Galaxy Note 7 Recall Updates: Verizon Blocks Outgoing Calls, Sprint Ending Recall Perks

Samsung may have been hoping that with the new year, it could be given a fresh start regarding its Galaxy Note lineup of phablets. But lest it forget, its Galaxy Note 7 troubles are not exactly over yet. And part of the blame is a certain number of mobile users who stubbornly still choose to hold on to their Galaxy Note 7 units. 

This was hinted by Verizon Wireless, who, according to a report published by Fortune, stated that there are still thousands of Galaxy Note 7 devices still on its network. The Big Red has since revealed its plans of coursing all outgoing non-emergency phone calls used on Galaxy Note 7 units to customer service, which should allow the carrier’s personnel to have a word with the owners in the hopes of convincing them to finally surrender their phablets. Verizon also mentioned the possibility of billing owners of Galaxy Note 7 devices for the full retail price of their unit even if they had been reimbursed earlier. Upon its release back in August of last year, the handset came with a price of about $850.

Another major US wireless carrier, Sprint, has announced that the program it introduced to urge Galaxy Note 7 users to hand back their unit will only last until Friday of this week. According to a spokesperson for the mobile operator, any return or exchange involving Samsung’s phablet will not come with any activation or upgrade fees through January 20th. Also, Sprint said that its offer of a Samsung exchange credit of up to a hundred bucks will be valid until Friday.

The story of the Galaxy Note 7 is familiar to almost every mobile user around the world. After receiving close to a hundred reports of overheating units, Samsung and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission had conducted a recall of the device. Although the South Korean phone maker issued replacement units for affected users, it later issues a second recall after those replacement units were found to have similar overheating problems. 

More than a month ago, Samsung had rolled out a software update that would brick all remaining Galaxy Note 7 devices still unreturned, and all of the Big Four wireless carriers in America had done their part in deploying this update. But although the update did result in many users finally surrendering their units, a few still held on to their Galaxy Note 7 devices. To date, nobody knows just how many there are, with only Verizon Wireless giving an idea of the number. Still, Samsung did reveal last December that about 93 percent of the devices have been successfully recalled.