Before this, CPSC expressed concerns about how Samsung was handling the recall of the Galaxy Note 7, saying it should have been routed through the agency due to its scale.
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Customers are advised to contact their local call centers or visit the retail location where the phone was purchased.
Samsung now says people should shut off their phones as soon as possible and take them back.
A spokesperson for Australian airline Qantas told BuzzFeed News that it and subsidiary airline Jetstar began asking passengers not to use or charge the Samsung phone on planes last week. “We will voluntarily replace your Galaxy Note7 device with a new one, beginning on September 19th”, Samsung said.
Earlier this month, Samsung announced an unprecedented recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s worldwide just two weeks after the phone was launched.
Samsung said that it had conducted a thorough investigation and found an isolated battery cell problem. 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.
Samsung said that it knows that this is an inconvenience but it was working closely with its “partners” to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.
In a further blow to the company, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has also urged American users to turn the phones off and leave them off. Singapore Airlines has also banned the use or charging of the device during flights.
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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. Samsung released the jumbo smartphone on August 19. Sprint customers who bought a Note 7 can get a “similar device” until Samsung resolves the battery issue and makes replacements available.
