India has a lot of AC brands, Samsung being one of them.
And over the past 20 days, I have had a bitter realization – Samsung has one of the worst after-sales support I’ve seen from an international brand in India.
If you are on the lookout for a brand-new AC in India, you should probably think twice before getting an AC from Samsung.
I’ve come to this conclusion after nearly a hundred calls with service executives and customer support execs from Samsung and Croma over the past 20 days. The 100-call figure is not really an exaggeration because I had to call 2-3 times a day for a Samsung service technician to come and visit my house, then multiple calls with the same technician to understand why they can’t figure out the issue (the AC is installed over at my parent’s place), and also with customer service executives from Croma and Samsung, nearly every day to understand why there’s ZERO progress.
In my years of experience using and reviewing gadgets, never did I encounter service support so inefficient and pathetic.
As Gizmochina readers know, we have set an editorial policy where we usually don’t like to go to extreme ends when it comes to opinions in our articles. But my experience with Samsung has been so surprising and disappointing that it’s clear there’s a problem in the company’s chain of command and their technicians and executives are clearly not trained for service in India.
Here’s my experience with Samsung, so that you don’t have to go through the same.
The Short Version
I bought an AC with Samsung in February. The brand-new AC doesn’t cool and I file a complaint with the service team via Croma. It takes a few days but after multiple checkups, the service technicians finally confirm a gas leak while the source of the leak being unknown. Another Samsung technician refits the entire pipes too, but the gas leak continues (now I start to wonder if there’s an issue with the unit) and the AC doesn’t cool. 4 technicians and 25 days later, nobody can find the source of the leak and after multiple calls with Samsung customer care and escalating it to the higher-ups, all Samsung can offer is topping up the gas into an AC that already leaking gas.
The issue is not the product having a defect, the issue is how Samsung is dealing with it and trying to avoid taking responsibility.
A problem like a gas leak in a brand-new AC should have warranted immediate concern from the company, but Samsung is clearly avoiding taking ownership of the issue. Their solution is to top up the AC with coolant again and maybe even try and repair the AC that we just started using.
Pathetic customer service and technician support from the company so far. What should probably have been fixed in a week, takes nearly 3 weeks with no solution.
I probably will have to buy a new AC now since Samsung doesn’t know what’s wrong with the AC or where the leak originates from and they have made it clear that they are not going to refund or replace it.
The Long Version
I got a brand new Samsung 1.5-ton AC from Croma on February 2, 2023. The AC was delivered to my house on February 8 and the installation was done on 11th February.
The AC was going to be installed at my parent’s house and like most techies would do, I also opted for the AMC plan from Croma for a hassle-free experience for my parents.
So far, so good.
Problems from DAY 1: Installation done by Samsung‘s Service Technician
When the technician installed the AC, it wouldn’t turn on and my sister (who was present at my house) asked if there was a problem, but he said there wasn’t. He spent over 6 hours checking the pipes for leaks and messed with the wires until it finally started, but the cooling was still below average. The installation guy, said it would take a few days to work at full capacity, but since it was still cool in February, my parents didn’t use the AC.
In March, the weather got crazy hot, and my parents decided to turn on the AC. But to our surprise, the device wouldn’t cool. I call Croma right away, and they put in a service request with Samsung on March 15th.
Again, I am a bit relieved to have got this from Croma since the AC started giving issues from day 1. My expectation was a quick resolution from Samsung via Croma.
The First technician comes to solve the problem as AC is not cooling:
Day 2 – Since My First Service Request
The Samsung technician shows up on March 16th and checks the AC. He confirms that it wasn’t cooling and said he’d come back the next day to figure out exactly what was going on.
Nobody comes the next day and after a couple of calls to Samsung’s service office, another technician arrives on March 18th (Saturday) and checks the AC.
Second Technician comes – Does not solve the issue:
Day 4 – Since My First Service Request
The new technician checks the AC and says that the gas percentage was just 80% instead of 140% and there seems to be some leak. Now, remember, this is a brand new AC that we just started using.
I personally talk to this technician on phone and he explains he will refill the AC with nitrogen to check if there was a leak. Furthermore, he says he will come back on Monday with Nitrogen because Sunday was off at the service center.
Again, to my surprise, nobody comes on Monday. Meanwhile, my parents and 90-year-old grandmother are suffering in the heat because the new AC is not cooling.
Third Technician comes; – Again does not solve the issue:
Day 7 – Since My First Service Request
So, on Monday, March 20th, I call up Samsung customer care to report the inefficiency. They promise to escalate the matter, but nothing seems to happen. I also call my point of contact at Croma, to try and understand what’s happening, and he says he would escalate the issue as well. The next day, March 21st, a new technician arrives to check the AC again.
Note that was the third person to look at the AC and try to fix it.
