Samsung Class Action: Galaxy Note 4 Defect Leaves Phones Inoperable

A Galaxy Note 4 defect has been rendering these smartphones inoperable, say three plaintiffs in a Samsung class action lawsuit.

According to plaintiffs Ermias Beture, Elisha Polomski and James Samuelson, defendant Samsung has been selling Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note 4 Edge smartphones with defective embedded Multi-Media Controller memory units, or eMMCs.

The plaintiffs say these eMMCs tend to fail prematurely, rendering the phone inoperable. Failure of the eMMC causes the phone to freeze, restart itself, and fail to completely start up.

Samsung allegedly knew about this Galaxy Note 4 defect, yet failed to disclose it to anyone who purchased these phones. Plaintiffs say the company has since failed to repair the alleged defect free of charge.

According to this Galaxy Note 4 defect class action lawsuit, many other smartphone owners have been reporting the same problem. The plaintiffs quote posts from various online forums describing the problem.

Generally, these Samsung phone owners say their phones shut down randomly. Then when the owner tries to turn it back on, the screen shows an “mmc_read failed” error message. One owner reports their Galaxy Note 4 freezes 15 to 20 times a day.

Some reviewers believe Samsung is aware of the defect. They report seeing technical documents and speaking to company support personnel about it. Owners who have sought replacement parts are being told the parts are out of stock – possibly due to unexpected demand caused by the Galaxy Note 4 defect, say plaintiffs.

Plaintffs say the only sure fix for the alleged Galaxy Note 4 defect is to replace the phone’s motherboard. Some owners have found a temporary fix by using an app called Wake Lock. The app can prevent the eMMC memory from failing completely, but it does so at the cost of draining the phone’s battery, the plaintiffs say.

Of the nearly 2,400 reviews of Wake Lock in the Google Play Store, nearly all of them are from Samsung owners dealing with the Galaxy Note 4 defect, the plaintiffs report.

This Samsung Galaxy Note 4 defect class action lawsuit raises claims under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and several states’ consumer protection laws.

The plaintiffs propose to represent a nationwide plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who purchased a Samsung Galaxy 4 smartphone, plus three subclasses representing Class Members from each of the plaintiffs’ home states of California, Minnesota and North Carolina.

They are asking the court to order Samsung to disclose and remedy the alleged Galaxy Note 4 defect. They also seek an award of actual, statutory and punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement of related revenues, and reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

Plaintiffs’ counsel includes attorneys Gary S. Graifman of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC, and Nicholas A. Migliaccio and Jason S. Rathod of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Beture, et al. v. Samsung Electronics America, Case No. 2:17-cv-05757, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.