RANT: letter to Samsung.

[Soundy]

Sorry, but I've been browsing the accessories section of samsungmobile.com and came across something that just boiled my blood... I decided to take a moment to compose the following for Samsung's contact form:

When I went looking for a replacement for my HTC Titan, this phone looked by far like the nicest of Telus's offerings... but I almost didn't buy it, because it's a throwback to the last century with *proprietary sync and charging ports*. My RAZR used mini-USB, my HTC used mini-USB... I very nearly ignored the warnings about the newest HTC crop and was this close to getting a Touch Diamond instead, because it uses a standard mini-USB port that I can charge with any handy USB A-to-mini-B cable, plugged into any laptop or adapter, or with any of the half-dozen existing car and home adapters I already have.

But I went with the Omnia, and have found it's a very nice phone overall... as WHOLE, I love it. But this cable situation is pissing me off more and more and I'm tempted to start recommending that friends who've liked it steer clear. The more I learn about the cables, the more ed I get with Samsung.

For example: the packaged sync cable WON'T CHARGE THE PHONE. This is patently ridiculous. It will feed a trickle current enough to keep the phone alive but not charge it, but only if it's plugged into a computer with ActiveSync installed. If I plug it into any other computer, it won't charge. It won't work either of my existing car lighter-to-USB-A adapters. On a recent trip, I had to keep my laptop on in the car and the phone plugged into it just to keep the phone alive.

And now what do I find looking through the accessories on your website? There's ANOTHER sync cable that WILL charge the phone... that you'll be glad to sell to me for an extra $20?! EXCUSE ME?? I just bought a $500 phone and I can't even charge it through the included USB cable??? I could have spent $200 less for the Touch Diamond and had the ability to charge THAT with ANY common mini-USB cable! I could have dropped $150 more on a Touch Pro and been able to charge THAT through ANY common mini-USB cable! I could charge either with the mini-USB power adapter I already have in the car for my Magellan GPS!

So now I have to carry an extra cable in my laptop bag, instead of just having a single USB cable... I have to purchase a new car charger, or a second proprietary sync cable... I can't just get a new phone, I have to replace a whole series of accessories just to keep the thing connected and powered.

Are we not past this need to nickel-and-dime the customers to death with one-off proprietary accessories? When your competitors are adhering more and more to STANDARDS, a fancier phone will only go so far to entice people to put up with this BS behaviour. If I'd noticed this anomaly with the two separate sync cables before I'd bought this Omnia, that would very likely have been the final straw that pushed me to the Touch Diamond - think of all the accessories I could have bought with that extra $200!!

But I don't expect any of this will matter to anyone at Samsung... you already have my money, and you'll probably get plenty more from people who are wowed enough by how pretty the phone is. But for me... I've had six or seven cel phones before this, every single one with a different charging and sync connector, such that I now have a drawer full of useless chargers and sync cables. My last two phones, I got the RAZR and the Titan. Those used a STANDARD. They could use the same accessories. I figured the days of having to waste perfectly good cables were gone.

Guess I figured wrong.

[Phantom27]

I totally agree with you, both that not having a standard charger sucks and that samsung won't care.

[pdub73]

well it would seem they have finally heard all the complaints...so when the Omnia II comes out it will have the beloved microUSB connection...and a 3.5mm head phone jack...

unfortunately if you get this phone you will have to add another cable to ur collection... but u can pull one out of that drawer as well...check the info on this link

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Sams...e-pa_3802.html

[bkd11]

And this is why I started salivating when I saw the specs for the new Omnia II that is rumored to be coming soon. MicroUSB and standard 3.5mm headphone jack + improved screen.=D> I don't think you're the first person to complain.

Edit: opps! looks like someone beat me to it. LOL

[pdub73]

Originally Posted by bkd11

And this is why I started salivating when I saw the specs for the new Omnia II that is rumored to be coming soon. MicroUSB and standard 3.5mm headphone jack + improved screen.=D> I don't think you're the first person to complain.

Edit: opps! looks like someone beat me to it. LOL

lol...no prob...I hope the July release date rumors are true!!!

[Soundy]

Great, just in time to drop another $600 on a new phone?

The thing that REALLY irks me (at least at the moment) and that inspired this rant, is the fact that they HAVE a USB/sync cable capable of charging from any USB adapter (I have a really cool one that extends and splits the lighter socket to three sockets, AND has a USB-A power port!), but they don't actually include that with the phone... no, they give you a CRIPPLED cable, and want to SELL you the fully-functional one. I'm sorry, but this is a $500+ phone... that's just fuxin' petty.

And these people wonder why users buy the cheap $#!t off eBay... price from Samsung: $19.95 + S&H; price from eBay for the same cable: $4.95, shipping included.

[pdub73]

Originally Posted by Soundy

Great, just in time to drop another $600 on a new phone?

The thing that REALLY irks me (at least at the moment) and that inspired this rant, is the fact that they HAVE a USB/sync cable capable of charging from any USB adapter (I have a really cool one that extends and splits the lighter socket to three sockets, AND has a USB-A power port!), but they don't actually include that with the phone... no, they give you a CRIPPLED cable, and want to SELL you the fully-functional one. I'm sorry, but this is a $500+ phone... that's just fuxin' petty.

And these people wonder why users buy the cheap $#!t off eBay... price from Samsung: $19.95 + S&H; price from eBay for the same cable: $4.95, shipping included.

well I sincerely hope u didn't pay 500.00 for ur Omnia...but just like Big Red, Samsung is in the business of making money...I can't really fault them for that other then to say it sucks for us the consumer...

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by pdub73

well I sincerely hope u didn't pay 500.00 for ur Omnia...but just like Big Red, Samsung is in the business of making money...I can't really fault them for that other then to say it sucks for us the consumer...

I paid $200 on top of the $300 credit Telus gave me... that's their listed non-contract price.

You don't make money by nickel-and-diming your customers to death... especially in this day and age, that's how you drive them away, to the companies that DON'T treat their customers as disposable commodities.

[pdub73]

Originally Posted by Soundy

I paid $200 on top of the $300 credit Telus gave me... that's their listed non-contract price.

You don't make money by nickel-and-diming your customers to death... especially in this day and age, that's how you drive them away, to the companies that DON'T treat their customers as disposable commodities.

Well...if there is another company that makes a phone like the Omnia and cares more about the customers then making money...Please let me know...

[Soundy]

It's not a matter of "caring more about the customers than making money", it's about making money by treating customers properly, thereby attracting more customers and repeat customers, rather than trying to milk the ones you've got for every spare penny :P

The former is what works in this Information Age, where word of mouth (via the Internet) is as powerful as any advertising.

The latter is thinking from the Industrial Revolution.