Review Samsung India Shop sent a broken seal box on a Tab S9 ultra book cover keyboard pre-order and denying a replacement

[sriharsha_m]

Hi all,

Long story short, I had pre-ordered a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra + Book keyboard cover from Samsung India Shop using my corporate account.
Tablet was shipped first and everything was fine.
A couple of days later the book keyboard cover was shipped as well and that's when the issue unfolded.

The shipment was sent by Bluedart and the outer package is perfectly fine, without any tampering,
but the minute I opened the actual product inside (Book keyboard cover), the box seal was already opened.
I was totally pissed off provided the order was from Samsung themselves and that too on a pre-order.
Another issue is that the keyboard invoice was sent with no serial number, although the product does have a serial number on the box.

I called their customer care immediately and raised the issue by email as suggested.
They had asked me to share the images of the outer package/product box in all angles etc.
They assured of a 4-5 day max ETA by which they'd come up with a resolution.

Post that there is complete radio silence from Samsung,
for the next two weeks, I kept calling them everyday and they keep giving some excuse or the other to apologize for the delay.
There was literally no update from day 1, other than their standard statement being "Our team is looking into and please give us some more time."

Two weeks later, once fine day they send an email stating that, they did some investigating from their end and I'm not eligible for any refund/replacement.
At this point, I was totally pissed off given I the amount I had spent on this pre-order and receiving a broken seal product.
Samsung customer care teams are literally useless and hence I thought of reaching out to the email CEO option,
which worked out very well more than a decade ago, when I last reached out to them.

Filled the form for CEO office escalation and this time the experience was completely different.
They promptly acknowledged the issue and assured to get back in a couple of days
and finally all they did was relay the same old information that was shared earlier,
stating that as per their terms & policies they cannot replace the item.

No one had an answer upon asking which policy states about broken seal products cannot be replaced,
they simply blabber the same words like a parrot, saying that the team (which I originally reached out to)
communicated the same. Turns out the CEO office team is even more pathetic in complete contrast to my earlier experience.

At this point I'm so pissed off that I wanted to take a legal route and asked them to acknowledge over an email, the following points,
to which they aren't willing to.

1. Acknowledge that they had indeed sent a sealed box and have necessary proofs for the same.
2. Acknowledge that Samsung won't mention serial number on tax invoice for any of the accessories,
   despite the serial number being printed on the product box.

Any suggestions on the way forward, please?
What's more irritating to me is the fact that I had ordered from Samsung themselves
and that too a pre-order of a product that's not in stores yet.
The single worded email responses are even more irritating, specially after wasting two weeks of time on the ticket.
The reason I wanted to take a legal course is due to the audacity of their responses
without any proofs.

 

[n1r0]

The contract was to deliver a working product, not luck based or buyer's risk. You buy online because YOU are protected from things like this. This is precisely why I laugh whenever I see a FS thread here where the seller thinks they can stipulate whatever conditions they want: shipping risk on buyer, will ship when it's convenient for them, etc. You should only assume this risk if you don't mind losing whatever amount you're paying, i.e. the asking price should be way lower than market. The seller can always bait and switch it with a non-working product, or hide defects.

• If you paid by credit card, call your bank and initiate a chargeback.
• If you used another payment method, use INGRAM portal to file a complaint against them, and name and shame Samsung on social media in the meantime. Also take this is a learning moment for using ONLY credit card for online transactions. It's not only convenient for you, but also the seller and anyone with ill intent in the delivery chain.

 

[sriharsha_m]

• If you paid by credit card, call your bank and initiate a chargeback.
• If you used another payment method, use INGRAM portal to file a complaint against them, and name and shame Samsung on social media in the meantime. Also take this is a learning moment for using ONLY credit card for online transactions. It's not only convenient for you, but also the seller and anyone with ill intent in the delivery chain.

Thank you for getting back.
I did indeed pay via credit card, but another complication here is that this was a combo order, the actual tablet + book cover keyboard + pre order vouchers.

If I initiate chargeback, given the conversations so far, Samsung as merchant would obviously reject the chargeback request.
Not sure what my further options are. Also the problem here is I do need the tablet + keyboard and don't want to return them as such.
All I wanted was a sealed replacement unit instead of the broken seal one I had received.

