On 30 January, 2014 I purchased a new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and a Spigen Slim Armor View case. After buying the most expensive and potentially delicate Android device on the market, I saw it prudent to buy the absolute highest quality case that I could find, cost no object. Ostensibly that is the Spigen case. Of course, I bought the case at a Spigen authorized reseller: Ivory Computer.

The word 'view' in Slim Armor View means exactly what it sounds like: one can view and interact with the Samsung Note even with the case closed. At least, that is the idea. In practice the S-View feature, as it is known, never worked properly and I always had to open the case to use the phone or other features of the device. That really isn't a problem, I did not even know about the S-View feature when I bought the case. However, exactly four months to the day of buying the Note 3 and the Spigen case, the lower cover hinge failed and the cover fell off. I took the device and the case back to Ivory Computer on the 2nd of June where they denied to replace the case under warranty, citing that they offer only a 30 day warranty on the case. At no time was there ever question that the case failed due to low quality, which is obvious from the condition of the case and from the direction in which the hinge failed.

On the 5th of June 2014 I wrote to Spigen this email explaining the situation:

On 2014-01-30 I bought the Slim Armour View case from Ivory Computers in 
Israel, which is an official importer for Spigen in Israel. The S view 
window never worked, and after exactly four months the lower hinge on 
the cover broke. It can be seen that there are 0 scratches, bumps, or 
other damage done to the case other than unrelated mods that I did 
(extra protection for the rear camera lens, and a failed repair for the 
hinge).

The retailer (Ivory) is refusing to replace the cover, saying that the 
broken hinge is expected wear and in any case there is no warranty for 
the cover. Is this true? I was expecting a high-quality product, as this 
case is _not_ inexpensive. I am truly disappointed, but I'm not sure if 
I should express my disappointment towards Spigen the manufacturer of 
the case, or towards Ivory the company which decides that a broken hinge 
is expected wear and not warranted after four months.

Note that I am a middle-aged software developer, not an adventurer or 
someone else who would abuse their equipment. The phone stays in my bag 
(not even my pocket) when I'm not using it. It doesn't even come out of 
the bag when I talk, I use a bluetooth headset for that!

Please let me know if in fact the Slim Armour View case is expected to 
fail after four months and that this is not a warranted situation.

Thank you.

Dotan Cohen

The next day I got this surprising reply:

Dear Dotan Cohen,

Thank you for contacting Spigen Support!

It appears that Ivory Computers is our authorized reseller. However, 
they do not necessarily have to offer the same warranty program as our 
Official Spigen Store.
Although they are our authorized reseller, they are also an independent 
business partner, therefore; if the items were not purchased directly 
through us, we do not have access to your account and order details in 
order to resolve the issue.

We are sorry that they are refusing to service you with warranty 
program, and to avoid any unauthorized and counterfeit sellers, please 
purchase directly through us.

All Spigen.com customers have access to a great 30-Day Return policy, a 
2-Year Manufacturer Warranty, and other low-cost replacement programs to 
fit your needs.
Please check our Spigen Warranty Pragrams in the following link;
https://spigen.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1486236-our-warranty-policy

Thank you so much and we apologize for the inconvenience.

Best Regards,
Alexis

Find us on Twitter @SpigenSupport

In short, do not buy Spigen cases! It is explicitely stated that authorized Spigen resellers do not have to honour the same warranty program as the official Spigen Store. Furthermore, they suffer from known defects and fail in a very short period of time, even under ideal usage conditions. I am completely surprised and appalled. Why buy from an official reseller when one could buy from ebay or a street vendor, both who do happen to value their own reputation if not the reputation of Spigen itself. I bought, ostensibly, the absolute highest quality case that I could find, cost no object. What I got was a damaged and poorly constructed case that did not survive half a year of being in a bag. Features (S-view) never worked, the hinge failed in short order, and the manufacturer warranty is only honoured if you buy directly from the manufacturer, not via an authorized reseller.

Date Published: 2014-06-06