Official recall for exploding Galaxy Note7 phones coming, Samsung confirm

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 12 Sep 2016

Update 09-15-16: The Consumer oduct Safety Commission has officially recalled Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices sold before Sept 15, 2016. For more information, including details on reimbursement, please read the language on the commission’s website.

Samsung is trying to douse the flames from the growing Galaxy Note7 dumpster fire. The company confirmed it’s working with the Consumer oduct Safety Commission, the U.S. government’s arm for ensuring products do no harm, on procedures for replacing the hsets with new models that won’t spontaneously catch on fire.

The latest statement by Samsung says in no uncertain terms that everyone should power off stop using the Note7 immediately. The Consumer oduct Safety Commission confirmed that the Note7’s lithium-ion batteries are leading to fires should not be ignored. 

Samsung has pledged that current Note7 owners will get replacement devices, but the big question is when that’ll actually happen. The company needs approval from the Consumer oduct Safety Commission before sending out new phones here in the U.S. That means right now your best option is a refund, or Samsung’s offer of a Galaxy S7 or S7 ge, along with a reimbursement that recognizes the higher cost of the Note7.

Do you have a Note7? Then make sure you power it down, then call whichever retailer you bought the device from.

Confusion may reign for a while, however. Gizmodo reports on a Verizon customer who had a long frustrating experience with a retail that didn’t quite know how to hle a simple replacement request. Meanwhile, explosions keep happening. A 6-year-old boy was burned when playing with his grmother’s Note7 over the weekend. st week, two separate Note7 explosions caused a ep garage to catch fire. To say this is a black eye for Samsung is a major understatement given the size scope of the damage, the importance of the Note line in the smartphone lscape.

The impact on you: If you have a Note7, our advice is simple: wer it off stop using it. Airlines are now telling passengers to power off stow Note7s if they have one aboard. ile the number of phones to catch fire is still relatively low compared to the overall number of Note7s out in the wild, the danger is clearly too high to roll the dice.