14 DAY TRIAL // Today, the Finnish giant handset maker Nokia announced that some manufacture faults had been found with a limited number of charger models and a free-of-charge replacement program has already started for all users who have a phone with bad components. From the tests Nokia has performed, it seems that somehow the plastic covers of the affected chargers might come loose, exposing the internal circuits and thus posing a potential electric shock hazard to the users if certain components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.
During a routine quality-control check, Nokia has identified a potential product quality issue with a certain number of chargers manufactured by BYD, one of its third-party suppliers. The affected charger models are the AC-3E and the AC-3U ones, manufactured between June 15, 2009 and August 9, 2009, and the AC-4U model, manufactured between April 13, 2009 and October 25, 2009. At the moment, there are no reports that might point to the fact that someone was injured by the chargers, however Nokia recommends phone owners to stop using these types of chargers in order to avoid any potential incidents and to ask for a free replacement right away.
This is not the first recall Nokia has had over the time. In 2007, a massive battery recall was programmed due to a manufacture fault on one of Nokia's third-party suppliers, Matsushita. Even if there was a limited number of incidents reported, over 300 million batteries produced by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 were eligible for free replacement.
Nokia is taking another step in ensuring that it delivers only quality products for its customers by launching this charger-recall program, proving that it remains the most serious and respectable handset producer on the market. For further information, including a guide on how consumers can check to see if their phone chargers are part of this free exchange program, Nokia has established a website. Consumers are asked to visit this Web site or the local Nokia one.