Is it just me, or does everything Samsung break?

Frank Smith

I think I have just purchased my last Samsung product as I have had nothing but problems with every device I have owned. I am curious whether this is just me or if other people have had a similar experience.

First product was not a purchase but I inherited my brothers 55inch plasma TV. Probably around about 5 years old and it suddenly stopped working. The red light will come on to show that it was powered but when you turned it on nothing will happen. Ended up in the dump.

First product I purchased was a Galaxy Note 2. New phone at the time. One day the reception would just randomly cut off and I was struggling to get any data. Eventually I could not make any calls or use the internet. Well within the warranty but because my screen had a small crack, Samsung used that as an excuse not to fix my phone, saying I had to fix the screen first then they'll fix the phone.

Should have gave up there but they were the only ones really making big phones at the time so I ended up getting the Note 3. That also developed a problem within 2 years as the SD card slot stopped working.

I also had a tablet, Galaxy tab 2 I think, and from day one it never worked properly. Samsung had a feature where you would scroll to the left and you would have things like news updates, emails, could add your LinkedIn account and so on. Problem was the bloody thing would never update. It then developed an issue where it would just randomly turn off. Took it back to get it fixed then after a few weeks the problem came back. On top of this, it was not running the latest version of Android and no other updates were due. I am not the biggest fan of Apple but the fact my 3rd generation iPad is still receiving updates while my Note 3 and this tablet are not says something.

Got an S4 for my wife, again don't get the latest Android updates. Less than 3 years ago I purchased a 55inch TV (JU6800). Ignoring the fact that some of the apps did not work, a dark patch covering around a 3rd of the screen appeared. Most of the time it would go away but now it is a permanent feature.

I also have a Gear S2 and again a recurring theme of news not updating but also the strap broke and I can't dislodge it from the device.

Crafty

Nope. My Samsung tv is 11 or 12 years old, no problem.
I've got a Tab S2 tablet, I think its 4 or 5 years old now, still works fine.

The only issue I've had was an S5 phone that went in to a bootloop, fixed under warranty.

cosmicma

not had any problems with samsung devices either

samsung 55" tv around 8 years old still perfect
samsung cctv coupled to a samsung monitor a few years old working fine
other stuff such as phones  , digital picture frames laptops all been fine

it looks like it's just you

Turb007

No it's not just you , i had a 65 3DTV that they swapped the screen out 3 times on ,  had pink haze across it , in the end i got partial refund on SOG act , would not buy a Samsung again

Westindieman

2 Samsung Tvs, one is 10 years old, Samsung tablet, would buy Samsung over and over. For TV would always look at Samsung first.

andy1249

From about 2005 to about 2010 I lost count of the amount of Samsung TVs I fixed with the “ turn on “ issue, due to woefully underrated caps being used.

Easy and cheap fix, as long as you can solder and recognise a swollen cap.
Bad form in terms of manufacturing though. Anything to save on cost.

This issue was widespread, you can find plenty about it with google.
Its easy to see how a user might swear off Samsung because of it.
The TVs in question were not exactly budget items.

ShadowFist

Amen to that. Seen it happen 3 times on 2 different Samsung TVs I owned.
The first time was on my old plasma, which I had already sold on to a relative when the issue hit. He called the Service Centre who made him shell out €125   labour for a new mainboard.

The second time round, it happened to my Samsung LED TV, which I had bought as a replacement for the plasma above. Called up the Service Centre (after extensive googling), who denied any knowledge of the issue and wanted me to lug a 40" TV to their location and shell out €25 just for them to have a look at it, saying that they do not perform fixes & that I would probably have to get the board replaced (probably with another board which featured the same underrated caps).
According to them, the issue was not because of the underrated caps but caused by voltage surges (this despite all my equipment being plugged in to a Belkin Surge Protector and that none of my other devices were affected).
Long story short, I told them to stuff it and called up a mate of mine who was handy with a soldering iron. It took us more time to get the TV off the wall and back on than it did to fix it. Total cost: €2 for better caps and an old PS3 game of mine which I gave to my mate for the trouble.

The third time round the same LED TV was plagued with the blinking red light of death, as I affectionately call it. Opened up the TV & discovered that the caps I had not replaced the first time round were swollen. Took out the board & handed it to another mate of mine who replaced & upgraded the caps for a couple of beers. The TV is still chugging along to this day, although the panel's got a darker streak bang in the middle due to a house moving accident.

Moral of the story - do NOT buy a Samsung TV, or, if you do, make sure you stock up on spare capacitors and know someone who's handy with a soldering iron. Personally, I refuse to hand over more money to a company who cheaps out on a few pennies for proper caps, then refuses to acknowledge the problem and charges you even more money to fix it!

andy1249

In the US, they lost a class action lawsuit over this issue.
They had to refund any repair charges and repair for free any sets that showed the issue.
Estimates were that about 7 million sets were sold that were and still are covered by the terms of settlement.

andy1249

They are compulsive liars.
Ive taken them to the ASA over it very recently.

ShadowFist

Totally agree with that. The first time my mate came around he casually mentioned his boss had the same problem with a 6 month old set which was replaced under warranty.
I ended up flagging the issue with the local (toothless) Consumer Rights department, not in the hopes of getting my issue resolved, but so that they'd be aware of it should someone else get the same "we never heard of the issue before" stock response.