How Steve Got a $600 Charge Dropped by Samsung in 24 Hours — After Months of Being Ignored

Steve’s story is a powerful example of how executive escalation can turn a corporate brick wall into a full reversal.

🚨 The Problem: $600 for… What Exactly?

After trading in his old device with Samsung, Steve followed all the instructions including a factory reset. Everything was fine... until it wasn’t.

"Seven months later, I got an email saying they couldn’t wipe the data and were going to charge me $600."

No warning. No second chance. Just: Pay $600. Or pay $600.

Naturally, Steve pushed back.

☎️ The Support Spiral

Steve did what every reasonable person would do: - Contacted customer service - Waited on hold - Got transferred again… and again… and again - Was told the issue was “unresolvable”

"I spent hours in chats and on the phone. I was passed around, told nothing could be done."

Frustrated, confused, and out of options, Steve turned to Reddit, just hoping someone, somewhere, had dealt with this before.

And that’s when he found DearCEO.wtf.

✉️ The Turnaround: Executive Escalation

At DearCEO.wtf, we specialize in one thing: helping consumers reach the people who can actually fix things, the executives.

Steve entered the details of his situation into our app. Within minutes, he had a: - Professionally written escalation email - List of real executive contacts at Samsung - Clear and respectful message that demanded attention

And then?

Samsung dropped the $600 charge in less than 24 hours.

🎯 Why It Worked

Executives don’t live in the call center script. They care about the brand, the reputation, and escalated risk.

Steve’s email bypassed the bureaucracy and hit the right inboxes. It was: - Clear and calm - Professionally structured - Hard to ignore

And that’s why it worked.

💬 Steve’s Final Thoughts

"I had given up all hope until I discovered DearCEO.wtf. I hope I never need to use it again, but if I do — you can be sure I will."

🛠️ The Takeaway

If you're stuck in a customer service loop and being told there's “nothing they can do,” that’s probably not true.

You don’t need to yell. You don’t need to threaten. You just need to escalate intelligently.