Samsung - Not so Smart Watch :-(

I did not intend to write this review, but as I shop to replace my smar****ch, I feel extremely pained and ********** by my most recent encounter with Samsung. For many years I have been singing their praises and filling my house with their products but my view of Samsung Customer Service and After Sales Support has left me reconsidering. Around 2 years ago I received a Samsung Frontier smart watch as a gift from my wife. The idea was that the device would assist in tracking my progress in getting more active and generally healthier. For the first year I used the watch for mostly gym workouts (treadmill, stepper, stationary bike) and hiking/walking. Later I started playing golf again and used the watch to track my shots and scores. During the second year I decided to start swimming and again thought the watch would assist in tracking my progress. After a few attempts in the pool my smar****ch suddenly switched off and refused to switch back on again. I tried to charge the watch - it did light up but the display was blank. I then took the watch to the Samsung Customer care center - not knowing that I was in for significant run around. On the initial visit, it was confirmed that the watch was still under guarantee as it was bought from a retail store. Unfortunately, even though the information was visible to the Customer Care center they required a receipt in order to accept the watch. As I had received the watch as a gift and a significant amount of time had passed, I was not able to locate the receipt. I then decided to visit the store to see if they could assist. After a couple weeks of waiting, I was able to get a document that showed the date of purchase and description of my watch. I took the document and watch back to Samsung and they accepted the watch for repair. A few weeks later I received call from the agent saying there was liquid damage and watch needed to be repaired at a cost of R5700. I highlighted that the watch was still under guarantee. I also highlighted that the watch was supposed to be waterproof and a few attempts at swimming should not result in liquid damage. Unfortunately the agent said there was nothing they could do and if I wanted I could escalate the matter. As I felt a smart watch should not be damaged by a few instances in water, I decided to escalate. There was no communication for some time but eventually I received a call from the person that my matter was escalated to. Unfortunately the response was exactly the same, requesting that I accept the quote and pay the said R5700 to get the watch repaired. It was again confirmed that the issue was liquid damage. I again explained that the watch was sold as being waterproof and tracking water activities was possible. Unfortunately all my explanation received no common sense or understanding. So I now sit with a watch that cannot switch on and is completely useless after roughly 18 months of use. Considering the price paid for the watch, and the matter not being any fault of mine (I was just using the watch to track my fitness), I find the Customer Support and After Sales Service to be extremely dissatisfying.