yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Gear S] le10017:
$1.00 bandaid fix

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B307htA807hbWXZpQjZFSm5oZzA/view?usp=sharing

It took a while, but found a solution that takes a few seconds for me to get the charger in place. A sponge ball from the dollar store. Hard part was finding the right size.

With the wrist band closed and the cradle in place, simple squeeze the ball in to add the pressure to the cradle. Done! It's the easier solutions w/i having to buy a new cradle...for me anyway.

In a related note, it still pisses me off that samsung hasn't acknowledged the design flaw and blame user error. I guess they never will.
[Samsung Gear S] Echo113:
This happened to me as well 3 weeks ago. I called Samsung and they wanted me to send EVERYTHING to them. I refused and demanded to talk to a supervisor. Once he understood what the problem was, he sent me a packing slip for just the cradle. I sent it and they replaced the whole charger cradle and cord. Its a horribly bad design. I know it will happen again no matter how careful you are.
[Samsung Gear S] le10017:
What was the turn around time? I assume the watch was unless during that time unless you have a spare cradle.
[Samsung Gear S] TeldenW:
Has anyone broken two cradles yet? I broke my first one on a business trip 3 weeks ago. I dealt directly with Samsung and was able to get a replacement from them. I was very pleased with their service.

Like many of you, I know that it is only a matter of time before this new cradle breaks in the exact same fashion as the others.

Has anyone broken two? Were you able to get your cradle replaced a second time?
[Samsung Gear S] beejmeister:
I am currently awaiting Samsung replacing mine that was broken in the same way. I had previously purchased a set of two charging cradles (non-battery E-Bay models) for about $20 and am planning on using them most of the time going forward as I don't expect that Samsung will replace it for me every 4 months.

If one of them breaks I'll replace it for the $10 rather than hassling with Samsung for a 3rd and 4th cradle.
[Samsung Gear S] QuietBillG:
Class Action time

Any competent engineer could take one look at this and see that it is a bad design. There is no way that those clips could last very long under daily use. Samsung should recognize the design flaw and replace these under warranty.

I have the original Gear watch also, and there were some complaints about having to put it into a cradle for charging. Well, that cradle is looking mighty good right about now.

I think it is about time for a Class Action lawsuit against Samsung!! Mines not broken yet but when it does I think I'll go see a Lawyer!
[Samsung Gear S] jjfi30:
I purchased a Samsung Gear S on 12/05/2014 and its only been 6 months of use and one of the clip on the charging Cradle broke on regular use. It was NOT DROPPED OR NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE was done to it. It broke on regular use. I googled about it and found this to be common issue. I want Samsung to replace the cradle. I have spoken to their so called tech support and they are referring it to physical damage due to abuse which is not covered by the warranty. I believe that it is manufacturing defect or a very poorly designed cradle. Either way, I expect Samsung to stand by their product and replace the cradle. I am in communication with them and waiting to see what they are going to do about it. Gear S is a nice product but its sad that they had to design the cradle so poor. I hope they start replacing the charger for all the gear S owners if they want their loyalty. This would be my last Samsung product if they do not take care of this. I am open to filing a lawsuit against them.. Anyone here ready to support me?

Joe
[Samsung Gear S] cipherswitch:
Don't know if anyone cares,but i bought one of those super cheapo cradles off ebay, popped the center cover off and put in the original board + center cover w/battery off my original cradle. Good as new. Just fyi.
[Samsung Gear S] woodyth:
I just feel like I shouldn't have to spend more money, time, or effort, to fix this issue.
[Samsung Gear S] woodyth:
Took my broken charger to Sprint, they covered it by ordering me a whole new watch!
[Samsung Gear S] flipq88:
How exactly did you pop it out?
[Samsung Gear S] cipherswitch:
small flathead to the side, it popped right out, the center portion is just held in with clips.
[Samsung Gear S] Delnari:
Broken Power Pack @ 7 months

I guess it took me a while to finally break mine. Broke it this weekend while on vacation on a biking trip. Used a small glass to hold it onto the watch for one last full charge on my last day of riding. Contacted Samsung Customer Support Center and they sent me a pre-paid label and instructions to return it for repair. Will have to see if they are now deciding to replace the battery given the number of returns being sent in. I will follow-up on what they do or not do.

