I am going OFF Sumsang
Discussion
Ok - you know the company I am talking about, though it looks like I spelled it incorrectly. Let's call them Sumsang. They are based somewhere south of North Korea.
I was looking to change my phone, a mint Galaxy S7 Edge. When I say mint, I mean it. Not a mark. The only thing for me is that I would like more memory and battery capacity, so was looking at the new S10/Note 10 range.
1. Sumsang online
They offered me £150 for the phone online, subject to their terms and conditions. Everyone tells me, don't do it, they are a nightmare to deal with. They say you sent the wrong phone in, does not meet their quality criteria, and charge the difference with a £100 fine to MTR, the company that checks them out. OK - so I check the small print online in the T&Cs. They are not valid - only for the month of July 2019, but it is what is on their website as of now. £150 is OK, but not if there is a load of hassle. So....I went to a store.
2. Sumsang store
"Don't buy online' they say. 'You never get the trade in value they tell you'. OK, this confirms one fear, but sets off another. The Stores essentially bad mouth their master company's omnipotent online presence. 'We will give you a good price for it, plus a bonus £100 too!'. So, I have to unlock the phone, hand it over to an embryo, who takes it away out of sight, down loads my private bank details and porn, gets a price from the invisible magical phone valuing soothsayer, and comes back. 'We will give you £138 for it'. OK I say, but that is less than the £150 online. 'Yes, but you know where you stand with us the embryo bleats'. So I do I get £100 off on top I ask? . 'No. we give your £138, that's it'. Erm, but your blurb says an extra £100 off? So you value my phone at £38 then? 'Yes'. I say, look, stop messing me around. I am looking at a £1,099 piece of kit. Will you give me £150 for the old one. Zygote in suit says 'I will speak to the manager, but he's busy'.
I leave the shop and return 30 minutes later.
So do we have a deal I ask? 'Yes, but you have to buy a case from us'
I don't want one. They are rubbish. Last one broke in 6 months and cost £50
'We have a 6 month guarantee on them'
Do you? Thought it would be 12 months. Anyway, I just want a phone
You have to have a case. We can then knock £12 off it. We cannot do that on the phone, the computer says 'no'.
So I have to pay extra, in order to get the £12 saving compared to online?
Yes.
I shake the sales embryo by the hand and thank him for his time. I say I have had enough of all these shenanigans. Online purchase seems dodgy according to the shop, but shop won't match their own online price.
I get home and search the internet to find out this scenario seems very common with Sumsang. It is all bad mouthing and fear. They lost a £1,099 sale to me over £12. Oh well. I am now in the market for a new phone, but looking for one with wireless charging and decent memory, without the ball ache of buying one.
Sumsang - I loved your products and been a faifthful customer for 20 years. I wanted a new TV, but I guess embarking on that sales journey will probably finish me off!
I was looking to change my phone, a mint Galaxy S7 Edge. When I say mint, I mean it. Not a mark. The only thing for me is that I would like more memory and battery capacity, so was looking at the new S10/Note 10 range.
1. Sumsang online
They offered me £150 for the phone online, subject to their terms and conditions. Everyone tells me, don't do it, they are a nightmare to deal with. They say you sent the wrong phone in, does not meet their quality criteria, and charge the difference with a £100 fine to MTR, the company that checks them out. OK - so I check the small print online in the T&Cs. They are not valid - only for the month of July 2019, but it is what is on their website as of now. £150 is OK, but not if there is a load of hassle. So....I went to a store.
2. Sumsang store
"Don't buy online' they say. 'You never get the trade in value they tell you'. OK, this confirms one fear, but sets off another. The Stores essentially bad mouth their master company's omnipotent online presence. 'We will give you a good price for it, plus a bonus £100 too!'. So, I have to unlock the phone, hand it over to an embryo, who takes it away out of sight, down loads my private bank details and porn, gets a price from the invisible magical phone valuing soothsayer, and comes back. 'We will give you £138 for it'. OK I say, but that is less than the £150 online. 'Yes, but you know where you stand with us the embryo bleats'. So I do I get £100 off on top I ask? . 'No. we give your £138, that's it'. Erm, but your blurb says an extra £100 off? So you value my phone at £38 then? 'Yes'. I say, look, stop messing me around. I am looking at a £1,099 piece of kit. Will you give me £150 for the old one. Zygote in suit says 'I will speak to the manager, but he's busy'.
I leave the shop and return 30 minutes later.
So do we have a deal I ask? 'Yes, but you have to buy a case from us'
I don't want one. They are rubbish. Last one broke in 6 months and cost £50
'We have a 6 month guarantee on them'
Do you? Thought it would be 12 months. Anyway, I just want a phone
You have to have a case. We can then knock £12 off it. We cannot do that on the phone, the computer says 'no'.
So I have to pay extra, in order to get the £12 saving compared to online?
Yes.
I shake the sales embryo by the hand and thank him for his time. I say I have had enough of all these shenanigans. Online purchase seems dodgy according to the shop, but shop won't match their own online price.
