International Returns with Amazon/Bhphotovideo.

Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 09:08
Last edited 12/09/2019 - 09:10

Hi all

I purchased a Samsung Chromebook V2 in February and have had problems with it the last couple of months. It has been crashing and entered ‘recovery mode’ 5-6 times, which is then recovered by downloading software externally and reinstalling chrome OS by USB. I called Samsung and they believe it might be the motherboard (covered under warranty).

I purchased the laptop from the United States on recommendation of a few people on ozbargain, from B&H Photo Video for US$499:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=email&A=d…

Samsung Australia wants nothing to do with it. Samsung is refusing to deal with the warranty process unless I send it to a relative in USA, then send it on to them (approx $140 return post). On the bhphotovideo website it mentions a 12 month warranty, and no mention of international purchases being exempt. I’ve checked the amazon listing since and it clearly has a disclaimer about international warranty may not be covered by manafacturer, where as bhphotovideo has nothing.

Bhphoto video are also refusing to help with the returns process as it’s past their 30 day cooling off period, even though their website that ships internationally and mentions a 12 month warranty.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? I can’t be the only one.

I’m obviously in a bit of a pickle, anybody have a suggestion on the best way out of this? Do you think bhphotovideo should share some of the responsibility due to their misleading ad listing?

Thanks in advance all.

General Discussion

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Comments

  • foxmulder on 12/09/2019 - 09:22
    +1

    In USA I think the warranty is processed by the manufacturer thus you need to contact Samsung USA. Don't mention anything about you are in Australia.

  • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 09:30
    +1

    You purchased from another country and saved most likely a substantial amount. You have to accept that this saving has a tradeoff and that is you either write it off if it fails, pay to have it fixed locally or you have to send to the USA for warranty work and pay to have it sent back most likely via a reshipper.

    People like you with your unrealistic expectations are why retailers will stop offering to ship internationally or will add on a substantial amount for warranty. Going on about disclaimers etc is just juvenile, are you an adult? If you are take responsibility for your decision and don't expect overseas companies to pay for your choices.

    The Chromebook has 12 months warranty in the USA where it was sold by B&H.

    You can't have your cake and eat it.

    I have an Asus Chromebook that I purchased from Amazon in the cupboard that died after six months. It wasn't worth sending it back to the US so I wrote it off. I'm still tens of thousands of dollars in front on all my overseas purchases including ovens, induction cooktops etc.

    • Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 12:10
      +1

      People like me? Calm down mate.

      Whilst I understand where you are coming from - this item isn’t available in Australia, I didn’t purchase from there to save money I simply purchased from there to buy the item.

      The website clearly stated it had a 12 month warranty, and they ship to Australia. Why should I have to put it in the cupboard and write it off.. because you think it’s juvenile to expect an item to last 6+ months? Get off your high horse.

      • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 16:53

        Whilst I understand where you are coming from - this item isn’t available in Australia, I didn’t purchase from there to save money I simply purchased from there to buy the item.

        So why would you assume that Samsung would warranty a product they don't even sell in this country? They wouldn't keep parts not have training on it and they may not still any of that type of product here.

        The website clearly stated it had a 12 month warranty, and they ship to Australia. Why should I have to put it in the cupboard and write it off.. because you think it’s juvenile to expect an item to last 6+ months? Get off your high horse.

        Their website also clearly states that all warranties are handled by the manufacturer or importer with the exception on one product they import themselves.

        You have options.
        1) Pay to send it back to the USA where it will be repaired and pay to send it back to Australia.
        2) Throw it away.
        3) Pay to get it fixed locally.
        4) Whinge on OzBargain.

        So again why do you expect B&H to pay for this? You are being totally unreasonable and unable to look at this in a logical manner. So I stand by my comments about you earlier.

        • Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 17:34
          +1

          Please read what I said again:

          “I’m obviously in a bit of a pickle, anybody have a suggestion on the best way out of this? Do you think bhphotovideo should share some of the responsibility due to their misleading ad listing?

          Thanks in advance all.”

          I simply asked the question, It wasn’t whinging. I asked if anybody had been in a similar situation and possibly a suggestion. I haven’t spent 10s if thousands on things from the US, I’m not you - I’m new to this.