The technician confirms that there is a gas leak and finally decides to do something about it (well, it took them three technicians to finally come to this conclusion and take some action). He checks the pipes but doesn’t find any issues with the fitting, so he removes and refits the entire piping of the AC. Post refitting and refilling the coolant gas, the AC finally starts to cool a bit, but it’s not up to the mark. The technician promises my parents that the cooling will get better in time.
To my surprise, the cooling stops completely in the next couple of days. I immediately call the technician who refitted the pipes to report the issue, and he said he would inform his superior and they would come to check the AC again.
10 days, 3 technicians later, it’s pretty evident that the AC is defective. Even after refitting and refilling the gas, the cooling is never good and in fact, stops in a day. I wait for the technician to come and escalate the issue with the unit to the company. But nobody bothers to come in the next couple of days.
I finally call them on Saturday (MAR 25) asking for an update and the service guy says that he’ll only be able to send somebody on Monday. He says he can’t do anything about it.
Another thing I noticed with Samsung is how rude and inefficient the service executives are. They take days to follow up on a problem and there’s literally ZERO flow of information among different teams about the issue. You often have to repeat what the issue is to a new technician or they have to check the product again.
By this point, I have personally spoken to 4 technicians, their service managers, and Samsung customer service executives multiple times on multiple occasions. It’s already been weeks since I lodged a complaint with Samsung.
When nobody turns up on Monday, I decide to call Samsung support to explain the inefficiency of their service team. Finally, the Samsung team contacts me and confirms that an engineer will come and resolve the issue right away.
AGAIN, TO MY SURPRISE, nobody comes on MONDAY OR TUESDAY. This is after Samsung’s support executive promising that the engineer, the same one who refitted the pipes and refilled the gas on AC on March 21 would come and confirm that there’s some serious issue. I also call up Croma to try and escalate the issue from their end.
Fourth Technician comes: Again does not solve the issue.
Day 14 – Since My First Service Request
On Wednesday, a new service technician (YES A BRAND NEW TECHNICIAN, YET AGAIN) finally arrives and checks the AC and again confirms it’s not cooling. He personally talks to me and says that he has taken the video and photos of the AC and he has escalated the same to Samsung and somebody will contact me from the Samsung office for a replacement or refund.
I finally see an end to this traumatic experience, but clearly, Samsung had other plans.
Again a new Samsung exec calls me and asks about the issue:
The next day (Mar 30) I get a call from their customer support team. My relief immediately turns to shock as the executive asks what’s the issue with the AC!
I had to explain the entire issue again, and she finally says she’ll talk to the service team and get back to me in a day.
The REAL SURPRISE COMES IN when I talk to the service executive again.
The customer service executive takes 48 hours to get back to me (APRIL 1) and finally says that their service technician said THERE IS NO ISSUE WITH THE AC!!!!.
For a second I am wondering whether this is an APRIL FOOL’s JOKE.
I ask her to get the technician on a conference call and he lies again in front of me that there is NO ISSUE IN THE AC.
How can an AC that DOES NOT COOL have NO ISSUES?
And why does it take 4 technicians to Check why the AC is NOT COOLING?
Clearly, Samsung technicians and the support team have no idea how to fix an AC that’s not working.
What I further don’t understand is how Samsung’s technician can blatantly lie that there is NO ISSUE with the AC.
Samsung’s next solution? Send in a Senior Technician – yay!
Senior Technician Arrives: Surprise Surprise
Day 20 – Since My First Service Request
Another surprise when the Senior Technician arrives – he turns out to be the first guy who checked the AC (on Mar 16) and he says he already knows about the issue (since he checked it the first time) and tells me he has finally explained it to the company and filed a report for the same.
For a second, I think this might be it. A real end to this saga.
But yet again, Samsung does not disappoint in disappointing me.
This Tuesday I get a call from the service executive from Samsung suggesting GET THE AC COOLANT TOPPED UP!
LOL!
So Samsung’s BEST SOLUTION IS TO REFILL THE GAS IN THE AC UNIT WHICH IS LEAKING GAS WHICH BTW NOBODY CAN FIND FROM WHERE OR HOW???!!!
WOW!
When I disagreed to getting the leaking AC topped up again, the Samsung executive calls me and makes it clear that they won’t replace or refund the unit. They will only REFILL THE GAS TO A UNIT THAT’S ALREADY LEAKING!
WOW AGAIN!
I know it was a very very long read, but for those who might have plans to get a Samsung AC or any other electronic from the brand, I hope this will give you an idea of what you may have in store for you when you contact their after-sales support.
Please, do me a favor, and go for a better AC brand.
It is cases like these that show the true colors of a company and I would never want a customer to go through the same experience I ve been through over the past 22 days.
For those who already are using a Samsung AC that works well – Good for you and Good Luck, if and when something happens to it.
