Mission: get Samsung NP-X11 notebook’s wireless switch repaired under warranty

Adversary: Samsung service center?! Read on…

Sent my Samsung notebook for repairs. AGAIN!

1st of all, for those who need a little introduction to how screwed up Samsung after-sales service is, please refer to my earlier encounter with their nonsense. Unfortunately, half a year later, due to the sub-par quality of their notebook, the wireless switch was faulty again. It became loose, the slightest of touch will switch it off (the fact that it is situated right where your right hand will brush it accidentally, doesn’t help), need to manually initiate Windows’ “View Available Wireless Networks” to sweep for access points, after which it will turn off by itself for no apparent reason upon detection of available hotspots. & when u finally hook onto a network, if u lift the notebook up and shift to another (more comfortable) spot, the switch will “kill itself” again. Essentially, this wifi toggle switch is unable to perform its function effectively.

The wireless switch sent kaput. AGAIN.

So I’ve to send the notebook for repairs under warranty again. I had a wedding dinner to attend on  23rd Dec (night),  & was leaving SG on the very next morning, for a week. Hence it made perfect sense to me to submit the notebook to the service centre right b4 the dinner. From my previous experience, only the Plaza Singapura service centre service notebooks while the Toh Guan branch handles cellphones and monitors. I did attempted to call to confirm if this still holds true in case I make a wasted trip; I didn’t really wanna carry a notebook to the wedding dinner; I had to send in the notebook. Unfortunately, my call was met with “All our customer service officers are busy ([crewing up other people's cases]. Please hold & we will tend to you shortly”. No choice, the wedding dinner will not wait for me. I left for the PS branch based on logic.

Upon getting the queue ticket no., I was in for a rude shock when the counter staff informed me that only the Toh Guan branch service notebooks now. I informed him that I live in Jurong East; why will I bring a >2kg device all the way to PS if I’d know about this. I even offered to pay for internal transport fee as I was desperate to commit the repair b4 my flight. After some ruckus they decided to attend to my case at this branch.

I was served by a Filipino CSO again. Now, I do not dislike people from other nationalities so much, unless they are unable to perform their job adequately but still taking the pay. My experience with these Filipino CSOs (both on the phone & face-to-face) is that they speak their improper English too softly, resulting in communication breakdown. “Luckily” for me, the current one seems to be impatient with listening to me prove the faulty switch and checked-in my case urgently. Fine with me, but worried that they will fai to deliver. & they did fail. Immensely. I was, as per my previous service encounter, informed that they will call me when it is done.

After I returned from my trip, which was on the 28th, I waited a couple more days b4 the silence from the service centre was too disconcerting. I called and the long-expected generic answer was “we will call you when it is ready for collection”. What am I supposed to reply? “Yes, master”? I pressed for a status update but the CSO on the other line was unable to supply it either via her poor grasp of the English language and/or her incompetencies.

A few days later, as I needed to bid for my modules (all my modules info, CORS, timetable builder website bookmarks & some other required data were on the notebook), I decided to call again. The same template answer was given to me and once again they were unable to, or refuse to give me a direct landline contact no. to their PS branch. Samsung, a leading cellphone company, is telling me (ok, actually the CSO is telling me) that they are unable to just pick up a call and call their service centre branches to check on a customers’ product servcing status?!

I tried my luck hoping to reach an useful CSO a few days later. But I got an even more ridiculous addition to their already-atrocious template answer. This time round the CSO said she will email the PS branch to inquire about my laptop. This is akin to me snail-mailing my mother a letter when we are living under the same roof! I mean, pick up the bloody phone and call the PS service centre, or call the cellphone of someone who’s working there!

I called twice again, spread over the next few days and the CSOS kept telling me they will send a “corporate” email to the PS branch to check on mynotebook’s repair status. Ultimately, the bottomline has NOT changed: I’m STILL waiting, still at their mercy to inform me when my notebook’s ready. I mean, I’m not rushing them to chop-chop do a rushed job, but at least gimme a status update! No news no nothing = customer worrying about where exactly his possession is currently!

