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Samsung now hit with lawsuit over exploding Galaxy S6 Active

posted by Cosmin V. / Oct 20, 2016, 12:39 AM

Samsung now hit with lawsuit over exploding Galaxy S6 Active

The Galaxy Note 7 might not be the only problem on Samsung's hands if we are to believe the allegations made by a customer in a new lawsuit the company has to face in the United States.

Brandon Covert and his wife were asleep on the night of August 2 when they heard a “loud explosion, resembling a gunshot,” but it wasn't a weapon that disturbed the family's sleep. Instead, on the dresser Brandon's Samsung Galaxy S6 Active was on fire, “shooting out flames four to five inches high and quickly filling the room with smoke.”

According to the allegations in the lawsuit, Samsung had known for years that its technology was hazardous and that the Galaxy Note 7 issues that forced the South Korean company recall the phone twice in less than a month, is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

After unsuccessfully trying to extinguish the fire, Brandon grabbed the phone with his bare hands, ran to the kitchen and bathe it in water. Since then, he remained with severe burns on his hands, which is why the suit seeks damages for “smell of toxic fumes, scorched metal, burnt flesh, and smoke filled bedroom.”

One other aspect the lawsuit filed in the U.S. district court in California mentions is that Samsung has tried to cover up these incidents and that the Galaxy Note 7 issue extend beyond the company's flagship.

Samsung chose to conceal the problem from the public … despite knowing the foreseeable and predictable risk that the phone may overheat, flame and destruct from the inside presenting a risk of serious harm or injury.

Unfortunately, Samsung faces potential class-action in the United States over the Galaxy Note 7 recall, but a few lawsuits have already been filed against the South Korean company. So this does really appear to be just the tip of the iceberg.

source: The Guardian

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29 Comments

1. Neoberry99

Posts: 78; Member since: Jun 30, 2015

It's gonna get worst before it gets any better. I hope they can recover from all of this.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 12:49 AM 0

5. Unordinary unregistered

They are trying to censor as much as possible https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/58ceni/samsung_forced_youtube_to_delete_the_exploding/?st=IUHY4KIL&sh=cbd0e249

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:08 AM 6

24. xondk

Posts: 1904; Member since: Mar 25, 2014

Considering samsung has yet to replicate the problem, which is rather odd, add that it is apparently US only? (correct me if I am wrong) it all seems rather weird. Add that the public are panicking over it, and you can bet Samsung is going to want to put a lid on it, when it is basically an attack on their brand? Any company would do so. Any.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 6:21 AM 3

2. Arch_Fiend

Posts: 3951; Member since: Oct 03, 2015

It's never going to end and TBH I'm starting to think Samsung has a real problem with their batteries 2015 and 16. I was honestly going to tell both my sis and bro to get 2015 Sam phones when they upgrade but not anymore SMH. Well I'm sure the S8 won't have any problems because Sammy cant afford it to. My luck to those of you who own a 2015-16 Sam phone, I really hope you don't have any problems especially of the fire variety.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 12:51 AM 3

3. kiko007

Posts: 7521; Member since: Feb 17, 2016

s**t just got real......er.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 12:57 AM 0

17. Nathan_ingx

Posts: 4769; Member since: Mar 07, 2012

...on a large...r scale.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 2:24 AM 0

4. JocularJ

Posts: 222; Member since: Apr 27, 2011

I'll stick with my note5 till I have a credible reason to jump ship. Now I just need a current (no older than 2105) flagship level phone with a 6+" screen to serve as a real backup. Any suggestions?

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:08 AM 0

14. aznhachi

Posts: 212; Member since: Apr 12, 2016

zenfone 3 ultra?

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:34 AM 0

6. thunderc8

Posts: 98; Member since: Dec 15, 2014

This is starting to get rediculus it seems everybody is trying to overcharge their phone to get some money. You will get the same effect if you throw 30 volts instead of 5 while charging and you can do that easy with a small generator with adjustable power.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:14 AM 4

25. xondk

Posts: 1904; Member since: Mar 25, 2014

I would not be surprised if the whole issue given the limited amount of devices, and yeah, I consider even 100 phones a limit out of a production of millions. If the cause for this was some kind of device that simply as you write, forces battery to become overcharged bypassing security, considering there are USB 'death' sticks, that can kill a computer, this would not surprise me exists.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 6:24 AM 0

7. jessy90

Posts: 162; Member since: Aug 01, 2016

S8 will have the same problem. Since not even samsung knows what is the root cause for the batteries to explode. It goes beyond a defective battery. Im done with samsung.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:15 AM 5

8. RoboticEngi

Posts: 1251; Member since: Dec 03, 2014

It is amazing how stupid the American Law system is......And I bet he did something to get it into that state....

