Samsung India makes up to customers who pre-ordered Galaxy Note7

UPDATE: Oct. 14, 2016, 8:52 p.m. IST Samsung India has issued an apology to customers in India who pre-ordered the Galaxy Note7. To make it up to them, the company is now offering them an "exclusive" Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, with a Samsung Gear VR and a Samsung Level U stereo wireless headset at no charge. In addition, the company says it will also ship an Oculus content voucher to these customers, and offer One Time Screen Replacement on the new phone. 

"Please visit the retailer or online portal from where you had pre-booked your Galaxy Note7 to avail the above offer. In case you do not wish to avail the offer, you can get full refund of the pre-booking amount from your retailer or online portal," the company wrote. Our original story follows. 

The worst thing any company can do is to irk its most loyal customers. It seems Samsung has managed to do exactly that in India. 

SEE ALSO: 5 awesome Android phones to replace your Galaxy Note7

Even as Samsung is bending over backwards by offering credits to those who bought the Galaxy Note7 in the United States, its loyal customers in India who had pre-booked the ill-fated smartphone in the country are still waiting to get refunds. 

Samsung had announced the Galaxy Note7 in India in August and it was supposed to go on sale on Sept. 2. In the run up to the launch day, Samsung opened pre-orders, where buyers could make a partial or full payment (depending on where you bought it from) for the smartphone and avail some launch day offers, which included a discount on its Gear VR headset. 

However, on the launch day, Samsung sent text messages to those who had pre-booked the Galaxy Note7 announcing that the delivery of the smartphone would be delayed. Later that day, Samsung made a global announcement where it acknowledged the faulty battery and halted sales of the phone globally.

To appease customers in India, Samsung announced it would give the Gear VR headset for free to those who pre-ordered the device. Now two months later, those who had pre-ordered the Galaxy Note7 are complaining that Samsung India has been unresponsive to them during this entire period, and some say that their money is stuck with the company.

Image: Asif

Hyderabad-based Asif Iqbal Shaik is one such unfortunate customer. Asif pre-ordered the Galaxy Note7 in August from Samsung India eStore (Samsung India's official online store), and paid the entire sum of Rs 59,900 ($897) for the phone upfront. He told Mashable India that Samsung is yet to issue a refund to him. He also complains about Samsung India remaining tight-lipped on the matter. "There hasn't been any communication yet about the recall or returning the money," Asif said.

Mashable India spoke to several other customers and retail store owners to check how they have dealt with the pre-orders. Hyderabad-based Balachandra Pulavarthi’s situation is similar, though a little more complicated. Pulavarthi, who claims to have owned all Galaxy Note smartphones for the past four years, says he sold his Galaxy Note5 soon after he pre-ordered the Galaxy Note7 but the last two months has been a nightmare for him. 

He pre-ordered the Galaxy Note7 on August 22 from Samsung India eStore. For the past one-and-a-half months, he has been impatiently talking with Samsung representatives to know when - and if - his phone will be delivered. It was only this Thursday that Samsung informed him that his order will be auto-cancelled and a refund will be issued in one to three weeks.

Image: Balachandra Pulavarthi

"I wrote a detailed email explaining my situation to Samsung India support, but didn't get a reply," he told Mashable India. "I would've tried cancelling the order on Sept. 2 itself, but I waited since Samsung said it will provide free Gear VR and Oculus Voucher," Pulavarthi added. He is upset that Samsung doesn't have a replacement/exchange program in India as it does in the United States. If such things were in place, he said, he would have asked Samsung to send him a Galaxy S7 edge instead.

Mumbai-based resident Rajesh Karia is yet another customer who has been on the receiving end of the Galaxy Note7 ordeal. "The biggest problem is zero communication. Every time you contact them on Twitter, Facebook or through its toll free support number, you get the same cliché replies," Karia told us. "I guess even today if you call anonymously they will still say Galaxy Note7 will be delivered as soon as possible."

Another customer Manikanta Sai, who ordered the phone from official Samsung store in Hyderabad says the company is taking an awful amount of time for cancelling the order and issuing a refund. "When I ask for refund they [Samsung] are like it's under process and we will contact you soon," he told us.  

The problem seems to be with Samsung India's official online store that is unable to process refunds. Third-party retailers, who had taken token money for pre-booking the Galaxy Note7, seem to have no problems refunding the amount since the money was kept with them.  

Mumbai-based Manish Khatri, who has a retail store in the city said he refunded the money to all the customers who had pre-ordered the phone from him. Khatri adds that he is not Samsung India's direct "promoter" for the Galaxy Note7 smartphone, and it was easier for him to handle the situation on his own. Another Delhi-based retailer also confirmed the refunds had been made.  

Online forums are filled with similar complains and queries from customers who are still not sure exactly how Samsung plans to handle the refunds. Popular Android forum XDA has a thread that spans over 400 pages that documents several such incidents. 

Mashable India reached out to Samsung India for comment on Thursday. The company is yet to provide us with a statement.