January came & I decided to try again. This time round I reached a guy named “Latif”, who was wow-ed that my notebook was kept for so long. He said he will send a corporate complain, obviously I declined and demanded for an answer right away. It turns out my notebook is physically at Toh Guan branch (which made sense, as they shifted their notebook servicing back to TG, but why they shift here shift there and simply not have all branches provided the same uniform range of after-sales service, I’ve no idea). I said, since it is at TG, & I lived in JE, might as well ask them to hold it there and I’ll collect at the Toh Guan branch. The CSO agreed, and I nth-verified this request and his confirmation.

So imagine how cocked up their internal communications are, when a lady called me at 5.30pm and upon verifying my identity, informed me that my laptop is being delivered to the PS branch! I was exasperated & disappointed but I decided to collect it at the PS branch as I do not wish for my device (with moving parts) to be transported here & there. I confirmed once again with the lady CSO that my laptop is PHYSICALLY EN ROUTE to PS. I tried to pushed for a direct landline of the PS branch again so that I can call to check when I can go down collect, but the lady was unable to comply. Okay, I get it lah! U fellows too poor to afford a landline at the PS branch lah! In the end I confirmed that the PS branch closes at 8pm and I consoled myself that within a couple of hours I will be able to get a long overdue “answer”.

How wrong it turned out to be…

By 8pm nobody called me to inform me of the safe arrival of my notebook at PS. I supposed they took 2.5hrs because they are travelling very slowly to ensure the HDD within my notebook dun get damaged. Next morning, I called their 1800-number again (that’s the only landline I got from their lousy support site). and the farking CSO tried to sell me the template answer again, i.e. “we will escalate your case to corporate, etc”. I told her my case was escalated 5 times and any further elevation will bring my notebook to heaven! I decided to go down to PS to make a scene.

Samsung service centre damaged my POWER button (right)

Reached PS. Got my queue no. Counter staff sensed the “tension and rage” and scurried away to do their own stuff. I reached at 1pm plus and 15mins of waiting time later I saw a staff walked in through the front door with what appears to be my notebook! It was wrapped in translucent red bubble wrap. When it was my turn, I was served today by a PRC instead of their usual Filipino fanfare, I tink  they really wanna piss me off with their front-line communications! When she brought out my notebook after I handed over my collection form, yup, it’s the one that their staff brought in through the front door 20mins ago! How “lucky” I was! Imagine I arrived half and hour earlier and I could either be wasting my time or going hom empty-handed! I proceeded to check whether they fixed the issue but upon power up I was stunned to find the power button damaged! My usually-tactile power button was sinking into the recessed surface upon each press, i.e. inadequate resistance to register a press. I had to use my pinkie to dig an edge of the button to turn it on. I highlighted this to the CSO and all she could do was to continue her apologising. I further prove it to her by stabbing the power button in case they say I’m pressing it too gently. She took the notebook into the back-room and returned almost immediately citing that this was “physical damage” and not covered under warranty. That does it. I started to raise my voice. 1st of all, I KNOW it is physical damage; any idiot can SEE it is a physical damage, I tink she meant “cosmetic/aesthetic damages. Which, secondly, was the same bull-crap they tried to pull when they attended to my faulty wireless switch the previous time! I told her dun gimme this nonsense lah, if the power button spoilt how to power up/down the system! If she said my notebook keyboard letters fade is cosmetic damages, no problem; if she says the cover of my notebook scratches is cosmetic, no problem, but this!? I really grew mad and loud. She had to take the laptop in and less than 2minutes later she returned with a fixed power button.

I then questioned her, “so you are able to fix it under warranty on-the-spot after all lah?” She can only continued apologising. I proceeded to test the wireless once again but their sub-par battery ran out before any verification can complete. I asked for a charger and twice she brought out chargers that obviously cannot insert into the DC-input of my model. Haiz…then once again I asked her, “Can you explain to me why you fellows are able to fix my power button on the spot immediately but have to send my laptop to Toh Guan to fix the wireless switch? Do you have technicians that fixes different parts of the same product scattered all over the island?!” She can only continue apologising. Lastly, since they have no suitable chargers for me to test my notebook, I asked for the simplest thing, “May I have a plastic bag to carry it home in?”. Yup, also dun have!

