AT&T Considering Halting All Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Sales and Replacements

[alexgowers]

When i heard they were doing a recall of all Note 7's I didn't realise they planned to replace them with note 7's. They should have killed it and offered another model. It was a stupid move to rush batteries and even more stupid to leave any out there in the wild. Product recalls should be total not partial it's too vague of an action when you are dealing with essentially incendiary devices that people take everywhere they go!

I think we are yet to see the end of the fires and incidences and possibly huge loss of life and property from the note 7. It's only been a few months and we have already had fires on planes! It's serious stuff.

 

[kdarling]

Can you supply a CPSC link to that rendered conclusion? Would like to see the complete quote in context. Thanx...

Someone else had mentioned it here, and it took me a while to find it at the time. Let me see if I still have a link. In the meantime, I just found more info on the problem itself here in a Bloomberg article, which says that the battery manufacturer had squeezed too many materials into a too small pouch, and this pinched the materials.

This is a public safety issue here. The fact that Samsung has remained silent publicly for almost a week even after several incidents have already occurred with replacement devices says plenty enough about their motives.

Companies don't announce every incident that occurs. For instance, when an iPhone 6+ caught fire on this guy's bed, all Apple did was replace the phone for free. There wasn’t a followup to see what the damage was, or even whether or not he was injured in the incident. As he said, “I thought they’d be more concerned, or check to see if I got burned or anything was damaged.”

At least Samsung is still investigating and paying for damage. Apparently when Apple realized no one was paying attention to all of their own fires, they stopped making an extra effort (unless it was on an airplane or to a kid).

Second, as I said, Samsung got dinged in the first instance for issuing a recall before coordinating with government regulators.

Something which Apple has done as well. This past year, in fact.

Now this latest internet whinge is so predictable. First people say Samsung doesn't move fast enough (although they moved faster than most), and now they say they moved too fast.

Better reserve some questions for the CPSC, who delayed the recall for a week in order to first look at the problem documentation, and then to approve the recall replacements.

 

[FFR]

Someone else had mentioned it here, and it took me a while to find it at the time. Let me see if I still have a link. In the meantime, I just found more info on the problem itself here in a Bloomberg article, which says that the battery manufacturer had squeezed too many materials into a too small pouch, and this pinched the materials.



Companies don't announce every incident that occurs. For instance, when an iPhone 6+ caught fire on this guy's bed, all Apple did was replace the phone for free. There wasn’t a followup to see what the damage was, or even whether or not he was injured in the incident. As he said, “I thought they’d be more concerned, or check to see if I got burned or anything was damaged.”

At least Samsung is still investigating and paying for damage. Apparently when Apple realized no one was paying attention to all of their own fires, they stopped making an extra effort (unless it was on an airplane or to a kid).



Something which Apple has done as well. This past year, in fact.

Now this latest internet whinge is so predictable. First people say Samsung doesn't move fast enough (although they moved faster than most), and now they say they moved too fast.

Better reserve some questions for the CPSC, who delayed the recall for a week in order to first look at the problem documentation, and then to approve the recall replacements.

You seem to want to associate an isolated iPhone incident with Samsungs global recall of the explosive galaxy note 7, it's not really working.

After the global recall the replacements are still exploding.

 

[Feenician]

You seem to want to associate an isolated iPhone incident with Samsungs global recall of the explosive galaxy note 7, it's not really working.

I can't understand why they even keep trying that. It's so obviously dishonest that it's surely counterproductive. People don't like when others so blatantly try to pull the wool over their eyes.

 

[KPOM]

Well it's now official. AT&T has halted sales.http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-att-samsung-note7-20161009-story.html

 

[iriejedi]

Offer a free Non-Explosive iPhone 6s!

 

[KPOM]

A fifth device has exploded. This one in Texas. http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/9/13219878/samsung-galaxy-note-7-replacement-fire-fifth-statement

 

[Count Blah]

A turn around from what is needed?

A turnaround from their misguided ways...

• Quest for computer thinness at the expense of user serviceability - Sure you can make a thin one, but also give people a choice
  
• Abandoning the computer side of the company by continuing to sell multiple years old equipment at max prices
  
• gimping the mini to make it a pale shadow of it's former self
• Release a garbage can Mac Pro that no-one wanted, and refuse to support it going forward
  
• Turning it's back on the Professionals that kept Apple afloat when it was barely scraping by
• Redefining "enterprise" as anything that deals with iOS - Read the comments section here to see how bad it's gotten for Apple folks in the enterpise world - http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/10/life-after-death-for-apples-xserve/
• etc...

And that's JUST on the computer side

 

[I7guy]

A turnaround from their misguided ways...

• Quest for computer thinness at the expense of user serviceability - Sure you can make a thin one, but also give people a choice
  
• Abandoning the computer side of the company by continuing to sell multiple years old equipment at max prices
  
• gimping the mini to make it a pale shadow of it's former self
• Release a garbage can Mac Pro that no-one wanted, and refuse to support it going forward
  
• Turning it's back on the Professionals that kept Apple afloat when it was barely scraping by
• Redefining "enterprise" as anything that deals with iOS - Read the comments section here to see how bad it's gotten for Apple folks in the enterpise world - http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/10/life-after-death-for-apples-xserve/
• etc...

And that's JUST on the computer side

That's a tweak not a turn around. Usually the market determines product directions not individuals expressing their opinions.

 

[Nefilim]

You seem to want to associate an isolated iPhone incident with Samsungs global recall of the explosive galaxy note 7, it's not really working.

After the global recall the replacements are still exploding.

Yeah, in the past there have been reports of devices by apple, HTC, LG and others catching fire or "explosing", but this is a whole new dimension. I doubt that attempting to point at any of the other brands is helpful or applicable from a technical perspective at this point.

