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Old 03-30-2013, 11:05 PM   #1
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iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy S2 & S3

I've had an interesting discussion with technical support of German Saturn Markt on Saturday.
The technician told me, they've collected data for some time.
Within the measured time period, they had to take back 186 Samsung Galaxy S2 & S3 and 1 (!!!) iPhone.
Of course, one reason certainly will be the loyalty of Apple fans.
But he clearly stated, there had been lots of quality problems with Samsung whereas "with an Apple product you can't really go wrong".

A while ago, a sales guy in another department of the very same Saturn Markt told me something similar about "iPads vs. Android tablets".

Personally, I'm far from being an Apple fan.
Actually, I don't really like iPhone 4 and 4S that much. Their design, in my eye, by far is the best (I don't like iPhone 5, though. Too "plasticky" for me). But reception for example is way better on my 3 year old BlackBerry.
But I have to grant Apple at least 3 things:
a.) They are very flexible re. customer satisfaction. If you've got some convincing argument for it, they give you a new exchange model even after the courtesy period.
b.) No iPhone or iPad has died on me so far (I have iPhones since end of 2007 and iPads from the very beginning).
c.) They are brilliant in marketing. But they are equally good in their logistics. Every single product launch I've watched was going perfectly, whereas for example still no one knows when Microsoft Surface Pro will be available in most countries.

Re. Samsung I can't say much from personal experience. I'm not buying any of their products anymore. I've checked out Samsung ATIV, but like the other Samsung gadgets I simply can't stand the "cheap plastic" housings (I feel the same about Asus and Acer tablets) and the over-saturation of the display.

Just wanted to share that story from Saturn Markt...
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Old 03-30-2013, 11:18 PM   #2
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Here in Asia Apple's service stinks to high heavens. 14 month old iphone, Wifi stopped working. "Sorry, we can't repair. You need to pay $300.- to get a new phone --- same old model, of course." Then on a 1-week 4S the other side couldn't hear any sound during phone calls. They tried to weasel out of giving us another one "you opened this one". Of course we hadn't. We had two argue back and forth for a full 3 weeks before we finally got a replacement. An iPod gave out after little over a year, the battery wouldn't hold a charge. And a number of my wife's friends had similar experiences. My wife should be the ideal Apple customer, but she said there will be no next time. While what we had may not be representative of Apple quality, in the end it is those personal experiences that count. And this covered both HK and Taiwan.

Samsung's phones just look so cheaply made, yes -- so I have never really considered them.

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Old 03-31-2013, 01:19 AM   #3
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Here in Asia Apple's service stinks to high heavens. 14 month old iphone, Wifi stopped working. "Sorry, we can't repair. You need to pay $300.- to get a new phone --- same old model, of course
I guess, a lot depends on the legal framework of the respective regions.
In Europe, whether the manufacturer claims 12 months warranty period or not, they have to give 24 months.
If I remember correctly, Apple even had to pay a penalty to European court, as they had been selling extended warranties, although they had to give those additional 12 months anyway - for free.
They -as do the other manufacturers- probably just do the bare minimum. And if this minimum warranty period and such is lower in Asia (don't know though, whether that's the case), they stick to it.
So far, my personal experiences with Amazon and Apple customer service have been extremely good. In the rare occasions, when I needed them, they did help me beyond their legal obligations. Flexible and creative.

I'm very curious about Nokia.
I've got a Nokia Lumia 920 5 weeks ago. Did like it, but only started using it 10 days ago. On Friday, while using it, a vertical display error did appear. Single pixel, all over the entire height of the display.
Saturn Markt -that's the reason why I spoke to the technician on Saturday- pointed towards Nokia. Their DOA-period is 10 days, after that they don't exchange but repair.
I hate that. "Repair" means, a technician opens my unit and fumbles around. To me, that's like buying a second hand gadget. I never do that, I want to be the first and only user of my toys. So I wrote an email to Nokia, asking politely for an exchange model instead of repairing my damaged one.
I understand: From a legal perspective, I probably have to accept a repair.
But quite frankly: Paying € 649 for a gadget, that's starting to fail after 5 weeks? And actually not even 5 weeks of usage. Only 5 weeks after the purchasing date, but really only 10 days of (not too heavy) usage?
I'm really curious about Nokia's reaction. Flexible or rigid?
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Old 03-31-2013, 01:29 AM   #4
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Here in Asia Apple's service stinks to high heavens...
Just a thought:
Towards my friends, I'm often joking around: "Within seconds, I can tell whether I'm dealing with an American or German company".
If it's an American company, first reaction typically is something like "we're sorry, that you're not happy. You're a valued customer, so what can we do to help you?".
If it's a German company, first reaction might be something like "If you check out our trade terms, we don't have to do this and that. If you're not happy with that, here's the contact data of our lawyer".

Bit of a generalisation, I admit. But you get my point.
To further simplify:
German companies build great products, but their websites often suck and so does their customer service.
American companies often shine in customer service, but often that's a necessity because their products and logistics aren't that great.
And in my experience, lots of Asian companies are somewhere in the middle. And it's even more complicated, if it's an Asian subsidiary of a Western corporate.

