The company said the ability to replace the phone would be down to “local availability.” In the U.K., for example, the exchange program will commence on September 19; in Australia, on September 21.
In the U.S., customers can already contact their carriers or the retail outlets where they bought the device. They will be able to get a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge instead, if they like, with the company refunding the price difference, and they will also get “a $25 gift card, in-store credit or bill credit from select carrier retail outlets.”
And people shouldn’t wait to offload their potentially faulty Note 7s. Samsung and regulators want people to turn off their phones ASAP.
“We are asking users to power down their Galaxy Note7s and exchange them as soon as possible,” said Samsung mobile communications chief DJ Koh in a statement.
So, how can people be sure that the unit they’re getting through the exchange program isn’t part of the bad batch?
According to the local statement from Samsung Australia, there will be a couple telltale signs on the phone’s packaging. There will be a little black square in the corner of the barcode label, and also a little round sticker with a blue “S” in it.
“All Galaxy Note 7 devices have a unique IMEI number so we can identify and advise if an IMEI number belongs to a new replacement Galaxy Note 7,” Samsung Australia added.
It also said that the handset’s sales to new customers would resume in October.
The Note 7 debacle has been bad for Samsung’s share price SSNLF 2.46% , knocking it down to its lowest level in almost two months on Monday. The drop cost Samsung more than $14 billion of its market cap since the bad news broke.
To make matters even worse, rumors spread online that Samsung was going to remotely deactivate all the Note 7s that are already out there. The company has denied this suggestion.
Source: fortune
