Samsung Australia customer service

Trying to keep this short...

I bought a Samsung New Series 9 -laptop (NP900X3C-A01AU) July last year. I quickly noticed when watching movies that there’s a quite a bit of light leak on the edges of display. I didn’t let it bother me because I really liked the laptop. But then I started noticing erratic touchpad movement. Cursor was bouncing up and down when I was trying to hold it still. Again I was hoping a driver or firmware update that would fix this. I REALLY didn't want to send my laptop to get serviced because I knew it's going to take a long time.

As the one year warranty was coming an end I decided that I need to do something about the faults and I contacted Samsung customer service and I ended up sending my laptop in for repairs. After dozens of calls (wanting status updates) I got it back after over a month. There was a piece of paper stating "Drivers updated. Touchpad works fine." No mention about the screen and it took me 5 seconds to notice the touchpad wasn't fixed either.

So I contacted Samsung again and said you didn't fix the laptop the first time, I don't want to send it in again. Lady told me if I want a replacement they would have to make an assessment. I also suggested taking it to an authorised retailer who could prove that the problem exists but no. Assessment is the way to go.. and it would only take "couple of days".

So I sent my laptop in again. First week passed and I didn't hear anything. I called Samsung phone support and they were just repeating the case notes to me and were not any help. I demanded to talk to a supervisor. It was Friday and he said he can't do anything until Monday and he would call back. He didn't of course.

I started bombing the phone support until I got to talk to a case manager. He said they couldn't find any faults!!!! I explained how to easily see them. He promised to pass the word on and call me back following day. He didn't of course. Kept calling him for the next three days but he didn't pick up the phone.

Then suddenly a courier drops off my laptop with a piece of paper saying “Symptoms could not be replicated”. They didn't send back my ac-adaptor either!!! This point I'm getting pretty furious. Trying to call the case manager, phone support and all possible numbers. Nobody can do anything because it's Friday. They'll get back to me on Monday. They didn't of course. This point I wrote a two page mail and sent in to all possible Samsung email addresses. Also took video/pictures of the faults.

Tuesday I get a call asking "Did you receive your laptop all right?" I'm like what the hell?! Yes I got the laptop but not the ac-adaptor. Guy says "The service center said you didn't send it with your laptop" and I'm almost yelling to this dude how poor the whole Samsung support is and I will work it out myself. So I call Infinet (Samsung's repairer) and ask about the adaptor, lady tells my she'll find it out for me and calls back in 30min and tells the adator is in the mail. Again trying to call the case manager with no luck.

Recetly I've read couple similar stories...They're dreadful. But how do they get away with it???

Any tips what to do??

 

Firstly, please learn to express yourself without resorting to the use of expletives (please read the forum rules).

Backlight bleed is highly subjective and there are no published standards about what is, and is not, acceptable. If you thought it bad then you would have done better to have sent the computer back immediately.

Sometimes problems can be hard to replicate in the service centre so the user needs to have done their own troubleshooting to ensure that the problem is consistently replicable. Did Samsung support talk you through a series of tests before agreeing that the notebook be sent for service?

What troubleshooting did you do regarding the touchpad? Does your touchpad twitchiness occur when running on battery without anything else else plugged into the computer? it is a sensitive electronic device that can be upset by stray voltage going to ground through your fingers. The stray voltage should be there but can be caused by a bad PSU, bad mains wiring where the ground isn't properly grounded or by mains powered peripherals. Hence the battery-powered check.

Once you have got to the bottom of the problem then I suggest that you write to the head of Samsung in Australia. Sensibly they closely monitor the performance of their service contractors. You will need to be polite and stick to the facts. Otherwise your letter will be ignored.

John

 

Sorry about foul language.. the whole situation makes me really aggravated and frustrated. Anyway back to the topic.

Heres a photo of the light bleed http://i.imgur.com/OHE94G8.jpg you can decide for yourself if its bad or not. But if light bleed isnt a valid reason for repair/exchange why havent they mentioned it? They havent said a word about it. Neither of the job reports mentioned it.

I wrote and printed out instructions for the service center how to check for the faults. They also could've contacted me after being unable to find faults for the second time.

So the touchpad problem is as follows: when plugged into the mains OR micro-HDMI, and touching the touchpad with one finger only (not resting hands on laptop) mouse cursor jumps erratically all over the place. If not plugged into mains or HDMI touchpad works normally. Also when closing the lid (windows not in sleep), mouse starts to live its own life opening programs and even deleting stuff. This happens also when just running on battery. I've tried Win 7, Win 8, safe mode on both and Ubuntu. Doesnt make any difference.

