Samsung has best Galaxy S24 deals but its online store’s a mess

The Galaxy S24 pre-order period is underway since the new series was unveiled last week. You have until January 30th to pre-order the device and take advantage of the many incentives on offer. The best Galaxy S24 pre-order deals are available on Samsung.com. The company has made it a habit in recent years to offer the best value for money on its new devices through the online store.

For example, you can get a Galaxy S24 Ultra for just over $500 by combining many of the offers available on the company's online store. This includes enhanced trade-in values of up to $750 for customers who are trading an existing device. The company also provides additional bundle offers, enabling you to add devices like the Galaxy Buds Pro and the Galaxy Watch 6 at discounted rates.

You won't find better deals elsewhere, even though many of Samsung's carrier and retail partners have sweetened the deal on their end as well, but you'll only get the best bang for your buck when you purchase the device directly from the company. However, some customers have found it to be easier said than done.

Soon after Samsung's online store starting take pre-orders for the Galaxy S24 series, some users complained about their orders being cancelled repeatedly for no apparent reason. One customers could only get their order to go through by using the Samsung financing option. Others simply had issues trying to place their order, making the entire process rather frustrating.

We've also seen customers complained during previous launches about how some of the benefits offered to them can be confusing. Similar complaints have emerged with the Galaxy S24 launch as well. Either the promo discounts and prices change when they proceed through the order, the items eligible for the $100 instant credit are shown as out of stock, or the $50 pre-reservation bonus is nowhere to be found.

Several users have also reported discrepancies in the various special discounts offered for students, government employees, etc. They say that the discount value shown pre-checkout reduces when they get to the checkout page. It's difficult to understand if the offered bonuses and discounts are being applied correctly. Modifying options for a selected item is a pain as well, since you have to remove the item and then go through the entire process of adding it to the cart again.

As it inevitably happens in such cases, customers are forced to compare Samsung's online purchase experience with that of Apple, and such comparisons rarely ever work out in Samsung's favor. People say that at least Apple's online experience is better, doesn't seem as confusing, and enables them to make a purchase seamlessly.

This isn't the only consumer-centric experience where Samsung is losing the perception war to Apple. Samsung Care+ looks very disappointing compared to Apple Care and it doesn't seem that the company is doing much to reverse that perception. It's now creeping in for its online purchase experience and Samsung should be doing more to make amends.

The damage to its reputation could potentially be more significant if Samsung leaves it to fester. Some customers have started to feel that this is Samsung's way of baiting them into making a purchase, that it just needs to talk about all of these different incentives to get them to the checkout page, and most of them would be frustrated enough by then that they'd just go ahead with the purchase even if they don't get all of the incentives.

While that's a bit out there even for a conspiracy theory, it goes to show that people will not hesitate to form negative opinions if they don't receive the advertised benefits. The fact that these issues come to light with every flagship pre-order launch in recent memory also doesn't bode well for the company's reputation.

It would be better if Samsung can address these concerns and make noticeable improvements to the checkout process, so that customers feel that their voice has been heard and that the company has taken their feedback into account. It'll go a long way in building a stronger relationship with customers, and perhaps most importantly, avoid comparisons with Apple that never end up painting Samsung in a favorable light.