Bought the watch through American Express CC which carries a implied double length warranty. If Samsung doesn't honor the replacement for free, I know AMEX will either buy me a new battery or give me my entire purchase price back on the watch. American Express, don't buy low cost electronics without it!
[Samsung Gear S] Geletis:
My factory cradle has finally broke as well. I hadn't even used the Samsung branded cradle for the past 2 months, instead using a cheap Chinese replacement. When the cheap Chinese replacement recently broke (broken tab), I went back to the Samsung. So probably under 120 uses of the Samsung branded charger.

This has known issue for months, yet Samsung's support reps say they have no service bulletin on the issue. It's clearly a design failure.

Is there any indication that they've changed the design of the charging cradle to prevent the issue?
[Samsung Gear S] Delnari:
Samsu ng Repaired my Battery

Received confirmation from Samsung my broken battery cradle is covered under warranty and they have replaced the cradle. Watch and new cradle has been mailed back and will received it today. I guess enough warranty claims has changed their stance on the cradle breaking more easily than they wanted to believe. Good to see their are finally standing by the product. Will see what happens when breaks again (and it will) if they are still willing to cover it.

Reply from Samsung:

Thank you for your patience.

Your product was shipped on 6/1/2015 at 4:58 PM EST.

Service Ticket Number: 4130471973

Ship Company: UPS

Tracking Number: xxxxxxxxx

Serial number: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Please view additional information below for more details.

Original Problem:

POWER - BATTERY ISSUES - BATTERY WILL NOT CHARGE

Problem found:

WILL NOT CHARGE

Solution:

REPLACED CRADLE

If you have any additional questions, please call us at 1-800-SAMSUNG and reference Ticket Number: 4130471973.

Thank you.

Samsung Electronics America
[Samsung Gear S] anmclark23:
PERFECT Fix for gear s cradle(broken)

Using the similar 'wraparound something fix,' I found the perfect something to wrap around. The Sonicare Air Floss water pik is the perfect size and contour. It has a base with the proper increase in width to keep it securely and firmly pressed together but not stretched. If you already own the air floss give it a try and tell me that's not superior to the vitamin bottle fix!

I am glad to hear samsung has started to work with customers more so on solving this issue. A representative by the name of dave told me it was my fault I bought the watch and agreed to the warranty. I insisted how it was under warranty and they should send a replacement cradle out and after receiving, I would ship the broken one back or even I ship the cradle by itself. I hesitated to ship my functional electronic equipment went all that needed addressed the charger. Who knows what sort of abuse the watch would undergo through shipment ie temperature, liquid, shock..He insisted the only possible way to process the warranty was for me to ship my watch and cradle back together. He then proceeded to inform me the device would have to undergo an analysis to determine whether the damage was user inflicted. I conceded it was my fault for having been a loyal samsung supporter and thinking my warranty would sensibly cover ANY design flaw or issue related. (Recall apple sending out a replacement part to fix iPhone when the case was causing wifi to short out)

Alas, the solution to samsung gear s cradle is clear: Sonicare air floss !!
[Samsung Gear S] xendula:
I feel the same way, though, now that my charging contacts are corroding, I may as well ask them to fix them as well.

I hate the thought of being Gear S less for days or even weeks :rolleyes:
[Samsung Gear S] flashfox:
Mine broke a couple of days ago. T-Mobile said that I had to buy a new one but I see here that Samsung has started to replace broken ones. In any event, I had a second Samsung cradle for travel so I used that one while I ordered 3x non-battery versions from Amazon, One arrived today and it works fine. Sure, they are cheap and they don't have internal batteries, but I use these at home and on the road. The battery version is in my backpack in case I need it while flying. IMHO, it's a bad design. Pity though as it doesn't match the quality of the Gear S.
[Samsung Gear S] warriorpluto:
Picture
[Samsung Gear S] Bladder61:
After mine broke I ordered a couple of the cheap non-battery replacements. As one other user commented earlier, I was able to pop the panel and guts out of my broken OEM battery pack charger and put it into the cheat $10 replacement. It works fine, the only detail is there is no hole for the small charging light next to the micro USB port. I can still see it glowing blue around the seams of the panel when charging.
[Samsung Gear S] krumbs:
For me, the issue was not with the cradle, but with the Gear S itself. The watch case cracked at the bottom. Exactly like this one - http://xdaforums.com/gear-s/general/gear-s-wont-charge-cradle-wont-stay-t3135317

