Samsung Reports 1 Million Note 7 Users Safe After Recall, but Overheating Stories Persist

[I7guy]

the guy from the delivery company was just holding the package wrong.

On a more serious note: another iPhone burned on June 21, but on an airplane. It had slipped behind the back rest of a business class seat and caught fire when the cabin staff tried to get it out - they actually had to put it out with a fire extinguisher. It's likely that the phone got damaged when the position of the chair was moved. In any case: I can see a general electronics ban for public transport on the horizon now - lithium ion batteries are freaking dangerous and they really shouldn't be on airplanes. Even though that would really suck - I fly a lot and use my laptop and my phone on planes routinely.

Sooner or later a lot of people will die because of someone's gadgets catches fire on a plane - I hope they don't wait with a ban until that happens :-( If it happens in the cabin, I guess people can deal with it - but what if it happens in the luggage hold? It beats me why it's still allowed to pack electronics in suitcases.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/0...issing_emitting_smoke_and_making_orange_glow/

and another case earlier this year:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ne-hawaii-washington-anna-crail-a6944416.html


The latter is even more worrisome as the iPhone just caught fire without being charged etc. So again: while Samsung's problems are of a larger scale, the iPhone can't be considered 100% safe, especially not in airplanes.

Let's not make this about the iphone, which is a bit of a deflection. A truer picture of the danger is this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/lithium-ba...ophic-plane-fires-faa-warns/story?id=36816040

Having said that, li-ion batteries have the potential for damage, but there is only one mobile phone world-wide recall going on at the moment.

 

[domino67]

Ah, the classic tactic of deflection. Here are the facts for you:

- iPhones have exploded and caught fire.
- Samsung phones have exploded and caught fire.
- Motorola phones have exploded and caught fire.
- ALL manufacturers have had phones explode and catch fire.
- The Note 7 catches fire at a rate that's several orders of magnitude greater than the iPhone or any other phone.
- If iPhones caught fire at the same rate as the Note 7, then there would be 100,000 iPhone fires since the first iPhone, 1,000 of those in the Mar-Jun 2016 quarter alone. Can you link to 1,000 iPhone fires that occurred over those 3 months of sales?

Sorry to have to bring math into this discussion.

It's not deflection. It's just facts.
[doublepost=1475200677][/doublepost]

You might want to learn how fire investigations are done. The source of ignition in fires is usually pretty easy to spot. Whether it's a phone, toaster, bad electrical outlet or cigarette in your bed. I don't know what caused the Jeep fire or the garage fire, but the final cause will come out. Until then you can keep lying about the cause and trying to blame these people for committing fraud, even though there's no evidence to support it.


Look, I get it. You're a Samsung fan. This must be devastating to you to see Samsung fail so massively on the Note 7 launch, and in their subsequent handling of the recall (trying to do a voluntary recall then being forced by the government to make it official). Perhaps you shouldn't tie your emotional state to a company - then these events wouldn't cause you so much grief.

The fire investigation is done on the Jeep.

They can't determine that the Note 7 caused the fire and that the car battery also caught fire.

http://www.sammobile.com/2016/09/20...ink-between-galaxy-note-7-and-jeep-explosion/

So take your condencending attitude elsewhere.
[doublepost=1475201064][/doublepost]

According to Bloomberg sources, Samsung rushed the phone because what they considered a"Lackluster" iPhone 7 before Apples release.
The battery supplier was a subsidiary owned by Samsung themselves. You can't rush quality. Perhaps why Apple releases products when they feel they are ready.

It was actually ITM Semiconductor who was a subcontractor to SDI Samsung who made the affected batteries.
[doublepost=1475201428][/doublepost]

Steve Jobs would never have allowed Apple washers to explode.

But he did allow for 1.8 million laptop batteries having to be recalled 10 years ago

 

[sudo1996]

Aahh, old memories are flooding back to me. The Galaxy S2 creaming the iPhone 4 in benchmarks.

LOL, phone benchmarks.

 

[kis]

Last time I checked Samsung, electronics were around 70% of their profits.

You do know that there are other 'electronics' apart from smartphones, right?

 

[kis]

I said something seemed fishy......she had TWO fires in TWO days.

http://fox8.com/2016/09/28/charging...inesville-home-it-could-have-been-in-my-face/

Please don't forget that Apple uses batteries made by the same Chinese manufacturer as Samsung.

 

[kis]

Let's not make this about the iphone, which is a bit of a deflection. A truer picture of the danger is this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/lithium-ba...ophic-plane-fires-faa-warns/story?id=36816040

Having said that, li-ion batteries have the potential for damage, but there is only one mobile phone world-wide recall going on at the moment.

Not a deflection - it's a comparison. The facts remain:

- the Note 7 was recalled because it was considered a dangerous device.
- Apple has done (laptop) battery recalls in the past
- all phones can catch on fire and have done so, including the iPhone
- Lithium Ion batteries are inherently volatile and pose a fire risk to some extent. If they weren't so ubiquitous, they'd very likely be banned on public transport already.

 

[gnasher729]

26 were shown to be false.

Iphones have exploded also. That's the inherent risk of Lithium Ion batteries.

