Five former South Korean owners of the Galaxy Note 7 are not dropping charges against Samsung Electronics even after the largest phone maker in the world has dismissed them as frauds, The Investor reports. On Tuesday, a lawyer at Harvest Law Office that’s representing the group described the current situation as “favorable” for their clients, especially after Samsung admitted that faulty batteries are to blame for the Galaxy Note 7 fires and the South Korean government corroborated their findings. The lawyer also revealed how their plaintiffs have no intentions of settling with Samsung outside of the courtroom, especially after the company’s customer service representatives told them they’re “frauds” who are making false claims about the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung’s employees allegedly accused the plaintiffs of trying to extort money from the Seoul-based tech giant, Harvest Law Office’s representative revealed.
The same source also claimed that Samsung refused to sincerely apologize to the plaintiffs even before the matter was taken to court. All five plaintiffs initially filed individual lawsuits against Samsung with the Seoul Central District Court, but due to the similar natures of their disputes, they’ve all ended up being represented by Harvest Law Office. In addition to monetary compensation for the damages incurred from their faulty phablets, these consumers are now also seeking compensation for the fact that Samsung’s employees allegedly damaged their reputations by accusing them of lying and being “frauds.” The trial is expected to start by mid-2017, presumably during the second quarter of the year.
In addition to this dispute, Samsung is currently facing numerous other legal battles all over the world. From class action lawsuits to individual filings made against the company, it seems that the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco still isn’t over as some consumers still feel wronged by Samsung and aren’t willing to drop the matter. The South Korean tech giant will likely want to wrap up many of its legal battles concerning the Galaxy Note 7 as quickly as possible seeing how the company is currently preparing for the launch of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus, meaning that it must strive to avoid negative publicity at all costs.