Samsung Galaxy S4 warped battery

[Mellington]

My 2 month old Samsung Galaxy S4 has started getting hot and turning itself off when I use it.  The battery is swollen and is pushing the back cover out.  Having done some searching on here and other places online, I have found out that it is a very common problem, and Samsung are replacing batteries of affected devices free of charge, as they have admitted the fault.

I have contacted Samsung directly and been told I will have to make the 3 hour round journey to my nearest 'Service Centre' or wait 5 days for a prepaid envelope to be sent out so that I can send my whole phone to them and wait 10 more working days to get it back.  As I explained to them, I cannot manage without a phone - I am a Social Work Masters student, currently on placement.  Going on home visits to my service users alone with no means of contacting anyone would make me extremely vulnerable, and I would not be allowed to do it.  I have reluctantly decided that getting a new battery even though it means a long, expensive journey will be the better option...

I have called the mobitech shop in Kendal today as I would have been able to make the trip tomorrow (having taken a day off to do so!) - they say that it is an extremely common problem, that the batteries are out of stock, and that they may get some in some time next week, but cannot guarantee it.  The next closest Service Centre to me would be Manchester - over 300 mile round trip!

Is there anything at all that Vodafone can offer to help me out?  I am paying for a phone that I cannot use for more than about 2 minutes at a time before it cuts out.  On top of this, Vodafone has been down on and off in my home postcode since November and I have also been paying for my contract all that time too.  I only upgraded and stayed with Vodafone in January because I was assured that the problems in this area were fully resolved!  No one is able to tell me when or even if the fault on the network will ever be fixed.  Even right from ordering this phone there were problems - the order wasn't 'put through' properly on your systems, resulting in me waiting in a day (after waiting a week for a day I could be home all day) and had to wait even longer and go out of my way to store to collect it in the end.

Please can someone get back to me about this.  I have tried to wait patiently for the above issues but it just feels like one thing after the next with no real support, understanding or compensation for anything from Vodafone and now Samsung too.

Obviously I have no way of phoning anyone to complain, if this doesn't get anywhere I will have to go out of my way again to go to my nearest store (40 mile round trip again) to speak to someone in person.

Melissa.

[Retired-Andy]

Hi Melissa,

Let us know how you go on when you’ve been into the Carlisle store.

Keep your eyes on our Network updates board.

If we’re aware of a site fault in your area, it’ll be listed here.

Cheers,

Andy

[Mellington]

Hi Andy,

I nipped into the Carlisle store between visits this afternoon and straight away they said they will post one out, should hopefully arrive tomorrow. So that's great news! I don't understand why Samsung were being so awkward about it... and the man in the shop couldn't understand it either, since they will end up paying Vodafone back for the new battery anyway...

Didn't ask about the signal problem, really didn't have time to get into it but it does seem to have been working yesterday evening and this morning before I left, so fingers crossed that could be the end of it.

I did pop into Carp hone Warehouse In Carlisle as some people suggested as I walked past their shop on the way but they can only replace the battery if the phone was bought from them in the first place.

Thanks for all you help and suggestions everyone! Hopefully that's the end of it all!

Melissa

[hrym]

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@Mellington wrote:
Hi Andy,

I nipped into the Carlisle store between visits this afternoon and straight away they said they will post one out, should hopefully arrive tomorrow.

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Brilliant.  That's what should have happpened in the first place,  Kudos to the Vodafone shop in Carlisle, someone!

[impished]

I had the same swollen battery and switching off problem.  I popped into a Vodafone shop (in Hempstead Valley, Kent) on the way home from work expecting a ruck or a wait but ended up leaving with a brand new battery in the time it took to say hello, sorry & goodbye!  Excellent service.  And I've now got a phone that lasts longer than it ever did out of the box!

[RickWaby]

I currently have the issue of a swollen battery in my s4. The back cover is very bowed but strangly it seems to be pushing the screen away from the housing also. The phone will rock on its front and back at the moment. Has anyone else suffered this issue?

[drey_p]

Hi there

Yes, I've had this issue as have a few others. There is a faulty batch of batteries.  All you need to do is contact your local Samsung Repair Centre and they'll replace the battery for you.

[hrym]

Do this as soon as possible as the battery may be damaging the phone itself.

[Mellington]

Hi everyone,

I am experiencing the same battery issue again for the third time since I got the phone in January.

Really fed up with this, every few months the new supposedly from a better batch battery does the same thing.

For a phone I am paying this much for I believe it is unacceptable and given that the phone/batteries whatever have been having these same problems repeatedly pretty much since brand new I feel that I should be offered an exchange or something.  I think it is terrible customer service to be fobbed off with a replacement everytime only for it to keep happening again.

Anyone got any suggestions on what to do or say to get this resolved once and for all?  I know that there are horror stories all over the web and it's been on Watchdog recently as well, it isn't me imagining it!  People are being injured by these batteries exploding or causing fires - it is a well known problem and since changing the battery hasn't helped I need something more effective to be done now and I would like to be compensated for the problems to date. 

I have over a year left on my contract and I really need my phone to be reliable for reasons I have explained before!

Any suggestions appreciated...

Melissa

[drey_p]

Take or send the phone to Samsung and get them to check it over. It is possible that it's just another battery issue or it could be an issue with the phone itself.

You can also use the Vodafone repair service as detailed a few posts up.

[hrym]

I agree with drey_p - it would be worth getting Samsung to look at this.   Just one thought - you're not letting the battery go flat are you?  This will considerably shorten its life and is one possible to cause to consider.