Sprint will now let Samsung Galaxy Note 7 replacement units be exchanged for other devices.
The network carrier's announcement comes after a reported incident last Wednesday, Oct. 5, in which a replacement Galaxy Note 7 unit allegedly exploded while aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 994 that was supposed to depart from Louisville to Baltimore. Luckily, the alleged explosion happened prior to takeoff. The flight was canceled due to the incident.
Bear in mind that the Federal Aviation Administration deemed the exploding Galaxy Note 7 handhelds as illegal for use on U.S. flights.
Responding to inquiries by Recode, a Sprint representative says that the company is working together with Samsung to get a better understanding of the most recent concerns regarding the replacement units of the Galaxy Note 7.
"If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns regarding their device, we will exchange it for any other device at any Sprint retail store during the investigation window," the Sprint representative tells Recode.
While T-mobile does not have a direct response to the issue, it points customers to its remorse policy that allows customers to exchange/return devices within two weeks (14 days). The other major American network carriers, Verizon and AT&T, are yet to make their comments.
Samsung says that it's yet to retrieve the Note 7 smartphone unit from the incident and thus, it currently has no additional information to share.
CPSC Investigation
The reported incident is currently being investigated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
"CPSC is moving expeditiously to investigate this incident," says CPSC chairman Elliot Kaye. "I want to reiterate my call for consumers who have the recalled Galaxy Note7 to keep their smartphones powered down and to immediately take advantage of the remedies being offered by Samsung. Consumers should know that one of the remedies is a refund."
The refund option is one of three that Samsung offered in its exchange program. Owners of affected Note 7 smartphones can also opt to exchange their devices with the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Samsung will pay for the difference in price.
Note that the CPSC has been on top of the exploding Note 7 issue even before Samsung issued a global recall last Sept. 2. It was also the commission that approved of Samsung's exchange program, which was announced mid-September.
During the time that the Note 7 exchange program was announced, Samsung reported 92 incidents of the exploding handheld within the United States alone. The South Korean phone maker says that 26 people have suffered burns as a result.
A well-known incident of a Note 7's explosion involved a family car that was set afire.
