Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singapore

[nshankar]

As published in Emirates 24/7...

Samsung has removed free international warranty on television sets imported from the UAE and a few other countries in an effort to protect dealers there against bulk and parallel imports.

According to latest available information, Indian retailers have been told that henceforth warranties will not be applicable in India on any of the imported sets.

Apart from the UAE, Thailand and Singapore have also been included in the list of destinations from where television sets will not have warranties in India.

A Samsung official told Emirates 24|7 during a recent exhibition that there has been intense pressure on Samsung by retailers in India.

There has been constant moaning by them with regards to cheap imports from Dubai, he said.

The latest communication from Samsung India to retailers states that this measure will be the first in a series of measures to protect Indian traders.

As you know, India receives a lot of parallel imports of panel televisions from countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Dubai etc. As a first step in addressing this problem, we are pleased to announce that India has been removed from International Warranty Policy for Samsung Panel Televisions. Hence, standard one year free warranty with free installation support will no longer be applicable in India for any Samsung Television imported from Thailand, Singapore or Dubai. This policy has already come into effect and we wanted to inform you of the same.

Retailers in India have been complaining not just about Samsung but all major TV brands as imports from the UAE and other countries offer major price discounts compared to retail prices in India.

Customers from India usually flock to Dubai during the Dubai Shopping Festival and Gitex specifically to shop for electronic goods and mainly television sets.

On some occasions, buyers have managed to purchase a TV at almost Dh1,000 to Dh1,500 cheaper than what it is priced across retail stores in India.

It is still not clear if the Indian retail lobby will succeed in convincing other brands to follow suit.

Samsung also in its memo said that the issue is faced by all major TV brands and it affects customer perception as well as channel confidence in the brand.

We are taking many other steps as well to address the problem of parallel imports and will inform you of the same as and when they are finalised, the communication added

 

[just4kix]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

This is sad news but is not going to benefit Indian retailers or Samsung India. People will continue to buy TVs from the cheapest source available. Anyway warranty is for one year only and it is highly unlikely that anything will happen to the TV in one year.

 

[shanmune]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

This is sad news but is not going to benefit Indian retailers or Samsung India. People will continue to buy TVs from the cheapest source available. Anyway warranty is for one year only and it is highly unlikely that anything will happen to the TV in one year.

^ Well said.

Samsung or for any other brand has taken this measure to protect the retailers. Fine, it's not a problem, but they could have also tried to protect the consumers by giving at least 3 years warranty. So greedy are they ??? :sad:

Anyway, Indians have been always taken for a ride, either by the people in power or by the greedy businessmen.

 

[rbalagopalan]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

It is immaterial whether you have the 1 year warranty or not as long as your saving in getting it from abroad, from a parllel importer or from grey market is equal to the cost of replacing the LCD panel (this is the worst nightmare can happen to any panel TV).

Moreover in a given situation of changing the panel from then on it is covered by 6 months service warranty.

To indicate approximate panel changing cost is
Rs. 8 to 9K for 32 incher
Rs. 30 to 40K for a 52 incher.

So people don't get perturbed by the warranty clause just buy at your will.

Thanks

R. Balagopalan.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

A Samsung official told Emirates 24|7 during a recent exhibition that there has been intense pressure on Samsung by retailers in India.

There has been constant moaning by them with regards to cheap imports from Dubai, he said.

Well, then, Samsung and the dealers should get together to make sure the prices in India are competitive, not punish people for buying elsewhere.

As you know, India receives a lot of parallel imports of panel televisions from countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Dubai etc. As a first step in addressing this problem..." Hahah... why don't they think of the customers' problem?

we are pleased to announce

Ha Ha again. Pleased to announce. These marketing people talk like robots.

International warranties should be mandatory on all products --- but, as there is no international authority to impose such a judgement, it remains but a dream.

 

[pranjal.3029]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Hey! it's India and many retailers won't be aware of this news until 3-4 months from now(just show them the warranty card ) so if you have any defects in your imported product, better get it done soon!

