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A Brief Guide to Samsung Customer Service - Making Use of ECR

44K views 42 replies 28 participants last post by  javan robinson 
#1 ·
**Disclaimer: This is the result of my personal experience with Samsung ECR, and my repair tech who just happened to be a former phone rep for Samsung Tech Support. It may be inaccurate, however as of my recent experience all the information below holds true and is Samsung policy.**



The first thing any Samsung customer should know is that they have two distinct service tiers, Customer Service who you deal with at the generic support 1-800 number level. These people are the first line of defense, their job is to steer you clear of samsung ECR at all costs, and only if you are a truly upset deserving customer, will they transfer you to the next tier of service.


Meet ECR, or Executive Customer Relations - these are the people Samsung hires to keep the most unhappy of customers satisfied. They have the authority to do almost anything for you, from a rushed repair, to an exchange or even full refund of the purchase price.


In my experience with Samsung support I have learned the hard way that low level CS is a step best skipped. Most of you probably don't realize this is even possible, but it is, ECR has a direct number which you can call and skip all the BS, provided you have a ticket number from an online scheduled repair.


The number one rule with samsung is to get ECR on your side.


The process works like this:


1) Book your repair ONLINE, you avoid the useless low-level CS they have, and it will ultimately set you up since once you have a ticket number, you can talk to ECR all you want.


2) After you have had the tech come out, if you are happy with their work great, if you want more - call ECR (directly!).


Samsung ECR Direct Line - 1-800-522-7341 (Option 2).



3) ECR's ground rules for TV service:


TV service is generally done on a 2-3 strike basis. If you get a TV repaired twice for minor repairs, and after that it is still not rectified, you can get ECR to do an exchange. If a major part is replaced once and the problem recurs (such as my case where the entire plasma panel was replaced) you are eligible for ECR intervention.


Little known options ECR agents can give you but are always on the table:
  • Exchange can either happen through Samsung directly, or through the store you purchased it from under two conditions.

    1) You have uploaded a receipt.

    2) They are an authorized dealer.
  • You do not have to take the exact model you have now, often you can ask for a different model, even an upgrade, depending on the agent and your situation you may get offered more. In my case I was offered a 50" set from my 42".
  • Samsung internal policy is very strict on timelines. All issues are expected to be resolved within a 21 day period, this means if you are not given an exchange offer or satisfactory repair, they are required to offer you either exchange or full refund (conditional on a copy of the receipt).
  • If an agent won't help you to your satisfaction, call back the next day. In my experience with them, Bryan is by far the best of the bunch, he bent over backwards to make me happy, refunding my full purchase price so I wouldn't have to wait too long on a replacement.


Sorry for the long post, in my humble opinion, Samsung support is horrendous, UNLESS you are dealing with Executive Support, in which case, it is world class.
 
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#6 ·
Yes they are helpful in a variety of capacities. They can often get a tech out to you if you can illustrate you have not been taken care of.
 
#7 ·
I have spoken to the ECR dept. many times over the past two weeks. So far they have not been able to find a tech to fix my TV. It is a 37 inch LCD and the screen went dark after 60 days. They finally found gurus2go but that service company has tried for 5 days to find a tech to come service my LCD with no luck. They claim they can still find one, but after 5 days I am loosing faith that they can locate someone. Once they find the tech then they will order the parts (which have been identified), so we will have to wait for them to be shipped to the repairman. So that means if they find a tech by this Friday it will be close to 3 weeks before it is repaired, real close to the 21 days. If they don't locate a tech, then they should do an exchange or refund. How long do you think I should wait before calling ECR again and demand an exchange or refund? Suggestions?
 
#8 ·
My guess is that they will end up repairing your TV at least once - this is the norm. Once you have a repair under your belt, if you continue to see problems - you can go a step further and demand a refund/exchange.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveUpton /forum/post/16906563


My guess is that they will end up repairing your TV at least once - this is the norm. Once you have a repair under your belt, if you continue to see problems - you can go a step further and demand a refund/exchange.

That's assuming they can find a certified tech, which they have not been able to find in almost 2 weeks of trying. If they are unsuccessful do you think they will offer an exchange first?
 
#11 ·
I got to ECR when I was trying to get query about the buzz and Cinema Smooth issues a couple weeks ago. That person was obnoxious and useless, more so than the previous people. They basically said the Cinema Smooth issue was a "myth" propogated online and that the problem did not exist and that that there was no fundamental buzz issue, just a very small percentage of people with individual problems.
 
#12 ·
The beauty of ECR is you can call back and get a different rep, I spoke to one difficult person there, a woman with a bad attitude, however everyone else was excellent.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveUpton /forum/post/16908163


The beauty of ECR is you can call back and get a different rep, I spoke to one difficult person there, a woman with a bad attitude, however everyone else was excellent.

