Impossible to get a Samsung Galaxy S10 International model phone repaired in Canada.

[JeanAumont]

I am trying to get my Samsung Galaxy S10 dual sim phone repaired.

Model Number: SM-G973F/DS
Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxx
IMEI (slot1) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have contacted :

1. Samsung Canada (1-800-726-7864)
2. Samsung Technical Support (1-888-751-4078)
3. Samsung Montreal (514-316-8857) Address: 5395 Rue des Jockeys, Montreal, QC, H4P 2T7
4. Futur Tel (905-415-2388) Canadian repair center in Ontario
5. Samsung USA
6. UBreakiFix (514-542-3636)

None of those people were able to help me with the simple question:
"Where do I send the phone to get it repaired?"

I have spent more than 8 hours on the phone or chat with Samsung and got no valid response.

I would really appreciate your help !

Thanks,

[dust2dust]

I used the Baseband version shown in settings, about phone, software information as a starting point.

Then a site like mentioned above would match that with other firmware options from other regions. I installed the India one.

Be aware of course that this blows out everything in the phone. Do all the backups and cloud syncs or whatever you can think of and then some. You'll still lose some data.

Are you familiar with installing firmware like this? It's a bit of an on the edge of your seat endeavour.

I did interestingly get better bars after installing this other firmware so maybe that might do it for you. But that wasn't the problem I was having.

[softech]

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@JeanAumont wrote:

@dust2dust 

Can you suggest a firmware that would work in Montreal (QC, Canada).

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@JeanAumont 

As said in my post above, you can download the different firmware in Sammobile site.  But there is no Montreal Specific firmare.  For Canada, there is only Canadian firmware, not city specific

However, since you have an Internation version with dual sim, there is no such version offered in Canada, I don't suggest you download the Canada version as it likely won't work well.  Best to download the specific one of your particular variant, at least choose one that is designed for countries offering dual sim version

[hycm53]

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@JeanAumont wrote:

@dust2dust 

Can you suggest a firmware that would work in Montreal (QC, Canada).

You said that you installed a whole other firmware, which one was it? And were are you using your phone ?

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated!

Samsung is currently no help to me at all !!!

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 Generally speaking I won't install firmware or update it, if goes wrong, the phone will be brick or useless.

 Firmware is software that provides basic machine instructions that allow the hardware to function and communicate with other software running on a device, it's not for location such as Montreal!

[JeanAumont]

@dust2dust 

Can you suggest a firmware that would work in Montreal (QC, Canada).

You said that you installed a whole other firmware, which one was it? And were are you using your phone ?

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated!

Samsung is currently no help to me at all !!!

[JeanAumont]

I have tried both slot without any improvement.

[gpixel]

@JeanAumont 

try using the other sim slot and see if there are any changes.

[softech]

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@JeanAumont wrote:

The problem with the phone is the signal strength. The phone as 1 signal bar and all other phone beside it have 4 or 5 signal bar. 

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@JeanAumont   honest, that does not worth the $150 repairs.

Check Sammobile site and they have different firmware (btw, they have different firmware for different countries, they don't have firmeware for Montreal  🙂  )

but honest, it might or might not be firmware issue, could still be hardware.problem.   But again, not worth the $150 repair cost

[JeanAumont]

I forgot to mention that I would like to use the firmware in Montreal, Canada.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion.

[JeanAumont]

The problem with the phone is the signal strength. The phone as 1 signal bar and all other phone beside it have 4 or 5 signal bar. 

I would like to use the phone with the provider called Public Mobile.

The  Model Name : Galaxy S10
The Model Number: SM-G973F/DS

Can you recommend a firmware to installed ?

[softech]

@JeanAumont   are you in Quebec or GTA area?

but with S10, maybe not worth the money to repair?

S10 is $369+tax on PM CPO site, with one year warranty

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/phone-section/samsung-galaxy-S10

you can easily spend $150 for any repair from a shop

[DennyCrane]

Look up generic cell phone repair shops in your area. In my area there is Gurus Cell Phone Repair and Crackerz that come to mind. 

[gpixel]

@JeanAumont 

hi I would use Google and look for shops in your area that repair devices. since your device is older it will probably cost you $200 or lower. 

[computergeek541]

It's not that the phone can't be repaired in Canada but rather that it can't be repaired and covered by warranty. As such, Samsung Canada won't be able to answer any questions about the device.  There's also the issue that anyone who repairs this device might not have access to official replacement parts.  Any place that does the repair for you will be doing so in a way that voids any Samsung warranty (if there's any remaining)  (where it was originally sold.  You'll also needs to pay all repair costs yourself.

[dust2dust]

Yup. Welcome to the "grey" market. I also have an international phone. Samsung wasn't any help for a problem I had last year. Nor Telus even though it really looked like a provider problem. I eventually installed a whole other firmware and that fixed the problem.

A reference I use says the phone is for:

(Latin America), (Europe), (Global, International), Brazil

You'd think global and international would cover it but Samsung doesn't think so I guess.

What's wrong with the phone?