I know, I know. Lots of stereotypes. But I think, there's some truth to those generalizations...

Last edited by mgmueller; 03-31-2013 at 01:36 AM.
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Old 03-31-2013, 02:33 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgmueller View Post
I've had an interesting discussion with technical support of German Saturn Markt on Saturday.
The technician told me, they've collected data for some time.
Within the measured time period, they had to take back 186 Samsung Galaxy S2 & S3 and 1 (!!!) iPhone.
Wouldn't iPhone users take their phones to the Apple store if they had a problem?

Graham
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Old 03-31-2013, 03:00 AM   #6
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Wouldn't iPhone users take their phones to the Apple store if they had a problem?

Graham
No. If you buy in Saturn Markt, you have to go through them.
Of course you could send it yourself.
But the Apple store would direct you to the place where you bought it.

Additionally, there are only 10 Apple stores in Germany (as far as I know), but ca. 150 x Saturn Markt x ca. 250 x Media Markt (both belong to the same group of companies), so it's way more likely to buy from those than from Apple directly.
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Old 03-31-2013, 04:22 AM   #7
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I am no Adam Smith, but the market (selling and buying) is supposed to correct these kind of problems by making the companies either more responsible or driving them out of business or at least making them change management. Of course these things take time.
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Old 03-31-2013, 06:40 AM   #8
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Well I'l buy Samsung everytime my current phones a midrange galaxy s advance but it still runs every android app flawlessly, gsam battery monitor tells me the average battery life is 1 day 18 hours and I have 80gb of storage.

To be honest I'd take my phone over any iPhone and I'm positively lusting over the S4.

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Old 03-31-2013, 06:50 AM   #9
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Of course, one reason certainly will be the loyalty of Apple fans.
I think you really overestimate the number of "Apple fans" buying their products. A *lot* of those costumers are random people coming in from the street to pick their next random phone.
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Old 03-31-2013, 09:26 AM   #10
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I've owned two Apple products, neither of which were an iPhone. One was a third gen iPod nano and the other was a third gen iPod touch. They both have lasted a good while. I gave the nano to a niece when I upgraded to the touch. I just recently sold the touch because I upgraded my smartphone to the Samsung Galaxy SII. I haven't had any issues so far. I've owned it about two months. Yes, it has a plastic back but since I normally keep my phones in a case, this wasn't an issue for me. I know people, including a sister, who own the SIII and haven't had issues with it either. I would think the high end Samsung phones and the iPhones are probably similar in quality. They cost about the same price. If the Samsungs were so bad I would think that people would stop buying them (or at least stop buying them in the high numbers they do).
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Old 03-31-2013, 09:32 AM   #11
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I am no Adam Smith, but the market (selling and buying) is supposed to correct these kind of problems by making the companies either more responsible or driving them out of business or at least making them change management. Of course these things take time.
This is what happened to the American auto industry in the '80s and '90s, right? Now things seem sorted out for the American auto industry.
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Old 03-31-2013, 10:29 PM   #12
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There's been a known issue with a lot of sgs3 stopping to recognise the sim card. That might explain the replacement rates. I currently have a 2 and am nearly absolutely perfectly happy with. Am just searching for a ROM suiting my preferences.

Only thing where they really suck is the maintenance software. (Kies) Even if someone wants to stick to the official ROMS I'd recommend to use Odin for the upgrades.
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Old 03-31-2013, 10:43 PM   #13
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<Within the measured time period, they had to take back 186 Samsung Galaxy S2 & S3 and 1 (!!!) iPhone.>

Out of how many sold?
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Old 04-01-2013, 12:14 AM   #14
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<Within the measured time period, they had to take back 186 Samsung Galaxy S2 & S3 and 1 (!!!) iPhone.>

Out of how many sold?
They didn't give any figures.
But they said (quite a surprise for me) iPhone outsells Android 3:1. They didn't give a split Android <---> Samsung.
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Old 04-01-2013, 09:35 AM   #15
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...I'm very curious about Nokia.
I've got a Nokia Lumia 920 5 weeks ago. Did like it, but only started using it 10 days ago. On Friday, while using it, a vertical display error did appear. Single pixel, all over the entire height of the display.
Saturn Markt -that's the reason why I spoke to the technician on Saturday- pointed towards Nokia. Their DOA-period is 10 days, after that they don't exchange but repair...
Response from Nokia via Email:
I have to send it to repair.
I can't even send it to Nokia, I have to go through service partners.
Definitely my last purchase of a Nokia product.

The sales guy in Saturn Markt said: "This could happen to you with an iPhone as well."
But I don't think so.
Yes, you can have bad luck with every manufacturer.
But new hardware dying on me, 5 weeks after purchase and only 10 days of actual usage? I never have experienced this with any other product. Some (very few) had been dead from the very beginning, for example a display flaw in iRex 1000 from the very first start. Or they die after years of (heavy) usage. But within a few days/weeks? And then no flexibility at all?

And service partners?
Apple and others most likely don't do any repairs themselves as well. But at least it's not transparent for the end customer...

To be a bit brutal: I can understand the decline of Nokia's (and others) market share and it's well deserved!
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