You may think this is over, but no! When I went home and tried to unscrew the bottom HDD cover to swap back my primary HDD (I sent the notebook in with another HDD because I have no faith in how they will handle the physical HDD and /or its data contents within), I was in for a rude surprise to discover 1 of the 2 screws securing was missing!!! With only 1 screw securing the plastic cover, this is what you get:

Samsung service centre forgot to return me my screw!

What the hell are they trying to do!? You may say it’s my onus to check before accepting the return; but heck, I’m “sorry” I didn’t expect Samsung service centre to damage my power button and steal my screw when I submit my notebook for repairs on its wireless switch!

I refuse to send in my notebook again, and that means I’m on my own to source for this kind of screw for notebook. Had no luck with my local hardware shop, and finally secure one piece after fully traversing the 6th,5th and 4th story of Sim Lim Sq (found it in a back-lane shop on the 4th storey; kudos to the young man who tried to give the screw to me for free, but I paid $1 for it anyway).

So, FINALLY, I can use my notebook properly again. Think about my 2 encounters should you consider purchasing Samsung products for yourself. Buyers beware. Warranty-claimers, beware.

I recently wrote an email to an acquaintance of me asking me for advice on an upcoming purchase of a laptop. I suppose he’ll be committing this purchase at the PC Show 2008 & tailored my response to him accordingly. Since I invested some due effort in composing the email, I figure why not post the contents up here, to act as a reference for those who’re trekking the same path soon too? As follows (in blue):

Hi uncle T,

I hope you still remember me. I recalled you mentioning to me that you’re going to purchase a laptop and you asked me for some pointers. The PC Show is at Suntec from 12th – 15th Jun (next week) and before I can recommend you any models that I come across there, I hope you can answer some of the questions below, so that I roughly know what you want (please include the replies in your email response):

Budget: common budgets include $1800, $2500, but just like me know how much u willing to fork out.
Purpose: a general computer for everyone in the family to use at home, or for one for your kids to bring to & fro school?
Misc: any gaming to be done? You intending to pair it with a LCD monitor? etc

Actually, if this computer is never intended to leave the house, I will really suggest you buy a desktop PC instead, as the same budget, when used to purchase a desktop PC, can afford significantly better specs as compared to buying a laptop.

So do let me know your requirements for above, so if I notice anything tailored more towards your needs I can point it out to you.

Now, for the general guideline:

Avoid Acer and Samsung, Sony. Acer laptops have a very very bad reputation of using components that fail very easily and frequently. As for Samsung laptops, well, I personally use their laptop and cellphones and both product sport extremely lousy battery life. I guess the only things you can buy from Samsung are monitors. Then unless you have money to throw, Sony’s laptop are beautiful BUT extremely overpriced (you can just compared a Sony laptop and another brand’s of similar spec, the Sony one will be way more expensive). But if you are prepared to splurge, Sony laptops’re beautiful. If you’re going for Apple MacBooks, erm, buy any time also no problem, Apple DUN give discount at shows, at most they throw in freebies.

I will always advise against buying anything on the 1st day, personally I will go down on the 1st and 3rd day. 1st day I go down to do recon, see the intital prices and what models’re available, 3rd day I do the actual buying. I dun wanna wait till the 4th day (last day) as the things I wan may actually be sold out, and the crowd on the last day is a lot worse than the 3rd day. If u wanna go on 3rd day, it is better if u already know what you wan, and just check, buy and go. Very hectic and chaotic to do shopping on 3rd day. So I always use my information collected online, or from the 1st day, where all the potential buyers’re still working.

