CCTV slams Samsung for charging customers to fix phones

China Central Television (CCTV) has criticized South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for charging its Chinese customers to repair devices which the State broadcaster says are defective because of a manufacturing error.

CCTV said in a program broadcast Monday that internal multimedia cards caused the software of Samsung's Note and S series of smartphones to seize up and stop working. Affected owners were allegedly told that Samsung could not pay for the repairs even if their phones were under warranty.

Samsung did not comment on the report when contacted by the Global Times Tuesday.

"We remain committed to providing the highest quality products and services. Upon verification of these reports, including their technical aspects, we will respond accordingly," Samsung said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, is the latest multinational company to be singled out by Chinese State media for what it says are unfair consumer practices.

On Sunday, CCTV aired a program criticizing Starbucks Corp for charging higher prices in China than other markets.

John Culver, president of Starbucks' China and the Asia-Pacific region, told Reuters that the company's prices reflect higher costs for coffee and milk, rent and supply chain operations.

In March, CCTV criticized Apple Inc, the second-biggest smartphone maker, for using different warranty and customer service policies in China than in other countries. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook later apologized.

Li Yi, a consultant to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology who spoke in the program, said on his Weibo microblog after the broadcast that CCTV's priority is to "protect domestic consumers from the bullying of foreign brands."

"At the same time, domestic products also should get stronger," Li said in his Weibo.