Samsung 'attempts to silence report of Galaxy S4 catching fire' after angry customer uploads Youtube video
- - Youtube user GhostlyRich uploaded a video of his phone after it caught fire
- - Samsung ordered him to remove the video before it would replace handset
- - But Samsung's letter now has had over 270,000 views and GhostlyRich's video
- criticising the letter has racked up over 700,000 views
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Samsung has reportedly attempted to silence a customer whose Galaxy S4 smartphone dangerously caught fire.
The South Korean group’s actions have, however, backfired after the customer used social media to highlight the company's response.
Earlier this month, Youtube user GhostlyRich posted a video that showed the damage caused to his Samsung Galaxy S4 handset after it caught fire while charging.
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Samsung has attempted to silence a customer whose Galaxy S4 smartphone dangerously caught fire
‘The other night we plugged it in, and we like, were letting it charge - literally nothing different,’ he said. ‘And then the smell of smoke, fire and destruction.’
‘Thank God the battery didn’t go', he added. ‘Anyone who knows these batteries will know, when they blow, they expand and just explode. And when they do it's just molten fire.’
Although the battery did not explode, GhostlyRich’s phone was destroyed and so he contacted Samsung for a replacement.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
Earlier this month, Youtube user GhostlyRich (right) posted a video that showed the damage caused to his Samsung Galaxy S4 (left) handset when it caught fire while charging
But instead of providing one, the customer claims Samsung ordered him to remove the video from Youtube before it would replace the handset.
The letter, which can be read here, read: ‘As a condition of exchanging the phone with a similar model, *** agrees to remove his Youtube video or any other link or statement relating to these matters and refrain from making other videos or statements about or relating to the matters set out herein.’
Samsung's letter also demanded that GhostlyRich not disclose the settlement details.
VIDEO: GhostlyRich reveals Samsung's letter
This approach backfired, however, as Samsung's letter now has had over 270,000 views and GhostlyRich's video has racked up over 700,000 views.
GhostlyRich’s experience follows a series of incidents in which Samsung phones have reportedly caught fire.
In June this year, a fire which destroyed a Hong Kong flat was thought to have started when a Samsung Galaxy S4 burst into flames.
The owner of the device, known only as Du, said he was playing the game Love Machine when he heard a loud pop from the phone's battery.
He said he was so startled by the noise he instinctively threw the phone onto a sofa which promptly caught fire.
In June, a Hong Kong resident claims his flat was destroyed by fire after his Galaxy S4 burst into flames while he was playing the game Love Machine
Only a month later, a Swiss teenager suffered second and third degree burns when her smartphone apparently exploded in her pocket.
Fanny Schlatter, 18, was injured when the Samsung Galaxy S3 allegedly blew up in her trouser pocket.
In a separate incident, an Irish Samsung S3 owner claimed his handset burst into flames as he was driving his car.
However, it was later discovered, following tests by the Fire Investigations UK (FIUK) team, that the phone had been previously placed in the microwave to remove water damage and this may have been the cause of the fire.
In July, a Swiss teenager suffered burns when her smartphone apparently exploded in her pocket
According to reports in the French-language Le Matin newspaper, 18-year-old Ms Schlatter was working as an apprentice painter when her smartphone exploded in the pocket of her work trousers, pictured
It isn't just the S3 and S4 model that has this supposed fault either.
In South Korea in 2011, the battery from a Samsung Galaxy Note allegedly exploded in a man's pocket as he walked along the street.
The explosion caused second degree burns and a one-inch wound to his thigh.
It was the second time that year a battery from the Galaxy Note was said to have exploded in South Korea.
Elsewhere, a phone battery spontaneously caught fire in a man's back pocket at the Defcon hacking conference in the U.S in 2010, and in 2009, a man was killed when his exploding phone severed his neck artery.
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