Soundbar firmware issues

[SSPair]

https://www.theverge.com/news/634052/samsung-soundbar-bricked-repair-software-update 

Samsung responds to the Verge re: firmware issue.

[Robin621k]

Good for them.
I

[useraUJxu2e00F]

After Samsung offered the "opportunity" to ship my "bricked" Q990D soundbar back to them, they called to complain I hadn't taken time off to get to the UPS store. I plan to go today but received this email this morning:

"Please insure your product and use a shipper that provides a tracking number. Samsung is not liable for any in transit damage"

So, Samsung "bricked" a brand new (two months old), $1500 Q990D, that I bought directly from them, wants me to ship it to for repair, yet claims they're not liable and I have to pay for insurance. 

I was a Samsung "fanboy." Guess that ends today...

UPDATE:

Went to UPS store: $24.67 to pack the thing...and UPS could not ADD INSURANCE to pre-paid shipping label from Samsung. Curious to see if this now "magically" breaks in transit.

[BChristine73]

This is absolutely nuts.  Mine stopped working as well and was swapping HDMI cables, powering down and restarting, doing everything I could to figure things out.

They broke these things - we should have ZERO liability here and ZERO cost - in fact, my home theater now looks to be out of commission for probably at least weeks due to their mistake?  NOT okay.

[BChristine73]

FYI - after I contacted Samsung service, my sound bar has been shipped and they paid for shipping and packaging, thankfully.  Still unbelievable that their QA process allowed this to happen.  Big loss financially and in customer trust for them.

[F7EFiou]

I was told that my unit, purchased from Amazon, was a Canadian model. Samsung Canada can't help unless I ship it to someone who lives in Canada first. This is unbelievably irresponsible on Samsung's part. I am well past the point of recourse with Amazon, and they waited until my unit was already in New Jersey to inform me they wouldn't be repairing it. 

[Members_CRTPpVe]

We have the same issue.  Bought mine from Ebay and the seller "IELECTRA" show it as a USA model.  HW-Q990D/ZA.  What we have is a /ZC.  So Samsung refused to fix ours!  This unit was purchased 2024-July.  IELECTRA stated and confirmed in an e-mail when I bought it that it was covered by a Samsung 1 year parts and labor warranty.  Don't but from that outfit they won't even reply if something goes wrong.  SENT THEM SEVERAL E-MAILS AND CRICKETS. 

FYI  I tried an Optical hook up today and the Soundbar is playing again.  The HDMI E-arc...dead.  Why wouldn't Samsung give you at least this information to fix it somewhat?  This is not a cheap sound bar and we are very disappointed in Samsung because of this experience.

[xomaszi93]

After a week in the service center, they returned my device, informing me that a replacement part was unavailable, so they couldn't repair it. They also couldn't replace it because the soundbar comes from distribution. I contacted Samsung, and their response was that I could wait an unknown amount of time for the mainboard to become available. So, I wasted time driving to the service center, packing this brick, and spent 700 Euros on a soundbar that Samsung bricked with an update after just seven months of use. This is the last time I buy anything from them—so be careful! 🙂

[Onnno]

My HW-S801D is bricked after firmware auto-update as well. Samsung should provide a fix and otherwise replace all products affected by distribution faulty software via OTA.

[F7EFiou]

Yeah, they aren't fixing all the soundbars they bricked, regardless of what they say to the media. They rejected my claim saying it was a Canadian model purchased on Woot. I live in the US and bought it from a US company. As if any of this resolves them of warranty obligations for rendering the devices unusable.