Samsung presales gimmicks

I am unhappy with the way this Company treats its customers and the brand once they have sealed the deal. I am a loyal customer of Samsung and my house is full of its products. During this year I have had two distasteful experiences with the way I have been treated. 1. In March this year (2019) I pre-ordered the Samsung S10+ and was promised the BUDS as a gift. I have never received them. At this stage I did not think much of it and did not keep detail notes. But this experience taught me a lesson as I detail the second below. 2. In August this year (2019), I pre-orderd the the Galaxy Note 10+ again I was promised a gift voucher to the value of R3500.00. A Samsung representative assisted me to request the promised voucher online and he told me to expect delivery within 21 days. He explained that the gift pack will include a Samsung fit watch, Samsung care and R3500 Samsung voucher. Twenty one days came and gone, I received none of these pre-order gifts.

This time I decided not to let the Company off the hook. I called the representative of Samsung to enquire, he does not take my calls. On the 5 October 2019, I phoned their HQ, the lady who took my call requested my voucher reference number which I duly provided. She advised me that according to their records, they tried to deliver around the 11 September 2019 however they could not trace me. I then indicated to her that the fact that I called her, it show that I am fully alive and be traced! Surprisingly, she again asked for my delivery address. This request sounded odd because they were supposed to be in possession of my delivery address. I pointed out this oddness and went on to provide her with my address again. She promised delivery before the end of the following week. On the 9 October 2019, I made a follow-up on the exact date of delivery. The lady that took my call for my order reference number. She sounded very hesitant and told me that she was escalating my call and provided me with a reference number. Later that day another employee of Samsung called me and advised that they closing my call because the promotion has expired. I told him that I am not accepting his explanation because on the 05/10, I was promised delivery which meant my gift was there and if needs be, he must escalate the matter to the CEO's office. On the 11 October things began to heat up. Samsung employees were adamant that I will not receive the gift because they have been to my Office numerous times and could not deliver because of my unavailability. This sounded very suspicious because the whole of September I have been in my Office and I am very easy to find, the only difference is that where I am working the distance between my Office and the main reception area is 2 kilometres. Anybody that comes and deliver must phone me in advance for me to be able to drive to the reception office to receive the delivery. Finally I told this specific employee that I was coming to their Offices to speak to their CEO. Upon hearing this threat she decided to escalate my call to the call centre manager. The Manager promised to investigate and give feedback. When I did not hear from the manager, on the 16/10, I decided to call him. I was told he was in the meeting they will request to call before end of business. End of business came and there was no call. On the 17 October I called again, this time I was told my matter has been refereed to their sales department to see what can be done. I told them in no uncertain terms that the only solution is for them to deliver the gift. On the 21 October, Samsung called and requested that I provide them the contact details of an alternative person (colleague) to receive my gift, I obliged. On the 22 October, I called Samsung for two reasons first to find out when will the delivery take place and secondly to indicate to them that from the 23 - 25 October both the alternate colleague and I will not be in the Office to receive the gift as we have a business commitment elsewhere. Then came the bombshell. The Samsung employee told me that they have been to my Office and they did not find my colleague. I immediately told the Samsung employee that she was lying and should really be ashamed of her lies as I was with my colleague. She then indicated that she will contact the delivery company and give me feedback. Later in the evening she called me and indicated that she was unable to reach the delivery company she will try again the following morning after 08:00 and advise further. I then indicated to her that I am sick of their lies and will prefer to collect the gift personally at delivery company as I have already told her that I have engagements. On the 23 October at 07:45, I received a call from the delivery company indicating that they were delivering to my office! I told this gentleman that it will be very difficult as I have informed Samsung of my unavailability at the Office. He then wanted to know where I was because they deliver anywhere in the country. I told him that it was ironic because the whole of September they could not deliver in my Office a mere 45km from their premises. He then indicated to me that the reason they could not deliver was that they did not have my contact details and the delivery address, they were only given this information the night (22 October) before! I was dumbfounded with this piece of information. I requested the gentleman to provide me with their office address and I will collect personally. It became very clear to me that Samsung was lying all along they had no desire to honour their sales gimmick. At 08:05, the Samsung employee called, I was upset, I was having a business engagement. I thanked her for having helped me and told her that I have arranged to collect the gift. She wrote me an e-mail to confirm this arrangement. This was the first e-mail ever since this drama started; where did she get my e-mail address?

On the 25 October I went to the delivery. The following is observable: On the delivery bag, there are three documents that are suppose to contain my contact and delivery details. The information in all of them is not the same!

The biggest shock came when I opened the package. Only the Samsung Galaxy fit has been sent. The model that is the packages retails at around R600.00 where is the rest of the R3500.00 worth of goodies? Before we forget when am I receiving the BUDS? These are the question that I want Samsung to respond to through your platform. I have spent around R40 000.00 in Samsung products in the last six months. Do I have to be treated like this? Samsung is failing its customers. Someone needs to own up! Lesson to be learnt, before putting pen to paper on any Samsung sales gimmick, demand the gift first and this is what I am going to do as I love their products. My next on the list is the foldable phone. I am going to pre-order it!