What a mess!, after I took advantage of Samsung promotion to buy the S8 at a discount after trading in my S5, they came back and charged me $125 because they say the S5 does not meet their normal wear and tear condition, The S5 I sent was in a very good condition with no breaks or cracks or other visible defects that go beyond normal wear and tear, it also powered up and held charge, and I did package the phone ridiculously well. Fortunately, I took pictures of the phone right before I sent it that shows the good condition of the phone. called Samsung ecommerce dept and filed an escalation ticket on 10/3 and they said they will get back to me in 7-14 days but they didn't so I called back on 10/24 and a clueless Rep. whose most of her answers were "I don't know" finally said that there is a lot of such cases escalated and they have to check all those phones so there is a big queue of escalation tickets and that she does not know when they will get back to me on my escalation. In the mean time, Samsung went ahead and charged me the $125. I googled this issue and here comes pages upon pages of many people having the same issue where Samsung is basically trying to rip them off their well deserved trade in rebate. I have been a loyal Samsung user for a long time, purchased their phones since the Galaxy S2, along with TVs, laptops, SSD drives, and a Washer/Dryer set. I have no idea how and why a company like Samsung is adapting such practices, I'm not sure if those practices are straight up fraud or just gross incompetence. Is that their best idea to increase the company's revenues, especially after the staggering loss of revenue from the Note 7 fiasco?!. Definitely my brand loyalty will change after such dishonesty on Samsung's part. My advice to anyone having the same issue is to contact their credit card company or TD Bank (if you financed the phone purchase) and dispute any frivolous charges Samsung may try to throw at you. Also place complaints with the BBB, FTC and CA Attorney General Office. Post on Social media and warn other people not to fall victims to Samsung predatory practices.
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