I've found this to be true with most companies (Dish Network, Verizon, Credit Card Co.'s, etc.)...If you get a useless person (sooooo many are) the first time just hang up and keep calling back until you get someone that is worth a damn. Or, if you have no luck just ask for a manager the second you get tired of the customer service rep. I have no patience for these people, especially all the ones that seem to be in Asia or India (those can be painfully bad).
 
#14 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhythmic /forum/post/16908498


I've found this to be true with most companies (Dish Network, Verizon, Credit Card Co.'s, etc.)...If you get a useless person (sooooo many are) the first time just hang up and keep calling back until you get someone that is worth a damn. Or, if you have no luck just ask for a manager the second you get tired of the customer service rep. I have no patience for these people, especially all the ones that seem to be in Asia or India (those can be painfully bad).

My favorite is DirecTV. I have it down to a science now (after a lot of trial and error). Just use the automated voice-command menu at the start and say "cancel" -- you get transferred immediately to their higher tier people who are not only more competent but are authorized to offer you all kinds of credits, deals or free hardware whenever you have a complaint. I literally have overlapping credits from three different incidents still burning off at the same time on my bill. And I've never paid a dime or made any contract commitments for any of the three HD DVR boxes they have sent me...
 
#16 ·
Finally got some answers yesterday on my Samsung TV. It took them about 2 weeks but Gurus2go found a tech in my area and shipped him the parts yesterday. He should get them in two days (according to the info I was given) and will be out to repair the set on Tuesday or Wed. I am disappointed in the fact it took them 2 weeks to find someone to fix it. But I suppose any other brand would not be any better in finding a tech to repair it. Do you think Samsung is among the best, among the worst or in the middle when it comes to support issues? I will give my grade when and if the TV gets fixed.
 
#17 ·
Well it is now day 16. The repair tech showed up yesterday. He replaced the control board (the one that you hook up all the connections). But it still did not fix the set. Next they determined they will try to replace the power supply board which will take another week to get it shipped and for the tech to return.

Then if that does not work he said they will have to replace the LCD panel. So that means it will be at least 22 days before I can expect it to be repaired (if that works). If that 2nd attempt does not work he will order another LCD panel which could be about 28 days after it went bad. If the part has to be backordered it could take longer than that. So I asked him (he is the only certified tech in our area that services Samsung) which set he would buy for reliability (since he works on nearly all brands) and he said Mitsubushi. That means I will look real hard at Mits. next time.
 
#18 ·
Well dmix00, I scheduled a tech for my TV repair to come this morning. As of Monday, I still hadn't received a call from the repair guy, so I called Samsung, to see what was up. They said they hadn't faxed the service order yet (understandable, as I submitted the request last Friday) As I was on the phone with the CSR, she faxed the service order.


Within an hour, I had a call from the TV repair guy, and he confirmed a Wednesday morning appt. Sure enough, he showed up this morning.


My problem with my TV is that I have a bunch of green sparkles (aka dancing green pixels). Sure enough, when he got here this morning, they were gone. But I explained the problem to him, and he said he had seen it before, so he said he would order a board for the TV, and will call me when it comes in.


So it sounds like my experience is the exact opposite of yours



Keep us updated on your saga though. I will try keep you updated on mine.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveUpton /forum/post/16908163


The beauty of ECR is you can call back and get a different rep, I spoke to one difficult person there, a woman with a bad attitude, however everyone else was excellent.

Must have been the same one that tried to tell me I wasn't getting a refund.

I had chosen the refund option they gave me and about 10 days passed so I called to see what was going on. After about an hour on the phone with ECR Agent 36 checking this and that said there would be no refund and there was nothing more that could be accomplished that day. I told her that I knew they recorded all these conversations and they had already committed to a refund, that was the end of the conversation. I was extremely pissed by her attitude.

The next day a trucking company called me and asked if I had TV ready for pickup....in 7 days I had a full refund.



She was the only obtuse person I dealt with ever at Samsung...she was a true Bit**


>>>>>Agent 36
 
#20 ·
The tech called me after work and came and replaced the power supply and lo and behold everything worked and I am back in business. The power supply went bad and it was about a $97 part. Basically these sets have 4 main parts, the control board, power supply & logic board, the interface with the LCD panel and the LCD panel itself. It took them 22 days but it is now fixed and working as before.
 
#21 ·
I know this is an old thread; I hope someone can help though. I'll start from the beginning.


My very first LCD I've ever bought is a Samsung LN52A650, this TV had screen uniformity issues, I wasn't pleased with my $1900.00 LCD showing obvious picture problems, so I got a screen replacement, replacement was the same if not worse, so I then got an exchange for an LN55C630, MUCH worse bleeding, I then got an exchange for an LN55C650, EVEN WORSE! I refused the LN55C650 and talked to Executive Customer Relations, I requested a refund, she said NO...instead, yet another LN55C650 is shipping my way.


This is where my story ends, 7 months from the first phone call, I'm so sick of this crap.
Please help.


(Please excuse any grammatical errors, I didn't feel like fixing anything).
 
