While the company was previously offering to replace the phones, it will now offer consumers the choice of a replacement or a full refund. The company is in the midst of a massive, unprecedented recall (RMA) process, a flaw in the battery fabrication procedure has left millions of device in danger of exploding due to overheat. In regular Samsung devices, the icon appears on the top right of the home-screen in white when the battery is charged and red once the level of charge drops.
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In the United Kingdom, the exchange programme will see customers get contacted by the provider or operator they received their Galaxy Note 7 from, who will then arrange for an exchange.
Samsung Electronics America announced that replacements for Note 7 smartphones will be available at retail locations in the U.S. by September 21. The phone however has a much bigger 6-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.
This follows data suggesting that owners were continuing to use faulty devices.
While Samsung has had its own recall program of the 2.5 million phones sold worldwide in place for two weeks already, data from mobile analytics firm Apteligent show a Galaxy 7 “usage decline” of just 13 percent, which it classified as “small”.
In an effort to steal a march on Apple, the Note 7 was given an early launch in the key United States market, making that a priority for the recall effort. Perhaps Samsung is awaiting further tests in the country before shipping out the Samsung galaxy Note 7 units.
“I think I would”, said Robert Lerner, a 64-year-old financial consultant who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Worth, Texas. He plans to get a replacement phone next week, but until then, he’ll keep using his Note 7.
Brooklyn office worker Joe Franco said he was frustrated, especially after getting conflicting information from his cellphone carrier, Sprint, about how to get a replacement.
Over 1 million units of the device have been sent for replacement in the USA itself and the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has reportedly cost Samsung losses in billions.
Another problem is that Samsung’s replacement Galaxy Note 7s won’t be available in the USA until September 21. He explains how Samsung takes consumer safety very seriously and will “work hard everyday to earn back the trust” of its consumers.
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Users can swap their device for a replacement Note7, or for a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, with replacement devices available September 21.