The local service centre refused to repair it, holding me responsible for the damage. But after writing a stinker to the "CEO's office" (via a form available on the Samsung site), I was pleasantly surprised (in fact, a bit shocked) when customer support actually called and promised to sort this issue! Yay! Stinkers work!

The service centre accepted the Gear S this time, and it came back today with the case replaced. I am not sure if they have simply given me a new watch, though - the contact points were corroded on the old watch, but this one has brand new contact points.

The only problem - it came back with the redesigned back (which has an extra groove below charging contacts) and the old cradle does not fit it anymore! So my Gear S still remains at the service centre, while they wait for a new cradle to be delivered!

Though, looking at this thread, I should expect it to break in a few months. Wish Samsung had gone for a magnetic solution. Maybe that is what we will see on the Gear S 2.
[Samsung Gear S] BarryH_GEG:
That makes no sense. Introducing a Gear S rev 2 with the same model number and a different back and charger would create chaos for Samsung, customers, and third party vendors with people not knowing which part(s) they have or which to order.

Here's my back.

Some of the pre-production press units didn't have the indent under the charging pins (they also had three slots for the speaker) but the charger the press got has/had a raised dimple.
[Samsung Gear S] krumbs:
Thanks for the two images. The Gear S I had (bought it the day it officially launched here) had the back shown in the second image (minus the groove). The one I am getting as replacement corresponds to the first image. And the old cradle does not fit it.

Was thinking of picking an extra cradle off eBay. But wondering if I will end up with the wrong one! Are there corresponding images for v1 and v2 cradles?

Thanks!
[Samsung Gear S] BarryH_GEG:
There is only one cradle and back design that made it in to production so anything you order will work. Somehow the first Gear S you had was pre-production. Here's the pre-production cradle. You'll notice that instead of the dimple at the bottom below the charging contacts it's on top and uses the third speaker cut-out as its receiver. This back design and cradle never made it in to production.

All the OEM and knock-off chargers use this design...
[Samsung Gear S] Geletis:
My 2nd factory charger just fractured.

It was brand new, replaced by Samsung barely 2 weeks ago. My first charger lasted months, this latest unit lasted weeks. The bottom tab has broken off again. One of my Chinese chargers has also broken, I ordered a pair, so just one knock-off charger left.

I'll be contacting Samsung for yet another warranty replacement.
[Samsung Gear S] xendula:
That was to be expected, sadly. :(
[Samsung Gear S] TeldenW:
Please keep us posted on the replacement of your Samsung charger.

My girlfriend just broke her SECOND charger. I am beginning to get pretty frustrated.
[Samsung Gear S] lgadbois:
Replacements available on Ebay at good prices.
[Samsung Gear S] Geletis:
I've tried three of the cheap ebay chargers, each one has lasted about 2 weeks.

I'm now very experienced at snapping on the chargers in the most gentle way possible. That doesn't seem to help. Neither the cheap Chinese copies, or the Samsung branded factory chargers are designed to accept the repeated flexing needed to snap the charger onto the watch.

How Samsung missed this in QA is a real mystery.
[Samsung Gear S] xendula:
They probably did not miss it but proceeded anyway. Apple would never get away with something like this and zero support afterwards, but I guess when you sell few enough units, you can do whatever the heck you want and fly under the media's radar.
[Samsung Gear S] berrykd:
I am furious as well. I take care when attached the cradle and it still broke. Just got off the phone with T-Mobile who will not replace it because it is consider damage and now I learn here that Samsung will not honor warranty as well. This is BS. Wasn't really thrilled with the watch, this makes it worse.
[Samsung Gear S] BarryH_GEG:
Here's what I do. I line up the tabs on the charger with the receivers on the Gear. I give it a little side-to-side motion to make sure they're aligned. Then I press the charger on so both tabs seat themselves at the same time. To take it off I use the plastic tab on the upper right by pulling down so the top tab/receiver disconnects first and the bottom one just falls away. Knock on wood, I haven't noticed any wear on any of the parts.

