AS review for the Fold 7's notorious paint chipping issue

Hey everyone, it's pollux.

A problem where the Fold 7's paint just peels off in chunks (*hodoodeuk*) has been reported by a few users, and after four months, mine started tearing off around the fingerprint sensor area too.

(I only have pictures from when the symptoms started getting serious... eventually, the entire bezel around the power button peeled off.)

It started as a small dot, but eventually, the piece that fell off the bezel was almost the size of the power button.

This issue has actually been shared in user communities for a while, but Samsung Electronics is sticking to the line 'It's a charger problem,' telling users who come in with the issue, 'We'll fix it for free once, but next time you pay.'

But the hilarious part is that this happened to me even though I use the Samsung official 25W charger set (charger + cable) AND a Samsung official Qi2-supporting 3-in-1 wireless charger. Obviously, if the charger was the root cause, I wouldn't be experiencing this crap for the first time after using countless electronics over the years. Plus, I use a Flip 7 too, which occasionally gets reports of paint peeling, but that one is perfectly fine. The iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy Tab also have zero issues in the same charging environment. If the Fold 7 is the only one having problems, this is clearly a product defect, not a user environment issue.

Anyway, I went to the Samsung AS center, checked in, and got assigned a technician. When he asked what the problem was, I handed him the phone. As soon as I mentioned the paint peeling, he delivered a line that sounded rehearsed: 'It's a charger overcurrent problem.' ??? Usually, they'd start with something like, 'Sorry for the inconvenience this caused, we've seen this happen sometimes, and maybe this is one of those cases~' But this tech came out in full 'let's fight' mode, and I was completely taken aback.

Honestly, considering how stressful dealing with people can be, I usually try to be super polite to AS technicians. It's only human nature that they won't treat you kindly if you're yelling at them. So I calmly showed him my usage environment (I took pictures beforehand). I explained that I use the charging environment recommended by the manufacturer. I also made sure to mention that I unplug it before bed so that it doesn't stay fully charged and suffer from overcurrent.

Then... after a moment, the expected answer returned: 'We will offer a special, one-time free replacement this time, subsequent repairs will be charged....' So I asked him. I said I couldn't understand why this was being treated as an act of goodwill when the user did nothing wrong, and why I would have to pay for the repair if the exact same problem happens again.

He then retorted, asking if maybe the charger *wasn't* the problem after all... (I was genuinely pissed off at this point, but I held it in... Whew... Aish.) So I told him. I said, 'Those are chargers sold by your company. I'll bring in all my chargers, which are still under their own AS warranty, and you can determine if there's an issue or not.' I argued that if all my other devices are fine and only the Fold 7 has this issue, it's more reasonable to conclude it's a product defect.

Then... he asked what I wanted. He said there were other customers waiting behind me. What do I want? Ugh.... I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, and honestly, I was more annoyed that they were using a young technician as a shield while giving these kinds of instructions. So I requested to speak to a manager.

After waiting a few minutes, the center team leader I met naturally adopted a more conciliatory posture. But since I wasn't being a *jinsang* (a difficult, unreasonable customer) and didn't need emotional pampering, I calmly explained the situation and asked for a decision based on the user's perspective. Honestly, if I had been wrong or reacted emotionally, the center might have pushed back hard... but I'm too old now to waste energy on these kinds of battles (!).

Fortunately, he quickly grasped the situation and agreed to proceed with the repair. Furthermore, he confirmed that within the product warranty period, I could continue to receive free repairs for the same defect under normal conditions (excluding user negligence like damage or paint chipping due to impact or dropping).

To be honest, there are probably consumers who act brazenly, pretending user fault doesn't exist and demanding repairs. Maybe those people are why the AS environment is becoming so defensive. However, sticking to a predetermined answer implies they already know this issue is widespread, and trying to smooth it over with basic CS is definitely problematic. I hope other Fold 7 users never encounter this defect, but even if you're thinking 'It won't happen to me~' (I thought that too), if it happens later, make sure you exercise your consumer rights properly.