Having to deal with the Galaxy Note 7's recall process is bad enough, now imagine having to take a flight back home after the device began to be banned left and right from all domestic and international flights. That's the situation many Galaxy Note 7 owners around the globe have found themselves in, with no option other than incurring financial losses of around $800, or smuggling it back home and risking a hefty fine if caught, to say the least --- don't do that.
Looking to ease the pain for travelers Samsung is reportedly setting up exchange booths at high traffic airports in various countries. These "customer service points" first started to appear in South Korean airports, but Samsung has confirmed the booths are opening in airports across Australia, with reports of the desks appearing in the US as well.
The booths are located before security screening and allow Galaxy Note 7 owners to swap their phone for an unspecified exchange device. Employees are available at the booths to help customers transfer their data onto a new phone.
Flights are becoming a critical point of negative publicity for the company as people struggle to differentiate one product line from the other --- they just see the Samsung or Galaxy brand. There are reports of travellers mistakenly handing in Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6 phones, and airline personnel forbidding the use of "Galaxy S7" phones aboard flights.
Moreover, while in some countries Galaxy Note 7 bans are at the airlines' discretion, in the US it's now a federal crime to bring a Note 7 onto a flight.
Header image credit: Sergio Quintana