Australia fines Samsung for misleading advertising waterproof phones

Samsung will be fined approximately nine million euros in Australia for misleading advertising for its phones. The ads showed the phones working in the sea and in swimming pools, but according to the manufacturer, the phones are not suitable for that.

Samsung made the social media advertising for the Galaxy S7 phones and Galaxy Note 8, among others, says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission consumer authority† Those phones have an IP rating for water resistance, but are not usable in the sea or in swimming pools, according to Samsung’s small print. This poses a risk to the charging port, especially if users tried to charge the phone while it was still wet.

The ads ran from March 2016 to October 2018, the organization says. The ACCC filed a complaint about the commercials three years ago. The Australian federal court ruled in favor of the ACCC and imposed a fine of 14 million Australian dollars, currently about 9.2 million euros.

One of the advertisements shows, among other things, someone using a device while sitting underwater, another advertisement talks about ‘recording your surfing session at sea’. Samsung makes its devices waterproof by using glue between the front, edge and back and by covering points where water can penetrate, such as the SIM slot and the USB port with a rubber edge. There is no warranty. Samsung has not yet responded to the complaint.

Five years ago, Sony gave money back to customers of Xperia smartphones with water damage as part of a settlement in a US class action lawsuit. Sony has advertised the operation of some smartphones underwater in the past, but in 2015 advised not to use ‘waterproof’ Xperia devices underwater, even if it was allowed to do so according to the ip68 certificate.