Help/Advice Needed (CGA): Samsung Galaxy Fold4 Issue

boovohh on 11/07/2025 - 17:31

Hi all

Just needed some advice as to how i go about this

I purchased a Fold4 from PBtech 2 years and 1 month back to be precise from PBtech. It has been giving some issues now. Main issue is the when the phone is folded (single screen) audio can be heard from videos/music/calls etc but the moment i open the phone, i cannot hear anything, the sound just disappears. when the phone is slightly hinged, it works but when it is fully unfolded, there is no sound output. I updated it to the latest software as well but no luck, maybe its a hardware issue i dont know.

Now the phone is outside the warranty period, can i claim repair/replacement under CGA? I have never done this so I do not know how to go about it. Spoke to samsung and they said take it to the nearest service centre and they will do a diagnostic test to identify the issue (which i need to pay for, i dont know how much ) and then tell what the issue could be.

I have seen many posts where people have tried to use CGA with PBtech and they can be a bit difficult about it.

Any help/advice appreciated

General Discussion

Comments

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  • kfr23 on 11/07/2025 - 19:23
    +2

    Yes, you can. You need to make it clear that this wasn't caused by accidental damage though, and that can be a bit difficult.

    Don't take it to a service centre, try to take it back to PB Tech directly.

    • Alan6984 on 11/07/2025 - 21:45

      I completely agree with @kfr23.

      You (OP) contracted with PBTech, not with Samsung, so only the terms of your agreement with PBTech are relevant, and if the phone is for personal use only, then the CGA can apply. If PBTech want to do something with Samsung, that is up to them.

      What remedies you might be able to claim under the CGA will depend, at least in part, on what you paid for it, since the more you paid, the longer you could reasonably expect it to last. Unless you are talking about something really cheap, I would say that two years (or just over) is well within the timeframe that would be covered, but that's just my opinion of course :-)

      I would document (photos, video, audio recordings) the issue(s) with the phone before taking it back to PBTech, and if possible, get someone to 'witness' the issues with you.

      I have no idea what PBTech will be like (I have never had to go through the process with them), but I believe you do need to give them a reasonable chance to put it right (such as by getting it repaired). They might also offer a partial refund, which could be reasonable given you have had two years or so of use out of the device.

  • mdsl32 on 12/07/2025 - 09:54

    One month out for a fault not caused by you should be fine.

    If you are in Auckland Samsung CSP is where i would take it to for the fastest turn around. Yes your contract is with PB but the phone will just be sent to CSP anyway so you will cut out at least 2 days of courier time.

    With your fault its probably going to be the flex cable between the two sides of the screen. If there are any major dents on the hinge they will decline it as physical damage.

    Videos of the fault are you best friend and greatly help with your chances of it getting repaired or replaced in a reasonable time.

    • Alan6984 on 12/07/2025 - 15:35
      +2

      If you are in Auckland Samsung CSP is where i would take it to for the fastest turn around.

      I completely disagree about taking it to Samsung.

      The CGA gives you rights, but also the retailer. If something (further) goes wrong, and you have chosen to cut PBTech out of the loop, they can very reasonably wash their hands of it - if it was me (as the retailer) I would most certainly do so, as there is no way of knowing who has done what once you muddy the waters.

      • mdsl32 on 12/07/2025 - 17:15

        Even if you take it to the retailer all they will do is book it with Samsung so not sure what your argument is apart from adding time to the process.

        Some vendors are not great to work with Samsung is generally fine so I feel comfortable saying you can do either depending on the situation it's about choice and options.

        All vendors provide paperwork and in many cases particularly Computer Manufacturers they have online repair logs. So to say there is "No way of knowing who has done what" is invalid in most cases

        In this case OP is quite safe to go either route as his case is not far out of warranty and not from a vendor known to cause trouble with that particular device

        • Alan6984 on 13/07/2025 - 00:41
          +1

          Even if you take it to the retailer all they will do is book it with Samsung so not sure what your argument is apart from adding time to the process.

          Apologies, I thought I had written it in fairly simple language:

          If something (further) goes wrong, and you have chosen to cut PBTech out of the loop, they can very reasonably wash their hands of it.

          Which part of that is confusing you?

  • Naimady on 12/07/2025 - 18:42

    Would also recommend chucking all this info into chatgpt and ask it to write you a formal request to the merchant quoting the cga and why it meets the requirements. I did this with a part on my vehicle that was outside warranty but turned out quite successful.

    • boovohh on 12/07/2025 - 19:15

      Do I directly go with the email method or should i first go to store talk to them and then see what happens

  • Frisky Grandma on 13/07/2025 - 13:27

    Worth having a check if it persists through a factory reset because if it’s something you’ve installed or changed, obviously not covered.

    Otherwise for a $3k+ (at launch anyway) oh cga should well cover it

  • kyogui on 13/07/2025 - 21:22
    +1

    Definitely do a factory reset first otherwise if you send the phone in and they reset the phone and the issue is gone then they may charge you a fee.
    Doesn't matter if the phone has 1 or 2 years warranty i would say you paid for a flagship product and I would expect Samsung to cover it for at least 3 years, giving there's no impact or liquid damage.
    As to take it to PB or Samsung it doesn't matter, PB will ship your phone to Samsung and it will be samsung doing all the repair/replacement, PB's obligation in this is to accept the product from you and forward it to Samsung.

  • qtboi on 20/07/2025 - 09:54

    If you haven't already, worth having a good read on here https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/consumer…. It'll help make it make more sense of what you can and cannot do.
    Similar issue I am facing with my S22 Ultra with Noel Leeming.
    Knowing and speaking the facts of the law is definitely the way to go! https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/…

    • boovohh on 20/07/2025 - 23:06

      have you started your repair/cga process? how has it been so far?

