Call For Action Gets Replacement for Water Resistant Phone Fail
LUNENBURG (CBS) - Like most 13-year-olds, Jaylynn Pridgen of Lunenburg depends on her phone for just about everything.
"I ask a lot of questions, as my family knows, so sometimes when they don't know the answers, I can always look them up on my phone," she said.
But those questions went unanswered after the 2-year-old phone stopped working after a dunk in the pool. This wasn't an ordinary phone, it was a water-resistant Samsung that was advertised to withstand being completely submerged in water.
"They said you could take pictures underwater and that was one of the big reasons why my mom bought it for me," she said.
Jaylynn's mom Coryanne spent hours on the phone going back and forth with Samsung. She sent the phone back to them twice, each time with the promise that it could be fixed, but each time they sent it back, still broken. Eventually she ran into a dead-end. "They were not going to replace it, they were not going to fix it, they were going to do nothing," she said.
That's when Coryanne reached out to the I-Team's call for action and we contacted Samsung. "Within 24 hours, they called me and said they would send us a replacement phone," she said.
In a statement a Samsung spokesperson told us:
"We regret the experience that Ms. Ashe had with her phone and we have resolved the matter to her satisfaction. Ms. Ashe's experience was extremely unusual among the millions of these devices currently used by consumers. The Galaxy S7 has received IP68 certification for water resistance based on standards published by the International Electrotechnical Commission, and we test every phone for water resistance before it comes off of the production line. Any consumer with questions about a Samsung product should contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG."
Jaylynn is happy to be back in contact with her friends who live several towns away.
"A lot of my friends live in Worcester because I go to school there, so I can text them, call them, Facetime them," she said.
Corryanne is just glad to have a happy teenager without having to buy a new phone and for the help of the I-Team's Call for Action.
"To fight for what is right and you do that pretty well," she said.
If you're having trouble with a consumer issue let us know about it. Call 617-787-7070 or send us an email at wbzcallforaction@cbs.com.