Since publishing my post below the US Safety Commission tweeted the following – “Stop using the Note 7 and power it down/off”

Unlike some publications and websites that rely heavily on support from PR companies, manufacturers and other sources for new devices and revenue, I made it my moto from day 1 to always speak my mind and be as honest about a product as possible.

Gavin’s Gadgets will be 4 years old this December and in this time I have let my feelings be known quite strongly on a few matters but always with valid cause.

So now it is the time whereby I will express my anger with Samsung and the Note 7. Now before you all say that I am a Samsung hater, let me explain that when I look back at all the tech I have owned in the last 30 years, a lot of it has been Samsung devices. In fact, if you go to the menu reviews and look through the tablets, phones, audio and wearables there are about 30 reviews covering Samsung products.

To give you an idea as to my anger with Samsung, I am in the process of selling anything I own with the Samsung logo and have decided NEVER to entertain any more of their devices.

First of all Samsung hasn’t done an official recall of the Note 7. It has stopped selling the phone and asking nicely for you to return it. At first this was only voluntary. Samsung stated as of 1st September only 35 devices worldwide had exploded. When I enquired about my Note 7 I was told there had been no issues in the UK, yet engadget.com reported they had been told on the quiet by Samsung that there were recorded issues in the UK. Samsung has now removed the number 35 off its UK website. It would not surprise me if this number is higher, much higher.

If the device was officially recalled this would make it illegal in the USA to be sold by anyone. Samsung should follow an official recall and have an official process. At the moment in the UK, it is a mess. One minute it will be done this way the next minute another way. Now let us say you gave a Note 7 to a friend as a birthday present, Carphone Warehouse will not except it back unless it is from the original owner. That’s crazy and even more so if said friend even had the original purchase receipt.

Looking at the XDA Forums, it seems that there is a lot of stalling tactics going on. This means that if you had a 14 day cooling off period, you might find while you wait for a resolution which changes by the minute, you lose all your consumer rights in being able to simply return it.

The next problem is the Royal Mail and likely other companies will not allow the phone to be posted. So how do you return an explosive device in the post? Amazon UK is refunding customers money and as of todays date has still told their customers not to return the phone, but power off and keep it. That is how it should be done. Meanwhile Samsung is stalling to hold on to people’s money for as long as possible.

Now let us suppose you got your phone from overseas. Samsung UK refers you to Samsung Support in the country you bought the phone from, but that Samsung office refers you back to Samsung UK. This phone has the potential to explode and yet nobody in Samsung globally are trying to find solutions to fix these gaps in exchanging a hazardous phone that also cannot be posted because it is dangerous.

New issues are coming to light with airlines banning the Note 7.

But the Note 7 isn’t just explosive, it is also have issues with spontaneous boot loops or phones just bricking. Plenty of comments on XDA Forums and by people I personally know and trust not to exaggerate.

So what about compensation by Samsung for all the wasted calls trying to find a resolution, lost data, out of pocket expenses, all the cases and accessories bought for a phone not being used anymore or returned for a full refund, contracts not being used as the phone is off for safety reasons and many more expenses. Well you’ll get nothing to properly compensate you.

In my mind Samsung are trying to avoid the compensation but not stating this is an official recall and following the respective guidelines laid down in certain countries.

If Samsung needed to recall the Note 7, it should have recalled every phone, issued full refunds immediately and then at a later date sent a new Note 7. In the meantime, it should have offered all customers a free loaned phone eg Samsung Galaxy S7.

If Amazon can refund the money instantly and also advise not to send the phone back, this at least gives the customer a chance to buy something else.

Of course many people would have sold their old phone just before the Note 7, only now to find out they have nothing to use.

This situation is not ideal or easy but I don’t think Samsung has directed this process correctly. I also think they are skating around the issue of compensation their customers correctly and fairly,

Over and out.