I needed a budget mobile phone so even though I had a choice of buying Lava, Maxx, Karbon, etc. phones for around Rs. 970–Rs. 1200, I still decided to go for a Samsung phone, thinking that Samsung was a much better brand overall. THIS WAS MY MISTAKE… that I trusted Samsung for its quality. On 19th April 2015, I purchased a ‘Samsung GT-E1207Y’ mobile phone, for Rs. 1450, from ‘Blue Star mobiles’ at Kapurbawdi, Thane (w), with a 1 year warranty.
The phone worked fine for the next 4 days but surprisingly, on the 5th day, the phone switched off on its own, thrice in the day. On the 6th day, the phone kept switching off at least 10-12 times, while using any key function and even while talking on calls. So, I called Samsung Customer Care on 180030008282 and was guided to take my phone to ‘Micro Services’ – Samsung’s Authorised Service Centre at Hari Niwas circle, Panchpakadi, Thane (W). I was also given their contact number.
I called them and complained about this phone’s malfunction. Since the phone’s problem started even before a week of the purchase, I asked for a new phone replacement and the lady at the service centre said that the phone could be replaced since it was less than a week old. So the next day, on the morning of Saturday 25th April, I went to ‘Micro Services’ and after examining the phone (Bill no. 4193204911), they said that they would send an email and approval request to Samsung’s main office, for the replacement and that I would receive a call in the evening before 7pm, to visit their centre the next day for the phone replacement formalities. I asked them how I could get the approval letter from them the next day as it was Sunday the next day and they might be closed but the 2 lady staffs at counter no. 1 & 2 informed me that the centre would be open and so it would not be a problem. So with this assurance I left the centre, hoping for a positive response from Samsung, through their phone call the same evening, as per their assurance. To my surprise I didn’t receive any call till 7pm so being a bit worried, I called ‘Micro Services’ but my calls were not answered. This left me more worried but also upset that I didn’t get a call back from the Samsung service staff, as assured by them. Believing their staff that their office would be open on Sunday, I tried calling them the next day, Sunday, 26th April, from 10:30 am- 11:10 am but surprisingly, no one answered my many calls to the service centre. Suspecting something wrong, I again called Customer Care Centre (Call REF. NO.: 8474013348) and was SHOCKED to learn from the support executive that their Micro Services, centre is closed on Sundays! I was amazed and shocked to hear this as it was the service centre staff themselves who assured me the previous day, of the phone replacement formalities to be done the next day, on Sunday. So that means that Samsung’s authorized service centre staff LIED to me ! I still couldn’t believe it or come to terms that an authorized service centre of a reputed company like Samsung could behave in such unacceptable and unprofessional manner with its customer. Firstly, I was upset and hassled that my new phone had malfunctioned and had to waste around 2 hours in all-travelling to the service centre, long waiting and getting the phone checked and after all the trouble, Samsung service centre staff has the audacity to lie and sort-of cheat their already hassled customer, even for their own faulty product??!! Being very furious I decided to register a complaint against ‘Micro Services’ for this ordeal I had to go through. I spoke to a support executive initially but I later demanded to speak to his supervisor or manager. After a very long hold (around 5-6 minutes), a supervisor came on the call and I narrated the entire episode to him, also expressing my utter frustration and disgust with Samsung as a company, because of the bad experience with their authorized service centre. The supervisor apologized for everything and said that they would pass on the negative feedback to the Micro Services service centre and would assure that my problem was looked into urgently and that I would get a call the next day (Monday, 27th April) to resolve my issue. He also gave me the mobile number 9930067703, for the owner of Micro Services – Laxman. He said I could also call this number to complain directly to the owner of the centre, while they too would follow up from their side. After this call I called Laxman’s mobile number 4 times but the call kept getting connected but there was no voice from the other side and after 4-5 seconds, the calls kept disconnecting, which made me even more upset and frustrated. THIS IS NOT THE END! – It is now 7:40 pm Monday and I waited for the entire day. Though I was supposed to receive a call to resolve my urgent problem and no one from either the service centre or the Customer Care Centre has bothered to contact me the entire day with an update about my issue. I just can’t believe I am going through all this mental ordeal and utter frustration with a so-called BIG reputed company like Samsung! Despite my official complaint to their Customer Care Centre, no one had addressed my concern and complaint. What is the Customer Care Centre for??! DOES SAMSUNG REALLY CARE???!!! This is absolutely DISGUSTING! First… bad quality phone and then worse levels of service from Samsung ! I never suspected I would be cheated by Samsung and that this company would go down to this low and unprofessional level, after gaining a big name in the market. Is this treatment given to me only because I purchased a low budget, non-smart phone, which is not expensive? Do Samsung’s product’s quality and services depend upon the cost of their products??!! I’m bitterly appalled and disgusted with Samsung’s unprofessional and callous attitude and behavior and would never purchase any Samsung product ever! I have just emailed Samsung this review at their website and would be calling them tomorrow, to give them a piece of my mind, but first decided to write this review on ‘Mouthshut’, so that I could also tell Samsung about it, as my feedback and reaction their horrible services. Let’s see if at least this makes Samsung act any better!!!