Best Buy abruptly ends repair services for Samsung Galaxy devices

Ben Schoon | Jun 6 2024 - 11:28 am PT

Best Buy has quietly ended its repair program for Samsung Galaxy devices as Samsung continues to be scrutinized its repair practices.

In recent weeks Samsung has been under increased scrutiny in regards to repairs. iFixit ended its partnership with the brand, citing doubt in Samsung’s efforts to improve and support repairable devices. Then, a contract with repair shops leaked, revealing that Samsung has requirements for repair shops to share customer data among other distasteful practices.

Now, in what seems to be an unrelated move, Best Buy is ending its repair program with Samsung.

If you go to Best Buy’s website and attempt to schedule a Samsung repair, the website kicks back an error saying that no stores within 200 miles are able to fulfill the request. We noticed this by chance just yesterday, and The Verge has now added a whole lot more context.

Some Best Buy employees on Reddit discussed internal notices from Best Buy regarding the end of the “Samsung ASP” program. This program allowed Geek Squad techs were certified to fix Samsung devices using official Samsung parts. The Verge obtained and shared the notice as seen below.

Best Buy’s website has, just in the past 24 hours, scrubbed mention of Samsung repairs from its website and now only offers iPhone repairs. This includes a page where it previously listed Samsung Galaxy repair costs.

In statements to The Verge, Best Buy and Samsung both did not deny that their partnership was ending. Samsung said it is “in discussions with Best Buy to determine how Samsung can best support our customers moving forward,” while Best Buy said that it is “currently working together with Samsung to evaluate the best way to support our mobile customers with authorized services and repairs.”

Best Buy will still repair Samsung devices with its Geek Squad insurance, though.

Samsung still partners with uBreakiFix locations to offer official repair services, but with Best Buy offering locations across the US often in convenient areas, it’s certainly a shame to see this going away.

We reported last year that Best Buy was exploring repairs for Pixel devices, but with Samsung Galaxy repairs being canned, it seems entirely likely that the retailer is no longer exploring that option either.