Galaxy S9 Small Print Exposes Samsung's Nasty Surprise

Galaxy S9 pre-orders have begun for Samsung’s deceptively well-upgraded (if controversial) smartphone and it will hit stores on March 16th. But read Samsung’s small print and there’s a nasty surprise in there which can hit your wallets hard, and maybe even make you cancel your upgrade plans altogether…

‘Great Secret Features’ and ‘Nasty Surprises’ are my regular columns investigating the best features / biggest problems hidden behind the headlines.

Samsung's Galaxy S9 has the Galaxy S9 Plus (right) can cost a lot more than you think

Credit for this eagle-eyed spot goes to reader Ruth Cosby, who brought my attention to a “genuinely well-hidden, nasty surprise” in Samsung’s Galaxy S9 pricing: you may end up paying almost 40% more for the phone than you think. And the same is true for the larger Galaxy S9 Plus, you might pay 33% more than the listed price.

It all comes down to a clause in the contract you sign when buying from Samsung direct.

Heavily marketed across the site is ‘Samsung Upgrade’. This entitles you “Get the latest Galaxy Phone every year” and it is the default payment option when you try to pre-order the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus, regardless of whether you requested it. Choose it and you are still told the “total” is the standard price for the phones (either $720 or $840), but Premium Care has been added “on separate financing terms.”

Premium Care is not listed as part of the “total” but will cost you an extra $11.99 per month over a two year period. The first month is free so that’s 23 payments totalling an extra $276. If you’d like to find out more about it Samsung states: “For additional questions regarding Samsung Premium Care, please call 1-866-371-9501.”

Qualification for Samsung Upgrade is conditional on additional monthly payments

Furthermore, if you do place this order by accident then because the first month of Premium Care is free you won’t notice it in your billing. You will in month two, but then you have already passed the 30-day return window. Samsung also retains the right to increase the monthly cost of Premium Care at any time with 30 days notice.

If you are careful and you read through the Samsung Premium Care terms and conditions (all 3,000 words of it) you shouldn’t get caught out. But obviously, not many buyers take these precautions.

All of which makes buying the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus more hazardous than customers have any right to expect.

Only T-Mobile and Samsung are selling these models at their actual retail prices and the former locks you to T-Mobile, while the latter requires you make careful purchasing options. Meanwhile AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are needlessly hiking prices by as much as $75 on top of making you sign a multi-year contract.

This leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are much smarter upgrades than a lot of press coverage has given Samsung credit for, but ordering them is paved with pitfalls and that’s likely to put off a significant number of potential buyers…

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