It’s time for Samsung to step up its support game
Samsung recently announced a new partnership with Assurant that will bring 300 new places to have your Galaxy product repaired. That’s good news, and any move toward more and better customer service after the sale is great to see. But Samsung can do so much better.
Nine months of every year, Samsung is the largest electronics retailer in the world; second-place Apple can only best its numbers the month after a new iPhone is announced. Samsung is the world’s biggest consumer electronics manufacturer. There is no reason it shouldn’t offer the best customer service, too.
There is an easy-to-follow formula here; if you guessed the Apple Store, you’re right. You might not want to read this, but Samsung could build just a few models of Galaxy phones and sell support contracts that include friendly, helpful people employed by the company in a Galaxy store who are trained to fix any issue. If you have trouble with your Galaxy phone, watch, tablet, laptop, or earbuds, bring them to the nearest one and get them fixed or replaced while waiting. This works in the West, and we know it works because we can see it.
Samsung could continue to offer its full portfolio of products without the Galaxy branding for people who aren’t looking to spend $1,000 or more instead of considering a new “luxury” brand name like it is rumored to be doing. This would let the Galaxy name mean more, not less.
Many people think Samsung builds some of the finest consumer electronics available. I’m one of them. The materials, build quality, fit and finish, and overall package of a Samsung phone or tablet are second to none. The company is taking the time and resources to improve its software offerings and has turned itself around from being a laughing stock just a few years ago to building something people love. The next logical move is to treat its customers to the same A+ level of support, and one way to do that is by opening more physical stores customers could just walk into when they need help.
Samsung has some flagship stores in a few cities in the United States, but my guess is that many of you probably haven’t seen a Samsung store or would know where to find one.
I think it would be a good move and a lucrative one at that. I’ll be blunt — “poor” people don’t buy Galaxy S Ultras or Galaxy Z Folds. Poor people aren’t buying iPhone 16 Pro Max phones, either. You don’t have to be rich to afford Samsung’s latest and greatest, but you are going to have a certain level of disposable income. If you’re reading this, you probably fall into this category.
With so much invested into a product, paying $10 a month or $100 a year for top-tier support isn’t a bad idea. People are paying it now, only to be left to deal with over-the-phone support or third-party stores where walking out with a solution an hour later isn’t a guarantee. If this idea didn’t make money, Apple wouldn’t be doing it. Apple doesn’t operate any area of its business at a loss.
You may not be willing to pay for this “privilege,” but I’ll bet plenty of people would. A Galaxy Store in all the places where you would find an Apple store would make perfect sense, and not just big flagship stores in a few big cities across the country. Even smaller stores in malls where there’s a good amount of traffic would make sense, and Samsung could even put them right across from Apple stores just to piss them off.
I’m not trying to claim Samsung could ever have the … rabid … fandom that Apple has, where people would line up around the block to buy the new Galaxy phone. I’m saying that isn’t what keeps an Apple Store profitable; product sales and paid customer service throughout the year are where the money is. Samsung can try to get its share of that money while offering us the level of customer support we deserve when we pay for it.
