens every couple years or so...

I believe there was a notification on the SamsungPay app/ email (I do not remember which or both). So, they are not deceptive. Maybe you missed it/ blatantly choose to ignore it?

Also, when you signup for Samsung Pay, it clearly says points expire after 1 year, so....

Sure, they did not grandfather the point values, but, those are points and if you really wanted to get something, you should have redeemed it. There is no reason to flak a company if you did not take pains to understand how and when the points expire. If its hurting your bottom line so much, did you try calling SamsungPay support and talk to them and inform about your concern? I have done that multiple times and they have been reasonable.

Reward programs and all will always change at the will of the company, thats what they mention in the fine print. So, if you "agreed" to the terms, you have little to no choice. As an individual, if you want to stop buying Samsung products, sure, its your choice. Will it change Samsung or anyone else? Not really. C'est la vie!

I received no notice. or I surely would not have chosen to lose over $100 by choice. Certainly not blatantly.

"...if you really wanted to get something, you should have redeemed it..." Really!? Is it not reasonable to let points accumulate in order to reach a desired goal?

If you read my post you will see where I mention it is not about my bottom line. Yes, I have spoken to SamsungPay support 4 times in the last day. Explaining each time, each time there is nothing offered, NOTHING. Realizing the first tier of support is limited to their authorization I request to speak to a supervisor. Each time I'm promised a call back. None of those 4 call backs have happened. The last was 4 hours ago. That's some customer respect, eh? " Just lie to them, they will go away." Going away is exactly what I'm doing. This is just one forum where I express my feeling on the issue. Perhaps someone else notices that is shopping. IDK, maybe.

There may have been some notice of point expiration and/or change in the rules in the boilerplate fine print in the beginning. Hardly clearly by any measure. No one that I know reads the entire EULAs/terms in detail. If Samsung cared about making these details clear they would be in the FAQs. I searched for an explanation and found nothing on their web site about the redemption value change. What's clear is that they don't want it clear. They didn't want a run on the points and if they can save $100 per customer it sure does help their bottom line. Most companies phase these changes in.

No, I don't think that my rant will directly affect Samsung at all. But remember, class actions all start with a single person.

 

[ls3mach]

I have used Samsung for a long time (including the Note 7 fiasco) and have many of their products in my house. I like using Samsung Pay, except it doesn't work on Apple Pay capable terminals in my area, but they have now gone too far. I'm done.

My rewards points were substantial. I was not aware they expired so I was just letting them roll. I tonight find out that they do expire and they have all been devalued at some time in February of this year I think. This devaluation has cost me $120+! There was no grandfathering or adjusting existing points with this unannounced and uninformed change. Further accumulating points has also been cut in half, basically.

If you take the time to dig you can find out about the expiring points on the Samsung Site, but you MUST dig. I was told by more than one Samsung Rep that they did NOT expire. If Samsung were a decent company it would appear in the FAQs. There is nothing anywhere about the devaluation of existing points, a $100 card went from 40,000 to 50,000 points or 20%!

They could have emailed notice of the redemption change, or prorated the old points, or grandfathered the redemption rate on old points, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Basically, we are taking back some of that money we promised you when you bought our product, too bad. I'm done with their big company bullying.

Does this break the bank? Of course not. It is the principle. There is too much decent competition out there and I'll live without Samsung Pay. By the time I buy another phone the world around here may have caught up and it will not be "special" anyway.

So if you have Samsung Rewards points, sorry about your luck.

I mean it is kind of caveat emptor. I, it seems, wisely cashed in my points every 10K for my $50 gift cards. My wife just missed out on having enough this go around. Now she has close to the 12,500 that she needs, but it will take even longer. It is a free points system though, they don't even have to offer you anything. Plus you are getting any interest you may accrue by leaving the money in your bank account and paying your credit card once a month. You also get any rewards points that card may offer. It really is double or triple dipping.

I imagine people like my wife and I are the reason they halved it and increased it. We have extra phones and maxed them out every month under normal operation. To the tune of about $40 a month when you work the math out. I can't think of any reason Samsung will lose sleep over not retaining your business. This is truly a trivial reason to boycott them. What were you saving up for anyway? A Ferrari?

Hell I can think of a few reasons that personally effect me in a much larger financial scale right off the top of my head.
Note 7. $500+
Dropped support for my Note 12.2 Pro. $500+
ARC HDMI port stopped working on my 75" TV $2000+

Don't forget Samsung is the ONLY device with MST payments. I don't even carry a wallet anymore...and I've never had a terminal that would accept ApplePay and my phone/watch not work.

