Your fellow here "was" a samsung fan, I am actually shocked when I signed in today for the first time on the web interface to find out that I am a samsung fan with the amount of samsung devices registered under my name.
I am here just to vent some frustrations over the experience that I had to deal with trying to obtain a samsung z fold 3, I had it in my mind since I laid eyes on the z fold 2, I knew samsung would bring something much better the next time around and they kind of did, not considering the first adopter price tag which I was ok with.
I actually annoyed the samsung staff in mirdiff city center branch (harman house) on a daily basis, three months before the launch, they have memorized my face, not only because of my continues visits but because I did buy many samsung flagships from that branch whether it was for myself or for others that I have recommended for.
So anyways, I went there the night of the z fold 3 launch, I gave them a down payment and chose a z fold 3 color and went about my business.
only to be shocked by the offer on samsung.com, especially with the trade-in and the items that I can choose instead of the forced headset from the branch.
I went to the branch and told them about the trade-in offer, they said that they cannot match it, and so I said alright, ill try getting it online and if all is good ill withdraw my down payment, they were fine with it.
I go out of the shop, and I start the online process of pre-order (Long story and I will sum it up here really) something went wrong with the payment gateway (third party, no idea why samsung uses third party) so I got deducted 6799Dhs with no evidence of me buying anything on the website. I chatted with a rep on their whatsapp, she said that its a payment gateway issue and I will get back the amount in about 14 days, I called the bank they said the payment left the account so they don't know anything about a payment gateway issue, I was like ok, I can trust samsung.com no issues there.
I tried to do that again cause I really want the phone, and I really want to do the crazy trade-in offer, and I was like alright, I will get that 6799 Dhs back anyways so why not.
Guess what? I was out 13598 Dhs and no fold pre-order lol, so I spoke with another samsung rep on whatsapp, he said the same thing, I will get back the amount in 14 days, and then I elaborated about the situation, guess what did he say? "try another card!" hahahahah.
that was an extremely annoying moment, I was treated like it was a 500Dhs Samsung A12 😂, I told him I am not willing to open a new bank account just to buy a phone, he said "nothing I can do from my side" I told him to just log a complain and see how it goes.
I did not cancel my pre-booking from the branch though (yet) I got the amount back in my account the following day
12 days after the incident, I got in touch with samsung whatsapp, and gave them the reference number of the complaint, and to my great surprise, the person told me, the amount will get back in 14 days, I was like, my complaint was not about the money, its about the treatment, she replied "dear, don't worry you will get the money back" hahahahah.
anyways after knowing that I am literally worth nothing to samsung, even after all the devices I got, even after failing to get a fold 3 online, cuz yeah 14k AED is nothing for samsung, but it is something for me, and I am sure not anyone would buy a 7k phone but those who are really invested in samsung, technology or have extra money and want to get something crazy. all three are good promoters for samsung, but naaah, not me.
I went down to the branch on the day of the phone sales began and I cancelled my pre-booking, I still crave to have the z fold 3, but I am not selling my soul cheap :)
but congrats to everyone who did get it, I hope you guys enjoy
Binadhed These experiences are truly frustrating. But if you are in the Emirates , nothing will be lost .. your right will be back to you right away...ok it takes time to refund to a credit card but that's a bank issue.
Thank you HazeM74 for the reply, I don't think you did read the whole post, but lets make it plain and simple, it is not about the money, it is about the experience.
I would consider the Z fold 3 like a Porsche for example, Imagine you go buy a Porsche but you get the treatment of buying a Hyundai (nothing wrong with a Hyundai) but you can expect that you should be far more valuable as a customer and have at least someone call you to apologize for the extremely frustrating situation.
I got the money back which I was 100% sure that I will get back, but I lost faith and trust in Samsung and Samsung.com shop. they did not care about my incident one bit.
You see here what a manpower and reference alloted staff get hired in multi-million organizations and spoil the images, they don't care company,they just think about end of the month to get paid. Sorry for your unpleasant experience with Samsung. Trust me nor you neither the company can avoid such happening .
it can be avoided by having someone from the management call me and apologizing, that is what I would do in my own company when my employees are at fault because my employees represent me.
I just went to Samsung store Dubai mall and no one attended, zero customer care.
