It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Samusng following the launch of the Galaxy Note7. It was bad enough that there have been over thirty confirmed cases of the Note7 battery catching fire or exploding, causing damage to customer property. The company was already working on a recall when several Australian airlines started to take precautions with Note7 devices on their flights. The FAA soon followed suit, issuing a statement on suggested use of the Samsung device during flight. The Galaxy Note7 recall has added yet another wrinkle, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has stepped in to help facilitate the recall.
This has certainly been a blemish on Samsung’s previously pretty strong record of quality smartphones. As is often the case whenever technology is involved, there has been confusion relating to what is actually being recalled. As a perfect example, just last night my wife’s uncle asked me whether or not there was any issue with his phone. He does use a Samsung, but he has the Galaxy S7, not the Note7. Airlines haven’t been any better, with Tim McDonough commenting on Twitter:
Announcement on my flight last night: Please power off all @SamsungMobile phones. Unintended consequences of #Note7Recall
— Tim McDonough (@timamcdonough) September 10, 2016
Getting the CPSC involved should be of benefit to both Samsung and consumers, as the agency is tasked with protecting the public from issues with consumer products that may cause injury or death. The CPSC has released a statement asking Note7 owners to power down their devices and not use or charge the devices until the phones can be returned and exchanged. They are also working with Samsung in a way to best enact a full recall of the device while providing customers with a safe alternative. While Samsung did start to recall devices as early as last week, efforts have been ramped up considerably after the involvement of the CPSC. Note7 owners have started to see e-mails such as the one received by Russell Holly:
A slightly more direct approach. pic.twitter.com/Rnzv6oIIiD
— Russell Holly (@russellholly) September 10, 2016
It is in Samsung’s best interest to get potentially faulty Note7 devices out of customer hands, and the involvement of the CPSC should help make that happen. Do you still have your Note7, or have you already exchanged it for another device? Have you had the experiences of either Mr. McDonough or Mr. Holly? Tell us all about it in the comment section below, or on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.
[button link=”http://www.computerworld.com/article/3118734/smartphones/consumer-product-safety-agency-warns-about-galaxy-note-7.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Computer World[/button]
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