Irish retailers promise refund as Samsung halt production on exploding Note7 smartphones

Composite photo taken with permission from the Facebook page of Michael Klering of his Samsung Galaxy Note7 which caught fire. Photo: PA

A Samsung Note7 phone set up in a laboratory in South Korea for a test. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Samsung said consumers with original Note 7 devices or replacements should turn off the power and seek a refund or exchange them for different phones

Samsung has scrapped the Note7 smartphone after further incidents of overheating and fires associated with the device.

The world’s biggest phone manufacturer has told regulators that it won’t now resume sales of the phone after a second recall led to widespread safety fears around the handset.

On Monday night, Samsung advised those with Note7 devices to discontinue using the phones until further notice. But today, it is going a step further with an announcement to permanently halt production of the troubled model.

The move could cost the company over €10bn, with 19m sales of the device previously forecast.

Mobile operators here have advised customers with Note7 phones that they will be entitled to a refund..

A spokeswoman for Ireland’s biggest operator, Vodafone, said that customers who purchased a Note7 can get a refund whether in or out of a contract.

She said that if a customer took out a new contract with the purchase of a Note7, that contract may now be cancelled if the customer wishes.

For those who got a Note7 on an upgrade with a contract extension, Vodafone will cancel the contract extension period at the customer’s request.

There are estimated to be no more than 2,000 people in Ireland who purchased Note 7 devices. Mobile operators sold the device chiefly on a pre-registration basis, as the first recall occurred before the phone went on general sale in shops here.

Online Editors