The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has blasted it’s way into the news, literally. Samsung’s Flagship device has received a lot of flak lately because people have complained that their phones have burst!
The reason for them bursting is because of a problem in the lithium ion battery that powers modern day smartphones. Electronic devices are complicated because Direct current is converted to Alternate Current and because of this, the battery heats up. In the case of the Samsung Note 7, the batteries have a problem in their cell and they heat up too much.
According to reports, close to 35 cases of burst batteries have been reported out of 2.5 million pieces produced. This number may seem small, but is in fact very high.
The environment of the user also has a role to play in these bursts. Some users keep their phones in a very hot car or charge the phone on the bed where heat is retained in the phone and keeps increasing.
Samsung’s Singapore division has announced a local exchange program for these phones. The users who exchange their old Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will get brand new replacements.
This exchange of phones will happen from September 16th to October 2nd . The phones should have been purchased from authorised sources such as a local telecommunication company, approved mobile retailers, Samsung Experience Stores and Samsung Lazada Store.
The way the exchange can happen is through a Free home delivery service by Samsung as well as a direct exchange at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition centre.
The user cannot opt for a new colour when they exchange their device. The users can also choose a time slot for collection in the official Samsung Note 7 exchange page.
Check out the time slots in this page below and book your appointments.
https://www.samsung.com/sg/note7exchange/
Samsung has also offered phones on a loan basis for customers who are affected by this.
Some important points about this exchange.
•If you are not available for the exchange in the time slot provided, you can authorise another person to collect the phone on your behalf.
•Samsung will offer no refunds.
•Samsung will offer a token of appreciation during the exchange, but they haven’t explicitly mentioned what that is.
•Even if you don’t have the box or the accessories of your old galaxy note 7, you will get a full replacement box.
•Samsung suggests Smart Switch to transfer your information like contacts, photos from the old device to the new device.
Samsung’s loss is estimated at $1 Billion because of this fiasco and they have seen the sales of their other phones dropping as well. The timing of this debacle couldn’t have been worse because of the launch of the new iPhone 7.
Also, as of today, the new and corrected Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Singapore are back in the stores.
It will take a lot of effort from Samsung to convince users that their phones are safe and it is up to them to remedy this wrong.