Monday 16 / September / 2024
Muscat: Samsung Note7 users in Oman will need to wait for a few more days before getting their phones replaced, a top official at Al Seeb Technical Establishment, the official dealer for Samsung products in Oman, said.
“Anybody who has bought a Note7, we are going to replace their phones voluntarily, we are expecting the stocks in the next couple of days, maximum by the end of this week. We will later issue a press statement that mentions the points for collection, where people can go with their old Note7 and exchange them,” said Ajay Ganti, chief executive officer of the Al Seeb Technical Establishment (SARCO).
“If the stock does not arrive in the next couple of days, we will give users a replacement phone till the new stock arrives.”
Incidents
Following news reports and incidents, which involved the Samsung Note7 smart phones catching fire or even exploding, and the concerns of users growing, Samsung had issued a worldwide recall for its flagship phone earlier this month.
“We ask everyone, who has bought the phone to contact the exchange points, which we will effectively communicate in the next couple of days and then they will be told which procedure to follow. It’s a very simple replacement; they will have to give their old phones back and can get a replacement for the new Note7.”
Samsung will replace any Note7 handset regardless of where it’s been purchased from, as long as it’s a genuine Samsung.
“We will replace any Note7 as long as it’s a genuine Samsung phone, irrespective of where the user purchased it from, they can just walk in and we will replace it. We are facilitating the process to ensure that the customers are satisfied. For us, the consumer is of prime importance and we are going to replace every Note7 whose owners put in a request for it,” CEO Ganti stressed.
According to Ganti, there are approximately 400 to 500 Note7 phones in Oman, and the stocks, which were sent to resellers, have all been pulled back. “Whatever stocks we had at SARCO, which were circulated for sales, we have already pulled them out from hypermarkets and sellers, and are now wishfully and voluntarily proposing a replacement.”
“We had issued a notification before the Eid holidays for a recall, we have intimated people and communicated to all the channel partners, we will soon put out a fresh press release in the next couple of days giving more details about the replacement procedures to be followed,” he added.
Naziya Zeeshan, a resident of Muscat bought the newest Samsung phone on August 14 from a shop in Ruwi for OMR330. She was delighted with her phone and its camera, but her phone has been shut down for the past week because she is too scared to charge it.
“I love the phone, it’s beautiful, but I haven’t been using it for the last week because I don’t want to charge it after reading all that news of the phones catching fire.”
She said she had received an e-mail from Samsung on September 10, saying, “Dear valued customer, At Samsung, we believe in producing the highest quality products, and we take every incident report very seriously. Today, we are announcing the availability of our exchange programme for Galaxy Note7 owners in the Gulf Region.
“This programme is in response to the recent announcement regarding the isolated battery cell issue of the galaxy Note7 device.”
“Of course, our customers’ safety is an absolute priority at Samsung. Since you have already purchased the Galaxy Note7, we will offer to exchange your current device for a new Galaxy Note7 in the coming weeks.
Please call the Samsung Customer Service at your earliest convenience to receive more information on the process.”
Nafla Al Rawahi, another Samsung Note7 buyer said although she loves the phone and is still using it, she has been getting notifications to replace the handset.
“I bought the phone on August 25 from Dubai for 3000 Dirhams, a few days after the launch, I like the phone it’s great but after reading the news I called Samsung before the Eid holidays to know more about the exchange programme and they told me they’ll call me back to tell me about it, but they didn’t. I was in Dubai last week so I went to Samsung there and they told me I should exchange.”
“I also got a notification on the phone asking me to replace it, and Ooredoo Oman sent me a text the day before, telling me to replace it. The Dubai Samsung store also asked me to replace it in Oman since I live here,” said Al Rawahi.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. had earlier said it would either replace or refund a million of the Galaxy Note 7 flagship models phones sold in the United States. The company received about 92 reports of batteries overheating in the United States, with 26 burns and 55 cases of damage of property.
In the most recent case, Samsung was also sued by a Florida man after the Note7 exploded in his pocket.