          Maybe I am in the wrong, maybe I’m not- but I came here looking if help and I’ve found an angry man who’d rather antagonise and look for an argument than offer the assistance I thought this community could.

          I certainly don’t think I’m being ‘totally unreasonable’ at all.

          Please refer to ‘Garetz’ comment below to see how normal people communicate with each other.

          • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 22:14
            -2

            @Sm91: You are whinging, you keep saying that B&H were being misleading and so forth when they were not.

            How many times do you need to be told that sellers like B&H in the USA don't generally handle warranty claims and the manufacturer does.

            How many times do you need to be told that you need to return items to the USA for warranty claims with few exceptions.

            Accept that you are at wrong, B&H had done nothing wrong and make the decision to resolve this that is right for you.

            If you think this is you being told that you're an idiot I can't help that as I've stated the facts, provided you with an example and given you your options.

            If you had done some research on here or Whirlpool you would realise this.

            And yes you did save money, that Chromebook would have been at least 50% more if sold here so even with the $120 to ship it to the USA and back you are still in front.

            • Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 22:25
              +1

              @Maverick-au: You’re an angry man with a superiority complex, trying to get a rise cause you’ve got nothing better to do which is a bit sad.

              I’m done mate I don’t need your negativity, I was just asking for some help, not a lecture from dad.

              Maybe find some more threads to talk about that sweet bargain cooktop you keep telling everyone about.

              • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 22:34
                -3

                @Sm91: I don't have a superiority complex or I would be complaining on here about how my Chromebook died and that Amazon were deceptive and at fault.

                If you can't handle the truth maybe you shouldn't have asked for opinions. I'm not your mother and I'm not going to word it so your feelings don't get hurt. You're wrong about B&H being responsible, I told you why, gave examples and some options but you still persist with the notion that B&H owe you.

                If you consider this negativity you've led a very sheltered life.

                AU$140 postage on a AU$850 laptop seems a bit stiff to me.

                Why? $70 each way to and from the USA is cheap. It would cost you half that to send it to and from Perth.

                What exactly have you contributed to OzBargain BTW?

    • Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 12:16

      I also simply asked if anyone thinks bhphotovideo ‘should share some of the responsibility’ or not, which is a very reasonable question.. so please save me the berating - it’s people like you who piss me off on this website, jumping on everyone like they’re an idiot when they’re asking for advice.

  • DarthAntz on 12/09/2019 - 09:32
    +2

    I bought a TV a month ago from Bandhphotovideo, this thread will come in handy. Please let us know the outcome

    • Geoff-bargain on 13/09/2019 - 14:27

      I thought the shipping cost on a TV would make it not worth it to buy from USA?

  • HighAndDry on 12/09/2019 - 10:02
    +4

    If you bought it here, you'd be responsible for taking it back to the store.

    Apply that concept here too - you're responsible for sending it back to the store.

  • Quantumcat on 12/09/2019 - 10:54
    -1

    Contact Amazon, they may help you. Be insistent but polite.

    Then if they don't come to the party (due to being a third party seller?) try PayPal.

    If PayPal won't help try a chargeback, unless you think it might damage your relationship with your credit card provider.

    Then I would just suck it up and get it fixed locally if it isn't too expensive (>50% of just buying a new one). Sending back to the USA sounds risky and throwing a lot of money after something that may or may not result is receiving a fixed laptop in return.

    • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 16:41
      -1

      Contact Amazon, they may help you. Be insistent but polite.

      Why would you contact a different seller?

      Then if they don't come to the party (due to being a third party seller?) try PayPal.

      Why would you contact a company that has nothing to do with the transaction? Amazon don't use PayPal BTW.

      If PayPal won't help try a chargeback, unless you think it might damage your relationship with your credit card provider.

      You mean commit credit card fraud by making a false declaration as that is the only way to perform a chargeback like this after all that time.

      Then I would just suck it up and get it fixed locally if it isn't too expensive (>50% of just buying a new one). Sending back to the USA sounds risky and throwing a lot of money after something that may or may not result is receiving a fixed laptop in return.

      How is posting something to and from the USA risky? And don't Samsung have technicians able to fix things? Do they hire monkeys to service computer products?

      • Quantumcat on 12/09/2019 - 18:23
        +1

        How is posting something to and from the USA risky?

