12月初，三星的subcontractor service公司先後派了兩個技術人員上門。第二次來的是個中年韓國人，英文講的口音很重，但人挺和善。我把上兩次修理的單子給他看，他查了查，說是同一個問題，還好心告訴我，不要修了，這次修好，下次這個問題還會來的，不如直接打電話，要求refund or replacement。他給了我一個電話號碼，但是加了一句，打電話時不要告訴三星是他說的。我從沒有想過，一個用了四年多的冰箱還可以要求refund or replacement，在他走之前感激真誠地謝了他。
但卻沒料到就此踏上了繁複冗長的曆程。我按照他給的電話打過去，接線的人說，要求refund得提供原來的receipt。因為這冰箱是Best Buy網上訂的，當時隻有purchase order和冰箱delivered的emails,沒有receipt。為了拿到當年的receipt，我打了好幾通電話，電話裏轉來轉去，不停地被 put on hold，折騰好久，最後還是無法拿到，因為電腦係統裏據說隻保留18月PO的發票。現在想來，還是不make sense，難道公司不archive data嗎？
Can you imagine our daily life without a refrigerator in this modern world? If I tell you that I live without it for almost three months, wouldn’t you be surprised?
Our Samsung brand refrigerator purchased in June 2013 broke twice before it haunted us again last November. The sealing system was not working, and the food in the freezer melted and majority had to be thrown away.
In early December, a mid-aged Korean technician from Samsung’s subcontract service company, was sent over, who after examination diagnosed it to be the same recurring problem. Being defective as the product was, the fix would be temporary, he said, and thus advised me to request a refund or replacement from Samsung instead.
Never had I ever thought that a four-year-old refrigerator could even be replaced or refunded. So, gratefully I thanked him, but what awaited me was a long painful process.
First, numerous calls were made to Best Buy for the required receipt, which was not provided for an online purchase. But Best Buy unavailingly told me that they only retained receipts for 18 months old PO in their systems. It did not make sense! Then countless calls to Samsung to explain, to talk to different people, to get reference numbers, to try to get resolved. One morning one guy told me that since the sealing broke the third time, the product was deemed as defective, and a reference number was given for that. I was under the impression that everything was on its way. I was even offered the refund amount over the phone before Christmas. However, when I called again to follow up after the holiday with the reference number, a lady told me that a product was not defective unless the technician proved in writing to be so, which meant that it would have to circle back to technicians from the start. That given reference number meant nothing, so were all the efforts.
A monthslong frustration mounted to such a tension that I finally lost my cool that day, raising my voice over the phone that I would sue them. Hung up, I knew that I would not, as I didn’t want my time and energy to be wasted over that. What I really wanted that day was to walk away from such a poor product and customer service by simply dumping the refrigerator and buying a new one on my own.
When the anger abated, my memories were flooded with my childhood, when there was no refrigerator, when we roamed in streets on sweltering nights looking for iced drinks, when Mom carried a basket to the market for groceries almost every day. If we could survive those days, why can’t we now? Not to say that there are only two of us at home.
With that in mind, I handled all the ensuing hassles in peace. Inconvenient life is without refrigerator, it no longer bothered me much.
In the end, it was settled, thanks much to the kind Korean technician, and another old experienced technician who came again the third time to prove the defectiveness of the product. While I am still patiently waiting for the new refrigerator to arrive, I am writing down this, telling myself that any time life goes on, regardless.
暖冬cool夏 發表評論於
回複 '碧藍天' 的評論 : 是的，藍mm,三星的產品網評也很差，希望你這次能退掉！祝好運！
碧藍天 發表評論於
可怕的三星電器。太可怕了，我正在惹麻煩呢。不知多久才能解決。
暖冬cool夏 發表評論於
回複 '7grizzly' 的評論 : Three months is long enough to test or practice:-) We passed the test and survived. This kind of practice could be a blessing in disguise, making us think and manage on our own.
7grizzly 發表評論於
回複 '暖冬cool夏' 的評論 : Too bad you don't get to practice longer ;-) But congrats again!
暖冬cool夏 發表評論於
回複 '7grizzly' 的評論 : Hehe, my refrigerator just arrived about 20 minutes ago. Though I cannot wait and feel relieved now, life is OK without it. Thanks for your visit.
7grizzly 發表評論於
It was a good chance to practice poverty. Congrats!
12月初，三星的subcontractor service公司先後派了兩個技術人員上門。第二次來的是個中年韓國人，英文講的口音很重，但人挺和善。我把上兩次修理的單子給他看，他查了查，說是同一個問題，還好心告訴我，不要修了，這次修好，下次這個問題還會來的，不如直接打電話，要求refund or replacement。他給了我一個電話號碼，但是加了一句，打電話時不要告訴三星是他說的。我從沒有想過，一個用了四年多的冰箱還可以要求refund or replacement，在他走之前感激真誠地謝了他。
但卻沒料到就此踏上了繁複冗長的曆程。我按照他給的電話打過去，接線的人說，要求refund得提供原來的receipt。因為這冰箱是Best Buy網上訂的，當時隻有purchase order和冰箱delivered的emails,沒有receipt。為了拿到當年的receipt，我打了好幾通電話，電話裏轉來轉去，不停地被 put on hold，折騰好久，最後還是無法拿到，因為電腦係統裏據說隻保留18月PO的發票。現在想來，還是不make sense，難道公司不archive data嗎？
Can you imagine our daily life without a refrigerator in this modern world? If I tell you that I live without it for almost three months, wouldn’t you be surprised?
Our Samsung brand refrigerator purchased in June 2013 broke twice before it haunted us again last November. The sealing system was not working, and the food in the freezer melted and majority had to be thrown away.
In early December, a mid-aged Korean technician from Samsung’s subcontract service company, was sent over, who after examination diagnosed it to be the same recurring problem. Being defective as the product was, the fix would be temporary, he said, and thus advised me to request a refund or replacement from Samsung instead.
Never had I ever thought that a four-year-old refrigerator could even be replaced or refunded. So, gratefully I thanked him, but what awaited me was a long painful process.
First, numerous calls were made to Best Buy for the required receipt, which was not provided for an online purchase. But Best Buy unavailingly told me that they only retained receipts for 18 months old PO in their systems. It did not make sense! Then countless calls to Samsung to explain, to talk to different people, to get reference numbers, to try to get resolved. One morning one guy told me that since the sealing broke the third time, the product was deemed as defective, and a reference number was given for that. I was under the impression that everything was on its way. I was even offered the refund amount over the phone before Christmas. However, when I called again to follow up after the holiday with the reference number, a lady told me that a product was not defective unless the technician proved in writing to be so, which meant that it would have to circle back to technicians from the start. That given reference number meant nothing, so were all the efforts.
A monthslong frustration mounted to such a tension that I finally lost my cool that day, raising my voice over the phone that I would sue them. Hung up, I knew that I would not, as I didn’t want my time and energy to be wasted over that. What I really wanted that day was to walk away from such a poor product and customer service by simply dumping the refrigerator and buying a new one on my own.
When the anger abated, my memories were flooded with my childhood, when there was no refrigerator, when we roamed in streets on sweltering nights looking for iced drinks, when Mom carried a basket to the market for groceries almost every day. If we could survive those days, why can’t we now? Not to say that there are only two of us at home.
With that in mind, I handled all the ensuing hassles in peace. Inconvenient life is without refrigerator, it no longer bothered me much.
In the end, it was settled, thanks much to the kind Korean technician, and another old experienced technician who came again the third time to prove the defectiveness of the product. While I am still patiently waiting for the new refrigerator to arrive, I am writing down this, telling myself that any time life goes on, regardless.
