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Sprint and Best Buy cease sales of replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphones

Sprint and Best Buy cease sales of replacement Galaxy Note 7 smartphones

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Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 mess keeps getting messier: Sprint has just announced that it is halting sales of replacement units of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, following the numerous reports of devices catching fire. Sprint follows AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, which have all made similar moves over the past couple of days. Best Buy has also announced that it is ceasing sales of the beleaguered Note 7.

A Sprint spokesperson confirmed the announcement to The Verge. The carrier will let current Note 7 customers exchange their phone for any other device, if they wish. The full statement is below:

Given recent issues reported in the media, Sprint is halting sales of replacement Note 7 devices pending the conclusion of the investigation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Samsung. If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns, we will exchange it for any other device.

A spokesperson for Best Buy provided a similar statement:

"We have stopped selling all Samsung Note7 phones. Customers can visit a Best Buy store to return or exchange their Note7 for a different phone of their choice."

At least five replacement Note 7 phones caught fire in the US alone this week, and federal regulators with the Consumer Product Safety Commission are working to investigate the incidents. Earlier today, a Korean news agency reported that Samsung is suspending production of the device.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 you should immediately stop using it and return it for a refund — all the major US carriers will exchange the phone for another device, regardless of purchase date. We don’t know why Samsung hasn’t been more forthcoming about what’s going on with these replacement devices, but it doesn’t really matter. Until we get more information, the simplest explanation is the best one: the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is a fundamentally defective product and it should be pulled from the market without delay.