 

[rulymammoth]

Yeah, in the past there have been reports of devices by apple, HTC, LG and others catching fire or "explosing", but this is a whole new dimension. I doubt that attempting to point at any of the other brands is helpful or applicable from a technical perspective at this point.

Lithium ion batteries are always going to be explosion hazards. The problem here is that the rate at which batteries are exploding is way more than typical. Samsung's own actions suggest that this is a serious matter.

 

[CE3]

After Virginia ATT is done.
AT&T is done with the Note 7 as another fire is reported in Virginia
Game Over

All of the other carriers need to follow suit. like yesterday.

With replacement models still lighting up like Christmas trees, if carriers continue to sell these devices to their customers they should be liable for the battery explosions as well.

 

[Count Blah]

That's a tweak not a turn around. Usually the market determines product directions not individuals expressing their opinions.

You and I obviously have very different definitions of tweak and turnaround of direction

 

[KPOM]

All of the other carriers need to follow suit. like yesterday.

With replacement models still lighting up like Christmas trees, if carriers continue to sell these devices to their customers they should be liable for the battery explosions as well.

I'm sure that's exactly what AT&T is concerned about. What surprises me is that T-Mobile made a statement today that they are still selling it. Verizon gave a cop-out answer (they "have no inventory") that leads me to believe they will formally pull it next. Sprint says they aren't selling new devices but will replace a Note 7 with another Note 7 or different device upon request.

 

[thebroz]

I flew on several flights recently. Announcements before all these flights regarding the Note 7 said they had to be turned off. As I understand it, turning the phone off does not remediate the problem.
Regardless, why do they allow these on planes at all? They stop people from bringing other dangerous items on planes. Are they allowing these potentially deadly devices on planes to be polite, and not offend someone?
I think they should just go ahead and offend the owner, confiscate the phone, and save some lives. The confiscated phone could be mailed to the destination.

 

[apple_iBoy]

Maybe if your Samsung Note catches the house on fire, you'll luck out and your a Samsung washing machine will explode and douse the flames.

 

[Analog Kid]

I flew on several flights recently. Announcements before all these flights regarding the Note 7 said they had to be turned off. As I understand it, turning the phone off does not remediate the problem.
Regardless, why do they allow these on planes at all? They stop people from bringing other dangerous items on planes. Are they allowing these potentially deadly devices on planes to be polite, and not offend someone?
I think they should just go ahead and offend the owner, confiscate the phone, and save some lives. The confiscated phone could be mailed to the destination.

Someone earlier in the thread, who apparently works for TSA, made the point that in the X-ray, all smartphones pretty much look the same. Trying to block one particular model is logistically untenable.

 

[Lancetx]

T-Mobile announcement:

 

[AFDoc]

The bad thing is that the Note 7 kills the IP7 Plus. I wish I could get that phone.. I'll just stick with IP7 since I have no choice

Opinion is not fact. I think my 7+ kills every other phone made.... I'm sure there are lots of people that would love to trade with you.

 

[kdarling]

I flew on several flights recently. Announcements before all these flights regarding the Note 7 said they had to be turned off. As I understand it, turning the phone off does not remediate the problem.

You're right, it's partly a fluff announcement to make people feel better.

Regardless, why do they allow these on planes at all? They stop people from bringing other dangerous items on planes. Are they allowing these potentially deadly devices on planes to be polite, and not offend someone?

As with so many things in the world, what is preferable is often the opposite of what people expect.

The thing is, airline crews have been trained on handling such fires in the cabin. Partly because they're not that uncommon, and partly because the flight crew themselves use lithium battery powered devices (e.g. iPads in the cockpit, tablets and credit card readers in the passenger cabin), and have to be ready in case they fail in that way. Which they have, btw. Some airlines even carry special safe bags to place burned devices in.

In fact, in-cabin fires are so preferable to, say, the alternative of them being in the cargo hold, that organizations such as the UK Airline Pilot's Association have asked their airlines to come up with new rules related to checking bags at the aircraft door... to make sure that any bag with a lithium powered device STAYS in the cabin where a fire can be quickly handled if it occurs.

 

[JosephAW]

Too bad Apple wasn't smart enough to capitalize on this and offer all Note 7 users an equal value iPhone 7 for their Samsung in a trade in program.

 

[MRU]

Too bad Apple wasn't smart enough to capitalize on this and offer all Note 7 users an equal value iPhone 7 for their Samsung in a trade in program.

But, they don't need to. The carrier's are offering to replace with any device and either refund the difference or pay the additional difference if the replaced device is more expensive.

I would hazard a safe guess however that most android users and specifically note 7 users which is a niche enough device, are unlikely to have the iPhone as their preference choice of a device to swap to.

 

[2010mini]

T-Mobile announcement:

View attachment 664349

Second nail in the coffin

 

[kdarling]

I would hazard a safe guess however that most android users and specifically note 7 users which is a niche enough device, are unlikely to have the iPhone as their preference choice of a device to swap to.

I think Glideslope and others here had the best idea: Samsung should offer to swap for a regular Edge 7, plus difference in price, plus some meaningful perk such as a 128GB card.

 

[ErikGrim]

You can also buy BlackBerry 10 devices, to replace your ticking-time bomb (a.k.a Note 7), from Amazon, www.shopblackberry.com and maybe Staples (US).

BB10 devices don't have the explosion problems. BB10 runs Android apps. You can install Google Play on a BB10. Use an app named Cobalt, here it is https://cl.ly/0N3q0J013h3e/download/Google Play store by Cobalt.zip

Spot the BlackBerry plant.