Joined Nov 2020
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Forum Thread
Samsung misleading military discounts. Expectation/Reality discussion.
November 18, 2020 at
07:32 PM
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Good day everybody. I have an issue with Samsung Military discounts and need your advice.
First of all: I know the Military Discounts are an appreciation benefit, and Samsung doesn't have to provide them. This post is not about demanding better discounts. It is about misleading the customers. I think if a company advertises 10%, it should do 10% or if it advertises 1% it is totally ok, I still appreciate it as soon as a company doesn't manipulate prices by alluring customers (regardless of their job) with higher numbers but actually give smaller discounts.
According to the benefit's page, there is a 7.5% discount for mobile phones.
When I go to the Samsung Store and log in, I see a banner that offers a 10% military discount for a total of $42,50. It sounds like one of these phones, S20FE, S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra, is available for $425 if the discount is $42.50.
After I pick up one of the phones, it shows these discounts:
S20FE: $30 for (6.7% discount) of total $449.49 price
S20: $42.50 (5.7% discount) of total $749.99 price
I am going to continue with the S20 only, but the situation is the same. If you trade-in your phone, in my case it is S10E, it had a $310 value. The military discount decreases to $27, becoming a 3.6% discount on the total price.
According to customer support, the discount applies after the trade-in value. It is deducted from the remaining total. If using this formula $749.99 - $310 (trade-in value) = 539.99 is the value that still has the 10% military discount. I did the math. The $27 discount is 5% of the total $539.99 value.
We found out that the military discount is 3.6% if applied to the total value before trade-in and 5% after, which is lower than the advertised 10%.
Now let's think about Samsung's formula, the discount's reduction based on the trade-in value. Basically, Samsung tells you they sell a phone for $200 minus a 10% discount, which equals $180. But Samsung also tells if you trade-in your $100 value phone, your discount not $20 anymore, because $200 - $100 = $100 and minus 10% discount is equal to $10. Samsung claims that they change the amount of discount, but they actually take $10 value from your phone because, before trade-in, they gave you $20. If a company estimates your phone's value, that means this is how much YOUR property costs. Samsung wants to buy your property; therefore, it shouldn't adjust its value in the middle of the process under the "discount" excuse.
To support:
Check out the apple's 10% discount when I ordered one for my wife. Everything fair and simple. Pro Maxx 12 is $1099 - $109.9 = $989, and then only after, the estimated trade-in refund is $250 for her XR, which makes the final price is $739.
p.s. I texted customer support on Samsung's website, then texted them on Facebook, then called them. No resolution. They offered me a 5% discount code, which cannot be applied together with the military discount, which left me with the dilemma - should I apply my ~5% military discount or apply a 5% promo code...I asked to contact the supervisor, they promised me to write an email, but nobody did. I spend hours talking with customer support but no luck.
First of all: I know the Military Discounts are an appreciation benefit, and Samsung doesn't have to provide them. This post is not about demanding better discounts. It is about misleading the customers. I think if a company advertises 10%, it should do 10% or if it advertises 1% it is totally ok, I still appreciate it as soon as a company doesn't manipulate prices by alluring customers (regardless of their job) with higher numbers but actually give smaller discounts.
According to the benefit's page, there is a 7.5% discount for mobile phones.
When I go to the Samsung Store and log in, I see a banner that offers a 10% military discount for a total of $42,50. It sounds like one of these phones, S20FE, S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra, is available for $425 if the discount is $42.50.
After I pick up one of the phones, it shows these discounts:
S20FE: $30 for (6.7% discount) of total $449.49 price
S20: $42.50 (5.7% discount) of total $749.99 price
I am going to continue with the S20 only, but the situation is the same. If you trade-in your phone, in my case it is S10E, it had a $310 value. The military discount decreases to $27, becoming a 3.6% discount on the total price.
According to customer support, the discount applies after the trade-in value. It is deducted from the remaining total. If using this formula $749.99 - $310 (trade-in value) = 539.99 is the value that still has the 10% military discount. I did the math. The $27 discount is 5% of the total $539.99 value.
We found out that the military discount is 3.6% if applied to the total value before trade-in and 5% after, which is lower than the advertised 10%.
Now let's think about Samsung's formula, the discount's reduction based on the trade-in value. Basically, Samsung tells you they sell a phone for $200 minus a 10% discount, which equals $180. But Samsung also tells if you trade-in your $100 value phone, your discount not $20 anymore, because $200 - $100 = $100 and minus 10% discount is equal to $10. Samsung claims that they change the amount of discount, but they actually take $10 value from your phone because, before trade-in, they gave you $20. If a company estimates your phone's value, that means this is how much YOUR property costs. Samsung wants to buy your property; therefore, it shouldn't adjust its value in the middle of the process under the "discount" excuse.
To support:
Check out the apple's 10% discount when I ordered one for my wife. Everything fair and simple. Pro Maxx 12 is $1099 - $109.9 = $989, and then only after, the estimated trade-in refund is $250 for her XR, which makes the final price is $739.
p.s. I texted customer support on Samsung's website, then texted them on Facebook, then called them. No resolution. They offered me a 5% discount code, which cannot be applied together with the military discount, which left me with the dilemma - should I apply my ~5% military discount or apply a 5% promo code...I asked to contact the supervisor, they promised me to write an email, but nobody did. I spend hours talking with customer support but no luck.
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Edu site makes it pretty clear that the 10% is the maximum discount and doesn't apply to every phone.