The U.S. division of Samsung is mistakenly shipping some pre-ordered Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus units for Sprint’s network with Verizon SIM cards, according to multiple user reports. Over a dozen people who placed advanced orders for Sprint models of the new Android flagships directly with Samsung claim to have received the wrong SIM card with their device in the last 24 hours, with all such orders shipping with Verizon’s cards, suggesting all of the problematic orders were likely fulfilled at the same time. A number of affected users who contacted the local branch of the South Korean tech giant were told the company isn’t able to do anything but should instead get in touch with Sprint. Representatives of the Overland Park, Kansas-based wireless carrier were reportedly much more helpful and referred consumers to their nearest Sprint store, promising to provide them with the carrier’s SIM card at no charge.
New SIM cards usually cost in the ballpark of $30 and some affected users criticized Samsung’s after-sales support for their response to the issue, with one person claiming the rep they got in touch with told them to “just eat” the unexpected extra charge. While the problem originated at Samsung, it’s also a side effect of Sprint‘s product practices which still see the wireless carrier issue unique proprietary SIM cards for every new smartphone model. Due to that state of affairs, even most affected users who were promised free SIM cards from the mobile service provider have to wait until tomorrow before they’re able to get them as the majority of the company’s stores still don’t have them in stock, according to recent reports.
The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are now at the end of their two-week pre-order period and will be officially released on a global level in 24 hours. The Seoul-based smartphone manufacturer is expecting its latest Android flagships to outsell their predecessors but hasn’t shared their pre-order figures, suggesting they failed to generate as much interest as the Galaxy S8 series did last year.
Nailed it 🙄 @SamsungMobileUSpic.twitter.com/nG0PwfYdne
— Brandon | This Is Tech Today – YouTube (@thisistechtoday) March 14, 2018