Following last night’s news that Samsung had once again halted production on the Galaxy Note 7, all four of the nation’s major wireless provider, and its biggest electronics retailer, say they have all pulled the Note 7 from sale.
First, this morning, Samsung confirmed reports out of South Korea that it had temporarily stopped production on the Note 7 following a number of incidents where supposedly safe devices were behaving like the recently recalled ones, with batteries exploding and catching fire.
This video, shot by customer at a Burger King in South Korea, shows what appears to be an employee donning oven mitts to deal with a troublesome Note 7:
“We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters,” reads a statement from Samsung’s U.S. division.
T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon had each announced over the weekend that they were putting a stop to Note 7 replacements and sales pending further investigation. Sprint had not been as forthcoming with a response, but this afternoon emailed a statement to Consumerist confirming it is no longer selling the device.
“Given recent issues reported in the media, Sprint is halting sales of replacement Note 7 devices pending the conclusion of the investigation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Samsung,” reads the statement.
Just like with the other providers, Sprint customers can exchange their Note 7 with a different phone.
Like Sprint, Best Buy had not yet commented on its apparent decision to continue selling the phone over the weekend. However, we’ve now heard from the retailer that it is no longer offering the Note 7.
“We have stopped selling all Samsung Note 7 phones,” reads a statement from Best Buy. “Customers can visit a Best Buy store to return or exchange their Note 7 for a different phone of their choice.”
The phone is still technically listed for sale on BestBuy.com, but attempting to purchase a Note 7 shows that the phone is “sold out online.”
Because there has not yet been a second recall, there is nothing legally preventing these carriers or retailers from selling the newer Note 7. If the CSPC and Samsung do announce another recall then stores and individuals would be prohibited from selling the phone.
“We recognize that carrier partners have stopped sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 in response to reports of heat damage issues, and we respect their decision,” says Samsung. “We are working diligently with authorities and third party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation. Even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers that we are taking every report seriously. If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC to resolve the situation.”
Since Samsung began replacing the initial batch of recalled Note 7s with replacements in late September, there have been several alleged incidents of phones catching fire or smoldering. Ars Technica recently rounded up seven of them, though it’s possible that some of these incidents involve defective Note 7s from the first release.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
I am a common person living in the cities of the USA common needs. I looked out for different plans offers by the various wireless providers .
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