---------- Post added at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:47 AM ----------

There are people that have posted AT&T replaced their charger and/or watch under warranty. My store said they would if it broke but I haven't tested them. Sadly, the T-Mobile folks here have posted similar experiences to yours. Some have had Samsung replace their charger directly so you might want to give that a shot even though there have been a couple of "nos" reported.
[Samsung Gear S] sangriaa:
I always loved Samsung product. But this cradle is just not like samsung product to me. It is not comfortable and useful. I had complained and talked to samsung customer service as well. I was about to ship my watch and cradle to Samsung before my vacation, but i gave up after reading this forum. I would be very pissed if the watch comes back after my vacation and no warranty due to physical damage! So here is my temporary solution
[Samsung Gear S] apprentice:
I love all the various and inventive methods people are now employing to get the broken charger to work, from shot glasses to rolled up socks, I am impressed by your method however as it is probably quite quick to execute.

I have just become another person whose cradle is broken and I begrudge paying £20 for a new one, that's if you can get one. Samsung online store don't have them and they have so far ignored my email asking for help.

So my watch is about 8 months old, cost me over £300 and as much as I love it, the build quality for such a price is absolute rubbish. I have a broken cradle, corroding connection pins and a strap that shows a lot of wear. This is from someone who looks after their tech. I have never got the watch wet or dirty and I don't do anything that would be a risk to it. Yet it looks a bit shabby after such a short time.
[Samsung Gear S] xendula:
I like this, the most portable solution I've seen so far.
[Samsung Gear S] jjzfur:
Samsung Support needs HUGE improovement!!!

I'll chime in on this as well... I too have fallen victim to the broken clip on the base charger, and, of course, like others have been given the same story from Samsung - "that's physical damage, so it's not covered" Samsung really needs to step up and start showing they actually stand by their product, and admit to a manufacturing design flaw - there are threads all over the internet with people having their chargers break in exactly the same way - this is not a consumer issue, but an engineering flaw! Wanted to pass along a "trick" that has helped me with battery life (again, brought this issue up with Samsung, there only response was for me to send them the watch (including charger) and they would "look at it" ya, that would have taken months.

*** As you can tell, I'm being pretty critical of Samsung support - I can safely say, based on other reviews I've seen, I'm not alone! ***

Loved my gear S when I first got it, an upgrade from the gear 2. but, definitely noticed battery life was much less. But discovered on my own what seems to be working so far... There is a setting on the watch to set how the watch "wakes up" either to a clock face, or to the last screen. Since I was using a custom watch face, I wanted it to be the last screen. After wearing the watch all day, I'd usually be around 10% battery life by 7PM. Worked out fantastic if I did something after work, or was working late, let me tell ya! :( The other thing I noticed, is that since the "wake up" was the last screen, I was constantly "pocket-dialing" or "pocket-texting" people, especially if I was wearing long sleeves!! For 2 - 3 weeks now, after changing this option to clock instead of last screen has made the pocket call/text issue go away, and by 7PM I'm still at least 60%. This setting, BTW, is under Settings/Display/Wake-Up screen.
[Samsung Gear S] alexnoom:
GEAR $hit

I've always a fan for $amsung products and I have many $amsung products in my possession.

This is probably the last wearable product I will purchase from $amsung if this is the quality I can expect from a 371 $ product with normal useage of the GEAR $hit breaks.

I bought my GEAR $ on 29 November 2014 and I used it quite often for a few months until I was somewhat upset to charge it so often and it ended up lying on my office table and was little used.

When I went for holidays I used it well and often, in power save mode and it helped the duration of the battery life alot and after the holidays I used it now and then. (Almost sure I wont buy another by now).

Anyway about one week ago I was going to charge this GEAR $ up again and something was wrong, it would not attach to the battery. I start looking underneath the GEAR $ and notice the damaged part where you lock the battery on and off everytime you need to charge this GEAR $hit.

