A Florida couple say their Jeep was engulfed in flames after they left a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone charging in the car.
The Note 7 has been recalled after a battery issue deemed it a fire hazard, but Nathan and Lydia Donacher didn’t get the memo.
The couple had returned home from a yard sale on Monday and had left the car running while unloading it.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall FAQ
“Nathan had his New Galaxy Note 7 that he purchased the weekend before charging in our Jeep Grand Cherokee. We came home and began to unload the desk, the Jeep was left running,” Lydia told BGR in an email.
After the couple’s daughter took umbrage at a request to get in the car, the husband looked out of the window and saw nothing untoward.
Lydia added: “He went to the Jeep to get in and vaguely saw the fire through the window . He called for me to get the extinguisher. As he opened the door he heard explosions and we then called 911.”
The incident sounds like a very lucky escape for the family, none of whom were harmed.
The same cannot be said for the Note 7 and the car itself. The photo below (image credit: Lydia Dornacher) shows a charred mess of a handset, while there’s untold fire damage to the Jeep itself.
The couple had reached out to both Samsung and the Verizon network in the US, with no response. Now the Donachers are lawyering up.
“Samsung has blown me off after over a hour on the phone this morning. Never called back as promised. Guess it is time to get a lawyer. You had your chance,” Nathan reportedly said in a Facebook comment.
Samsung announced a global recall for the phone, just days after it went on sale.
Most networks also suspended sales but there are still some out in the wild with dozens of users coming forward to say their device has exploded.
The company is now figuring out how to get replacements to users, with an exchange program beginning in the UK on September 19.
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