Samsung Galaxy Note 4 accidental damage warranty explained

Samsung South Africa has responded to queries about the major changes introduced in the new accidental damage from handling (ADH) warranty for the Galaxy Note 4.

After the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in South Africa, it emerged that the Note 4 would not come with ADH Premium as expected, but with its own ADH warranty.

A spokesperson for the company has since explained that the Note’s warranty is called ADH Note 4, and that all new ADH offerings will be device specific in future.

This does not affect the warranties of the Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 3, or S4, which will all still receive the same ADH benefits as they launched with.

ADH Note 4 vs ADH (original) and ADH Premium

There are three big differences between the previous ADH and ADH Premium warranties, and ADH Note 4.

The first is that under the older warranties customers received two free screen damage repairs or two liquid damage repairs; one liquid damage repair and one screen repair; or both a liquid damage and screen repair at the same time.

ADH Note 4 only offers a single repair of screen damage. Liquid damage is no longer covered by the warranty.

The second difference is that your unused repairs will not transfer to the Galaxy Note 4.

ADH Premium introduced a feature where if you traded in your device within 12 months for a new Samsung device covered by ADH Premium, your unused repairs would transfer to the new device. This is no longer applicable.

The third difference is that ADH Note 4 is only valid for 12 months, whereas the previous warranties were all valid for the typical duration of a contract: 24 months.

As many differences as there are between the ADH Note 4 warranty and its predecessors, there are also many similarities.

Samsung will cover any accidental damage from handling involving the Note 4’s screen — no questions asked.

Similar to ADH Premium, customers will receive a loan unit while their Note 4 is in for repair, and Samsung will fetch and return the device anywhere in South Africa.

Samsung South Africa has also confirmed that “Smart Value” remains available with the Note 4, which means a guaranteed future buyback of the device – at a set fraction of the recommended retail price at the time of purchase – is offered.

Why the big difference?

Asked why it decided to make the changes to its ADH offering, Samsung South Africa’s spokesperson clarified that they had not changed the existing ADH products, but rather introduced a new one for the Note 4.

Samsung explained that it had to optimise ADH, and did so by weighing the cost of the warranty against the benefits, taking into account what customers needed most.

“The most suitable ADH programme was selected for this product,” Samsung said.

“In future, all new ADH offerings will be communicated either at launch or through other customer communication forums,” the spokesperson added.