SAMSUNG - this is PATHETIC!!!

Are you STILL not going to respond to my emails or phone calls?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!!!

You would be disgusted and furious if a company treated you like this!

I am now taking to social media and will post this story everywhere I can. I hope that manages to get your attention...

Please see the email I sent last week, which has STILL not been responded to. And I can now add - I called the complaints department at Samsung South Africa and the lady I spoke to PROMISED to call me back same day but she never did. That was on MONDAY. Today is Thursday and still nothing.

This is pathetic...

Samsung South Africa,

My reference numbers are: VA080 or ********** 808

Name: Tivan Bumstead

My phone - a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - was booked in on 29/12/2017 to have a faulty battery replaced. The battery had been changed less than 3 months earlier at your Smart Care Centre in Century City, Cape Town. The battery - or something else - was immediately faulty and drained very quickly and the phone was constantly hot - far hotter than normal! Since it was still in the service warranty period I sent it back to have it replaced again. As I said, this was on 29/12/2017.

Now, here are the FACTS:

1. For the FIRST 6 WEEKS I DID NOT RECEIVE EVEN ONE PHONE CALL OR EMAIL to notify me what was happening with my phone or when I could expect it back.

2. During those 4 weeks, due to the lack of information from your side, I began trying to make contact myself. For ONE ENTIRE WEEK I could not get through to the Smart Care Centre AT ALL - either the phone would simply ring for minutes on end and no-one picked up, or the call would be dropped immediately. So I tried calling the main Samsung South Africa call centre for help. They tried to put me through but the same thing would happen - my calls were REPEATEDLY DROPPED. They supp**** me with an alternative number but it was OUT OF SERVICE. Samsung South Africa's main call centre could not supply me with A SINGLE ALTERNATIVE WORKING CONTACT NUMBER for the Smart Care Centre, or for any of the management that works there. In fact, Samsung South Africa COULD NOT EVEN MAKE CONTACT THEMSELVES WITH THEIR OWN SMART CARE CENTRE! The Samsung South Africa call centre staff told me that whenever they try calling the Smart Care Centre it just rings and no-one picks up!

3. I tried sending an email to the address supp**** by the automated voice message which plays when you try calling the Smart Care Centre. NO ONE RESPONDED TO THE EMAIL, even though the voice message recommends using email if you cannot wait any longer.

4. Whenever I called the Samsung South Africa call centre they promised to find out what was happening with my phone and get back to me - THEY NEVER DID. By now I must have tried calling Samsung South Africa about 10 times, but each time I call the agent cannot tell me what has happened to my phone and THEY NEVER CALL ME BACK.

5. Over the course of January I must have called the Smart Care Centre around 20 times, I estimate. Finally end of Jan/beginning of Feb I got through. I explained my situation politely and the great frustration with trying to get hold of them. I asked to speak to a manager and was told NO-ONE WAS AVAILABLE, but that someone would call me back. NO-ONE CALLED ME BACK.

6. A few days later I tried calling the Smart Care Centre again. Again NOBODY ANSWERED THE PHONE. So I tried calling the Samsung South Africa call centre AGAIN and spoke to one of the agents there. Once again I explained the seriousness of my case and that no-one had gotten hold of me to inform me about my phone. The lady said she would patch me through to the Smart Care Centre directly. Finally she was able to do so, after never having being able to do so several times before. She handed me over to a gentleman.

7. This person introduced himself as Alcado, the owner of the Smart Care Centre, and profusely apologised for the terrible and unacceptable service and said all he could do was ask for forgiveness. He said he would PERSONALLY take care of my case and would follow up to find out what had happened with my phone and get back to me. He PROMISED to do so THE VERY SAME DAY - BUT HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK.

8. A few days later I tried to make contact with the Smart Care Centre AGAIN. Eventually someone answered. By this time my phone had been in for 6 weeks and this was ONLY THE THIRD TIME SOMEONE AT THE SMART CARE CENTRE HAD ANSWERED THE PHONE! This time I had to be a bit more angry in the hopes that I would be taken more seriously. Again I asked for senior management. AGAIN I WAS TOLD NO-ONE WAS AVAILABLE. I asked for Alcado to contact me as a matter of absolute urgency. The lady PROMISED AND ASSURED me that she would PERSONALLY MAKE SURE that Alcado got hold of me the same day. Unfortunately, again, this did not happen.

9. Another few days passed and then finally I received a phone call. PLEASE TAKE NOTE - THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST TIME IN 6 WEEKS THAT ANYONE FROM SAMSUNG SOUTH AFRICA OR THE SMART CARE CENTRE HAD MADE AN ATTEMPT TO CONTACT ME!!! It was not Alcado and I have no idea who the man was. Again he apologised profusely and said there was nothing he could say to excuse the poor service. He informed me that somehow there had been a lapse in service but they would now be looking at my phone and he would get hold of me with further details. That was OVER A WEEK AGO and still NO-ONE HAS FOLLOWED UP!

10. Today is 21/02/2018. My phone went in on 29/12/2017. It has now been 7 weeks and so far I have STILL NOT RECEIVED ANY FEEDBACK about what has happened with my phone. Also, I have received ONLY ONE PHONE CALL IN 7 WEEKS.

11. In addition, Samsung South Africa, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all calls to the Smart Care Centre in Century City are answered with an automated voice message which states that they are "currently experiencing high call volumes" however that message plays no matter what time of day, or which day of the week one calls. Straight after they open in the morning, or just before they close, or in the middle of the day or ANY TIME whatsoever THAT MESSAGE ALWAYS PLAYS. I find this to be incredibly rude and very poor customer service - it can be nothing other than a straightforward lie to automatically play that message ALL DAY EVERY DAY no matter what the actual call volume is. So the very first thing that happens to your customers when they contact your Smart CARE Centre is that they are **** to directly! The fact that you are willing to lie to your customers like that shows how little regard you have for their concerns. Please don't try tell me that the Smart Care Centre has high call volumes at every single moment of every day - that is just a blatant lie. You should change that message immediately if you want to show your customers some respect.

To summarise, for the SEVEN WEEKS MY PHONE HAS BEEN IN:

NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON HAS EVER ACTUALLY INFORMED ME ABOUT MY PHONE THE SMART CARE CENTRE ONLY ANSWERED THEIR PHONE 3 TIMES MY CALLS WERE ONLY RETURNED ONE TIME, WITH NO ACTUAL INFORMATION ABOUT MY PHONE MY EMAIL WAS NEVER RESPONDED TO THE SAMSUNG SOUTH AFRICA CALL CENTRE STAFF NEVER ONCE RETURNED MY CALLS THE ONLY TIME I EVER SPOKE TO A MANAGER WAS WHEN I MADE THE CALL AND DESPITE HIS PROMISES HE NEVER GOT BACK TO ME

This level of service is pathetic and shows a complete disregard for your customers. This situation is precisely why some people walk into customer care centres and shout at the top of their lungs and make a huge scene and are rude to staff - because they have not been able to have their issue resolved any other way.

I expect someone to get hold of me immediately to address this completely disgusting lack of service and to rectify the situation with urgency. And so help me God that phone better come back to me in perfect condition.

Sort this out!

Tivan Bumstead **********