In this September 8, 2016 photo, a Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is displayed at the headquarters of South Korean mobile carrier KT in Seoul, South Korea. The South Korean technology giant in a statement on its website Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, advised local users to visit the company’s service centers to receive rental phones for temporary use.
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Korean smartphone Samsung had to issue a voluntarily issued a recall last week for at least 10 markets, including the United States, after reports surfaced that several Galaxy Note 7s had exploded while users tried to charge the device. Samsung also added an iris scanner to the Note 7, which detects patterns in users’ eyes to unlock the phone. So we reached out to the USA call center and a representative said Note 7 users should power off the phone and bring it back to the retail location where it was purchased.
The mammoth recall of close to 2.5 million devices and their subsequent replacement with brand new models according to analysts could cost Samsung almost $5bn.
The message comes a week after Samsung announced it would immediately stop selling the phone and replace the 2.5 million it had already sold.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has joined individual airlines in advising passengers not only to refrain from using the device on-board, but even stowing it in the luggage.
The US owners of the phablet are concerned that they’ll have to wait for ever for the new/proper Samsung Galaxy Note 7 if they return their current smartphones via Samsung’s official Exchange Program.
Malaysian no-frills carrier AirAsia Berhad which runs a joint venture airline with Tata Sons in India, today prohibited the use of Samsung Galaxy Note7 mobile devices on its flight as well as some of the subsidiary airlines, including AirAsia India.
The warning follows aviation authorities and airlines worldwide banning the use of the device on board aircraft, after classing the smartphones has hazardous materials.
Samsung has said that battery problems were behind the phones catching fire, but that it was hard to work out which phones were affected among those sold.
There are at least two more cases that Samsung said it is aware of – one at a hotel in Perth, Australia, and another in St. Petersburg, Florida, where a family reported that a Galaxy Note 7 left charging in their Jeep had caught fire, destroying the vehicle.
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The Note 7 went on sale in August. ClassAction.com reached out to Samsung to confirm that the battery inside Galaxy S7 edge units is made by the same manufacturer.
