Samsung provides free phones to disappointed iPhone users

It seems that technology giant Samsung is distributing free Galaxy S smartphones to iPhone 4 possessors disappointed from receipt troubles. An account on Twitter named @samsungukmobile is contacting people who've tweeted on their troubles with the handset, request them to submit their touch details to get a free French telephone.

One of those provided a handset was Tiffany Nieuwland, who told Wired: "My iPhone and I've been inseparable for just about a month now, tomorrow being one month since the iPhone OS 4 launched. Simply the honeymoon period ended this week as doubled dropped calls, and a sudden unexplainable inability to make or receive calls or send texts left me disgruntled.

"And then I did what anybody else would do: I aired out my frustration with Twitter. Imagine my surprise, then, as this morning I'm tweeted by Samsung providing me a free Galaxy S, their latest phone. Too good to be true? I decided to investigate.

"I called a friend at Samsung, and though she was at first sceptical, it has now been affirmed: the campaign is legit. Samsung is so confident on the high quality of the Galaxy S that they're sending free ones to existing iPhone clients so they can choose for themselves."

It has an interesting and unconventional approach to marketing the gimmick, which is powered by Android 2.1 and features a whopping great big 4.0-inch AMOLED display. It's entirely possible that Samsung has taken a gamble that getting a few of the devices out in the wild, so that people can see and play with them, will be worth the initial outlay in terms of the effect they'll have on sales.

Tiffany added: "I've been waiting for an excuse to try out an Android for months, but it is yet to be seen if I can be persuaded to stray." Would you convert to Android if the phone was offered up free? Tell us in the comments.

Update: We've got official word from Samsung that this is legitimate. A spokesperson for the company told us: "Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors' products. We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we're confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they'll see how impressive it is for themselves."