How many Samsung Note fires have their been? As far as I know, about 100 or so in the USA. And 26 reports were not shown to be false, they were shown not to have much evidence - not the same thing.

How many iPhone explosions were "false"? Oh, it's Apple, so any bad story must be true, right? The only case that I can remember where without a doubt an iPhone went on fire was when a bodged repair put a screw right into the battery.
[doublepost=1475232375][/doublepost]

Please don't forget that Apple uses batteries made by the same Chinese manufacturer as Samsung.

It has been reported that the real problem wasn't that anything was inherently wrong with the battery, but that the batteries delivered where a tiny bit too large for the space where they were fitted. All batteries expand a little bit when charged. They need enough space to fit _when fully charged_. These batteries would have been absolutely fine if they had had a tiny bit more space in the phone.
[doublepost=1475232445][/doublepost]

But [Steve Jobs] did allow for 1.8 million laptop batteries having to be recalled 10 years ago

And other companies recalled many more for the absolute same reason.
[doublepost=1475232613][/doublepost]

ISIS uses them for bombs.

I suggest they should use them for suicide bombs. Go back to the true meaning of the word. Strap to your body, impossible to remove. Start charging.

 

[I7guy]

Not a deflection - it's a comparison. The facts remain:

- the Note 7 was recalled because it was considered a dangerous device.
- Apple has done (laptop) battery recalls in the past
- all phones can catch on fire and have done so, including the iPhone
- Lithium Ion batteries are inherently volatile and pose a fire risk to some extent. If they weren't so ubiquitous, they'd very likely be banned on public transport already.

Facts in the context can still be a deflection.

 

[pika2000]

I don't feel sorry for a conglomerate like Samsung. They knew the risks (even the engineers acknowledged the risks), and they made a decision. Now they are facing the consequences. That's it.

What I can say though, they are quite arrogant in their responses. And they didn't actually go through the correct authorities to initiate official recall until they were called out by the US.
The process seemed okay only in countries with strong consumer protection laws to begin with (eg. US) where user can returned the phone and whatnot. In countries like Singapore, Samsung didn't allow returns. On top of that, they only allow a tiny window of time for replacements, and for the token of appreciation, they gave $30 vouchers to be spent on Samsung stores. It's like a slap in your face. In other regions, they provided a J-series phone as a loaner, a low-budget phone. That's an insult for customers buying the highest premium flagship phone (they have Note5, S6, or S7 lying around, they could simply use those instead).

Samsung's actions shows you how little they actually cared about their own customers.

 

[kdarling]

Our only recourse is for an impartial 3rd party (say.... PCMag, as I linked) to do their own poll- & find at least a reasonable estimate.

PCMag didn't do their own poll. Nor did any of the so-called "news" outlets who repeated that SurveyMonkey poll.

SurveyMonkey is a site where anyone can create a survey for $2 a respondent. Their respondents are people who signed up to be paid for taking surveys with product discounts, etc. It seems that no one paid $1,000 for this survey (if anyone did, it'd be likely a competitor).

Apparently SurveyMonkey came up with up all by themselves as a click bait advertisement for their services. To that end, they posted some of the results on their Facebook page.

Interestingly, if you sign up for SurveyMonkey, you'll find that your target audience choices only include smartphone OS, not model. How did they pick the 500 paid respondents for this survey?

Also, the results make no sense as many places are reporting them. Why would 1/3 take a refund and not buy another phone? Wouldn't the set of people choosing a different phone use their refund for that purpose? Something is really wonky here.

 

[FFR]

How many Samsung Note fires have their been? As far as I know, about 100 or so in the USA. And 26 reports were not shown to be false, they were shown not to have much evidence - not the same thing.

How many iPhone explosions were "false"? Oh, it's Apple, so any bad story must be true, right? The only case that I can remember where without a doubt an iPhone went on fire was when a bodged repair put a screw right into the battery.
[doublepost=1475232375][/doublepost]
It has been reported that the real problem wasn't that anything was inherently wrong with the battery, but that the batteries delivered where a tiny bit too large for the space where they were fitted. All batteries expand a little bit when charged. They need enough space to fit _when fully charged_. These batteries would have been absolutely fine if they had had a tiny bit more space in the phone.
[doublepost=1475232445][/doublepost]

And other companies recalled many more for the absolute same reason.
[doublepost=1475232613][/doublepost]
I suggest they should use them for suicide bombs. Go back to the true meaning of the word. Strap to your body, impossible to remove. Start charging.

Sounds like a design flaw. Probably why a safe note 7 out of China exploded earlier in the week.

 

[blacktape242]

At least the Samsung TV in my office hasn't exploded yet....thankfully.

 

[5105973]

The reality of living with the replacement Notes so far is very mundane. Mine and my husband's work very well and are very pleasant to use. We take reasonable precautions about charging them. He charges his at work and I charge mine on a stone counter with nothing flammable nearby. I have a fire extinguisher for electronics on standby.

I don't know that we would get Samsung phones in the future, but with the way things are going with the accumulation of reported iPhone 7 problems, I am not so sure we will be getting iPhones in the future, either. Tin cans and string are looking pretty promising right now. Sardine cans are supposedly going to be the new style for 2017-- they're thinner than soup cans!

