Well i don't think that you have been cheated.Basically for Samsung or the dealer to disable writing at 52X they will have to flash the firmware to an earlier version. Now flashing the firmware is not that easy & these people are least bothered to give time for this.For the problem that you are facing,there can be multiple reasons.Now the first one that comes to my mind is that the blank cd's that you are using may not be 52X.This might prevent the writer from automatically writing at 52X.
Now in case of Sony writers,if you might be knowing,in the 52X speed models when you insert a blank cd,u have to press the eject button for few seconds which enebles the 52X mode.
Then the most likely reason that i feel is that,you are using Nero 5.5 or something.Now what must have happened is that the earlier drive and the current drive though with same model no. might have firmwares with different versions.Now if the old nero does not detect the features correctly of the new firmware of thedrive it is a possibility that it might not be detecting the 52X write option too.I would suggest you get Nero 6 from somewhere if possible and then try.
I think of these many reasons,the last one the most correct according to me.Try out what happens.I hope this helps you.
