For Christmas my wife gave me a Samsung Galaxy S4. Half a year later it is malfunctioning, due to a swelling battery. Samsung acknowledged that as being a manufacturers fault, and publicly offered to replace those batteries. But in reality it ain't that easy.

The website told me to visit the closest Samsung Service Center, they won't just send you a replacement battery. So I drive into town to go there. The guy in the shop also is aware of the problem and the replacement policy. But he doesn't have any replacement batteries, nor can he tell me when he'll get them. In addition to that he demands a proof of purchase, but of course I haven't bought the phone in that shop, and didn't even think I needed to take that proof with me. What more proof than the swollen original battery does Samsung need?

So I went home and looked on the internet again. A third-party replacement battery for the Samsung Galaxy S4 is $13.99 at Amazon. That is probably less than what it cost me to drive into town. And the battery is delivered to my home and soon, instead of me having to go to the Samsung Service Center repeatedly in the hope they get a battery in one day.

Dear Samsung, your poor customer service might have saved you from having to replace my battery, but you lost a customer in the process.