Also I might need to raise two chargeback requests in this case.
One for the pre-order voucher and then another for the actual product order.

 

[n1r0]

If I initiate chargeback, given the conversations so far, Samsung as merchant would obviously reject the chargeback request.

You are requesting your BANK for the chargeback, not Samsung. They haven't even been paid yet. When you use CC the bank tells the merchant that you're good for the transaction but doesn't actually pay them until much later.

The bank is on your side here: they know you won't pay the CC bill for a defective product. So they will pressure Samsung to either provide a replacement or threaten to not pay them at all.

 

[calvin1719]

I think OP means they can't charge back only a part of a transaction, since both things were bought in a single tx and there's nothing wrong with the tab.

 

[sriharsha_m]

You are requesting your BANK for the chargeback, not Samsung. They haven't even been paid yet. When you use CC the bank tells the merchant that you're good for the transaction but doesn't actually pay them until much later.

The bank is on your side here: they know you won't pay the CC bill for a defective product. So they will pressure Samsung to either provide a replacement or threaten to not pay them at all.

My worry is regarding the following points.
So I file a chargeback, Samsung denies it, submits a rebuttal letter.
At this point I assume they should provide a substantial proof,
which is what I had been requesting since the inception
and should prove my point atleast.

Like you said, I hope the issuing bank here in this case hopefully
will tilt in my favor given my credit history with them and the fact that I had never claimed any chargeback till date.

 

[n1r0]

I'm gonna say you're overthinking all this. You expressing your thoughts/understanding of the chargeback process here has no bearing on reality. Whatever will happen, will happen.

I will end by saying my card details were stolen once and used overseas. Another instance, I ordered something from abroad and never received it. In both cases a simple phone call to the bank + lot of waiting was all that was required to get both transactions reversed.

As to what happens regarding the combo let your bank and Samsung figure it out. Worst case you return the tab too.

 

[t3chg33k]

You are requesting your BANK for the chargeback, not Samsung. They haven't even been paid yet. When you use CC the bank tells the merchant that you're good for the transaction but doesn't actually pay them until much later.

The bank is on your side here: they know you won't pay the CC bill for a defective product. So they will pressure Samsung to either provide a replacement or threaten to not pay them at all.

Chargeback is easy for cases of fraudulent transactions as the amount is credited immediately before investigations are completed. For a normal transaction, it is much more difficult if you have received the product.

The CC issuer will first of all ask for all your documents in this case and then raise a claim with the merchant bank. If the merchant bank proves that the proof provided by the issuer bank is insufficient to conclusively prove what they are claiming, then the claim will be rejected and instead you have to pay additional charges to cover the arbitration process.

Unless there is a video recording present of the complete unboxing process, it will be difficult to prove the condition of the product at the time of unboxing. Best thing for now is to raise it also in the INGRAM portal and see if the response is different.

 

[sriharsha_m]

I'm gonna say you're overthinking all this. You expressing your thoughts/understanding of the chargeback process here has no bearing on reality. Whatever will happen, will happen.

I may indeed be overthinking a bit as I do need the product and moreover I lose out on substantial savings since this being a corporate account pre order. I need to spend atleast 25 to 30k extra if I want to reorder the same combo.

Anyways I really don't appreciate Samsung's attitude in dealing this issue and thanks for the pointer on chargeback as it totally slipped my mind.

I raised a chargeback request to my card issuer, let's see how things unfold. Might as well take a refund and get an iPad pro instead. Samsung has great product portfolio but third class service, down to their CEO office.

 

[t3chg33k]

My worry is regarding the following points.
So I file a chargeback, Samsung denies it, submits a rebuttal letter.
At this point I assume they should provide a substantial proof,
which is what I had been requesting since the inception
and should prove my point atleast.

Like you said, I hope the issuing bank here in this case hopefully
will tilt in my favor given my credit history with them and the fact that I had never claimed any chargeback till date.

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View attachment 176840

Your history with the bank means nothing. It is a RBI defined process where your proof will go against the merchant's proof. If you cannot prove it conclusively, then you will instead lose money.

 

[n1r0]

Unless there is a video recording present of the complete unboxing process...

