Nothing is going right for Samsung due to its Note 7 woes. Some may have thought that by recalling and canceling the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, the Korean firm would get out of trouble, but it looks like they are wrong. Things have gotten even worse for smartphone maker after an accusation that it tried to bribe a customer to keep quiet after his Note 7 caught fire.
Samsung accused of bribing Note 7 users to keep quiet
Zhang Sitong, a Galaxy Note 7 owner and a former firefighter in China, said he was trying to store a friend’s number on his Note 7 when it began to smoke and vibrate. He threw the smartphone on the ground and asked his friend to start taking a video. Sitong recorded a video of his Note 7 catching fire and then had the Korean firm offer him cash and a replacement device in order to hand over the footage, reports The New York Times.
Sitong said two Samsung employees showed up at his house, offering about $900 in compensation and a new Note 7 on the condition that he keeps the footage private. Zhang declined the offer angrily. At that time, the Korean firm had recalled more than 2 million Note 7s in the U.S. and other places.
Sitong said the Korean firm assured him and other Chinese consumers that the phone was safe. Zhang said the smartphone maker said there was no issue with the phones in China, and that is why he bought the gadget.
“This is an issue of deception. They are cheating Chinese consumers.”
Chinese media accuses Samsung of “fabricated falsehoods”
On Tuesday, CCTV, or China Central Television, China’s powerful state-run broadcaster, censured the way Samsung tested its handsets and asked whether its claims that the smartphone were reliable and safe are “fabricated falsehoods [sic].”
The CCTV report said if the Korean smartphone maker continues to violate the legitimate interests and rights of Chinese customers, it can be said that Samsung is paying the price of treating Chinese users differently. Initially, the Korean company said the Chinese version of the Note 7 had a different battery and was secure, notes The New York Times. But it finally recalled the Note 7 after reports of the phones catching fire in China.
Samsung has already been accused of dirty tricks after the news that it may have attempted to “slow down” Michael Klering, a Galaxy Note 7 user from Kentucky who was threatening to go public over another replacement smartphone that was not working properly. The issue came to light when a message from a Samsung employee meant clearly for a colleague was sent to said consumer accidentally, reports Redmond Pie.
The message read, “Just now got this. 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.”
This latest report of Samsung attempting to bribe a customer to keep the video private instead of resolving the problem makes the condition all the worse for the Korean firm.
