Although Samsung has, after a long wait, finally agreed to recall all Note 7 phones sold in Hong Kong, the neglectful way in which it has been treating its Hong Kong customers throughout the debacle is a shame.

Days after the South Korean electronics giant initiated a global recall of its troubled phones, it had been leaving its Hong Kong customers in the lurch without giving details of replacement or refund until almost a week later.

The Consumer Council, which does not have the legal power to force Samsung's hand, couldn't do anything other than to advise consumers to switch off their Note 7 phones. These consumers had to face the dilemma of whether to wait for a replacement or buy a new phone.

It can be assumed that most of them couldn't pass the day without their mobile phones. When they went shopping for replacements, you can bet they wouldn't be Samsung.

It's not clear how many Note 7s had been sold in Hong Kong. When the model's problems first surfaced in the United States many weeks ago, Samsung said those sold in Hong Kong were not affected. Vendors continued to sell the phones until last weekend.

Apparently, the company has failed to identify the problems that caused the spontaneous combustion of some phones. When a few replacement phones were found to have the same defects, the company initiated a second recall.

By then, it was too late. Samsung eventually had to kill the product.

On Tuesday, the company said it would recall all the 191,000 Note 7 phones sold in the Chinese mainland market by replacing them with other Samsung models, together with reimbursement of the price difference and a 300-yuan ($45) gift voucher. At that time, the company merely said Hong Kong buyers of the problem phones would have to wait, but gave no reason for the delay.

It's a slight that's unlikely to be erased even among Samsung's most ardent fans.

(HK Edition 10/14/2016 page9)