 

[bober10113]

please note that in the retail business, expiring points is common practice. it is also stated somehwere in the 'fine print' that was never read and tossed away.

thinking otherwise is a grave misunderstanding on your part.

Anyways, the device it self and any marketing schemes are 2 things and are 2 very different departments. Hell, samsung usa samsung canada and samsung xyz all have their own terms and conditions.


its like buying mc donalds coffee and collecting the tags to evenrually get a free coffee. well they probably expire. and if they dont that means they reserve the right to pull the promo at anytime.

the question you need to ask yourself is:

are you buying the cofee because its good or because you want a free one eventually?


i work support in the retail business and loyalty accounts, points etc is just a scheme to make you buy more. Isint this common knowledge?

At this rate, you should boycott everything if you are unhappy with the terms because samsung is just the point of the iceberg.

in the long run, the only meaningful thing that you can do is stop spending money period. they are all out there to get you.

now with all these pay pass technologies you can spend even faster to accumulate more points to then spend them again etc...it never ends till you put a stop to it.

 

[lovehebeboi]

Ok. So the def. common practice caused you to boycott samsung products...
I see.
To he honest, I never paid attention to the rewards points. For me, the most important thing is the device itself, the design, the features, how advanced it is. I guess like Apple who never gave you any reward points will never piss you off

 

[DemGer]

Me too for many reasons... Reason 1 is the delayed updates... RiP Samsung

 

[myechophone]

Me too for many reasons... Reason 1 is the delayed updates... RiP Samsung

Wow. I guess Samsung will change their strategy. Too many people leaving.

 

[ls3mach]

Me too for many reasons... Reason 1 is the delayed updates... RiP Samsung

I got Oreo a week after the S8. Which came out like 6 months before. Of course they wouldn't release Oreo before the S9 came out. What delay?

 

[Phredeee]

A few points:

The interest earned current in bank accounts is miniscule. Credit card interest in my case is moot since I pay none.

It is not common practice to be so evasive informing customers that there are changes happening to loyalty programs. I've had loyalty points prorated when points were devalued. How far do you have to drill down at Samsungs Rewards website to find any mention of points expiring?

Samsung Customer Service promised many calls and emails that simply did not happen.

I have Samsung TVs, Washer, Dryer, Microwave, Refrigerator, Phones, and more. All purchased within the last 2 years with well over $15k spent.

It is not really about the money or the product, it is about how I'm being treated. I wasn't happy about how I was treated with the Note 7 either.

Samsung Pay capability and the $200 price reduction were by far the driving force behind my purchase of the Note 8. Samsung Pay is becoming less desirable since it works at fewer and fewer places as Apple Pay becomes more popular. My phone does not work wherever Apple Pay does (newer POS machines). I have talked to Samsung many times about this with zero results. The $200 rebate has changed now also. I am paying more for less.

Samsung expects me to return, and do without a phone for weeks, if I have a warranty issue. Even if the phone is only days old. This is just another detail that is not well communicated by Samsung.

I could go on and on about features promised but not available. So, my decision is about the cumulative disrespect shown by the "grown too large" Samsung.

Sure, it's a nice phone. But is it that much nicer than the competition if it doesn't have Samsung Pay and cost $100+ more? Why should I buy Samsung? Not price, not service, and the competition is close with other Android phones and I expect to be even closer as time goes on.

 

[winol]

Well, clearly you made a big mistake when you bought a note series phone, this device is meant for those who find the s pen and all its functions the number 1 reason to buy it, if this unique characteristic was not the compelling reason to buy a note series device, then an iphone would have been a more useful option for you, as you said that you find more and more apple pay sites and less and less samsung pay sites, at least where you live or work or travel

 

[Dark Jedi]

I'm sorry but I am sure the rewards points expiring ins in the ToS agreement. You know that lil fine print everyone just checks I agree without reading. So it's on you and not them.

As far as updates it seems all phone makers and carriers drags their feet on updates. As they all love to put their little stuff in there over base android. If you want timely updates with android. You need to use a Google phone. I like samsung phones even with the note 7 fiasco. I started with moto original droid phone and moved to HTC but the phones went downhill over time.

I have used apple devices but found them lackluster at best. Not saying it's a bad phone as I suggest them to people that wants a phone that's simple to operate. All phones has their drawbacks

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