Sometimes, consumer electronics combust. We have seen it happen to various phone and tablet models from Samsung, Apple and other vendors. Hundreds of millions of these devices are churned out each year so there are bound to be a few hiccups here and there. When the inevitable does happen, the right thing to do is investigate the matter and rectify the situation professionally. The wrong thing to do, as Samsung is in the process of learning, is to tell the owner of the defective device that you’ll only replace it if he shuts up about it.
Neowin on Sunday shared the story of YouTube user GhostlyRich, whose Galaxy S4 recently caught fire while it was plugged in and charging overnight. He was awakened by the smell of burning electronics and when he discovered the smoking phone, he was able to unplug it before any serious damage occurred. Then, he posted a YouTube video about it.
Samsung saw the video and instead of rushing to rectify the situation and let it blow over, as everything on the Internet does, the company sent the user a letter. In this letter, Samsung reportedly stated that it would swap out the man’s charred and now useless Galaxy S4 — which was still under warranty, mind you — only if he removed his video discussing the matter from YouTube.
Bad idea.
Needless to say, the full text of Samsung’s letter has been published on the Internet and can be read on PasteBin. GhostlyRich also posted a new video discussing Samsung’s takedown request, and it now has more than 400,000 views.
The full video is embedded below.
