Samsung's website showing how much trade-credit each trade receives from the manufacturer.
This past week we told you about a couple of Samsung sponsored deals that that did not live up to their promise. We mentioned how one BOGO participant purchased a Samsung Galaxy S8+ for full price and was supposed to get a free Samsung Galaxy S8 within 1 to 3 business days. Instead, the second free model has been placed on back order. With the other deal, Samsung promised a $200 credit toward the purchase of the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+ to anyone trading in a phone in working condition.
Some taking advantage of this deal said that Samsung was refusing to give some consumers the full trade-in value of $200 by sending them the bare minimum of $25 for trades that were obviously worth a lot more. For example, one loyal Phone Arena reader wrote us today to explain how he received only $25 from Samsung for his mint condition LG K8. To refresh your memory, Samsung said that to be given the full $200 credit, the phones traded in need to work, have a screen with no cracks, and must hold a charge.
According to Samsung, this fellow's trade did not not meet the criteria for "normal wear and tear." As a result, he was charged $175 which reverses all but $25 of the original $200 he received toward the purchase of the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+. While promoting the deal in its website, Samsung graphically illustrated that certain Galaxy models were worth as much as $350 with a trade-in. The last image was titled all smartphones and showed that trades under this too broad of a category were worth $200. To make matters worse, once a phone is traded in, Samsung will not return it under any circumstances. That means in a case like this, Samsung's word is final.
But Samsung isn't totally wrong. What might have happened here is that Samsung got tired of handing out $200 credits for cheap trade-ins. The LG K8 is priced at about $50 at Best Buy for Verizon's pre-paid plan. To avoid this in the future, Samsung needs to be more specific about the kind of phones that will receive full value in a trade-in promotion instead of using the vague "All Smartphones" category.
This is the actual phone used in the trade, an LG K8 that can be bought for $50 at Best Buy
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