Believe me, I've tried contacting everybody, I've been proper, I've been polite but every time I end up talking to a different person who doesn't know what I talked with the last person. Everyone just passes the ball to the next person. I haven't been able to reach my case manager for a week now.

 

So there seem to be two causes: (i) When running on mains power or indirectly connected to the mains via the HDMI cable and (ii) when the lid is closed.

For (i), does the problem when connected to mains power occur when you are using the computer at some other location not very close to your normal place of use?
For (ii), I can't think of a cause but lid closed and awake is not a normal operating condition. Normally, the computer is set to sleep or hibernate when the lid is closed.

John

 

I think you're on the right track there, John.

I've always suspected that poor or no ground signal could be causing some of those of erratic touchpad cases (last mentioned here). This case would only further strengthen that belief.

Question: While I assume the power cable for your laptop power adapter has a ground pin, does your HDMI TV (or monitor) have a ground pin as well? Are both connected to the same power circuit?

 

I'm not sure if I understand, but the problem occurs everywhere.

What do you mean it's not a normal operation condition???? I've set Windows not to go to sleep when closing the lid. So when I have to go to another room or move with my laptop I just close the lid and continue working elsewhere. Or if im downloading something but not using the computer I just close the lid and let it download. I think it's totally normal operating condition. Because of this problem I have to disable touchpad everytime I close the lid.

Laptop power cable has a ground pin. So does the TV. I've lived in four different houses while I've owned the laptop and the problem has occurred in every house. So it can't be blamed on a bad wiring in a house (I'm not an electrician, dont know if bad wiring even could be the reason). I've tried connecting to three different TV's as well and the same thing happens on all of them.

 

Got it. Probably not ground then. Although, still, are the TV and laptop connected to the same circuit when this occurs?

 

This happens when running on battery and the only thing plugged into the laptop is micro-HDMI.

 

Right, I remember you said that. So it's not the ground issue I thought it might be.

Personally, I exchanged two units of my NP700Z3A, one of them due to touchpad issues (not the same as yours). The one I have now is the best touchpad ever. My point is that repair/replacement could be your only way forward. And yes, I understand that dealing with Samsung service is what caused this thread in the first place.

 

Thanks for the further info. We seem to have excluded the possibility of a sub-standard electricity supply which does point to a problem with the pad. The next challenge to to create a procedure that is 100% reliable for replicating the problem when the computer is in the service centre. The close lid then open again method sounds as if it should work. Use a friend to test this out for you.

John

 

I know you guy get mad with Samsung service but its true. let me tell you something,
You would pray when you send your laptop to Samsung for repairing.
Assume that your laptop was touch by an experienced technician then everything would be repair, otherwise, you guy know happen with your laptop.
I guaranty this is true story
Pray with your heart!

 

Here's a video I sent to Samsung showing the touchad problem.

http://highestjourney.net/tmp/3100414970_touchpad3.mp4

 

That clearly shows the jumpy pointer, but the problem appeared to stop when you unplugged the AC adapter although you said above that it still occurs when running on battery.

Have I missed something? If not, suspicion has to fall on the adapter (which the service centre might not have tested).

John

 

Problem occurs on battery when plugged into HDMI or lid is closed. Lid open + nothing plugged in = works normally.

 

So noisy electricity carried through through HDMI connection could create a problem if the pad is over-sensitive. We are back to the basic problem of how to ensure that the service people can replicate the issue.

What happens if you leave the lid slightly open? I'm wondering whether the proximity of the display to the pad surface when the lid is fully closed confuses it. Aren't you using an external pointing device when the lid is closed? Alternatively, use Fn+F5 to disable the pad.

John

 

Little update. I was asked to send video proof to show the faults. I sent links to several videos (one of them posted earlier) and after 4 days I talked to a "case manager" who said he hasn't received any links...so I sent them again. After 4 days I was told they can't open the links (same links/server as the one above). So I sent an USB stick containing the videos which was delivered this Tuesday (I have tracking code) and I called them today (Friday) and was told they haven't received it. After raising my voice and demanding to stay on the line until they found it they managed to figure out they received it but didn't know who had it. My session with them started around 3pm today and before I got to talk to the case manager it was 5.15pm and guess what....people who were reviewing the videos had left already!!! Isn't that convenient?!!?

 

After all this hassle they might feel they owe you something.

John