Samsung has announced a global recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 along with halting of sales after concerns of faulty components causing battery explosions.
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The official request came from the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards which primarily handles product safety regulations but is also responsible for supervising refund and recall programs such as the one Samsung just introduced.
Samsung declined to comment on how many phones are being recalled in South Korea, but the firm’s report to the agency dated September 2 seen by Reuters showed that 429,000 Note 7 phones had been sold prior to the recall. Speaking to the media earlier today, the agency’s official Nam Taek-joo stated that he believes Samsung should have implemented much more efficient measures to remove risky Galaxy Note 7 units from the market.
The agency asked Samsung earlier this week to say how long it could extend the refund period for consumers who missed Monday’s deadline.
The Galaxy Note 7 phone went on sale in August to glowing reviews but has now become Samsung’s biggest crisis in years.
We acknowledge the inconvenience this may have caused in the market, but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to Samsung customers.
Employees at mobile carrier shops in Seoul said Samsung had not supplied them with enough units of the new Note 7 phones, meaning some customers will have to wait to exchange their old ones.
“We need more measures to actively inform consumers”, Nam said. This week, it started shipping new Note 7 phones with safe batteries in the United States, South Korea and other countries, while urging consumers to hand in their phones for replacements. That offer was jointly announced with officials at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after Samsung was criticized for not coordinating more closely with the commission.
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Curtis says he took the phone to get a replacement but one wasn’t available, so he was waiting until Wednesday to exchange it.
