@clintonjeff
Clinton Jeff of UnleashthePhones had a bad experience with Samsung.
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An Indian gadget blogger says Samsung apologized for leaving him stranded in Berlin after he declined to serve as a “brand ambassador” for the South Korean electronics giant.
Clinton Jeff of UnleashthePhones thought Samsung had invited him to IFA, the big German tradeshow, with the company’s Mobilers program offering to pay for his plane tickets and hotel room so he could cover the event as an independent journalist.
He told The Next Web, a tech-news website which first reported on the scandal, that the invitation had offered him the choice of coming as a “reporter” or a “promoter,” and he said he made it clear he would only accept the free trip as a “reporter.”
Samsung’s Mobilers organizers apparently thought Jeff had signed on to participate in promotional activities, though. After he arrived, Jeff realized that Samsung was asking him to man a booth and show off devices to members of the press. He refused—and Samsung reps told him they were canceling his return plane ticket and hotel stay.
After the story broke, Samsung sent Jeff an apology for putting him through “undue hardship.” But it turns out Jeff may not be alone in his experience. A French blogger, France Quiqueré, wrote about a similar trip to cover the Olympics where she says she was forced to participate in marketing stunts. (Quiqueré didn’t name her host, but The Guardian says it was Samsung, too.)
The good news: Nokia ended up sponsoring the rest of Jeff’s stay in Berlin and his plane ticket home.