        Because it might get there and they might put you off for a long time, before eventually saying the repair isn't covered, and make you pay postage to receive it back. At least if you do it locally you don't have to pay for postage (assuming you live in a big enough city to find a repair place) and if they decide they can't repair it they won't be able to hold your computer hostage in another country where our consumer laws don't apply and our police have no jurisdiction.

        I didn't realise Amazon didn't use PayPal at all but that doesn't mean they absolutely will not help you if you purchased an item using their platform. I got a refund once for a pair of shoes bought from the UK from a third party seller just for enquiring after a month and a half if they knew anything about the tracking that I didn't.

        There is no fraud being committed if you tell your credit card company that you received a product that does not work properly. They might decide that's enough to issue a chargeback or maybe they won't. The only thing you have to lose is worrying about getting a reputation with the provider that you ask for chargebacks for not 100% justifiable reasons (eg fraud being committed). Other than that there's no reason not to try.

        • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 22:01

          Because it might get there and they might put you off for a long time, before eventually saying the repair isn't covered, and make you pay postage to receive it back.

          Why would Samsung do this? What would they achieve by denying warranty? Can you give some examples that Samsung has denied warranty service in the USA from Australians?

          if they decide they can't repair it they won't be able to hold your computer hostage in another country where our consumer laws don't apply and our police have no jurisdiction.

          Our consumer laws don't help you in Australia, you have to take legal action on your own. They have consumer laws in the USA that you could use if they denied warranty.

          I have no idea why you mention the police because they have zero authority to act in civil matters and won't even take a report.

          I didn't realise Amazon didn't use PayPal at all but that doesn't mean they absolutely will not help you if you purchased an item using their platform. I got a refund once for a pair of shoes bought from the UK from a third party seller just for enquiring after a month and a half if they knew anything about the tracking that I didn't.

          1) This has nothing to do with Amazon.
          2) You had a non delivery, this is covered by Amazon.
          3) This Chromebook was over six months old.

          There is no fraud being committed if you tell your credit card company that you received a product that does not work properly.

          It's fraud to make that claim as the product worked when it arrived and when it's under warranty.

          • Quantumcat on 12/09/2019 - 22:37
            -1

            @Maverick-au:

            It's fraud to make that claim as the product worked when it arrived and when it's under warranty.

            Was it faulty when it arrived or not? If it was faulty your credit card provider may help, and there's still no fraud. If it was not, then why would Samsung approve it for a repair under warranty, when it was not faulty before? You can't have it both ways. I don't have specific experience with Samsung but any company generally will try to get out of free repairs when they can. You may not be able to understand this risk but it is there and very real, I have had to deal with a few send-away warranty claims in my time. Especially since you don't know any details about OP's laptop, there's no way you can know if it will be approved for warranty repair or not. There's no telling whether Samsung might even tack on diagnostic fees to get the computer returned if they decide not to repair it under warranty. And if it isn't that's a lot of wasted money for nothing (two lots of postage fees and unknown other fees) and a long period of time without a computer (it is totally in the hands of several postage companies that you just have to trust, plus Samsung, any of which could produce a delay).

            • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 22:44

              @Quantumcat:

              Was it faulty when it arrived or not? If it was faulty your credit card provider may help.

              He already said that it worked when it arrived and recently it started playing to. No credit card is going to provide a refund over 7 months later.

              If it was not, then why would Samsung approve it for a repair under warranty, when it was not faulty before?

              Are you saying that you can't claim warranty on something if the fault didn't exist when you purchased it?!?!?! Samsung hasn't approved any repair.

              I don't have specific experience with Samsung but any company generally will try to get out of free repairs when they can. You may not be able to understand this risk but it is there and very real.

              You just keep making this stuff up!

              There is no free repair, they cost warranty claims into the price of the product! If they didn't honour warranty claims their name would be ruined. Google it and got can see that Samsung don't deny warranty claims on a regular basis.

              Especially since you don't know any details about OP's laptop, there's no way you can know if it will be approved for warranty repair or not. And if it isn't that's a lot of wasted money for nothing and a long period of time without a computer.

              If there is no physical damage from the OP why would Samsung deny warranty?

              Sheesh…..

