Best Buy stops Samsung repair program – what this means for Galaxy owners
Unfortunately, repairing your Galaxy phone has become more difficult. Best Buy is officially ending a partnership deal with Samsung and will no longer be an authorized service provider (ASP) for Galaxy smartphones.
In a new report, TheVerge posted a screenshot of an internal document that was sent out to Geek Squad employees informing them of the program’s shutdown with text stating, “Samsung ASP is ending in all SASP locations.”
Below the announcement is a series of instructions telling employees to start collecting any and all Galaxy phone parts, as they’ll be returned to Samsung. If you weren’t aware, the ASP program allowed technicians at Best Buy to fix Samsung mobile devices. It wasn’t as wide-reaching since repairs could only be done at certain locations, but this change does make things tougher for Galaxy users.
Best Buy is one of the largest electronics retailers in the United States with over 1,000 locations, but with the company ending support, it leaves owners with few options.
On-going shutdown
The program is currently in the process of being shut down, at the time of this writing. Best Buy’s page, where you could previously find every location authorized as a service provider for Galaxy devices, has been wiped clean. All that remains is an error message.
What’s more, all mentions of Samsung repairs have been scrubbed from their website, according to 9To5Google. Samsung itself has done something similar to its service center locator, as Best Buy stores no longer show up in the listings either.
It’s unknown why the program is ending, and neither company has offered any explanation. We did reach out to both Samsung and Best Buy but have yet to hear back from either side.
Best Buy spokesperson Katie Klister told TheVerge the brand is working with Samsung to figure out a way to best support their customers moving forward. Mario Renato de Castro, Samsung’s head of mobile customer care, echoed the same sentiment while also adding that the company offers other repair services such as mail-in fixing.
Analysis: Cost-cutting measure
We should mention that Best Buy isn't the first to do this. iFixit terminated its own collaboration with Samsung, stating the tech giant’s “approach towards repairability does not align with [their] mission.” Could this be related to Best Buy’s latest decision? Maybe, but it's hard to say for sure.
At the end of their story, TheVerge references a call from Best Buy CEO Corie Barry, saying the two companies will continue working together closely. In fact, they’re expanding their partnership with Samsung by having experts stationed “in appliances departments across hundreds of stores.” It appears the decision to shut down phone repairs was a cost-cutting measure, and perhaps that side of the business wasn't doing so well.
It is still possible to get a Galaxy phone fixed at a Best Buy although it requires you to meet certain conditions. You must have bought your device at Best Buy and needed to have purchased a Geek Squad Cell Phone Complete Protection insurance plan.
Alternatively, you can take it to a UBreakiFix location. There are about 700 stores in the United States, and you can find where they are using the UBreakiFix locator.
Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best cheap phone for 2024 if you're interested in a low-cost option.
