Samsung South Africa with non-existent customer service

I bought a Samsung 65 inch Q60A television on 24/01/2022. I found a defect on the display and made the mistake of reporting it to Samsung South Africa on 31/01/2022.

I reported the defect via the Samsung live chat support: https://livechat.support.samsung.com/Customer_new/AFRICA_EN. The person assisting me gave me a reference number after I had explained the problem to him. He informed me that I would be contacted between 3 and 5 working days. I made a screenshot of the reference number.

After 5 working days I called Samsung Support on 07/02/2022 and gave the reference number VDE] ***2 . I was informed that the reference number was only the reference number of the chat and that my problem was never logged into their system. I then explained the problem again and got a transaction number. Samsung had to remotely access my TV to verify that the settings were not causing the problem. This only happened on 11/02/2022. It was found that the settings were not the cause of the defect and I was promised that I will be contacted by Samsung to replace my TV.

I called again today (15/02/2022) to enquire when I will be contacted for the replacement. I was informed that Samsung Service Tracking department was waiting for authorization to do something – I do not know what. It is now 2 weeks and a day since I first reported the defect and I am still waiting for the issue to be resolved.

With hindsight, I should have taken the TV back to Makro where I bought it.