    • boovohh on 12/08/2025 - 19:34

      Hi qtboi , any update on your issue?m

      • qtboi on 17/08/2025 - 20:40

        Still on going - should have an update later this week

        • qtboi on 23/08/2025 - 19:33

          Got a refund - yay! - after 3 months of back and forth - as I pressed hard due to the nature of the issue. The motherboard fried due to the last update (S22Ultra issue) something out of my control. Wee crack on the bottom of the screen, though it was not the cause of the fault so I held my grounds. Waiting to buy the S26Ultra in Feb!!

  • boovohh on 21/07/2025 - 15:14
    +1

    @Alan6984 @mdsl32 @kfr23

    I went to PBtech and told them about the issue (I will have the device by the end of the week), they said that they would send it directly to samsung and then get back to me with what samsung say. I asked them if I should go directly to them, they said its upto me as PBtech would also send the device to samsung

  • boovohh on 12/08/2025 - 19:32

    So I heard from PBtech, they said we have sent it to our PBtech service centre (they are samsung authorized service centre) and they just looked at it without opening it and said the issue is due to physical damage and they cant do anything more.

    It clearly isnt physical damage, there is wear and tear , scratches yes but there is no physical damage on the phone and this issue is very common for fold3 (checked samsung community forum and reddit etc)

    I asked them what do i do from here if I want to cover it under CGA, they said you have to reach out to samsung directly through their service centre in auckland in albany, do i go this route? what would you guys suggest?

    • Alan6984 on 12/08/2025 - 22:22

      I asked them what do i do from here if I want to cover it under CGA, they said you have to reach out to samsung directly through their service centre in auckland in albany, do i go this route? what would you guys suggest?

      On the face of it, that doesn't seem right to me - your contract was with the retailer (PBTech) and any CGA liability is PBTech's. Whether PBTech then have their own agreement with Samsung is nothing to do with you.

      Since you have already tried getting them to fix it, and they have said it is not their liability, I think you should go back to PBTech (probably best in writing at this point), and tell them that you are making a claim under the CGA. I am assuming here that the CGA does apply, and you did not purchase the phone for business use.

      I could certainly be wrong, but my guess is that they will formally decline your claim, since they have already said the problem was caused by damage, at which point you are in dispute with them.

      If so, you would then have to decide whether to take it further through, say, the Disputes Tribunal.

      If you do to the DT, then you will need to complete the forms, pay the fee (less than $100 I think, but you'd have to check) and include your evidence that the phone was not of a reasonable standard / quality at the time of sale (I'd check the actual wording in the Act if I were you). It seems reasonable to assume that PBTech would respond by providing whatever evidence they have that the phone was damaged after sale, and that it was not their fault / liability, so you might want to anticipate that, and head that off in your evidence if you can.

      You can't have a lawyer with you at a DT hearing, but you can certainly consult a lawyer to assist you in putting your documents together, and prepare you for the hearing, beforehand. Whether it's worth the cost of a lawyer, I could not say - depends on what they would charge I guess! Another option for advice / support might be the Citizen's Advice Bureau, but I think most of the people there are just well-informed lay-people (like me, as I am not a lawyer, but they are probably far better informed than me!)

      If you search, I suspect there will be lots of good (and not so good) advice on the web as well.

      • boovohh on 12/08/2025 - 23:12

        Hi Alan,

        thanks for that, yes it was not for business use. Been to DT before, landlord issue, so familiar with how it goes

        PBtech say they havent opened the device to inspect but are saying its physcial damage. does the onus lie on them to prove that the fault is due to user error?

        • Alan6984 on 13/08/2025 - 08:22

          does the onus lie on them to prove that the fault is due to user error?

          If you are the one taking PBTech to the DT, then the onus is on you to prove your claim (under the CGA) at the DT.

          PBtech say they havent opened the device to inspect but are saying its physcial damage.

          I believe that, at the DT, the judgement is 'on the balance of probabilities', so if you somehow know for sure (and can provide evidence) that PBTech did not open the device, then their defence would, I guess, have to be based on some evidence of damage to the exterior of the phone.

          If their statement to you (about not having opened the phone) was verbal, I believe you can still state that (I guess you can say anything you want - doesn't mean the Referee will accept it though), but there has to be some chance that PBTech might just deny having said it.

          Also worth noting that, in my limited experience, there is a fair chance that the other party won't even show, and you could win by default, but don't assume that - prepare to do it properly.

          Often the Referee will also attempt to mediate between the two of you, and get you and PBTech to agree to some 'reasonable' compromise. If not, then I would guess that since your claim is under the CGA, then the remedies available to the Referee will be those under the CGA, but maybe they have other options - not sure on that.

  • Naimady on 24/08/2025 - 08:37

    This might sound strange. But if you go to the DT you will have a stronger case knowing exactly what the issue is with the device. I.e. get it repaired somewhere else. Get them to write you a formal report about the fault. Then the DT will consider if that fault was reasonably expected to still be working under CGA plus time passed. If the issue is marginal 50/50 between reasonable life and warranty then the referee will try to come to a fair resolution i.e. pbtech and you foot half the bill for the repair cost each (I know you're familiar with DT but more so for other watchers).

    Imo, I don't think you'd wanna go to the DT without knowing exactly what is wrong with the phone because that's is what you'll have to prove that it is unreasonable for that issue to fail already.
    (Apologies if you've already stated the error, I've just been skim reading)

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