The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall has been going quite smoothly, with the majority of the affected devices having been replaced by Samsung. As the whole fiasco started to simmer down, a report regarding a reportedly new and “safe” Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames on Southwest Airlines flight 994 at the Louisville airport emerged earlier this week. However, it wasn’t an isolated case as a similar incident was reported in Taiwan where a lady had her replacement Galaxy Note 7 in her back pocket and it started smoking. Fortunately, no one was injured in both cases, and minimal damage was done to property.
While the individuals in the aforementioned cases were lucky enough to only suffer the loss of their device, Michael Klering from Nicholasville in Kentucky was not. Around 4 am on Tuesday, Klering and his wife was woken up by a hissing sound in their bedroom and when he opened his eyes, he saw his bedroom was filled with smoke. Klering then looked over and saw his Galaxy Note 7 on fire, and at the time of the fire, the device was not being charged. The Galaxy Note 7 in question was a replacement unit he received a little over a week ago. Later on in the day, Klering didn’t feel well and he became sick, which prompted him to head to the emergency room. According to hospital records, Klering was diagnosed with acute bronchitis, a result from inhaling smoke. Samsung then made contact with Klering and wanted to take possession of his Galaxy Note 7, but he refused them. However, Klering went on to say that the company paid him to have the device X-rayed.
At that point, Klering felt that the South Korean company was trying to help him, that is until he received a text message from a Samsung representative which was not intended for him. The text message read, “Just now got this. I can try and slow him down if we think it will matter, or we just let him do what he keeps threatening to do and see if he does it.” When Klering received it, he felt that the company was no longer taking the incident serious enough and he decided to seek legal help. Klering wants the Galaxy Note 7 off the market as these devices are everywhere and the replacement units may cause the same chaos which was brought upon by the recalled units. If the text message received by Klering was indeed from a Samsung representative, things may not go so well for the company and it may even be forced to issue a second recall of its flagship phablet.