I get home and search the internet to find out this scenario seems very common with Sumsang. It is all bad mouthing and fear. They lost a £1,099 sale to me over £12. Oh well. I am now in the market for a new phone, but looking for one with wireless charging and decent memory, without the ball ache of buying one.
Sumsang - I loved your products and been a faifthful customer for 20 years. I wanted a new TV, but I guess embarking on that sales journey will probably finish me off!
Edited by TUS373 on Wednesday 25th September 18:53
Why do I think an S7 is worth anything at all? Because Sumsang say it is worth £150 on their website as part ex, but their own shops offer a different deal with a different value.
When checking the online T&Cs that must be strictly complied with, they are invalid because their own contractual information is wrongly dated. Its a big corporate gone bad that cannot distinguish its elbow from bottom. Staff are clueless.
When checking the online T&Cs that must be strictly complied with, they are invalid because their own contractual information is wrongly dated. Its a big corporate gone bad that cannot distinguish its elbow from bottom. Staff are clueless.
Edited by TUS373 on Wednesday 25th September 22:14
I traded a not quite mint S7 edge on the samsung website and got the full £150.
I also bought my S9+ in their black friday sale, so it felt like i got a stonking deal at the time, in comparison to "upgrading" with my network or buying a replacement through another network's store.
So it's not all horror stories.
I also bought my S9+ in their black friday sale, so it felt like i got a stonking deal at the time, in comparison to "upgrading" with my network or buying a replacement through another network's store.
So it's not all horror stories.
Fair enough. It is good to hear of straightforward trades online. Its a shame that the horror stories have propagated by their own shops. I am glad I walked from the shop. When spending that kind of money, the buying experience has to feel right. It felt very very wrong with an arrogance from them which has to extent tainted my perception of the brand.
Think we are so close to other phone launches that I may wait it out and get something more basic overall. Sumsang are getting too cocky and I feel they have peaked. Not overtaken, but others are catching up quickly.
Think we are so close to other phone launches that I may wait it out and get something more basic overall. Sumsang are getting too cocky and I feel they have peaked. Not overtaken, but others are catching up quickly.
I unlike you was oblivious to my Samsung bubble. One day I realised I had Samsung :-
TV
Phone
Tablet
Printer
The first to run out of steam was my phone, for the last year or so I have had a cheap Umidigi One Pro. 4 gb Ram 64gb ROM, Octo-core, good battery and full International setup. Cost me £180 and so far very happy. May need to go more mainstream for 5G but on sim only this has worked out well. I'm on a sim only deal and I look at the cost compared to a premium brand. This only needs to last me 12 months to be worth it.
For what it's worth my TV went bang after 5 years and i have replaced with a cheap as chips 49" Toshiba at £300, better picture and the connectivity to my NAS is better.
My tablet is a over 5 year old galaxy tab s 8.4, will replace with premium product as I use this a lot, but has been great and if Samsung were offer a comparable product I would probably go for it based on previous expierence.,
FYI Printer still running well (M series Laser)
TV
Phone
Tablet
Printer
The first to run out of steam was my phone, for the last year or so I have had a cheap Umidigi One Pro. 4 gb Ram 64gb ROM, Octo-core, good battery and full International setup. Cost me £180 and so far very happy. May need to go more mainstream for 5G but on sim only this has worked out well. I'm on a sim only deal and I look at the cost compared to a premium brand. This only needs to last me 12 months to be worth it.
For what it's worth my TV went bang after 5 years and i have replaced with a cheap as chips 49" Toshiba at £300, better picture and the connectivity to my NAS is better.
My tablet is a over 5 year old galaxy tab s 8.4, will replace with premium product as I use this a lot, but has been great and if Samsung were offer a comparable product I would probably go for it based on previous expierence.,
FYI Printer still running well (M series Laser)
Try these, I believe that the MSE suggests they are the only comparison site approved by the relevant whatever authority. Always had better deals on there with my kids phones than dealing directly. Then take some time to find somewhere that will give you a decent price for your current phone, maybe even consider selling on ebay, even decent S6s fetch more than £150 on there.
https://www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk/
https://www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk/
They are a lovely company.
If you are a key supplier to them with world leading tech to go into their product ( eg... you invest hundreds of millions... and come up with a new technology - and no one else in the world knows how to make it ).....
After 5 years - they will give away your tech to other companies to reverse engineer it saying ( "you made your money out of us.... now it is a commodity.... come up with a new tech to make it even better..")
And being owned in part by the state means your chance of success in the courts is zilch.
As I said... a lovely company.
If you are a key supplier to them with world leading tech to go into their product ( eg... you invest hundreds of millions... and come up with a new technology - and no one else in the world knows how to make it ).....
After 5 years - they will give away your tech to other companies to reverse engineer it saying ( "you made your money out of us.... now it is a commodity.... come up with a new tech to make it even better..")
And being owned in part by the state means your chance of success in the courts is zilch.
As I said... a lovely company.
Just flog it on Gumtree. Cash in your hand, job done, and I expect you'll get more for it than Sammy have offered. Just advertise it will lots of photos of its condition and stress this in the description. In my experience phones sell quickly on gumtree and people generally understand that if they want the phone they can't take the piss wasting time with silly offers because someone else will buy it in the interim.
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