Hey guys, I’m Roland the Techusiast, and today,
I want to talk about Samsung. The Samsung Upgrade Program to be specific. I want
to talk about what it is and how it works in the UK, and my experience,
having used it for the last 1.5yrs, and whether it’s reliable enough for your hard-earned cash.
Before we get started, you must understand how the Samsung Upgrade Program works.
The program lets you finance an expensive device, such as the Galaxy
S or Z series. It lets you spread the cost across 24 months, offering a more affordable,
interest-free way to pay for a device, assuming you keep up with the payments.
The Samsung Upgrade Program requires a 10% upfront payment based on the device’s full
price. After this, you’ll have to pay the remaining 70% of the device in 23
equal monthly installments, and then a final 24th payment, equivalent to 20% of the phone's price.
This is a more comfortable and affordable to pay for expensive smartphones. The other perk
that this program offers is a 4-month window to upgrade. This option is usually unlocked after 12
months, when you’ll be able to upgrade and sign up for a new contract. When this is initiated,
the previously purchased device must be returned in good working condition,
and a new contract needs to be signed and paid.
The device has to be in good working order, which means that general wear and tear is allowed,
but it can’t have any cracks, big dents, and water damage, as that would require repairing,
which would come out of your wallet. All of this seems pretty basic and great on paper,
but things started to go downhill right after I began the return
and upgraded from the Galaxy Fold 3 to the Galaxy Fold 4.
I bought into the idea of buying the latest foldable flagship from Samsung,
and i successfully purchased the Galaxy Z Fold 3 when it came out. The Samsung
Upgrade Program allowed me to buy an otherwise very expensive device at
a price that was easily affordable by me, and so it seemed like a good deal.
My Galaxy Z Fold 3 review is coming out soon, so make sure you subscribe, so you don’t miss it.
I’ve used the phone for an entire year, and it was great. The phone had no issues whatsoever.
The Upgrade Program also included one year of Samsung Care+ for free of charge, which would’ve
let me repair the device at reasonable prices, if I ever broke the display, or caused any damage.
When the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 came out, I decided to take advantage of the Upgrade
Program and re-apply for a new contract. This was pretty straightforward. I made the 12th payment,
and I was instantly approved. I signed up for the new upgrade contract, and waited a couple
of days for Samsung to formally release the Fold 4, and send out the return package for my Fold 3.
When I finished setting up and switching devices, all I had left to do was to return the Galaxy
Fold 3. I did that within the seven-day return period, and sat back to enjoy my new device.
A few days later, I received an email from Samsung, telling me the phone had a faulty
display because the screen is delaminated. As you can imagine, I was extremely surprised and angry,
as I never had any issues with the screen itself. The only problem I faced in the last few days was
that the screen protector slowly started to peel up, which resulted in air bubbles. At the time,
I didn’t think much of it since it didn’t affect the display,
and I knew that Samsung had a warranty on replacing the screen protector free of charge.
I thought this was a mistake, so I promptly decided to get in touch with Samsung to
receive more information about the damage. The email stated that I had to pay £100 out
of my pocket. This didn’t feel right and justified, since it looked like it was
just the screen protector that needed replacing, and not the entire display.
I was able to explain my side of story during a 38-minute call with a representative,
who reassured me that my claim and the photo
evidence that I provided would be inspected within 48 hours.
One day later, Samsung support emailed me back, saying that they couldn’t solve the problem,
and that I had to get in touch with the recycling team, as they were responsible
for repairing the devices. Now, I knew that this was a blatant lie,
and that I would be running from pillar to post, getting nowhere.
I decided that I wanted to talk to someone else, so I contacted Samsung again, via live chat. Once
I told the representative my issue, I was told I would be transferred over to another agent,
but the chat was closed on me. Next, when I attempted to ring Samsung, the person
wouldn’t offer any help and hung up the phone. I must mention that I remained hopeful, polite,
and respectful all this time, and I simply wanted to resolve the issue peacefully. Yet,
Samsung always hung up on me or avoided answering my questions.
Even when I tried to raise my issue on Twitter, the representative came back
telling me that they couldn’t see anything from my reference number
and that my issue would be raised, and they would contact me again. Yet, they never did.
So, as you can imagine, I was pretty furious at this point, as I was given a choice to get
in touch with a company that would likely pass me back to Samsung, or pay for the damages that
I haven’t caused and believed were my fault. I decided to get in touch with the original support
member, to whom i sent a serious complaint, explaining my issue in even more detail, and going
as far as mentioning that I would be exploring legal actions against them if they didn’t settle
the claim. The evidence was already there. All they had to do was look at it and honor it.
Three days later, I received an email from Samsung that my “outstanding balance” was settled and that
I no longer had ownership of the device. My “Samsung Upgrade order was now complete”.
And that was one hell of a rollercoaster, and, sadly, a real example of bad customer service,
even though I clearly described my side of the story, backed up by photo and video evidence.
And just to be clear, if I genuinely had issues with the display itself,
I would’ve accepted the charges and paid for the damages myself. Still,
as you saw on the videos and pictures, the damage wasn’t noticeable when using the device, and it
looked like the screen protector gave up after one year. That’s not unusual, since adhesive can
only last so long under general use. Still, it’s worrying and shocking that you could experience
false accusations and be forced to pay to settle these problems. Problems that didn’t actually
exist and could’ve been avoided altogether just by properly looking at the evidence presented.
So, with all of that out of the way, should you use the Samsung Upgrade Program? The answer is,
it’s complicated. One negative experience might not be a deal breaker,
but there are many reports from other users with similar or even
worse customer service. And by the looks of it, they’re prone to causing damages
and other issues to returned devices. Of course, your experience may vary.
It’s worth noting that things like this are not usual, and it rarely happens. However,
the fact that Samsung is only willing to make things right after threatening
them with legal action, well, let’s just say, it’s less than desirable. Personally,
this entire fiasco made me want to reconsider using the program again,
and I am still undecided whether i’ll trust Samsung enough to upgrade this year.
Having learned my lesson, there’s only one piece of advice I can give you. Always,
and I mean always, make sure that you take lots of photos and videos of the stuff you buy.
Always take video footage of you unboxing a device for the first time, or if you can,
do it in the store with the staff looking over your shoulder. Inspect the device thoroughly, and
check the most obvious details for faults, such as the frame for scratches, the display, the buttons,
the ports and so on. If everything seems fine, set up your device and go about your merry way.
The same thing applies to items that you trade-in or return. Always record the device’s condition
and ensure that the date and time are clearly visible and readable in the video and photos.
If you ever come across a similar issue as me, you’ll be able to use this as evidence
to back up your claim, and that you sent the device back in the condition you described it.
Whether you decide to use the Samsung Upgrade Program or not, I strongly encourage you to
follow these few techniques to avoid any issues in the future, and to better protect
your consumer rights. With all that said, I’d like to thank you for watching. I hope you found
this video helpful. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe to my channel. I’ll see you next time!