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A customer looks at the recalled Galaxy Note7 smartphone before it is taken off shelves. Picture: AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
CHECK IN your luggage, print out your boarding pass, and hand your phone back to Samsung.
This could soon be the new process for flying in Australia as Samsung today revealed it would set up a series of customer service points at domestic and international terminals to prevent their customers flying with the banned Galaxy Note7 smartphones.
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The former flagship device, recalled twice over the past two months after a series of fires, was banned from being used or even carried on flights by Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, and Tigerair over the weekend due to concerns it could catch fire in the air.
Virgin Australia even advised Note7 users “not to bring these devices to an airport when travellingâ€.
Returned boxes of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in South Korea. Picture: AP Photo/Lee Jin-manSource:AP
The total ban in Australia followed a similar move by the United States Federal Aviation Authority, which also threatened to press criminal charges against travellers attempting to “evade the banâ€.
Samsung Electronics Australia today responded by revealing plans to set up collection points before security checkpoints in Australian airports.
The Samsung booths would not only collect the potentially dangerous phone but could provide a replacement device.
“We are working with airlines and airports in Australia to arrange customer service points within high-traffic terminals where customers, who are unaware of the Galaxy Note7 ban on flights and have not yet obtained a remedy in connection with their device, can arrange an alternative device at the airport,†the company said in a statement.
An employee removes stickers advertising Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7 at a sales booth in Seoul. Picture: AAPSource:AAP
“Samsung Australia is continuing to work with airport authorities to set up customer service points in additional terminals, which we will update on our website.â€
The phone maker said it would also organise refunds for Note7 users at the booths, including those flying out of the country for an extended period of time.
The Samsung customer service points will be located in domestic and international terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, and domestic terminals in Canberra, Adelaide, and the Gold Coast.
The latest move follows Samsung’s total recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 last week, including the “safe†replacement devices it issued from September 21.
More than five of the Note7 replacement smartphones reportedly caught fire, including one that caused the evacuation of a plane in the US, while more than 100 of the original Note7 reportedly burst into flames and smoke.