Settlement with Samsung

[Wonderme]

Hi all,

Long story short - I had an issue with a Samsung Android phone. They refused to replace, so I took legal action and they offered me a refund to settle. I accepted.

I informed them during this settlement conversation that I had other issues with a Samsung laptop, and suggested they might want to nip that in the bud now too by replacing that also, lest I should have to take legal action about that too later on. They declined to look into that.

A month later, they have now sent me a settlement agreement which requires me to agree the following:


"Following our correspondence recently and in the interests of improving

your customer experience, as a gesture of goodwill and not an admittance

of any liability or acceptance of your claim, we are prepared to offer you

800 USD converted in the UK currency, in full and final settlement of your

claim.


In consideration of this offer, you agree not to commence or continue with

any claims or cause of action of any kind arising out of or in connection

with the matter involving your phone serial number: CENSORED

and discontinue all complaints against Samsung.


You agree that the settlement amount and all other terms and conditions

of this agreement shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed to

any third party, except as required by law or for purposes of legal or tax

advice. Nothing in this agreement shall prohibit Samsung or you from stating

to anyone that your claims have been fully and completely resolved to

mutual satisfaction.


This offer will remain open for 14 days from the date of receipt of this

email, whereupon it shall lapse.


This Agreement will become effective when signed by you. Once effective,

and you have withdrawn your claim involving your phone serial

number: CENSORED and discontinued all complaints against Samsung

(known or unknown), and provided proof of withdrawal to Samsung, Samsung

shall - as a gesture of goodwill and without acknowledging any legal

obligation to do so, make a payment of 800 USD converted in the UK

currency."


So does this mean I cannot pursue the laptop complaint? It looks that way.

And, am I right in saying that they have contravened their verbal offer of a refund by tying in this other unrelated complaint to the current claim?

[Wonderme]

Anyone?

[R0b]

I can't see anywhere in that offer which says you can't pursue the laptop issue. It says you can't make any further claims in connection with your phone that has the serial number X (see second paragraph). However, I can see your point in the last paragraph which sugests your prevented from bringing future, alternative product claims. You may wish to amend that so its limited to the phone only.

You may also want to consider whether you agree to the confidentiality clause in para. 3 because it effectively gags you from talking about the settlement with anyone, including posting a copy of it on here. It's standard practice for businesses to apply a confidentiality clause for reputational reasons but you don't have to accept it - why should you be gagged from discussing your issues and any poor service from Samsung?

Finally, they're offering 800$ converted to UK currency. There isn't a "UK currency" per se, so you probably want this changing to pounds sterling. Also, what conversion rate are they using? This bit is ambiguous and could mean a bank's conversion rate, or Visa or Mastercard etc. Really you just want it to say that they will pay you £X with X being the cost you paid in pounds sterling, not USD.

Presumably the action remains alive? If so, you should keep the action alive until you have agreed the settlement. The payment shouldn't be contingent on you withdrawing your claim but within 14 days of the settlement as Samsung's obligation and as your obligation, you will withdraw all claims only in relation to the dispute about your phone. It shouldn't prevent you from bringing a claim in the future against any other Samsung product.

Just a few things to think about.

[Wonderme]

Question - regardless of whether they tell me this agreement is in relation to all complaints, as they have just done verbally, can I still sign and return this form and hold them to your interpretation R0b ? In other words, in spite of their stating this agreement is in relation to all claims, can I hold them only to the written contract?

[R0b]

Well the verbal agreement could constitute a separate offer to this but trying to prove what was agreed is going to be difficult if Samsung deny what you are claiming. I suspect someone internally has said that a written settlement offer needs to be put in place and not a verbal one.

You can't hold them to the verbal interpretation by signing this if that is what you are suggesting. You are better off making the amendments to the written offer to make it clear that the settlement only covers any claims in relation to the phone.

If you want to try and get technical and/or clever in the way you are accepting their offer I would caution against it, because it will likely cost you more money in the end and maybe without the result you wanted.

Keep it simple, agree the settlement in writing and then there's written evidence of what both sides have agreed. Until that has occurred, you should maintain your claim against Samsung and if they really wanted to settle the case, then they will give you what you ask for, particularly if the date of the hearing is creeping closer.

[Wonderme]

Well the verbal agreement could constitute a separate offer to this but trying to prove what was agreed is going to be difficult if Samsung deny what you are claiming. I suspect someone internally has said that a written settlement offer needs to be put in place and not a verbal one.

You can't hold them to the verbal interpretation by signing this if that is what you are suggesting. You are better off making the amendments to the written offer to make it clear that the settlement only covers any claims in relation to the phone.

If you want to try and get technical and/or clever in the way you are accepting their offer I would caution against it, because it will likely cost you more money in the end and maybe without the result you wanted.

Keep it simple, agree the settlement in writing and then there's written evidence of what both sides have agreed. Until that has occurred, you should maintain your claim against Samsung and if they really wanted to settle the case, then they will give you what you ask for, particularly if the date of the hearing is creeping closer.

Sorry R0b I should have been more clear.

I asked them yesterday about this written agreement. They told me they consider it in relation to all issues.

So I am asking, if I sign this as it is and send it to them, and they pay out, I am of the mind that according to your interpretation of the contract, I could litigate the other issues, and then if they try to claim there was a verbal warning before I signed about closing all complaints, I could argue that actually I only singed an agreement relating to the current complaint, and whilst they told me they considered the agreement to mean one thing, I read it and singed it according to this interpretation - i.e. yours lol.

[R0b]

It will come down to interpretation of that settlement and whether both parties contemplated at the time of signing for it to cover all issues against Samsung. The question will be what is meant by "all issues" and you certainly don't want to leave it up to a judge to decide. The whole purpose of a contract is to ensure it is clear on the face of it what it is intended to cover. When you get into ambiguity, that becomes a problem.

If I was in your position and I only wanted to settle the claim relating to your phone, I would probably reject their offer and make a counter offer along the lines of the below:-

Terms of settlement

1. Samsung agrees to pay £800 (British Pounds Sterling) in full and final settlement of all existing and potential claims (whether known or unknown) arising out of or in connection with the phone serial number CENSORED ("Handset"). For the avoidance of doubt, this does not prevent you (claimant) from commencing any future claim against Samsung that is not in any way connected to the Handset.

2. Payment of the £800 shall be made by way of bank transfer and in cleared funds within [7/14] days of this offer being accepted. The bank account details are as follows:-

Bank name: XXXX
Account No:
Sort Code:

3. Upon Samsung accepting these terms of settlement, you agree to promptly inform the court that a settlement has been reached and your action against Samsung (claim no. XXX) will be discontinued.

[Wonderme]

Thank you R0b

[R0b]

Do let us know the outcome.

[Wonderme]

Well they told me that their agreement only related to this claim. I told them I accepted it, booked a holiday, then they told me it in fact applies to ALL complaints.

I have a call recording in which they acknowledge misleading me.

Can I now hold them to the verbal info they gave me when I accepted the agreement?

[R0b]

Afraid I don't understand your post. You accepted what, their verbal offer or their written offer?

[Wonderme]

R0b I'm asking that if I accept their written offer, can they later state that it also included their verbal offer/variations/explanations of the written offer?

[R0b]

I've already answered that question.