Break Contract With IFixit, Samsung Creates A Lossful Repair Contract

Samsung's repair contract is detrimental to Samsung's independent/DOK workshop

JAKARTA iFixit, the online repair community, has terminated its contract with Samsung after two years of working together. These two companies failed to reach an agreement that should benefit both parties.

To The Verge, iFixit CEO and founder Kyle Wiens said that Samsung was not interested in large-scale fixes. In addition, both failed to negotiate as Samsung set its parts at a high price.

Wiens considers that Samsung's contract only benefits the company. The reason is, the contract limits iFixit from selling more than spare parts to each customer within three months.

Actually, there are several other reasons that Wiens has revealed. However, shortly after the news of iFixit and Samsung breaking the contract circulated, it was revealed that Samsung forced independent workshops to submit customer personal information.

When there are Samsung users who want to repair their devices, iFixit or other independent workshops must send their device name, address, phone number, unique mobile serial number, IMEI, customer complaints or problems, and repair details.

404 Media also received leaks that independent workshops had to refuse devices that had already made repairs with regular spare parts. In addition to refusing, the workshop had to remove its spare parts from the cellphone and complain to Samsung.

This submission of personal information has been confirmed by Wiens. The iFixit CEO said that they shared some customer information with Samsung. If anyone buys genuine parts, the customer must allow Samsung to have their email and list of purchased parts.

This contract can be a problem in several countries, especially in Minnesota. The reason is, the Minnesota Law will not allow such a contract to be implemented. The contract from Samsung can be detrimental because it does not have fair and reasonable requirements.