Spark and Vodafone say they will honour a product recall by Samsung. The company announced over the weekend that it will replace its Galaxy Note 7 in New Zealand as part of a global recall following reports of the phone exploding or catching fire.
While no cases of exploding phones have been reported here, concern has been raised by customers who found a problem with the Note 7’s battery.
In a four paragraph statement Samsung announced the recall: “Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently reported cases of the new Galaxy Note7, we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.
“To date (as of September 1) there have been 35 cases that have been reported globally and we are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market. However, because our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung, we have stopped sales of the Galaxy Note7.
“For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one over the coming weeks.
“We acknowledge the inconvenience this may cause in the market but this is to ensure that Samsung continues to deliver the highest quality products to our customers. We are working closely with our partners to ensure the replacement experience is as convenient and efficient as possible.”
Vodafone has removed all website promotions and social media sales offers for the phone.
“Anyone with a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (model number beginning with SM-N930) are urged to go to the store they bought it from and ask for a free replacement.
Vodafone said Samsung were planning to provide a new Note 7 in exchange for the current Note 7 to consumers. But the company said there could be a delay in providing the free replacement – about four weeks.
“If you do not wish to wait that long we have other alternatives for you including providing a loan phone to use in the interim,” it said in a statement.
Spark said any customer who bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from Spark had the option of swapping it for an alternative device – with the difference refunded – or choosing a full on-account refund.
“Alternatively, Spark customers can choose to retain their device and receive the replacement Note 7 at a later date.”
American, Ariel Gonzalez posted footage of his damaged Samsung Note 7, which burst into flames two weeks after he bought it.
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