Canadian buyers of Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 smartphone should take it back to the place they bought it to exchange for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, or a full refund, the electronics maker announced on Tuesday evening.
Samsung Canada says it is working with its carrier and retail partners to ensure the return process goes as smoothly as possible for its customers. Beginning on Thursday, Canadians will be able to return the Galaxy Note7 to their point of purchase. They can also return any Galaxy Note7-specific accessories for a refund.
For buyers using Samsung.com, a device refund will be issued after the returned device is received. Online customers can expect Samsung Canada to be in touch about more details regarding that process.
While Samsung is offering up its Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge devices for exchange, that may not be the first option its customers have in mind. According to Apteligent, a mobile app metrics platform, reported that after the previous recall, the Google Nexus 6P saw an adoption boost of 8.5x compared to prior to the defective battery incidents.
Samsung said earlier on Tuesday that it’s working with regulatory bodies around the world to investigate new reports of its Galaxy Note7 replacement devices catching fire or smoking. The replacements were sent, free of charge, to consumers that first bought the device in its early days of launching to the market. Despite saying it had replaced a defective battery that was blamed for the explosions, Samsung now says its new devices shouldn’t be trusted.
“Canadian consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device,” a press release issued Tuesday morning states. “Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place.”