#22 ·
Just so everyone knows. There is no ECR support for Canada. In fact there isn't any kind of upper support available for Canada. apparently according to Aimee and Wayne in the basic support dept there are no Managers or supervisors in Canada to speak to and no one of authority in case you are not satisfied with their service (Which sucks big time).


So if you are in Canada I would look at something else other than Samsung for all your electronics purchases.


Carl.
 
#23 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JcTcom /forum/post/19697617


Just so everyone knows. There is no ECR support for Canada. In fact there isn't any kind of upper support available for Canada. apparently according to Aimee and Wayne in the basic support dept there are no Managers or supervisors in Canada to speak to and no one of authority in case you are not satisfied with their service (Which sucks big time).


So if you are in Canada I would look at something else other than Samsung for all your electronics purchases.

I don't believe it; I just think they are trying to keep people from knowing about the next tier of support; assuming one exists, and I bet it does.
 
#24 ·
After dealing with Samsung Customer support for the past month, I gotta say. If your are purchasing their products from retail. DO NOT FORGET TO GET THE WARRANTY/INSURANCE!!!!


I've been without my Nexus-S for a month now. Here's my experience timeline

09/01 - phone down, called CS(Customer support), told to call again next day to speak with ECR.

09/02 - called ECR in the morning, with their supposedly more resources. Best they can do would be 2-3 day ground shipping. Shipped the phone myself with UPS next day.

09/06 phone arrived Samsung Headquarter's dock at about 10 am. Called CS, said that it'll take about 7 to 10 days to repair.

09/07 phone arrived to Technician (Service Center) around 4 pm.

09/09 received e-mail from Samsung, they don't have the parts to repair. Contact CS, told me that the order for parts is already placed. CS doesn't know where they ordering parts from.

09/16 called CS and patched to ECR. John/Jon said that the part is ordered from Korea and expected to arrive on the 28th. Other option includes: downgrade my phone to something older, give me a bluetooth headset, or a car charger. I declined it since it doesn't really make sense. In the conversation with John, he also said that if there's a replacement they can locate, they'd do it right away, but the ETA for a replacement phone is uncertain at this point.

09/27 called ECR in the morning, rep Eric said he'd sent in another note to experdite, also a note for overnight shipping, and the part should arrive that week.

09/30 no updates, called CS at 4:40 pm, patched to ECR, on hold for 45 minutes. Called CS again at 5:35 pm, asked about ECR's office hour, idiot told me it's 9am to 7pm during weekday. (somehow she insisted on Central time)

Transferred directly to voice mail at 6 pm. Called CS right back, left my frustration.

10/03 Called CS=>ECR again, spoke with another ECR rep Peter. Said that there's nothing they can do except tell me to keep waiting. Told them what John has offered me before and then asked, which one of you is not telling the truth. Said that he has a meeting later and will bring my case to attention and will call me back in the afternoon. At 4 pm, got a call from Peter, he'll place an order to one of the warehouses, and that I should be hearing from them later this week or early next week. Once the phone is in, they'll ship it overnight.


Now, it's a nasty long story, but if you follow closely. John said that Samsung will send me my old phone back or the same model if they can locate; while Peter is saying that there is a replacement phone from one of the warehouses? The story will continue later on.


By the way, from my personal experience, the phone number mentioned above is no longer valid. So might the 21 days rules. If you contact them through twitter MIGHT help. From what I read so far, they could help you analyze the issue, but they can't do much given it's online. As for facebook, your review/question will be overwritten by about 5 to 10 other positive review within 10 minutes. No point leaving it there is what I'm thinking. Leaving a voice mail? "Best of luck" is all I can say.


As for Samsung ECR, almost everyone you called will say that they are a supervisor, which might be true or completely bull, I can't prove either way. I'll continue to post this on where I can to let people know about my experience with their ECR. As far as "Executive Customer Relations", they are not worthy of the name. So far, what they do best is to give me a false promise and stall.


-----------------------------


10/04/2011 contacted by Peter to confirm my information. This should be interesting, but seeing that they don't want ECR's number to be leaked. I will not share it publicly. However, yesterday I received the call on a different toll free number, today, the call came from the 8889874357 number.
 
#26 ·
Hello


I am dealing with ECR for my TV's buzzing and banding issue.



I have dealt with 1st level support over a month ago, repair guy came out, said everything is normal and would not fix it.


then 13 days ago I was put through to ECR. I sent them pictures of my problem for the product evaluation team to review.


no response till now


today 10/27 I called ECR on an update. they said they are still waiting on the evaluation team to review it.



I mentioned the 21 day policy ( has been over a month since my initial complaint with samsung's generic customer service)


ECR agent stated that my situation does not apply for the 21 day policy. something about nothing can be done until the evaluation team comes to a conclusion. which she mentions will take another 1-2 weeks.



any advice for me?... should I wait until day 21 of my dealings with ECR department?
 
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