UPDATE: Now another report of a replacement Note 7 catching fire has surfaced, making it the fifth one this week. Samsung responded to this report by saying that it's "working diligently" to investigate these reports and that if it determines that a product safety issue does exist, it'll work with the US CPSC on a resolution.
A bad weekend is getting worse for Samsung and its Galaxy Note 7.
Two more replacement Galaxy Note 7s have caught fire this week, making them the third and fourth “safe” Note 7s to overheat. First up, a replacement Note 7 in Kentucky began burning overnight, with the owner waking up at 4:00 AM to find his Note 7 on fire and filling his room with smoke. The owner, Michael Klering, went to the hospital with bronchitis from his smoke inhalation.
Interestingly, Samsung asked Klering if they could get his phone and he said no, so they paid to have the device x-rayed. Klering says that he then accidentally received a text message from a Samsung rep that said “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.” Samsung never made any announcements about this device, even though it happened last Tuesday.
Today, October 9, a replacement Note 7 caught fire in Virginia. Owner Shawn Minter says that his Note 7 caught fire while on his nightstand at 5:45 AM and filled his room with smoke.
Following news of four different replacement Note 7s catching fire in one week, AT&T has decided to stop all sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7. “Based on recent reports, we’re no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents,” an AT&T spokesperson said to The Verge. “We still encourage customers with a recalled Note 7 to visit an AT&T location to exchange that device for another Samsung smartphone or another smartphone of their choice.”
Samsung hasn’t said much about these reports of replacement Note 7s catching fire, only saying that it’s investigating the matter. With four different reports of “safe” Note 7s catching fire in one week, it’s tough to see how the Note 7 recovers from this situation, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more carriers follow AT&T and halt Note 7 sales and exchanges. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated on this situation.