Telcos compensate Note 7 customers

This Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, photo shows damage to a bedside table after a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 caught fire on the table in Richmond, Va. Samsung Electronics said Tuesday, Oct. 11, that it is discontin

All three of New Zealand's big telcos will compensate customers who return their Samsung Note 7 phone.

On Tuesday, the world's biggest phone maker said it is ending production of its problematic Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, taking the drastic step of killing off a device in one of the deepest crises in its history. It had already recalled the Note 7 once last month after early models exploded and the latest move comes after customers reported that replacement phones were also catching fire.

Vodafone said it had negotiated the compensation with Samsung.

Customers who have already returned their Note 7 will be issued with the account credit almost immediately and customers who are yet to return their device will have the credit applied to their account following the return of their Note 7.

Vodafone Consumer Director, Matt Williams said, "We know that the requirement to return the Note 7 has been a major inconvenience for many of our customers.

"To thank all of our customers for responding so quickly, and to compensate them for the hassle and stress, we are working with Samsung to provide a $100 credit".

Spark has now also announced it will compensate customers with a $100 gift card that "can be spent on whatever the customer decides".

Jason Paris, Spark's CEO of Home, Mobile and Business, said the "gift was a gesture acknowledging the disruption customers have faced and any stress it caused".

"We're hugely grateful for our customers' patience throughout this process and we hope this gift, which they can use in whatever way they like, will go a little way toward showing how much we've valued their cooperation.

"We've been communicating directly with each of our Note7 customers throughout this process, so this is a way of completing the exchange on a good note."

Paris said that customers who have already returned their Note 7 devices will also receive a $100 gift card.

2degrees is also offering its customers either a full refund on the Note 7 or giving them $100 off Samung's S7/S7 edge when they return the recalled device.

Consumer protection manager at Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment, Matt Hollingsworth, today reminded customers of their rights when a recall is under way.

"When a business supplies you with a product for personal or household use and there's a problem with it, you have the right to ask them to fix the problem under the CGA [Consumer Guarantees Act]," he said.

"If the problem is serious you can take the product back and ask to choose a replacement of the same type and similar value, or ask for a full refund of the amount you purchased it for. A product that is unsafe is an example of a serious problem."

"Your first point of call should be with the retailer who sold you the product."