 

[captrajesh]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Well, then, Samsung and the dealers should get together to make sure the prices in India are competitive, not punish people for buying elsewhere.

why don't they think of the customers' problem?

Exactly my thoughts too. Citizen don't seem to have any rights at all here, neither as voters nor as consumers.:indifferent14::sad:

 

[vakharia]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Well, then, Samsung and the dealers should get together to make sure the prices in India are competitive, not punish people for buying elsewhere.

The problem it seems is the duties and taxes are higher in India, so the final cost goes up. We cannot hence get products at same prices.

 

[anm]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

it is a great opportunity for a rival, say sony or LG or sharp to announce and market their products with international warranty. One can charge upto 5k for additional international warranty.

 

[longshanks]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

it is a great opportunity for a rival, say sony or LG or sharp to announce and market their products with international warranty. One can charge upto 5k for additional international warranty.

Yeah we wish they will do that,but that's never going to happen.

Charge extra 5k? i guess the point is to honor warranty when the television is bought outside of India which no manufacturer currently does, its not about honoring international warranty for a television bought in India and carried abroad(which is not bound to happen).

at least Samsung and LG's Indian pricing is super competitive compared to Sony and Panasonic, the 64" F8500 is being sold at 1.8 lakhs street price which is aprox 3100 dollars which is less than the 3,397.99$ price in USA and much lesser than the UK price of 2,999.99. While the Panasonic 60" ZT60 sells for 3,499.98$ and 55VT60 is available for $1,875 and i am almost 100% sure if it ever gets introduced in India it wont be selling anywhere closer to this price.Same goes for nosy as well because they sell 55"W900 for $2599.99 which sells for 2,10,000 in India which almost 4000$ which means out of the big players Samsung and LG are the most price friendly.

 

[shanmune]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Yeah we wish they will do that,but that's never going to happen.

Charge extra 5k? i guess the point is to honor warranty when the television is bought outside of India which no manufacturer currently does, its not about honoring international warranty for a television bought in India and carried abroad(which is not bound to happen).

at least Samsung and LG's Indian pricing is super competitive compared to Sony and Panasonic, the 64" F8500 is being sold at 1.8 lakhs street price which is aprox 3100 dollars which is less than the 3,397.99$ price in USA and much lesser than the UK price of 2,999.99. While the Panasonic 60" ZT60 sells for 3,499.98$ and 55VT60 is available for $1,875 and i am almost 100% sure if it ever gets introduced in India it wont be selling anywhere closer to this price.Same goes for nosy as well because they sell 55"W900 for $2599.99 which sells for 2,10,000 in India which almost 4000$ which means out of the big players Samsung and LG are the most price friendly.

Okay, I understand. A question - How is Samsung able to get it's price competitive in India ? Is it due to the fact that Samsung sets are manufactured locally in India (resulting in no shipping/import duty/taxes) ?
Or - is it that they can afford to work with smaller profit margin due to large volumes ?

 

[hemantwaghe]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Okay, I understand. A question - How is Samsung able to get it's price competitive in India ? Is it due to the fact that Samsung sets are manufactured locally in India (resulting in no shipping/import duty/taxes) ?
Or - is it that they can afford to work with smaller profit margin due to large volumes ?

Both the reasons as well as other reasons
They are here for many years LG & Samsung and tried hard to set up distribution.
Huge volume helps in better oiled distribution and warehousing . Indian mfg saves costs and import duties.
Also the strategy is to capture volumes and make profit .

Globally too Samsung and LG doing good unlike all Japs incl sony who are bleeding.

 

[longshanks]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Okay, I understand. A question - How is Samsung able to get it's price competitive in India ? Is it due to the fact that Samsung sets are manufactured locally in India (resulting in no shipping/import duty/taxes) ?
Or - is it that they can afford to work with smaller profit margin due to large volumes ?

