Samsung tells consumers: shut down your “safe” Note7 phone now for your own safety

SAMSUNG has permanently ended production of the Galaxy Note7 smartphone, revealing it would not make any more of its one-time flagship device.

SAMSUNG has permanently ended production of the Galaxy Note7 smartphone, revealing it would not make any more of its one-time flagship device in documents filed in the South Korean stock exchange.

The country’s Yonhap news agency reported Samsung made the decision to stop manufacturing the phones “after the halt of the sales”.

It came as the ACCC urged Australians to seek a refund for their “safe” replacement Samsung Note7 phones following Samsung’s advice to consumers that they should turn their phones off immediately.

To make matters worse for Samsung, Australia’s aviation safety regulator has now urged travellers to treat the Galaxy Note7 and replacement devices as “dangerous goods” like explosives, flammable liquids and aerosols.

A burnt Samsung phone that exploded in a kid's bedroom. Picture: Supplied

Samsung has yet to publicly reveal the specific cause of the Note7 fires, though its permanent revocation is likely to hurt the world’s biggest smartphone maker, with its stocks down 7.5 per cent.

In an official advisory, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said passengers with the phone “including replacement devices” should follow the instructions of the airline.

“If there are no instructions, then passengers should switch off the phone, refrain from use or charging and not pack it in their checked luggage,” said the advisory.

The fiasco over Samsung’s incendiary flagship phone, that so far has been linked to more than 110 reports of overheating batteries, took a turn towards the absurd yesterday when the ACCC directed people concerned about the safety of their unusable replacement Note7 to an outdated Samsung recall notice.

That notice offered to give customers a replacement Note7 or a refund.

Samsung yesterday did not respond to questions on whether the recall notice would be updated to reflect the warning that the replacement Note7 was also now unsafe to use.

It came after the tech giant urged consumers to shut down their “safe” replacement Note7 phones for their own safety.

A South Korean employee provides a replacement Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone at a telecommunications shop in Seoul. Picture: AFP

Samsung has still stopped short of issuing a full recall but issued the safety warning in a statement today.

“Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” the statement said.

The urgent warning to turn off the replacement phones comes after five reports that the “safe” phones had started fires.

In the statement, Samsung Australia says it is working with “relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place.”

The ACCC said it was “in direct contact with Samsung in relation to recent news reports regarding replacement phones.”

Samsung’s fiasco surrounding the safety of its flagship phone went from bad to worse in the past week with reports of a flight in the US having to be evacuated when a phone burst into flames and one man having to be treated in hospital after his phone started a fire in his house.

Telstra, Vodafone and Optus today announced they will no longer be handing over Note7 phones to its customers until it can be cleared of any safety risk.

The news comes as South Korean news agency Yonhap reports Samsung has suspended production of the Note7 phones.

“We have temporarily paused shipping replacement Galaxy Note7 smartphones to our customers while Samsung investigates reported incidents in the US. We have asked Samsung to provide us with an update on their investigations as a matter of priority and will update our customers as soon as we learn more,” said Telstra manager of media Steve Carey.

“In the meantime we are helping customers with loan phones and for those who do not wish to wait for the exchange program a changeover to an alternative smartphone.”

Vodafone followed Telstra’s lead, issuing a statement that it was “pausing the replacement program for the new Samsung Galaxy Note7 following reported incidents overseas.”

Optus also followed with its own statement: “Optus has decided to temporarily suspend the distribution of replacement Samsung Galaxy Note7 handsets pending an investigation by Samsung.”

Samsung issued a global recall after 35 of the handsets burst into flames while charging in the first two weeks of the phone’s release. There have been at least 112 reports of the original Note7 catching fire.

Two American telcos, AT & T and T-Mobile, announced they would no longer be issuing replacement Note7 phones when people returned their Note7 phones. Instead, they would be issuing a refund or a different model phone.

Just recently three cases have emerged of “safe” replacement Note7 phones bursting into flames.

The latest case reported by Verge comes from Houston, where Daniel Franks reported his replacement Note7 caught fire when it was on the table while he was having lunch.

This case came just hours after Verge reported Shawn Minter of Virginia had a replacement Note7 catch fire while charging next to his bed, filling his bedroom with smoke.

Mr Minter contacted Verge after the report yesterday that a Kentucky man was taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation after his “safe” Note7 ignited.

Samsung’s publicity nightmare continues with the number of Note7 reported incidents now approaching 120, with four of those involving phones that were released after the recall and branded as safe from the battery defect.

These latest reports are particularly damming because it claims Samsung knew that a replacement Note 7 had caught fire prior to the incident when a Southwest Airlines flight in Louisville was evacuated because of smoke coming from a replacement phone.

Michael Klering, of Kentucky, has told Kentucky news site WKYT that he woke up at 4am to find smoke filling his bedroom.

“The phone is supposed to be the replacement, so you would have thought it would be safe,” he told WKYT. “It wasn’t plugged in. It wasn’t anything, it was just sitting there.”

Mr Klering was reportedly treated for smoke inhalation.

This latest incident follows a report that a Minnesota teenage girl felt a “weird, burning sensation” while holding a replacement phone.

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WKYT reports Mr Klering is considering legal action after he claims to have inadvertently received a text from a Samsung representative which dismissed his complaints.

After the Southwest Airlines incident, Samsung said it was working to recover the device to determine if it was a replacement phone.

Samsung has urged all customers with an original Note 7 to return the phone to Samsung Australia or to the place of purchase for a refund or replacement phone.

Originally published as Samsung tells consumers: shut down your “safe” Note7 phone now for your own safety