Samsung S25 FE Faulty App and Bad Service

Good day,

I am unfortunately forced to put a complaint in about the service and a phone that I bought from an MTN store on the 27 November 2025 from MTN at Irene Mall in Centurion, Pretoria. The gentleman, Godfrey, has been extremely helpful and accommodating regarding the issue I've had from the start and has really tried his best to assist me but Samsung has not been helpful at all. In fact, the service and the attitude I experienced from their store in Hillcrest, Hatfield has been very disappointing. Since I got the phone on a contract for a 36 month period from MTN, I have not been able to receive calls on WhatsApp. I use Business WhatsApp and when a call comes in it rings for a second and then goes off without sound, as if the phone is on silent. So I miss a lot of calls, I am a Real Estate Agent and rely on my phone for my work/business at all times. Missing calls means I lose business and I have signed a 36 month contract so I cannot struggle like for the next 3 years.

I have been to MTN more than 5 times to try to troubleshoot and try to find out what the problem is, without a solution. I have been to the Samsung store in Hillcrest, Pretoria three times already. The second time I took my phone in they literally wiped my phone completely clean. I had to do a backup before they did this, I still lost all my WhatsApp chats and many contact numbers. The technician by the name of Knox said that when I reinstall my apps I must do them one by one to see which app is blocking my WhatsApp. Which I find completely ridiculous, I am not a technical person and how do I see which app is blocking my WhatsApp calls, so the problem was not sorted out. I went back to MTN, Irene mall again for Godfrey to try to troubleshoot the problem again but he was not able to sort the problem out. He has been in contact with Samsung representatives but, I have not had any success in having my problem out. I have been told that I can book the phone into their repair centre but, I will be without a phone for up to 21 working days. This is completely out of the question, I do not have a spare phone and I cannot be without a phone for 21 working days. This is not a solution to my problem, in fact it is causing more of a problem for me. I cannot live or work without a phone for 21 days, please tell me who can. I asked for a loan phone, but that has not even been considered to try and accommodate me. I then went to the Samsung office again, for the third time this past Tuesday and spoke to Louis, the store manager who referred me back to Knox, I must be honest and say I did not feel like I was welcomed very well or made to feel like they really wanted to help me, the technician who assisted me the last time, a lady by the name of Knox was not very helpful at all and again she said that she told me that she told me to install one app at a time to see which app is blocking my WhatsApp calls. I told her that that is a ridiculous suggestion, as firstly I am not a technician or a technical person and how must I know which app is blocking my WhatsApp calls. She said that she also does not know, so she was not helpful at all. I then called Louis again and he tried to assist me. He reset all my apps on my phone and I thought that the problem had been sorted out, as the phone rang quite a few times when I asked different people to call me but, unfortunately the next day I received a call and it was doing the exact same thing again. I cannot reset my apps everyday. I spoke to Godfrey again and told him that my problem has still not been sorted out. We are now 2 months down the line, I have had no support from Samsung and I am extremely upset and disillusioned with Samsung. I have been a Samsung client since the S1 was launched, which is many years ago. I have had tablets and phones for many years but, I must be honest and say that I will not consider buying any more Samsung products after the very poor after sales service I have received from Samsung. They want me to go to the Samsung store again and I have refused because I have spent a lot of my time and money on petrol driving up and down without any solutions or assistance to my problem. If I do not get a solution to my problem or a new phone I will be taking this further online and making sure that all my friends and clients know about the very bad service I have received from Samsung. I am not prepared to wait any longer, as I feel I have been patient enough and accommodating enough. It is time for action now, Samsung.

From a very unhappy customer,

Sabrina