Managing director at 20:20, James Browning, has now responded to the action by Samsung. He said the company is committed to combating non-compliant products within the supply chain, and is cooperating fully with Samsung in a bid to resolve this matter. He also said the company was caught in a returns-loophole that seems to have been the cause of the issue.
However, he added: “I am deeply disappointed in the way Samsung has dealt with this issue. In particular I feel their communication to customers and the media before informing us and (by their own admission) concluding their investigations has been deeply unhelpful and prejudicial.
“I am baffled by this approach as we have worked closely with Samsung since they raised concerns over product authenticity relating to items in our returns warehouse which had been supplied to a customer by more than one distributor. Throughout their investigations we have provided detailed stock analysis by batch number, free access to stock for inspection and a thorough testing of items in our laboratory. And this open and transparent approach will continue,” he commented.
Browning continued: “We have not received any formal communication from Samsung about their concerns over product authenticity and our test lab can find no variance between products Samsung are happy with and those they have concerns over. 20:20 Mobile has strict procedures in place to ensure product sent to customers is authentic; this includes certification, batch tracking and testing. We have formally responded to Samsung and are awaiting further clarity from them."