              • Quantumcat on 12/09/2019 - 23:05
                -1

                @Maverick-au:

                Are you saying that you can't claim warranty on something if the fault didn't exist when you purchased it?!?!?! Samsung hasn't approved any repair.

                Er, yes. If you receive a working brand new computer and drop it, or swap out components that cause it to malfunction you don't get a warranty repair.

                If a computer has had some kind of mistake in the manufacturing process so it overheats, you get a warranty repair.

                If there is no physical damage from the OP why would Samsung deny warranty?

                Installing bad drivers, malware, things like that could cause behaviour like the OP is seeing. The business it was bought from could have done something dodgy before OP bought it. You don't know if you haven't had a chance to inspect it and neither will Samsung.

                It is pretty stupid to spend some minimum amount of money sending and receiving it where that is the absolute best case scenario, without even seeing what it would cost to get it fixed locally. The local repair could even cost less than this. And sending it to Samsung might cost a lot more than the minimum amount, there's no way to tell in advance what will happen.

                It is like if you had a painful wrist and you have a choice of either buying a splint and some ice and hoping it is just a little strain and it'll be better soon, or, taking out health insurance and being protected if it is something worse. Instead of even enquiring about the insurance you leap on the splint and scream "lalalala!" to avoid having to hear anyone talk about what it could be if it isn't just a strain, meanwhile, the insurance might cost less than the splint, or if it costs more, at least it is a fixed cost you're happy with and there's no risk of something you can't afford. But for some reason you just refused to hear about any other possibilities because you were convinced it was just a strain even though you can't see inside your wrist and aren't a doctor so there's no way you can have any idea. In this hypothetical scenario your wrist turns out to be a fracture that needs surgery and you go bankrupt. Moral of the story - keep your mind open and consider wider possibilities besides only what's in your own head, there could be more cost effective and less risky options in there.

                • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 23:21

                  @Quantumcat: Bad drivers and malware on a Chromebook?

                  And a new motherboard from Samsung fitted for under $140…. Hahahahahaha

                  They don't even stock the part and it would be a special order and non refundable if that wasn't the problem.

                  If the OP didn't physically damage it there is no reason why Samsung wouldn't repair it. Spending $140 to fix a $900 product is a pretty simple choice to make.

  • garetz on 12/09/2019 - 11:07
    +3

    Bhphotovideo has no responsibility to warranty international customers, they are not bound by australian laws or regulations enforced by the accc, you are out of luck. That is the risk you take buying internationally, you buy it slightly cheaper, but if it needs warranty, you are 100% responsible for any and all costs associated.

    good luck

    • Sm91 on 12/09/2019 - 12:20

      Cheers I’m just working this all out now, unfortunately it wasn’t ‘cheaper’ as the item is only in the USA.. just a little dissappointing.

  • dcep on 12/09/2019 - 14:54

    It's funny how the responses here toned/sided between US sellers like Amazon, VS China sellers like Gearbest/Banggood, on similar situations.

    • HighAndDry on 12/09/2019 - 16:41

      I haven't noticed that big a difference, but one distinction might be that US sellers don't so overtly target overseas customers, whereas a lot of Chinese sellers do.

    • Maverick-au on 12/09/2019 - 16:58

      I don't see a difference between them, you buy from overseas and you have to accept the risk of warranty and weigh it up against the risks. Most companies will help for early life failures which can mean 7 days to a few months but outside that you can't expect anymore.

      As I said earlier I'm tens of thousands of dollars in front after purchasing everything from torches, Chromebooks, ovens, induction cooktops, taps, power tools and so forth.

      Is it annoying when it happens? Sure but you have to look at it in the context of the savings.

  • Whisper Quiet on 13/09/2019 - 11:22
    +1

    Bhphoto don't have an Australian part unlike Amazon and Newegg. So warranty is very difficult with them. Amazon US went to the moon and back with every claim I made for a power supply that had issues after over 2 years old (replacement 1st time then after another failure a refund, plus all postage paid for there and back) Newegg was a bit different with a keyboard, had to threaten with Australian consumer act before they gave me a partial refund as some keys were faulty (after 1 month). Maybe try the same with consumer act for Bhphoto. Only other option is to send it to Asia where the international warranty is due from Samsung, contact HQ there. Much cheaper for postage.

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