Of course one of the major reason is because they get it locally assembled although the panels are from Korea and china,even if the television is fully imported the duty charges for flat panels are very less compared to many other products.

One of my friend bought a washing machine from Samsung like 3 years ago and it was fully imported(made in Korea) but still the pricing was very competitive.

The fact is Samsung sells more hence they mark less margin and they are super strong financially world wide (at least for now) the same is not the case for other brands which are mostly sinking ships in terms of making profits so they cannot decrease their profitability in this situation, which is again real bad for consumers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_revenue

 

[shanmune]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Okay ... If Samsung is offering products at competitive prices in India, then why people have to purchase the same Samsung products from outside India ? If Samsung TVs are sold at very less price within India, then why should Samsung be concerned about Indian retailers ? From the post sent by the OP, Samsung is withdrawing international warranty just for the reason that people are doing imports rather than buying it locally here.

The point that we both discussed earlier was about competitive pricing between the brands. The point that we need to discuss right now is - "Does Samsung offer better price in India in order to discourage people from importing ?"

The other question we need to ask Samsung and other brands :- Will they even take some steps to protect their consumers first ? Why can't they give 3 year warranty ? Why can't they reduce the price of replacing the faulty panels outside the warranty period ?

 

[just4kix]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Forget Samsung and TVs. All manufacturers for all consumer goods have higher prices in India. Reason are many - some genuine (customs duty, excise, VAT, trasportation, etc.) and some not so (read "intention to make high profits").

 

[adder]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

The reason people buy from abroad is that the prices are cheaper.
Tvs assembled in india like the ones from LG and Samsung have excise duty attached the moment it leaves the factory ,their panels which are imported have custom duties of 3% to 5% and once it hits the stores you will have to pay the VAT and in some places octroi.

Tvs fully imported like Sony and Panasonic have customs duty of roughly 30% and you again have to pay VAT and octroi.

So when you get the tvs from other countries or if you buy from grey market you are mostly not paying a single dime to our government.(Grey dealers pay bribe to the customs officer).

 

[longshanks]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Okay ... If Samsung is offering products at competitive prices in India, then why people have to purchase the same Samsung products from outside India ?

The other question we need to ask Samsung and other brands :- Will they even take some steps to protect their consumers first ? Why can't they give 3 year warranty ? Why can't they reduce the price of replacing the faulty panels outside the warranty period ?

Must be low end to mid level LCD's, these are priced a bit cheaper than India in countries like Dubai,Singapore,Thailand and even Malaysia for that matter.

Warranty is a marketing tool and Samsung right now does not need that(except if the govt strong arms them like EU did with apple to extend apple care), unless their sales drop they will increase warranty like how Philips India offers 4 years warranty because Philips LCD's don't sell here.

One of the main other reason why Samsung can offer competitive pricing is because they are almost independent of outside suppliers, they manufacture every damn thing they use, other manufacturers don't have this luxury.Overall all i believe Samsung's profit margin is much less compared to Sony and Panasonic, the only real competition is LG which offers great pricing as well.

As of 01-MAR-2013 the customs for importing a fully assembled LED LCD tv is 10% and for LCD panel it is 0% if it is 20" and above.

Import duty & taxes for Led tv

 

[adder]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

The custom duties can be calculated here using HS Code which importers use and the duty comes to around 30% which includes the other taxes that makes the final duty price.
http://www.cybex.in/indian-custom-d...-Size-Exceeding-Duty-Calculator-85287216.aspx

When i import Hobby RC parts i use the respective HS code and thats what the PAD uses to calculate the duties.

 

[isawugoing]

Re: Samsung India withdraws global warranty for TVs bought in UAE, Thailand and Singa

Samsung India's Customer care Dept, specifically Television Technical Dept.
confirms, that International Warranty of 1 year, is valid, on presentation of Invoice & International Warranty card, with India Flag. etc.... Installation is 5000 extra.

I guess, to deny warranty, they will have to first remove warranty cards from Thailand market.

They just can't deny the warranty, it would be illegal.