Samsung has lost another repair partner, with Best Buy revealing it plans to kill off its Samsung authorized service provider program (ASP).
The Verge was the first to notice a couple of subreddit posts that indicated Best Buy was ending its Samsung ASP. The outlet spoke to a GeekSquad employee who confirmed the reports and provided corroborating documentation.
The news is another blow to Samsung’s reputation as a phone manufacturer that supports right-to-repair. Repair expert iFixit.com recently ended its Samsung partnership, saying the company was not really committed to effective self-repair options.
“As we tried to build this ecosystem we consistently faced obstacles that made us doubt Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible,” Scott Head, iFixit Operations and Logistics Supervisor, said at the time. “We couldn’t get parts to local repair shops at prices and quantities that made business sense. The part prices were so costly that many consumers opted to replace their devices rather than repair them. And the design of Samsung’s Galaxy devices remained frustratingly glued together, forcing us to sell batteries and screens in pre-glued bundles that increased the cost.”
Samsung is quickly getting a reputation that may come back to bite it.