Note 7 Exchanges/Refunds etc: Some General Information

[tk3765]

Rather than hit individual posts I decided to do a single one on some of my "travels" within this new recall.  To start, I upgraded from the Note 4 after the "new" Note 7s came out so I am not in round 2 like most; I have since gotten the S7 Edge but still have all of my original Note 7 products.  I did pay the taxes and upgrade fee and for now am on the monthly payment plan.

I am going to use the term exchange to cover all of the possible avenues. Here is what I have for info:

1.  If you have exchanged your Note 7 for another phone, regardless of type, the return box is, allegedly, to arrive at your address within 4 business days of the date you exchanged the phone.  At the very least, you should receive a text message from Verizon within those 4 business days indicating a box has been mailed.

2.  The Samsung $100 credit will fully apply if you exchange the Note 7 for another Samsung phone, meaning that Verizon is not reducing the credit by what people may have already received on the previous recall.  The rep indicated this is a system credit application which will apply to the next bill pending.  The $25 credit will apply for anyone electing to go with a different phone.  The rep checked my account while I was on the phone with her and she indicated the note to credit the account was already there; it just hasn't processed to the point of sending me the message.

3. Now, two possibles depending on your situation.  For people that purchased the Note7 up front at full retail, a refund will be issued by Samsung.  They are not going to apply the funds to the replacement phone, for example purposes I'll use the Edge, and then refund the difference.  Customers will then have the choice of whether to stay with the monthly payment plan or simply pay off the balance on the replacement phone.  Verizon will, or is supposed to anyway, credit the account with the upgrade fee (on the replacement phone) and the tax fees (for the Note 7) reducing the overall bill, once they receive notice the 7 was received back at Samsung.  I could not get a solid answer on the time it would take for any refunds and of those refunds were coming by check or a credit back to the original payment method used. For those on the regular monthly contract, the credit for the upgrade fees (on the replacement phone) and the taxes (on the Note 7) should be applied to the next bill; keep an eye out.  The $100 "inconvenience credit" will be applied automatically to reduce the next bill regardless of when the 7 is returned to Samsung.  In my case, my bill goes out in two days so the inconvenience credit will be applied but not the taxes and upgrade fees as yet; those will be off the next bill after Samsung gets the 7 back.

4.  I tried to get information on backdating the "upgrade" date to the original date but the rep indicated they had not as yet received information on that one.  My thought here is that a mass complaint to Verizon may be needed to get them to backdate the "upgrade" date for people that had contracts and were forced into an undesired, lower level, phone due to the recall.  That is on the business management side of things so the reps and customer service people aren't going to be able to speak to that just yet but the word is obviously out.

5.  Amazon is accepting returns of all Note 7 accessories, with or without original packaging, purchased at any time.  When at the Amazon site, process the items as a normal return but pre-paid shipping labels will be made available.  I had posted before that shipping charges would be deducted from the refund as per what the site stated, however, a subsequent conversation with a rep indicated that no, a full refund of all products would be made and the customer would not be charged for the return shipping.  The only downside is that I was warned it could take up to 2 weeks for the refund to be applied once the items have been received back at the receiving centers.  I can't speak for the items purchased at a Verizon store as I didn't go that route, but Verizon is indicating, and re-iterated, that full refunds/in-store credits/bill credits etc would be given..how the credit is applied is up to the customer.

The number for the customer service team is 800-922-0204.  Normally I would use chat but I got lucky and got someone who was not only willing to talk but had a good handle on the situation.  

Hopefully this helps, a little anyway; I know it is frustrating with the varied information coming out.  The Samsung site has a link immediately at the top of the homepage with any updated information; so far Verizon has pretty much followed what I have seen in the updates.  I agree that Verizon's processes seem a little convoluted but they are going with what, to them anyway, is the easiest process to get the 7's changed out in the quickest timeline possible.  Work the issue as a standard upgrade process, get the returns in without putting stores at risk with what could be dangerous phones, (plus having to shoulder the additional costs and personnel time of shipping back to Samsung), issue the refunds/credits.   Yeas, agreed, to me it would have made more sense, since the stores pull up your account anyway, to simply credit things back, but I think the phone return issue probably had a hand in the way the process is being handled.  To date, every rep I have spoken with, via phone, chat, e-mail or where I got the Edge, has been helpful and informed.