14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung’s Australian unit has been fined $9.65 million for misleading customers about the water resistance of its Galaxy S phones, according to an announcement from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
According to the press release, the false claims concerned a series of Samsung phones like the S7, S7 Edge, A5 (2017), A7 (2017), S8, S8 Plus and Note 8. In total, over 3.1 million Galaxy phones that came with misleading water resistance claims were sold in Australia.
As it turns out, Samsung run a series of advertisements, including online and in physical stores, to tell users that using Galaxy phones in pools or sea water wouldn’t damage the device. Customers, however, discovered the hard way that this wasn’t true, as some devices ended up being broken down after getting submerged in water.
According to the ACCC, even Samsung acknowledged the misleading advertising.
“Between March 2016 and October 2018, Samsung Australia conducted a marketing campaign that included nine ads(link is external), published across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, on its website, and in-store, which represented that these Galaxy phones were suitable to be used in pool and sea water,” ACCC says.
“Samsung Australia has acknowledged that if the Galaxy phones were submerged in pool or sea water there was a material prospect the charging port would become corroded and stop working if the phone was charged while still wet.”
The consumer watchdog says Samsung customers who got their phones damaged after using them in water should reach out to the company, most likely to have their devices fixed at no charge.
“Consumers who purchased one of the relevant Galaxy phones and experienced damage to the charging port after submerging the phone in pool or sea water and then attempting to charge the phone while water remained in the port are encouraged to contact Samsung Australia,” the ACCC says.