Samsung ST77 warranty in the Philippines

Serious Dent on the lens protector

Guess what?  Samsung has the best customer service ever.  I mean as in better than Nokia or any brand I have tried having a product fix.  Involving under warranty products, anyway.  How come?  You may ask.

They fixed my broken Samsung ST77 camera without charge.  It was under warranty, but the damage was due to my neglect.  They still fixed it and replaced the board and everything else that was ruined.  They're really the best.  I also had a problem before with my Galaxy S, and they were able to fix it, they did a great job (aside from the technician's attitude problem of telling me it was my fault updating the android OS), they also replaced my headphone, when I complained about it, just like that.  What great service Samsung, thanks.

Samsung ST77 restored

The Samsung service center is at the following address: Ground Floor Bonaventure Plaza, Ortigas Ave., Geenhills San Juan. Phone number: 580-5777

Here is the story of how the Samsung ST77 was broken:

I was on vacation last month, and my girlfriend and I bought our cameras.  I have the Olympus 1030 SW camera, which I always put at my back pocket without any hard case of any sort.  Then my girlfriend has the Samsung ST77 in a camera case, the camera which I gave to her as a gift.

We took pictures with my camera first, since I had it out of my bag most of the time.  We only used her camera when, my camera was almost out of battery charge, due to its age; it is already a depleted battery.  That's what happened on the first day of our vacation.

Lens Extended, but still closed cover

During our Universal Studios visit, we used her camera most of the time and my camera as a spare, since ST77 was our latest camera and takes good pictures.  Olympus also takes good pictures but has a problem on dark areas.  So, she gave me the camera and I was not aware that the camera is fragile and not designed for rough usage.  I placed it also on my back pocket with my coin purse to prevent it from getting wet, since we are in the "water world" portion of Universal Studios.  I then have 2 cameras on both my back pockets at that time and I sat down.



We later went around the amusement park, not knowing the camera was already dented at the lens area of the camera.  As I was about to use it again, the camera lens protector won't open due to the dent.  All I can see on the LCD was a slit of light.

I had broken my girlfriend's camera, due to neglect and assumption that it is as tough as my Olympus camera.  What happened was I sat on the camera, and the coin purse filled with hard coins pressed on the lens protector of the camera, hence the dent.

I knew, this may never be covered by the camera warranty, since it was a neglect on my part.  Even though it is still under the one year warranty.  So a week after we got back in the Philippines, I took it to the service center hoping to have it repaired.

I picked it up, and as you can see
no more dent on the camera

I showed the damage to the customer representative and told her it was my fault the camera was in such a shape, and I am willing to pay for the repair if it was not covered by the warranty anymore.  She told me, let's have the technician check it, and give their assessment if I need to pay or the warranty covers the damage.  So I left the camera with them and waited for their call.


I called them 3 days later, the customer representative told, me they ordered the replacement parts and will not charge me for the parts and the repair.  I was really happy that time, upon hearing the news.  Three (3) days later they sent a SMS, telling me my camera was ready for pick-up.  When I picked it up, they didn't charge me for anything, and the camera was restored to its former self.






All I can say is, Thank You, Samsung.  Your after sales service, is really great and I will buy more of your products if this kind of service is always available to your loyal consumers.

Samsung ST77 digital camera sample photo

click to enlarge

Here is a sample photo I took with the Samsung ST77.  It is set at the highest resolution, and the photo has not been retouched in any way.

You will notice, that the photo seem to lack details or blurry at some point.  What do you expect from a budget digital camera?  It takes photos, but don't expect it to be in DSLR quality.

Samsung ST77 Review and First Look

Samsung ST77 point & shoot camera

For people, who want to capture that moment, a digital camera is the way to go.  Sure, we have cameras on our cellphone.  But it is a bit better from a device that is truly for the purpose of capturing that moment.

Samsung ST77 box side angle view

I have to admit, the photos taken by this camera is a bit blurred at times or has a lot of noise.  It could be, I just didn't set it right.

But for the price, it's a bit OK, but wish it could have been better.  It has a nice specs on paper:

• HD video
• 5x optical zoom
• 16.1 megapixel
• Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
• Smart Filter 2.0
• F2.5 Bright Lens 
• Live Panorama
• Lithium Ion rechargeable battery

For the price of Php6,990(about $162), you get a slim digital camera with Lithium Ion rechargeable battery with 4GB micro SD card, wrist strap, micro USB cable for charging and transfer of pictures and a black camera case with Samsung logo.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The camera could be placed on your pocket easily, it is light, easy to carry around and comes in different colors.

USB connection on the side

On the side of the camera there is a micro USB to connect with a computer to directly transfer files.

At the back, you have your usual LCD screen with menu, mode, review, function, and adjustment buttons. There are multiple present scene selections, features such as frames, deform/funny faces and picture within a picture.

All in all a great camera, with ample light on the photo subject even when the environment is a bit dark.  Best bet is to use flash on dark places, unless you want that dark effect.  Automatic ISO is good.  A bit better than previous cameras on capturing images in poor light conditions.  

There are other better cameras out there.  But if you are in a budget, want a lithium battery powered camera, you only point & shoot anyway and like your camera to be colorful.  Then this is the camera for you.

Again the pros:

• Good automatic ISO for night and dark shots
• Nice pictures on well lighted areas
• Light weight, can be placed in the pocket
• Comes with camera case, wrist strap and SD expansion memory card
• Very accessible Service Center in Metro Manila for Warranty availment
• Lithium Battery for longer battery life.
• Presets and software features are good enough, much like other cameras of its class.

The cons:

• Picture blurred at times
• Workmanship on the device could be a bit better. Unaligned at some point.
• Flash is only effective for a few feet. (like most point & shot cameras)

Bought this camera at Pixel Pro in SM Megamall Cyber Zone.

According to them, the warranty can be only be availed at the Samsung service center at the following address: Ground Floor Bonaventure Plaza, Ortigas Ave., Geenhills San Juan. Phone number: 580-5777