14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has discontinued the production of the Galaxy Note 7 and is now focusing on retrieving all units sold to customers, but it seems that the company might also face some legal problems. Apparently, class-action lawsuits were filed in the US, as well as in Korea.
Some incidents involving the Galaxy Note 7 resulted in physical injury or property damage, and some customers have come together to file a class-action lawsuit against the South Korean company in the US.
A suit was filed in the US District Court of Newark, New Jersey, accusing Samsung of fraud and breach of warranty and good faith, according to NBC News. It seems that the customers who filed the suit aren’t interested in compensation over Note 7 units that caught fire, but rather in reimbursement for Samsung’s alleged mistreatment of its consumers.
Customers are displeased because they had to continue making payments on their contracts, while they waited for a replacement device to arrive.
Some customers had to wait days or even weeks before receiving a replacement phone during the first recall of the Note 7. Meanwhile, they continued “to incur monthly device and plan charges from their cellular carriers for phones they could not safely use,” the suit revealed.
It also mentions that customers in the US “incurred millions of dollars in fees” and were left without a safe phone to use.
Samsung will be sued in South Korea as well, for inconvenience
Samsung is facing another lawsuit in its home country, as 38 Galaxy Note 7 owners from South Korea intend to file a class-action lawsuit against the company for inconvenience. Korea Herald reports that the lawsuit will be filed at the Seoul Central District Court on October 24 and that each person named in the suit seeks to receive $266 in damages.
Customers are displeased because they were left with no option but to visit multiple stores for battery checks and replacements, and suffered from anxiety over using unsafe smartphones.
Samsung refused to comment on ongoing litigation, and the fact that none of these lawsuits claims any physical or property damage over Note 7 incidents means that the South Korean company managed to solve those cases amicably. Samsung has made efforts to make sure that customers aren’t affected by the first and second recall, and has offered incentives for returning Note 7 smartphones.