U.S. cellphone carriers were rushing to develop a game plan Friday following Samsung’s unprecedented recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 “phablet,” which went on sale last month.
What to do if you own a Galaxy Note 7, the phone Samsung just recalled
Sprint is offering a loaner, while Verizon is allowing fee-free returns.
Samsung
The move follows 35 reports of battery-related issues, including fires and explosions.
Samsung said it plans to replace all devices worldwide in the coming weeks, but hasn’t said what those who have a phone should do in the meantime. That has left the carriers that sold the devices scrambling to figure out a plan for customers.
Sprint has said it will offer customers loaner devices, while Verizon is waiving its restocking fee for customers who want to return the Note 7 and get another phone.
AT&T told Recode it is “in the process of determining the exchange process for our customers and how they can replace their current Note 7 as quickly as possible.” The company promised more information later on Friday.
T-Mobile is offering customers full refunds to use toward another device or a replacement Note 7, which it said it expected to have available within two weeks. Plus, it said, customers can keep the free Netflix subscription it had been bundling with Note 7 purchases.
All the U.S. carriers have now halted sales of the phone.
Updated 8:45 am PT with more details on T-Mobile’s refund program.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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