Samsung Fails

In August 2022 I purchased a Samsung Active 2 watch for my son. In December 2023, and 4 months out of the 1 year warranty, the watch screen displayed a reboot screen constantly. We took it to Samsung Eastgate, to find out what was wrong with it. To book the watch in cost R200. A week later I received a call from Samsung Eastgate saying that they are very sorry, but the Motherboard is faulty and that it would cost R3200 to repair. Keeping in mind that I’ve already paid R200 to get this diagnostic/damage report, the watch would in total cost R3400 to repair, which is the price of a brand new one. Logic dictates that this is uneconomical to repair. My question to them was “what made the motherboard faulty?” and the response was it’s out of warranty. One cannot open it and tamper or damage the motherboard. How does it break? Again, the response was, “I’m sorry, it’s out of warranty”. No reasonable explanation as to why the motherboard is faulty. I was not going to accept that, so I logged on the Samsung website, followed procedure to log an enquiry both with the service department and with the CEO. Within 24 hours, I received a response from the service department requesting me to take the watch to Eastgate and to one other service centre. Shocked and disappointed beyond belief. This immediately made me realise that my complaint had not even been read by a person, as I had stated in the complaint that I took the watch to Eastgate who gave me the damage report. I even attached the diagnostic report which states Samsung Eastgate. It states on the report PBA is faulty. I have numerous questions. Is an AI responding to enquiries, so there is no human understanding? What would make a PBA faulty? Why would they recommend one pays for a new motherboard, when one cannot physically open and break the motherboard. Surely to goodness if it a component of Samsung that is faulty, Samsung should replace that – or are the motherboards of such substandard quality that they last all of 16 months? I am just told it’s out of warranty. SO my question is this – how long are motherboards meant to last in Samsung watches? Simple English. No answer can be given. How come? This time a person by the name of Tiffany called. Not only was this person rude, and not understanding of my problem, she handled the matter in a very military like fashion, it’s out of warranty, there is nothing that they can do, she is closing the ticket. End of story. I was extremely upset and told her that I would not accept what she is telling me as I cannot understand what would make the motherboard faulty. The response was it was not defective when I bought it and there are several factors that could make it faulty. So, what made it faulty? She was rude, arrogant and should not be in Customer Service. She did proceed to close the ticket on line – confirming my email address on the phone, but addressing it to a person with a different surname. Pretty much buried the case. Samsung employs this calibre of people to shrug off legitimate product failures? First they asked me to take the watch to the store I had take it to, and then closing the case with the customer’s surname incorrect. One mistake after the other. A day later, a gentleman by the name of Alpha called to do research about Ti*****’s service. Well, if that was not the joke of the matter. Samsung is interested in their Staff failures, to up their assertive demeanour towards clients, without giving them legitimate answers as to why their product is failing and for the consumer who has bought into their product, to accept that the Samsung products is nothing short of ******* because that was what Tiffany was trained to do. My questions are simple: 1) What caused a motherboard failure? 2) How long are Samsung watches meant to last? Because I did not invest in what I thought to be a reputable brand for only 16 months. Keeping in mind that I am extremely brand loyal, I own a Samsung TV, all our phones in our household are Samsung, a Samsung tablet, but I do now wonder if it is the correct brand as the service has left a lot to think about. The biggest joke is that the same watch is still being sold by retailers. I’m not one to bicker about small things. This is not small to me. I bought this as a gift, and it has failed, and so has your staff. I’m also not one to threaten about the media, but you have really left me no choice in the matter. I do not accept the faulty/failure of the product or the shocking and disappointing customer service.