The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging Samsung Galaxy Note 7 users to immediately power down and stop using or charging their devices following recent reports that their batteries can cause fires.
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Industry experts said such guidelines may be difficult to enforce because it was hard to distinguish the faulty Galaxy Note 7 from other smartphones.
A USA consumer safety watchdog is issuing the words Samsung was likely loathe to hear: power down your Galaxy Note 7 and stop charging or using the device.
But according to criticizers only recall of batteries is not good because Galaxy Note 7 smartphone sale has not been stopped by the Samsung. It also said it was working with Samsung and hoped to have an official recall “as soon as possible”.
By the time it issued the recall, the device had only been on sale for a few weeks and was only available in 10 countries, quashing the company’s goal to provide a significant competitor to Apple’s new iPhone 7.
Customers are advised to contact their local call centers or visit the retail location where the phone was purchased.
Samsung said last week that it had found only 24 phones to be defective.
Because of faults with the new flagship device, the FAA strongly advises passengers to keep the phone turned off in-flight, don’t charge the batteries onboard and don’t put it in a checked bag. Matt Hoff of New London has a Galaxy 7. The phone was launched August 19.
“In the interim, consumers can return their Note7 for another device”, Samsung said.
Samsung was responding to dozens of complaints from customers that their phones had caught fire while charging.
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On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement asking passengers not to turn on or charge the devices on board and aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage. Samsung echoed the message in its own statement, confirming that it has pushed its recall through to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. To placate users, Samsung further offered consumers a US$25 gift card or bill credit from select carrier retail outlets. The Note series is one of Samsung’s most expensive, and demand for the phone had been high.