In went back to the store where I purchased the GEAR $hit and asked if they could tell if this was a something that would go as a guarantee, they didn't know and suggested that they could send it in to one of Samsung's external service workshops.

A week later I contacted the store. They then show me a letter from the workshop where it says that this is not on warrant. They believed that this does not go on guarantee because the device is exposed to more than what it is intended for and that the contact point of the charger has broken. They also mention that there have been cases where they've switched belts or chargers, but not such a case like this where they see clearly that the device is exposed to more crush or impact damage than what it is intended for.

and therefore...

SAMSUNG GEAR $ IN RETAIL STORE $ 371 (in my country)

Repair the Samsung GEAR $ 279 USD :silly:

Return Samsung GEAR $ unrepaired $ 45 :crying:

The workshop retains Samsung GEAR $ No payment. :cyclops:

Anyway as I look at the picture that I captured before i sent it in to service and the one that the workshop took it seems worse, but i cant tell if it is because they zoomed all the way in or tried digging into it.

Picture taken by me and by the workshop.
[Samsung Gear S] Bjornros:
My second cradle just broke

Hi, I´m Björn and I´m from Sweden, now a member of the two broken cradles club.

They seem to last about two month´s and a I don´t charge every day so perhaps they last for aprox 40 times of use, and I have been very careful because I read about this issue earlier.

I called Samsung support today and asked if they could send me a new cradle on the post, my gear s is only four months old. Last time i had to travel 100 english miles so they could see that it was broke and now I have to do the same thing again. I say this is a construction fault and I think Samsung should figure out how to compensate all people that has bought this product.

Besides from this problem I really love the watch.

I use a method with a lanyard with a knot that makes a loop with exact size, but I think I´ll try the bottle I read about here witch I think is genius invention.
[Samsung Gear S] Szuzy2002:
I'm so afraid to break mine after hearing these horror stories.
[Samsung Gear S] ZeroZorro:
Had exactly the same issue, but in my attempts to charge it with a strap one of the metal connection pins broke. I was very careful after reading about this crap charging device but it still went wrong.

On the other side, I went back to the store and received both a new watch and charger at no costs, so I'm a happy user again for now...I wish Samsung releases another charger but i don't keep my hopes up....
[Samsung Gear S] alexnoom:
New Old design

Could anyone please send me an image of the new design / old design of the GEAR S asap ? :)

I need to compare.
[Samsung Gear S] ttkyles:
I broke mine also...then went back to sprint store and they gave me another one..no questions asked
[Samsung Gear S] BarryH_GEG:
There is no new design. There's the original design and the design used for pre-production devices. Somehow a couple of people here got pre-production units of the Gear which came with a pre-production charger.

Original/Current

Pre-Production
[Samsung Gear S] erbsmokah:
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---------- Post added at 01:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------
[Samsung Gear S] themorn:
Great Idea

Great Idea. This is what I have been doing...
[Samsung Gear S] samsow:
Good Idea thank you ;):good:
[Samsung Gear S] Ocel8:
Same thing happened to me , the charging cradle was broken, but they send me a new one....
[Samsung Gear S] xendula:
Did you have to send in the broken cradle AND the watch itself first? I talked to Samsung and was told i had to send in both and it would take 10 business days (2 weeks) to get ut back.
[Samsung Gear S] Ocel8:
Yes, I bring to the shop the smartwatch, the broken cradle and the charger, then they send everything , but with no guarantee that they would send me a new one.

After a few days (one week if I'm not wrong) everything came back with the new cradle.

No money spent
[Samsung Gear S] tonys.94:
I had an idea I will probably do, but it requires doing something some people may not feel comfortable doing. I also have the Gear S, and one of the clips chipped. My idea is to use a soldering iron and soldering metal you would use on small electronics. If you don't have this already you can get it at decent prices at Radio Shack or what ever DIY electronics shop near you. Basicly just use the soldering iron to melt a very small amount of metal to fill the missing clip area. Do it right and you have a sturdier clip that won't snap since its metal :P ( round out the edge to prevent scratching the side it inserts into the watch. GOOD LUCK :)