I traded in my old phone for a new Samsung s23 on 09/14/2023 with my carrier, ATT, because my then-current phone was displaying an errant moisture detection error, despite no water damage. Ironically, the exact same error in January of this year was why I traded in my then phone for the then-current phone.
On 10/02/2023 the device very randomly started displaying the same moisture warning for the charging port, despite the fact that I was not even using the phone at the time. There is no water damage to the phone, or any damage at all, as it's less than 3 weeks old. There has never been any water damage, or damage of any kind, to ANY of my phones, and I have no idea why this keeps happening.
I contacted Samsung chat for assistance with the error message the next morning, and we went through several channels of clearing caches for the USB and other things, a soft reset to factory settings. I asked why this error was occurring, and explained this was my third phone with the same issue, despite no damage, water or otherwise. I have done a lot of research into this particular issue and it seems to be an ongoing problem for many samsung users. I asked the rep why this is, what can be done to avoid it or fix it, but they avoided the question.
The problem continued intermittently over the next two days. I contacted chat again on the 4th and the representative, once again, could not answer my questions on why this situation is happening or what I can do to prevent/fix it. Instead, they tried to engage in small talk, which I was not in the mood for if they can't even answer my questions. Eventually, he told me that someone would be reaching out to me within 24 hours because they didn't know what to do with the situation.
In the meantime, my phone completely stopped charging, so I went to the ATT store. They (mistakenly) told me that my warranty was with Samsung, so I contacted them again for support or replacement, but the representative simply sent me a link to schedule a repair with an estimated wait time of 10-14 days. I explained that I've been in contact with them several times and this is inexcusable, and they never responded other than saying "that was the best they could do."
Thankfully, I called ATT customer service and got the issue resolved-the warranty was with ATT originally, so a new phone is on its way to me.
What concerns me is that Samsung was never able to provide me with any sort of meaningful help with a brand new device. These phones are expensive-customers deserve to have adequate service with knowledgeable representatives. The representatives I got were barely intelligible, and could only redirect me elsewhere-they couldn't even be bothered to actually put in a service repair themselves.
Thankfully, I called ATT back and learned the original rep at the store was incorrect, my warranty was indeed with ATT, not Samsung, so I have a new phone arriving soon. But what a complete waste of time this was.
Samsung/Android has been my go to for years. But after this debacle, I do not think I will get another one. The continued errors for no real reason have soured me on a product I once loved, and the lack of customer service has solidified my desire to get away from them.
This will be my last Galaxy.