Samsung is Paying Note 7 Owners $100 to Switch Phones

The fallout of Samsung’s Note 7 has only just begun as the logistics of a second recall of the dangerous device is now in full swing. In an attempt to keep users, Samsung is offering a $100 credit to exchange the Galaxy Note 7 for a Galaxy S7 Edge or other Samsung device. Additionally they will give you $25 if you switch to Apple, Google Pixel or any other brand.

Samsung was faced with a financial hit of $1 billion last month when its original run of Note 7 devices were recalled due to exploding batteries. That impact has more than doubled now that Samsung has discontinued the line entirely after replacement models were found to still be exploding.

Today the recall officially expanded to include include all Galaxy Note 7 devices including those issued as replacements for the original defective phones. This was expected considering the batteries in both versions have been prone to smoking, catching fire and exploding.

“We appreciate the patience of our consumers, carrier and retail partners for carrying the burden during these challenging times,” says Tim Baxter, president and chief operating officer, Samsung Electronics America. “We are committed to doing everything we can to make this right.”

In the post, Samsung said that the incentives are to compensate customers for the “big inconvenience” of exchanging the device.  Rightly so as customers have been instructed by Samsung to only handle the device with gloves and return them in a creepy fireproof box.

Even with the $100 credit, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are not really an attractive option considering they have been on the market for 6 months already, and are now competing with the iPhone 7 and Google Pixel phones. The best option might be to avoid the exchange in lieu of a full refund.