It's not every day that you hear about phones bursting into flames. These days, corporations are all about delivering the best product and avoiding mass recalls due to defective products. But in September, Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 made headlines with its susceptibility to spontaneously burst into flames. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning for everyone who purchased a Note 7, highlighting reports of the phones exploding and emitting smoke and catching fire. A massive recall was issued the first week of September, affecting over 2.5 million phones worldwide. What went wrong?
Tightly Packed Batteries
After heavy investigation, Samsung deduced the phone's batteries were to blame due to a production error in the battery cells. The batteries were packed so tight that excess pressure on the plates within the battery cells caused the negative and positive poles to touch, causing the battery to quickly overheat and combust. The excessive heat lead the phones to emit smoke while they were being charged or during normal use.
Unbelievable Twist
After the recall, Samsung replaced the defective phones with "refurbished" Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones, which created quite a stir when one of them began to emit smoke on a Southwest Airline flight from Louisville, Kentucky to Baltimore. Even after following the direction of the crew and turning his phone off, passenger Brian Green's phone, a replacement Galaxy Note 7, caused the evacuation of 73 passengers just moments before the plane was set to take off. It took the company an extra 2 weeks afterward to call for an official recall with the help of the CPSC.
What should I do?
In light of the new evidence for why the phones are catching fire, Samsung has issued an update that will halt the phone from charging past 60%. This is a temporary bandage to a serious problem, and the update may not be available for weeks. It is not safe to wait for more updates from Samsung for the Note 7, and the company is pushing for consumers to send their phones back.
If you're a consumer of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, whether you have the original or a replacement Note 7, it is no longer safe to use the device. Call your carrier and send the phone back to wherever it came from. Whether it was issued by Samsung as a "fixed" or "safe" version of your original Note 7, as stated above these replacements have also proven defective and caused serious safety hazards. If your Samsung phone has caused property damage or personal injury in New Jersey, you need attorney James Vasquez on the case. Call 862-247-8711 for a free legal consultation.