This cuts both ways. Can the merchant provide a boxing video where they can prove they packed a working, undamaged product?

If you ship enough products, some of them will go missing/damaged, that's just statistical probability.

Having answered OP's original question about options, I will leave you to discuss the what-if's and the why-not's

 

[sriharsha_m]

Your history with the bank means nothing. It is a RBI defined process where your proof will go against the merchant's proof. If you cannot prove it conclusively, then you will instead lose money.

I unfortunately don't have a video of unboxing as I never anticipated this in the first place.

Also the tablet was delivered first and was fuss free. So the thought never even crossed my mind.

This atleast taught a good lesson to record every unboxing going forward, but thinking what's to stop them claiming it as doctored or something.

Also now I see the value of ordering from Amazon and how seamless their return processing is.

Samsung shop really is total crap.

Btw what about the invoice part?
The book keyboard cover does indeed have a serial number on the box, but the invoice doesn't have the serial number.

 

[t3chg33k]

This cuts both ways. Can the merchant provide a boxing video where they can prove they packed a working, undamaged product?

If you ship enough products, some of them will go missing/damaged, that's just statistical probability.

Having answered OP's original question about options, I will leave you to discuss the what-if's and the why-not's

I am going with my personal experience. I didn't receive a product to my satisfaction from one of the lesser known online websites.

Unfortunately, that transaction was made using a SBI card and they were stupidly horrible in setting up the chargeback claim, asking for a letter from the merchant to process the chargeback claim.

I had also filed a complaint on INGRAM and luckily the merchant came back from there and offered a partial refund.

I unfortunately don't have a video of unboxing as I never anticipated this in the first place.

Also the tablet was delivered first and was fuss free. So the thought never even crossed my mind.

This atleast taught a good lesson to record every unboxing going forward, but thinking what's to stop them claiming it as doctored or something.

Also now I see the value of ordering from Amazon and how seamless their return processing is.

Samsung shop really is total crap.

Btw what about the invoice part?
The book keyboard cover does indeed have a serial number on the box, but the invoice doesn't have the serial number.

The missing serial number is indeed wrong, but I am not sure if it is enough to reject the product as they might just provide a replacement invoice. Since you have filed the claim, go ahead with it and see how it goes.

But also file a complaint on INGRAM as it is quite possible that the issue might get resolved through it. For most major merchants, there is a separate team looking into consumer grievances than the regular customer support one.

 

[n1r0]

Wait was it the product that was broken, or just the seal?
If it's the latter, I'd suggest you save your time and energy and keep the product, as long as it is working properly

 

[rsaeon]

If it's the latter, I'd suggest you save your time and energy and keep the product, as long as it is working properly

I‘d echo this. We live in a very populous country, there’s going to be situations where you’d receive an unboxed but unused product, it’s the nature of mass produced consumer electronics.

You can choose to pursue this and force a resolution but be prepared to return both items since they were purchased together. They might also offer a refund after the items are returned (citing non-availability), forcing you to repurchase the items at the higher price. Both of these outcomes are within their right to pursue. Or they might just repackage the same item in a new outer box and return that to you, in that case you gain nothing and lose a lot of time. As you’ve experienced, serial numbers need not be present for a valid bill.

As long as the item is working, and you have full warranty with a valid bill, then there’s very little incentive for them to respond to these kind of requests.

I recently needed to make multiple six figure purchases and some of the items arrived sealed, some were unboxed, some had damaged packaging. Everything worked fine, so I didn’t pursue exchanges or refunds because everything is under warranty and (it’s my belief that) it’s really not worth anyone’s time to exchange a product for the sake of unblemished outer packaging.

 

[rkkaranrk]

Is something wrong with the cover or just the serial Number is not mentioned on the invoice?

 

[Rahyro]

If i was in your place, i too would have been upset about the broken seal.
However since its only the cover and its not damaged, its not worth pulling hair over it.
If it was the Tab with a broken seal box, then of course do everything within your rights.

 

[enthusiast29]

As said by others, stop pursuing this as it's a complete waste of time and money. Not to mention the mental stress.
Instead ask for a replacement invoice with Serial no. mentioned only as a cautionary step, you probably won't need it.