After Samsung's public
relations nightmare, created by the Note7 mobile phone, many people
wondered how the company would manage to hold onto customers that it had
inadvertently endangered with its exploding phones.
In a recently added FAQ
to its American website, the company says it will give a full refund for
customers looking to trade-in the Note7 for a different phone from a different
manufacturer.
But what is intriguing, is
the policy when someone wants to change phones within Samsung’s own family of
products. This is what the website says:
“As a sign of our
appreciation for your patience and loyalty, we are offering up to a $100 bill
credit from select carrier or retail outlets if you exchange your Galaxy Note7
for another Samsung smartphone, less any incentive credits already received.”
The company is clearly
making an attempt to salvage trust in its brand, and is willing pay out a lot
of money in order to keep their customers loyal to the Samsung brand.
A refund for a faulty
(and in this case dangerous) device has to be given as standard within US and
UK consumer law. But Samsung’s additional $100 credit shows that the company is
determined to repair the trust it had built through years of quality products.
This generosity for sticking with the brand may cost them dearly in the short
term, but it might be necessary for them in order to save their share of the
smart phone market going into the future.
But the big questions
have not yet been answered: why has Samsung not offered the same incentive for
British customers, and does that mean they think mobile phone users in the UK
are going to remain loyal to Samsung without the need for any financial
incentive? Perhaps they think that British consumers demonstrate more customer
loyalty in the face of a product recall and a PR disaster? Perhaps they are
right.