Samsung will actually replace your screen free of cost for the display line issue even if it's out of warranty. Just that You have to be a little persistent.
Here is what happened with me. My S21 FE exynos got a line which later became a couple of more lines, a week after the April 2024 security update. Initially I visited the service centre and they told me that there are no offers or discount and I will have to pay 10k for the repair. They entered the said data on a worksheet and sent me. I then mailed to support.india@samsung.com regarding the issue along with the log from service center to which I didn't get a reply for 15 days.
Then I tried calling the Toll free number and the response was rude and they claimed that it was not any issue from samsung and it might be something related to my usage pattern. The guy just kept repeating the same sentence for anything I asked further.
Then I gave a complaint in the National Consumer Helpline [NCH app]. I got a call from samsung within 2 days.
A wonderful guy named Mr.Gobi called and he was the point of contact for later communication. I was asked to present the phone at service center again for inspection and running diagnosis and a log was sent to head office. (They would check for physical damage , water damage etc. ) Since I wasn't getting any reply I called Mr. Gobi after some 10 days. Then I was informed that samsung have approved Free Replacement of the screen and I have to pay Rs. 500 as labour charges at the service center. I got the replacement today.
I wasn't sure if it was a late response for the earlier mail or for NCH complaint. Any way the company has replied to NCH, "Discount approved and customer agreed. Issue resolved now. Hence case closed ", after replacement. So I guess that's it.
Personally I think samsung should straight away give replacement through service centers itself . Anyway something is better than nothing.
Special thanks to Mr.Gobi from samsung customer support , Chennai, for being very professional and helpful.
