Samsung apologizes to Note 7 user

Samsung apologized to the consumer in Shanghai's first case arising from explosions and fires in its Note 7 product. Under the direction of the court, the two sides reached a settlement agreement on Feb 22.

A consumer surnamed Yao bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone from Shanghai-based Yuanmai Trading Co Ltd through an e-commerce platform on Sept 7, 2016. It burst into flame suddenly eleven days later.

Yao said that when he played with his phone, it suddenly vibrated and then made a sound and emitted white smoke. The phone casing burned and stank. Yao then discovered that a phone-shaped hole had been burned into his summer sleeping mat, bed sheet and mattress.

Yao contacted Samsung, which asked him to bring in the phone for testing, but Yao refused and said he thought there should be a third-party on site. Samsung said they would contact him again for further information.

On September 20, the influential newspaper Chosun Ilbo posted an article saying that Samsung had traced the phone’s problems to external heat and suggested that cases like Yao’s may be fraudulently seeking compensation.

Yao felt angry about Samsung’s words and refuted the article. “Although the phone was still in my hands, Samsung said other phones had already passed their testing. I felt the case was not that simple and I had to resort to the law.”

Yao consequently brought a suit against Shanghai-based Yuanmai Trading Co Ltd and the Huizhou Branch of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. On the same day, Samsung announced a recall of all the 190,984 phones sold in Chinese mainland.

On Jan 23, 2017, Samsung announced that the cause of telephone explosions was battery defects.

Before the case was called in court, Yao withdrew the lawsuit against Shanghai-based Yuanmai Trading Co Ltd retaining the claim against Samsung.

In court, the defendant Huizhou Samsung indicated that they would not oppose the lawsuit and expressed their apologies to Yao. They hoped to settle the dispute through negotiation.

With the assistance of the court, the defendant agreed to accept all the claims made by the plaintiff and the lawsuit was withdrawn.