Bought an S10 but struggling to claim your free Galaxy Buds? Here’s what you need to do

The Samsung Galaxy S10, S10 Plus and S10e recently started shipping to buyers, but some of them aren’t best pleased at the moment. And it’s nothing to with the actual phones.

When the S10 range was unveiled on February 20, Samsung announced a promotional pre-order offer that would bag early buyers − from a participating retailer − a free set of Galaxy Buds. The offer went live on February 20 and expired on March 7.

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Here’s a reminder: “Pre-orders for the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e begin 20th February 2019. For a limited time, consumers who pre-order a Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10+ will be able to claim a pair of wireless Galaxy Buds (worth £139).”

Once the S10 started shipping to customers, it became clear that many people expected the free set of Buds to arrive alongside the handset they bought. Sadly, that’s not the case.

Instead, you have to claim your free Buds through the Samsung Members app, which comes pre-installed on the S10. Unfortunately, people have been having trouble using the app, and there’s a multitude of complaints on Samsung’s forum, many of which go along these lines:

• “Received my galaxy s10 yesterday. I innocently thought that they might actually do the sensible thing and post the buds with the actual phone but, of course, no! I have been to various ‘support’ pages, filled out various online forms which then come back with error messages.”
• “I am unable to claim my galaxy buds as when I get to the step to input my address details it keeps rejecting my postcode as being invalid, has anybody else had this problem and found a solution?”
• “I can’t see the Benefits option in the Samsung Members App. Contacted to the tectechnic [sic] assistant but they don’t know what is going on. They say they are getting complaints from many customers. Anyone got their Buds through the App yet?”

We’ll explain how to tackle each of these issues (and more) in the section below.

How to claim your free Galaxy Buds

It isn’t clear how many people are struggling to claim their free Galaxy Buds, but Samsung has deemed the issue significant enough to publish an FAQ page on March 15, to clarify the situation.

The company initially told users to claim their Galaxy Buds (before April 8) by going to the Benefits section of the Samsung Members app, filling in the online claim form, uploading proof of purchase (pre-order date, the retailer/network it was purchased from, product name or model number), and answering any other queries.

However, some users simply haven’t been able to access the Benefits tab.

“On 8th March 2019, we did have some issues with the Members Benefits tab loading,” Samsung told Trusted Reviews. “As soon as this was identified, it was investigated and we launched an alternative redemption method via our website late on 08/03/2019. We took measures to improve the experience on the website redemption page, which we implemented over the weekend.”

In an attempt to make things clearer, Samsung decided to redesign the Members app on March 14. In the new version of the app, Samsung says, “The benefits section can be accessed from the ‘Explore’ tab, from the indexed tab under your name or by scrolling to the bottom of the page and tap ‘View more’”.

The FAQ page explains that if the app fails to recognise your post code, you should restart your phone, check for software and app updates, and reattempt the claims process.

If you’re still having issues with the Samsung Members app, you can also claim your free pair of Galaxy Buds here.

“It may take up to 7 days for your claim to be reviewed by the promotions team and for your confirmation to be sent to you. They are working hard to get these out as soon as they can,” the page continues.

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In order to get your free Galaxy Buds, you need to submit your claim before April 8. However, for customers whose pre-order has been delayed, Samsung is extending the Galaxy Buds claims period to 30 days from the phone’s eventual delivery date.

Have you had trouble redeeming Samsung’s offer, or was it a doddle? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.