According to a new report published by The Guardian, Samsung's insurance division isn't willing to pay the replacement costs of items damaged by exploding Galaxy Note 7s. A faulty device reportedly caught fire in John Barwick's house in Illinois spraying chemicals “all over [his] bed, mattress, curtains, and carpets,” which he believes will set him back around $9,000 to fix.
When he Barwick contacted Samsung, he was eventually referred to a representative of its insurance company, Samsung Fire & Marine, who informed him that the company would not pay for the damaged items, but would provide compensation for the “depreciated value.” Disappointed by the outcome, he said that he's “not seeking a great amount of money to get rich off this” and that just wants “to be made whole.”
In a statement issued to The Guardian, Barwick went on to reveal that “it seemed that Samsung’s priority was retrieving that phone. “I told them I’d be more than happy to allow them to inspect it to ensure the claim was authentic, but I wasn’t going to give over custody until everything was made good.” Other customers have had a similar experience, too.
Enter Shawn Minter from Richmond, Virginia. When his Galaxy Note 7 burst into flames, the device burned his nightstand to a cinder. In a similar way to Barwick, Samsung was unresponsive when asked to cover the cost of the furniture. “They were only interested in retrieving the phone,” he told The Guardian. “Once I told them I was giving the phone to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), they went dark.”
Now, when Minter contacts Samsung, he's instantly directed to the company's insurance division where he's once again informed that the firm will not pay for the replacement costs of the damaged items, only the “depreciated value,” which, in my opinion, is an outrage. Imagine if you were in the same situation and a faulty device caused damage to your belongings, you'd want them to be replaced, right?
It's unclear what Samsung's next move will be, but seeing as it's now in the spotlight of the media, the slew of reports emerging should encourage it to do the right thing and cover the costs of damaged items in full. Hopefully, it won't take too much of a toll on the estimated loss of $17 billion in revenue that it's facing as a result of the entire Galaxy Note 7 exploding battery debacle.
