S7 and bad service

<p>I am pretty livid. I have had the worst experience with Samsung SA and SmartLab.</p> <p> </p> <p>I got my S7 the day it was released. On June 6th my PC reported a short circuit, the phone started heating up and my phone would not charge anymore. I have been charging my phone with the same laptop and cable since I got it and have been charging my S4 for about a year before using the same cable. The screen was still working fine.</p> <p> </p> <p>I tried to charge the phone with a couple of different cables and the phone seemed to damage a couple of them.</p> <p> </p> <p>I took it in on June 7th, the shop tested the phone and the phone charged ok. I had to convince the technician that there was an issue with the phone, the USB connector inside the phone was burnt and you could smell that it was burnt. They told me that they could not repair this in house and that it would take 4 to 5 working days to repair the phone. The phone’s glass, frame and back panel were all in perfect condition when I booked it in.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 9th I phoned SmartLab to find out what the status on the phone was only requested to be taken to them that day and that it was scheduled for pickup. Considering what they told me about the time it would take and that they could not repair the phone in house already had me rather irate.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 10th I received a quote for the repairs stating that the charging circuit needs to be replace as well as the screen, the screen would be covered under ADH. This was another blow. The screen worked fine, I don’t understand why this needed to be done.</p> <p> </p> <p>I accepted the quote on the 17th, On the 20th I received a message that they need to order stock.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 24th I went to fetch the phone for the first time. The back cover was now scratched and some of the paint seemed to have been scratched off underneath the glass. I sent the phone back to have this corrected.</p> <p> </p> <p>I received my second notification to collect my phone on the 1st of July. When I got to the store a sign was up to notify customers that customer care is only open until 6. There is no sign during the day to notify customers of this and I had to come back on Monday. According to the Samsung website the store would be open until 8 but there was no indication that the service department would be closed.</p> <p> </p> <p>I went back to the store on the 4th, the phone was in exactly the same condition as it were before I sent it back the first time.</p> <p> </p> <p>They assured me they would correct the problem and that I would have the phone back by the end of the day, before 3.</p> <p> </p> <p>Later that day I received a call to notify me that my phone would be ready for collection the following day, I received a notification that the phone was ready late on the 5th.</p> <p> </p> <p>I received a call to collect and was told I had to close off and pay the invoice before they could replace the back panel and that it would take only 10 minutes to do.</p> <p> </p> <p>It's the July 7th today and this morning I went back to the store to collect the phone, they were friendly for a change and knew me by name at this point. I paid the amount and they started to replace the back cover, I was then notified that it would be 30 minutes before I got my phone back and here we are.</p> <p> </p> <p>This was very poor service by the Samsung team, it’s been a month since I handed my phone over, given the week delay on my side it still took them 3 and a half weeks to sort out the phone.</p> <p> </p> <p>Through this whole ordeal I’ve spend almost three hours in their store waiting in queues, wasting time on having the same discussion with the same people and I had to make numerous trips to the store to have my time wasted.</p> <p> </p> <p>I also had to pay just over R900 for a fault on the phone that occurred under normal use, which is completely unacceptible.</p> <p> </p> <p>So much for brand loyalty.</p> <p>. </p>