Credit: reddit/rokhana
A Samsung customer claims his phone exploded, setting fire to towels and almost giving him "severe burns."
The disgruntled owner says he's "done with Samsung" after the incident, which joins a catalog of dozens of similar claims made about Samsung handsets.
Writing on Reddit, Rokhana described how he took his phone out of his pocket to take a picture, before it froze and shut down.
"After trying and failing to turn it back on for a minute or so, I put it down on my countertop and figured I'll just try again later," the disappointed Samsung customer explained.
"Literally no more than a couple seconds after putting it down the whole thing spontaneously went up in flames.
(Credit: reddit/rokhana)
"I had a couple nearby towels catch fire too, thought my kitchen was gonna burn down for a moment."
The customer said they took the Galaxy S7 Edge phone to Samsung's local customer service in Morocco, but received zero help.
"[I] was told nothing can be done since I bought it two years ago and it's no longer under warranty.
"I'm glad I'm safe and all I lost was the phone considered how close I came to getting severe burns, but I'm pretty bummed.
"This was an expensive phone that I expected to last me longer, and certainly didn't expect to almost start a fire at my place."
(Credit: reddit/rokhana)
Rokhana added: "I loved my S7E and my previous Galaxy phones, but I think I'm kinda done with Samsung after this."
The news comes just days after a New York woman filed a lawsuit against Samsung, claiming her Galaxy Note 9 smartphone "burst into flames".
Diane Chung says the new Note 9 model – launched earlier this year – "became extremely hot", while traveling in a lift just after midnight on September 3.
Chung then claims to have stopped using the phone, and placed it in her bag.
Shortly after, she said she "heard a whistling and screeching sound, and...noticed thick smoke" pouring out from her purse.
According to Chung, she put the bag on the lift floor and tried to empty it, allegedly burning her fingers when grabbing the phone.
Chung reported feeling "extremely panicked" while trapped alone in the lift, dropping the phone and frantically pressing elevator buttons through thick smoke.
Once the worried Samsung customer reached the lobby, she reportedly kicked the phone out – while it was still burning.
In the lawsuit, which was filed with the Queens Supreme Court, Chung claims that the phone didn't stop smoking until someone picked it up with a cloth and put it in a bucket of water.
Chung described the incident as "traumatic", saying she was left unable to contact clients – and with the contents of her bag ruined.
Now Chung is demanding damages from Samsung, calling the phone "defective" and asking for a restraining order that bans the sale of Galaxy Note 9 smartphones.
A Samsung spokesperson acknowledged the Chung incident, calling it an isolated case, adding: "We stand behind the quality of the millions of Galaxy devices in use."
Both of these shocking allegations come just two years after Samsung recalled an earlier Galaxy model after dozens of users reported overheating, spontaneous fires and even explosions.
The infamous Galaxy Note 7 was recalled just weeks after launching in 2016, after the phone began spontaneously catching fire for some users.
A Samsung investigation eventually revealed that there was a major battery fault that caused the overheating issue.
The phone was culled, and Samsung's Galaxy Note brand was forever tainted by the blunder.
It turned out that Samsung's pricey blower had several design flaws.
The electrodes on the top-right of the battery were susceptible to bending, and some batteries were missing insulation tape.
Samsung eventually remotely throttled some devices through a software update, and attempted to recall all units.
The situation got so bad that aviation officials and airlines began banning the phone from being turned on during flights.
Following the incident, Samsung rolled out a brand new battery safety check system for building its phones.
"We've re-assessed every step of the smartphone manufacturing process and developed our 8-Point Battery Safety Check," Samsung explained.
"It involves putting out batteries through extreme testing, inside and out, followed by careful inspection by X-ray and the human eye to ensure highest quality.
"This is our commitment to safer devices now and in the future."
The move seemed to have worked, with last year's Galaxy Note 8 smartphone released without a hitch.
"We learned from the Galaxy Note 7 issues and have made changes as a result," a Samsung blog post explained.
"From re-assessing every step of our smartphone manufacturing process to redesigning out quality assurance program, we are committed to implementing every learning to ensure quality and safety going forward."
Just last month, Samsung chief DJ Koh promised that his latest model definitely wouldn't explode: "The battery in the Galaxy Note 9 is safer than ever.
"Users do not have to worry about the batteries any more."
We've asked Samsung for comment on this latest incident and will update our story with any response.
This story originally appeared in The Sun.
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