I purchased a galaxy zfold 7 on pre order day 7/9/25 for $895 after price match and trade in of my old zfold 6. After a day of usage I noticed a defect where the phone did not close all the way. I spoke to a Samsung representative on July 25th and 28th to report the defect and wanted to exchange for a new one. I was instructed by the Samsung representative that in order to do a warranty return I had to purchase another new zfold 7 and send the defective one back as a trade in. On their website there was no way to select the zfold 7 as a trade in because it was a recently released phone so I was instructed by the Samsung representative to select the zfold 6 as the trade in device and to mail it back the same way I would as a normal trade in and then after the return was complete I would receive a refund for the new purchase. I purchased the new phone on July 28th 2025 for 1213.09. I received the phone on 8/6/25 with no issues. I sent the defective phone back and I received an email from Samsung confirming they received the defective phone on 8/14/25 and another email on 8/22/25 confirming that everything was in order with the retuned phone. I waited a few days and called them to inquire about when I could expect my refund on 8/27, 28th, 29th, and the 31st. I received several emails denying my refund due to the phone being sent in with a "trade-in" label instead of a "return" label. I wasn't instructed to use a specific label and since I was told it was a being treated as a trade-in I used the label that was in the box of the new phone. Even if they didn't want to refund the phone they should've sent it back. I basically paid full price for the phone and gave them my old one with nothing in return. Samsung either owes me my old phone back or a refund for the defective one. I don't mind filing a civil case but would like to get this resolved an easier way if possible. Several other representatives questioned why their own representative had me exchange the phone in that manner in the first place. Any recommendations?
**UPDATE** After days of complaining I guess they got tired of me or the representatives stopped using their own words to explain what happened when escalating and finally decided to refund me. They admitted that I shouldn't have been told to go through a warranty return in this manner to begin with.