 

[Spink10]

I have one of their potentially exploding washing machines...

 

[5105973]

I have one of their potentially exploding washing machines...

Yikes. Well from what I read, it should be okay if you don't overload it or wash something heavy like a thick quilt or comforter. What are you going to do? Is yours under any recall?

 

[Spink10]

Yikes. Well from what I read, it should be okay if you don't overload it or wash something heavy like a thick quilt or comforter. What are you going to do? Is yours under any recall?

We have owned it since 2013...

Its not been recalled yet. My washer serial number does seem to be affected. I signed up to receive info once a decision has been made. They recommend all heavy loads be done on delicate cycle.

 

[Radon87000]

Sounds like a design flaw. Probably why a safe note 7 out of China exploded earlier in the week.

Then why aren't there more incidents in China?Just 2?Why haven't safe Note 7 exploded in he US?

 

[nebo1ss]

No, it's running an older version of TouchWiz and despite the processor and RAM, I was getting lag, delays on apps opening and even apps shutting down repeatedly. If anything, I learned a lesson and why the statement "Apple products just work" is so very true.

I guess all the IP 7 customers who are unable to get an LTE connection, keep loosing it when they do get one, have bluetooth problems with their car or a hissing sound from the earpiece think they just work.

 

[5105973]

We have owned it since 2013...

Its not been recalled yet. My washer serial number does seem to be affected. I signed up to receive info once a decision has been made. They recommend all heavy loads be done on delicate cycle.

That's terrible! As someone with pets and strong allergies I have to wash heavy loads of blankets on powerful settings on a weekly basis to ensure I get them clean enough to tolerate with my allergies. I wouldn't survive two weeks washing everything on delicate cycle! Samsung had better do right by you! So far this is unacceptable.

As far as their cell phones go, that issue was handled to my satisfaction so far, but I know it has not been for many other customers yet.

 

[bigzee]

Samsung today issued a statement confirming that more than one million of its Galaxy Note 7 customers affected by reports of overheating, and sometimes explosions, are now using devices with batteries "that are not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire" (via Recode). Following the initial wave of reports, earlier in the month Samsung issued an "unprecedented" recall of 2.5 million Note 7 devices less than a month after the smartphone launched.

According to the company, the one million figure includes devices issued as replacements in the recall, as well as Note 7 handsets originally sold in China that Samsung has deemed safe because "they used batteries that came from a different supplier to those that could overheat." Still, there are reports within China of exploding Note 7 phones that the company is looking into, which it says is not at the fault of the battery.

Despite the company's work at remedying the issue with the Note 7, reports are still coming in of overheating on replacement handsets. A few users in the United States and South Korea have reported that new Note 7 smartphones, which Samsung sent as replacements for the original malfunctioning devices, are "too hot to place next to the ear during a phone call." Samsung said that this specific issue "does not pose a safety concern" like the original recall, and compared it to normal "temperature fluctuations" on any modern smartphone.
In one case, Samsung has agreed to replace a customer's replacement Note 7, but it's not clear how widespread the faulty replacement device issue is currently. According to the company, more than 60 percent of Note 7 handsets have been exchanged in the U.S. and South Korea through the recall program, which could cost it between $1 and $5 billion, while 90 percent of customers chose to get a new Note 7 instead of seeking a refund or getting a separate smartphone model.

Samsung's problems with the Note 7 reportedly began when the company decided to push suppliers in order to meet an earlier deadline after learning that this year's iPhone 7 would have no major design changes. Earlier in September, Samsung America president and COO Tim Baxter apologized to consumers, stating that "we did not meet the standard of excellence that you expect and deserve."

Article Link: Samsung Reports 1 Million Note 7 Users Safe After Recall, but Overheating Stories Persist

this was a huge screw up on samsungs part. It could take years to build customer confidence back up to a level it enjoyed before this happened. Iphone 7 will rake in new customers by the millions.

 

[Porco]

I'm just glad my Samsung fridge/freezer hasn't overheated and turned into an oven.

 

[bliggs]

Really bad PR all around. I just flew Delta this past week and both at the terminal and on the plane, there were announcements stating not to use or charge any Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones due to the battery overheating / explosion concerns. I just thought to myself, “That can’t be good for Samsung!"

I flew Southwest last week and they had the same announcement.

 

[kdarling]

If the airlines were actually serious about there being a "danger", they'd come up with a fireproof container where such phones could be stored, instead of letting the batteries potentially be put under pressure in an overhead bin even if off.

In this case, they're likely not really worried, because in-cabin device battery fires have so far turned out to be pretty easy to take care of. They're just trying to make passengers feel better.

This will blow over just like the initial Boeing Dreamliner lithium battery fires, or the millions of recalled Apple batteries and chargers over the years.

 

[mellofello]

I am not one of those million. I have to go through my retail store and I am over 100 people down on the list. What a joke.

 

[kdarling]

I am not one of those million. I have to go through my retail store and I am over 100 people down on the list. What a joke.

Is it a big name chain store, or a local shop?

Did they give you any timeline?