I dropped off my phone yesterday at a ubreakifix store per Samsung support to pay for an out of pocket repair because the battery was bulging and lifted off the back of the phone case. After two hours with no update, I called the store and was told the phone was not passing the quality control check because of an mmWave issue. Now the store is holding my phone hostage because they are waiting for Samsung to approve an exception to bypass the quality control check. I WANT MY PHONE BACK! Even though they replaced the battery they will not release it to me with the new battery, but said I can have it back with no battery because by law they cannot put the swollen battery back in. I dropped off to them a working phone and they will only either give me back a non-working phone (basically a brick) or hold my phone in perpetuity until Samsung responds to the exception request. THIS IS THEFT OF MY PROPERTY! SAMSUNG BUYERS BEWARE OF THESE SCAM REPAIR SHOPS THAT ARE CONTRACTED WITH SAMSUNG. My phone is not under warranty and when I called Samsung for help with repairing it because it was a fire hazard, they just said it was my problem, yet now they will not give it back to me because it is a fire hazard! Had I known any of this I would have taken it to a non-Samsung contracted repair shop. I need my phone for work and now I will have to take off from work due to this nightmare and a defective battery that Samsung is not being held accountable for. Are there any U.S. based phone numbers for Samsung that I can call to get some help from someone to escalate this who understands English?
You should tell them that the phone is not under warranty, so that Samsung should have no say whether or not it passes quality control. You are paying out of pocket for the repair, and they know this. Tell them you will sign any waiver of liability, seeing as they told you something else is wrong with the phone and you want it back as is, with the new battery that you paid for. Now, I don't know if they are scamming you to get more money for another repair, but I have never heard of anyone withholding returning a repaired, non-warranty phone waiting for approval from the manufacturer to release it. You can always ask for the QC report and the exact nature of the mwave defect and how much it will cost to repair it - but you have the right to refuse repair (me, I'd want a phone that is not likely to fail in the near future). FYI, once a phone is out of warranty, you can take it any place you want (if your state has a "right to repair" law, you can take it anywhere you want even under warranty) - the benefit of taking it to a brand's authorized repair shop is that they have access to genuine parts and are familiar with the inner workings of the devices. Tell them you are headed to the PD to put in a report of the theft of your phone if they don't return it to you with the new battery installed. Also, you can take the phone back without the battery as long as they don't charge you for it, and either take it somewhere else or buy a battery online and replace it yourself. I'm sure there are YouTube videos on how to do it.
Because of the agreement Samsung has with ubreakifix they follow Samsung's standards solely.
I tried to get a phone screen repaired and they told me they refused to do it because my back screen was damaged and Samsung required both to be repaired.
You can go to a non-samsung partner but like everything if it's super cheap it's super cheap for a reason
They do not have to get clearance for a non warranty repair. If they return the phone to you without a battery, they cannot charge you. They cannot force you to make a repair you do not want. Just like you have a right to repair, you have a right to not repair. Samsung has no control over a device they are not paying to repair. They may be correct about not being able to return the phone with the original battery, but they cannot hold your data hostage - that's theft. Unless they are going to charge you the equivalent price of a new phone, have them repair whatever is wrong with the mwave. It's up to you how much you are willing to fight to get your phone back. Me, I'm putting in the theft report. You are entitled to see all diagnostic reports.
Yup, you might want to check if your mobile provider has a insurance through them. Because these people are not at all connected to mobile service is, so they don't want to release it most likely, because it's a liability issue
