Qatar Airways says strict No to Note 7 as ‘checked baggage’
There seems to be no end to the woes of tech-savvy phone users who purchased Samsung’s latest offering — Galaxy Note 7.
Following worldwide reports of exploding batteries, the company had started recalling products in Qatar and offering refunds. However, a great many buyers had held back until they were sure of getting replacement instruments.
But now, the screw seems to be tightening after Qatar Airways joined a growing band of airlines around the world to ban the Galaxy Note 7 in checked baggage.
Qatar Airways, in a travel alert issued yesterday, said, “Following the recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 personal electronic device, passengers that own these devices are requested to keep them switched off and unplugged during flight. In addition, we are unable to accept this device in checked baggage. We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.”
Reports have come in from all over the world that Note 7 batteries are catching fire while charging and during normal usage. Hence, an alert has been given out to keep the devices switched off.
Samsung has moved fast and placed product recalls in 10 of its markets including South Korea and the USA. Qatar too have followed suit in recalling the faulty pieces.
This is becoming ridiculous now and the level of double standards are truly amazing.
OK - Samsung said that 2.5million devices have been sold and that only 1 in every 42000 are at risk. That means there are a total of 59.5 Note 7's that are at risk. Now, factor in that 36 have already melted, that means there are only 24 left... in the entire world! Samsung are about to release the IMEI's of the 24 (in addition to an app!) that are left so we can all identify our phones are at risk or not in the next few days.
Why double standards? iPhones 5's were famous bak in 2013/14 for battery meltdowns yet, they were not banned .... many, many other lithium battery devices have similar meltdown issues.
I do of course appreciate the risk for safety and that life is paramount BUT, if the Note 7 is banned from being powered up then so should ALL lithium battery powered devices.
Life is safe without a smart phone, because the phones aren't so smart at all.
A wise decision for safety for all