As for more laptop-specific details to note:

For processor, choose those with the processor number T7xxx, T8xxx, T9xxx. Anything lower than T7xxx, i.e. T5xxx, is meant for more prolonged battery life as opposed to performance. Then the T2xxx is the older “Core Duo”, not “Core 2 Duo”. T9xxx is highest end, most performance oriented, and also price-est, so if your laptop never leaves the house and is permanently plugged into AC, you can use this. For all other general purpose, T8xxx is the sweet spot, between battery life and performance. Note: these denominations’re a class range of processor, they’re NOT the exact speed, so it’s “correct” to see the processor specs written as “T8xxx x.xGHZ”.

Then dun settle for anything less than 1GB of RAM, better if they offer to double it to 2GB for free, or if it’s within ur budget, go for it. And personally, if it’s down to 2 almost similar systems, if one of them offers Windows XP Professional, take it. Windows Vista is, to put it gently, “issue-matic”. It’s my personal preference to stick with XP, but I tink most systems out there is forced by Microsoft to come with Windows Vista. If u getting a Windows Vista system, 2GB of RAM will be really really really “needed” for acceptable performance.

Ask how many cells the laptop battery has, dun go for anything less than a 4-cell battery if you or your kids intend to bring the laptop out. The part-time promotors may not know this, get them to ask their senior staff.

Other things include weight: if u intend to bring it out, this is important to prevent neck and back strain (nowadays I also lazy to carry mine out). 2.4kg is just barely carry-able every day. But if got 2.1kg, even better. Why I stop at 2.1kg mark? Cos those that’re around 1.x kg, are likely to be ultra-portable laptops with emphasis on battery life and portability and offered marked DOWN performance. Do check when you lift the laptop up, is it with battery inserted or not.

As for screen size, if bringing around, 13.3″ widescreen is good (sweet spot for laptops you wanna bring around frequently), 14.1″ widescreen is mine, but then again, it means a physically bigger laptop = heavier slightly. Unless you intend to leave it at home, dun go for anything above 15″. Then there’s the question of reflective (glossy) versus matte screen, this one is your personal preference lah, glossy looks nicer but once out in bright daylight/sunny day, you gonna turn on the LCD brightness to view your screen properly. Matte is okay but “boring”. This one you have to see for yourself, At the booths, ask them to dim the LCD brightness a bit, for glossy screen, this slightly dimmed LCD brightness level is what you will see if you use your laptop out in a bright sunny day, but hey I’m not advocating glossy or matte, YOUR personal preference.

Before payment, ask if they can let your power up the laptop to inspect the screen for dead/bright pixels. If they dun, enquire if go home laptop got bright/dead pixel what’s the exchange policy. Also, if certain brands got offer extended warranty, do factor that as a good point within your consideration. How to inspect for bright pixels? Launch Microsoft Paint, fill the canvas with black color, save it on the desktop, as black.bmp/black.jpg, launch it, then zoom in on the picture. This more or less makes the pure black picture fill up the bulk of the screen, inspect for pixels that look NOT lit up, or flickering. As for dead pixels, use the same technique, but dun fill it with any color, just a white picture file. Then inspect for the same. You are looking for pixels that seems to be different from the neighboring pixels, pixels that flicker, pixels that always remain lit up even on a pure black picture. Think you get the drift. Of course, dun try this on every prospective model lah, try on the booth and the model you decided to buy, that way they more willing to let you play around, cos you preparing to pay already mah, if they really dun allow, ask about exchange policy, and at the very least when the promotor bring you one side to inspect the items in the retail packaging, power it up and manually use your eyes to spot lor. Get any accompanying family member to spot too. Though, frankly speaking, my method of using Microsoft Paint allows you to feel if the system is “zippy” enough for use or not…

Also open and close the lid, see if the model you are about to pay for, has properly working hinges or not.

That’s about it. Remember to ask about warranty/exchange policy. Keep ALL receipts. Note down the company and promotor’s name who served you. In case any issue, you still have a fourth day and a staff’s name to refer to, should you need to make exchanges. Oh btw, there may be many booths(actual companies, NOT the laptop brands) selling the same brands of laptops, so if the freebies/price bundled with a specific model is not to your liking, walk around, and see if other company got better freebies/or can give you better price. Case in point: when I bought my Samsung laptop last last show, 2 companies were selling Samsung laptops, in the end I bought from the one that throws in a Brother printer instead of the other which throws in a HP printer.