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:17 AM 1

22. MySchizoBuddy

Posts: 159; Member since: Aug 23, 2011

true. He was sleeping at night with his wife. What a crazy thing to do. He should be watching the phone like a hawk.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 4:24 AM 1

9. bubbadoes

Posts: 1225; Member since: May 03, 2012

down they go....model by model....since they have so many on the market they have NO IDEA, WHERE TO BEGIN...

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:17 AM 3

10. dazzmichael

Posts: 71; Member since: Sep 15, 2014

I said this before, Its not just the note 7's battery. my s6 edge plus started overheating after the August/September update almost the same time the note 7 went up for sale. Samsung should really check their update.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:27 AM 0

11. Zylam

Posts: 1823; Member since: Oct 20, 2010

It's an epidemic. Karma.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:28 AM 2

12. boriqua2000

Posts: 260; Member since: Mar 11, 2009

This is a perfect time for HTC to step up its game. Give us another EVO

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:30 AM 4

20. Foxgabanna unregistered

True. But seriously people need to check out the LG V20. It's a great alternative.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 3:58 AM 1

13. iFartarena

Posts: 16; Member since: Oct 09, 2016

Damn this guy is braver than that officer who shots an old lady becaused he can't disarm her for holding a bat and a pair of scissors lol. Anyway try dumping some water on it next time instead of holding a phone up in flames. Its hot..it'll burn ya. lol.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 1:31 AM 0

15. Kumar123 unregistered

Low class company with $hitty quality control. Spends tons of money to ads to brainwash people to death but can't spend that amount of money to spend in battery R&D, quality control and employee fairwell.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 2:00 AM 5

21. Foxgabanna unregistered

This is Korea we are talking about.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 3:59 AM 1

29. M.O.A.B

Posts: 322; Member since: Feb 13, 2015

Where were you in the exploding iphone 7 article ? As expected.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 4:37 PM 0

16. cnour

Posts: 2305; Member since: Sep 11, 2014

Samsung phones become dangerous. Everyday we hear an explosion of a model. It is clear that they are using some technologies that push their phones to explode. They must stop manufacturing smartphones until knowing why Note 7 exploded.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 2:06 AM 0

18. bugsbunny00

Posts: 2267; Member since: Jun 07, 2013

now every Samsung phone's going up in flames,just sell your mobile division and make washing machine. or fire your engineers.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 2:35 AM 0

19. Macready

Posts: 1830; Member since: Dec 08, 2014

Ah right. They sold 3 billion mobile batteries the last 3 years. THREE BILLION. And now we're supposed to believe there is and has been a widespread problem with their tech that we didn't know about until now. Cool story.. Most households have at least 1 if not several of their batteries employed in devices from various brands. Of course there will be incidents as there always have been. And when you're the largest, you're likely mentioned more often too, but let's keep it real.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 3:06 AM 0

23. xondk

Posts: 1904; Member since: Mar 25, 2014

This sounds....odd, and you have to wonder if people will panic again, this is ONE phone we are talking about, it has happened with singular phones of all brands. Including Apple, so yeah.. Story also sounds...off, has the sense to try to put out fire, but not to grab it with 'anything' nearby other then hands? personally I would not be too surprised if it turns out that many of these things are a setup of some kind, people compromising their batteries in some way and there you go burning phone. It doesn't take much to compromise a lithium battery.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 6:19 AM 4

26. Sealblaighter

Posts: 430; Member since: Jan 26, 2014

This is weird. I think it is fake. Tomorrow we will probably see an S6 exploding, and so on.

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 8:18 AM 0

27. dmomintz

Posts: 68; Member since: Jan 21, 2016

Yikes, I have an S6 active... This phone is great and usually stays perfectly cool during use, but this does make me a little uneasy...

posted on Oct 20, 2016, 10:28 AM 0

28. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

I hate to say it but...Google should have never went all in with Samsung trying to be the face of Android. They forgot the phones that actually put Android on the map: Moto Droid and HTC phones. The Droid X and HTC Evo were two of the most popular Android phones the year the Galaxy line launched. Google never went back to HTC for a Nexus phone til now? Never really used Moto until a few years ago? But they were all in Samsung face all this time.