Samsung Swap Program - Z Flip 5 Online Promo (Bad Experience)

LSphehir on 31/08/2023 - 06:53

Has anyone had trouble with the Samsung Swap offer for the S23 series from the Z Flip 5 Promo.

Both my GF and I did the Swap from Flip 5 to Samsung S23+.

However 4 days after ordering and paying the $1 and paying the bond to Asurion for the trade in… Our order has been cancelled.
Then we both checked our bank statements and our transactions of $1 are both pending (an hour before I had checked my payment of $1 and it had gone through).
Called Samsung and they told us the order had been cancelled due to a bad transaction. I would of given this merit except for the fact it happened to both of us and we use different banks and different cards, so it definitely isn't on our end.
Samsung has escalated the issue to their E-commerce online support team and will take 7-10 business days. With no way of knowing the outcome and if it will still be within promotion dates, if they will honour the promotion or just reprocess the order. Meanwhile we need to keep our Flip 5's in great condition for the trade in.

I feel like Samsung are playing some sort of game here.
Kind of weird that Asurion have taken my money for an order that hasn't even been processed.

My friend is having issues with Asurion Trade Up. He hasn't got his bond money back from Asurion for sending in his Z Flip 5 for the S23+, despite being almost 2 weeks and no confirmation of his phone being received.

Both my partners phone (iPhone 8 valued at $108 for trade in) and my friends (note 20 valued at $250 for trade in) did not meet declared condition. So they turn around and say that the phone is only worth $1 and $30 and refund those amounts and keep the remainder of the bond. (Nice little money making system if you ask me. Take a phone and assess it at almost nothing, call you out for being dishonest and charge you a dishonest fee for it. Pretty dodgy and unfair considering they lose nothing and still see the phone and salvage it for parts)

I also had trouble with purchasing the flip originally because no one from Samsung could give me a Newsletter code because their site is crap and wouldn't generate a code. So lost out on $50 there.

Their customer service over the phone is always available with lots of different departments.
But when you really need something done no one can do anything. Which is really rubbish.

Samsung feel like a big machine with a bunch of Indian and Philipino call centre minions where no one can really do anything or make a decision to help you especially when it comes to money and orders and promotions.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences.

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Comments

  • Motek Benzona on 31/08/2023 - 07:34
    +2

    I stopped using Samsung trade in when Asurion when they decided to hold the money for the trade.

    I trade late model things that are worth a lot and there is no way I'm letting some corporation with no phone number based overseas take that kind of money from me on a promise that ends with THEIR inspection of a device that they then can claim anything is wrong.

    They are avin a laugh…more fool anyone who trusts them

  • mrkorrupt on 31/08/2023 - 10:35
    +1

    Samsung is the worst company but people keep rewarding it with their hard earned money.

  • vince088 on 31/08/2023 - 19:45

    Flip 5 just came out this month? and your swapping it for a s23 that came out in Feb????

    • Sphehir on 04/09/2023 - 07:15

      Yes because the S23+ is a better phone. Better screen, better cameras, better battery life. 👍

      • vince088 on 04/09/2023 - 14:48

        Good choice i went from fold back to s23 ultra too. Front screen too skinny for me

  • eug on 07/09/2023 - 12:54
    +1

    I traded in my Fold 4 for the Fold 5. Everything went smoothly with no issues. I got the full amount I was quoted for the trade-in plus the bonus credit.

    My friend did the same with his Fold 4, no issues.

    Another friend traded in her Fold 3 with cracked front screen for a Fold 5. The stated trade-in value was $80 plus a $300 trade-in bonus for a total of $380. That went through with no issues as well.

    A work colleague traded in his Fold 3 for the Fold 4 last year. He had no issues, it went through fine.

    I also traded in my Fold 3 for the Fold 4 last year. I had no issues either.

    Another friend traded in two S21s for two S22s last year. No issues at all.

    This is just a reminder to be aware of publication bias. If everything works as it should, there's not much to say so people don't bother posting about it. But if something goes wrong, they'd be much more inclined to start a forum post to get more info or simply to vent, which is understandable.

    There will always be issues with devices or trade-in programs like this. The more popular the device or brand is, the more issues you'll read about because there are more people buying it overall. What matters is the percentage of people encountering issues which unfortunately is difficult to determine.

    • Sphehir on 09/09/2023 - 13:38

      Instead of acting like everything is OK… Understand companies need to be held accountable when things do go wrong. If they want to operate on a large scale capacity and make it difficult to resolve issues when something is wrong then there is a huge problem. Yes great that all your experiences were fine. And given probability most peoples experiences will be fine, but don't be naive and think they are a great company because they got it right 9/10. Yes nothing is perfect but companies need to be better at resolving issues and this is what this post is about!

      • eug on 10/09/2023 - 08:57
        +2

        Instead of acting like everything is OK…

        Where did I act like everything is OK?

        Understand companies need to be held accountable when things do go wrong.

        Yes. I support exercising your consumer rights. I hope you've lodged a complaint with Fair Trading as writing a post on a forum can only do so much to hold a company accountable.

        Yes nothing is perfect but companies need to be better at resolving issues and this is what this post is about!

        In the last line of your post you said:

        Let me know your thoughts and experiences.

        So I let you know my experiences which were positive. Were you only wanting to hear from people with complaints and negative experiences?
        That is the exact publication bias problem I described.

        • Sphehir on 18/09/2023 - 12:00

          Thanks for your feedback. I have been blinded by rage and has affected my ability to think subjectively. Appreciate the input! I have posted an update below!

  • Parktho on 11/09/2023 - 20:30
    +1

    Just checking in here to say that I am having the exact same experience for the same swap: Flip5 to S23+. They are holding my $1190 security deposit despite admitting they have received the phone, but still haven't assessed it after three weeks. Trying to get through to them via the Samsung customer service is a nightmare. At some point, it must be viable to lodge a complaint about this company and its practises with the ACCC.

  • Sphehir on 18/09/2023 - 11:59

    Update
    Asurion have refunded both my partner and I however it has been over three weeks.
    The error for the transaction has not been rectified or clarified so still unsure why the payment didn't go through.
    Hesitant to do the swap program again just in case we go through the same roller-coaster ride! We have until Sep 30 to take up this offer…

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