So do let me know your requirements (those that I mentioned at the top of the email), and once the price lists start flowing in, I’ll try my best to update you.

If you in the mood to read some more, check this 3 links out(1st link is a preview of the PCShow):

(Preview of the PCShow next week)
(Guide to laptop processors, scroll down to the portion about Core 2 Duo)
(8 Factors to Consider Before Buying a Laptop)

No images because nothing you can find on the Internet can depict my rage as of the moment.

This really pissed me off. As some of you may recall, the WiFi switch of my Samsung laptop was damaged (read: sliding it either ways did nothing to enable the laptop’s WLAN capability). I delayed sending it for servicing due to 2 reasons:

1. I was told by Samsung Singapore that their only service centre for notebooks was the Plaza Singapura branch, which is quite far from my place, so I couldn’t afford the time to.

2. Peak period with all regards to school work.

So, since it’s the holidays (read: NO MORE excuses to NOT help do other people’s stuff), I’ve decided to dig out the ol’ warranty clause and send my system in. Wasn’t a long wait at the service centre anyway, since I got queue no. 2003 while the notebook owner currently served is no. 2001.

Though I jolly well know battery life of major electronics are not covered by warranty, I figure it couldn’t hurt to ask & the CSO said he’ll see if it’s still covered. Apparently he ain’t too well-versed with the terms & conditions of their own policies.

Next, I mentioned to him that the laptop’s earphone jack/output is spoilt/dysfunctional/not working. This means when I plug in a pair of earphones into the green earphone jack, the sound still gets routed to the main speakers, which, shouldn’t happen. Being conscientious, I tried to explained to him to try adjusting the volume with my earphones plugged in and it will still have the “bong bong” sound coming out from the speakers. He took over my whole pair of earphones (though for what purposes I can’t fathom since he didn’t place them anywhere near his ears) and fiddled around my system for a good 15mins before I got impatient.

Coincidentally, this 15mins allowed me to figure out that perhaps he’s trying to look for sample mp3s to playback to demo the “effect”, or lack thereof. Perhaps he’s snooping around for personal photos, we can;t tell for sure. But anyway, I was like,

“dude, if the system sounds, such as volume adjustment confirmation, can’t even be routed to the earphone jacks, why will a higher-level sound output, via an application of media playback, be possible?!?!?!?”. But I didn’t say that. Because I’m civil. (In case some of you are wondering what “bong bong” sound I’m referring to, this screenshot will help:)

Then the main dish: I told him the Wi-Fi switch is damaged and I couldn’t turn the WLAN capability on. And you know what that </insert random profanity of your choice here> told me?! “You may have to pay for any repairs done, as we classify this as cosmetic damages.” I was like “!”. The moment he dropped this fact upon another victimized consumer, I took the ashtray next to me and smashed it into his forehead, resulting in a 3-inch gnash across his cerebrum and drops on blood on my laptop lid that will be rather hard to explain.

Oh wait…that didn’t happen. Because I didn’t wanna get my shirt dirty for the dinner I’m having later. And because I’m civil. But nonetheless I was furious because his justification for that classification was that anything exterior on the laptop will be treated as cosmetics. By extension, if my power switch is spoilt and I couldn’t turn on my laptop, that will also be treated as a cosmetic damage which I have to bear the costs of. Which is like “No way man!”. A scratch on a lid, that’s cosmetic damages, a dented bottom, that’s cosmetic damages; faded palm rest area, that’s cosmetic damages…

but a malfunctioning control/input mechanism that results in the laptop being unable to perform a core function which was part of the original feature pack it was advertised for. That’s freaking INTEGRAL man! What nonsense cosmetic damages!

So fellows, you wanna buy Samsung notebooks and be screwed by their warranty clauses, be my guest.