Samsung Galaxy Note7 Class Action Says Consumers Owed Restitution

Samsung Electronics America has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit by consumers claiming they are owed compensation on damages and fees stemming from the faulty Galaxy Note7 smartphone.

Filed Friday in New Jersey federal court, plaintiffs John Waudby, Robert Spuntak, and Mohamad Ibrahim claim they and other consumers were left without the safe use of smartphones that they had purchased while waiting for replacement Note7s to become locally available for exchange.

Waudby, a Nevada resident, who purchased a Note7 for roughly $850 on Aug. 21, 2016, says he incurred monthly device charges and monthly plan charges that have not been reimbursed through the Samsung recall program or other third parties.

Spuntak, a resident of Pennsylvania, and Ibrahim, a resident of California, echo the claims of Waudby in that they purchased Note7s and suffered damages as a result.

“As a result of Defendant’s actions, Plaintiffs have suffered economic damages, including but not limited  to monthly charges and fees, loss of use of the Note7, substantial loss in value and resale value of their Note7s, and other related damage,” the lawsuit states.

Reports of Note7s overheating, catching fire and even exploding in the hands of consumers began to surface soon after the highly-anticipated device was released.

Accordingly, Samsung suspended sales and voluntarily recalled the defective devices, notifying consumers that they should immediately discontinue using the smartphones and exchange them for replacements.

Specifically, Samsung announced the U.S. Product Exchange Program for Note7 owners and stated that the new Galaxy Note7 would be “available next week.” The replacement program included an estimated one million phones in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide.

However, according to the proposed class action lawsuit, consumers who followed Samsung’s advice and discontinued using their Note7s were told Samsung did not have replacements smartphones available.

Instead, Samsung informed consumers that they would have to wait several days, and even weeks in many cases, before receiving a replacement smartphone.

Meanwhile, while waiting for Samsung to provide consumers with adequate replacements, consumers continued to incur monthly device and plan charges from their cellular carriers for phones they could not safely use.

Then, Samsung told consumers that the Note7 would be discontinued entirely, the plaintiffs say.

“Defendant made material statements and omissions concerning the availability of replacement Note7s. As a result, Plaintiffs and Class members were fraudulently induced to continue incurring and paying monthly charges and fees for their Note7s, which they could neither use nor replace,” the lawsuit reads.

As a result of Samsung’s actions, plaintiffs and the proposed Class have suffered injury in fact, incurred millions of dollars in fees, and have otherwise been harmed by Samsung’s conduct, the proposed class action lawsuit asserts.

The plaintiffs bring this action and seek recovery for Samsung’s alleged breach of express warranty, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and common law fraud.

Waudby, Spuntak and Ibrahim are seeking to represent a nationwide Class of all persons and entities in the United States who purchased or leased a Samsung Galaxy Note7, along with three subclasses in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and California.

The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph Sauder, Matthew Schelkopf, Joseph Kenney, Richard McCune, David Wright, and Emily Kirk of McCune Wright LLP.

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 Overheating Class Action Lawsuit is Waudby, et al. v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-07334, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Division.

UPDATE February 22, 2017: A federal judicial panel will decide if four Samsung class action lawsuits should be consolidated into multidistrict litigation.  All four lawsuits allege that multiple Samsung smartphone models are prone to catching fire.