With three known cases of replacement Galaxy Note7s catching fire in the US in a single week, doubts are arising as to whether the supposedly fixed phones are actually any safer than the recalled originals.
As news of the third defective replacement comes to light, an internal memo from Telstra says "Samsung is confident in the replacement Note7", but that shipments into Australia will be delayed while investigations are made.
The latest report — surfacing over the weekend — was of a replacement Note7 going up in smoke while its owner slept, making him very ill and requiring him to go to the hospital.
"The phone is supposed to be the replacement, so you would have thought it would be safe," US man Michael Klering told local news service WKYT, noting that he had had the phone for around a week when he woke up to find his room filled with black smoke.
"It wasn't plugged in. It wasn't anything, it was just sitting there", he said.
Klering says he later fell ill and begun vomiting "black stuff". At hospital he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis caused by smoke inhalation, according to the news report.
Klering's phone went up in smoke on Tuesday — which actually makes it the first of three incidents last week — and Samsung has come under fire for failing to report the issue publicly at the time, which in hindsight could have prevented a plane being evacuated and a Note7 reportedly melting in the hands of a thirteen-year-old girl.
Klering says he contacted Samsung at the time to inform the company of the issue. A representative asked to take possession of the phone — which Klering refused — and paid to have the phone x-rayed.
Bizarrely, Klering claims to have received a text message from the representative that was clearly meant for someone else, which 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".
In its latest official statement, Samsung says it is investigating the issue:
"We are working diligently with authorities and third party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation. Even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers that we are taking every report seriously. If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps..."
While it is possible the incidents could be unrelated to the battery issue found in the original Note7 phones, many retailers and telcos in the US are now telling customers they can bring their Note7's back for a full refund, regardless of whether they are the original or reissued models. AT&T and T-Mobile have gone a step further by confirming they will no longer be selling or handing out any model of the phone.
As reported by tech site The Verge, an internal Telstra memo states that Australian supply of the replacement phone has been halted:
"Samsung has temporarily paused the supply of new Galaxy Note7 smartphones following a reported incident in a replacement phone in the US. Samsung is confident in the replacement Note7 and says they have no reason to believe it's not safe. We'll let you know the status of your replacement Note7 as soon as we have more information."
