Samsung Allegedly Hushes Kentucky Man's Replacement Galaxy Note 7 Fire That Sent Him To The ER

It's almost hard to fathom that bad news surrounding Samsung's ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 still continues to emerge. While the Korean electronics giant sticks to its claim that there is currently no major issue with regard to the safety of customers that own the device, it's becoming increasingly difficult to believe.

Last week, we reported that a replacement Note 7 exploded on a Southwest aircraft, which followed other reported incidents. In addition, a few days ago, AT&T began to ponder if it should pull the model from its shelves entirely.

Now we have yet another alarming story, of a Kentucky man who woke up in the middle of the night to a hissing sound and smoke-filled room. He had considered himself safe, as his phone was supposedly one of the "known good" replacements Samsung had shipped out. As such, this incident adds even more uncertainty to Samsung's claim that there are no outstanding issues.

In this particular case, it wasn't just a matter of a phone going up in flames; Michael Klering, ended up having to take a trip to the emergency room after vomiting up black mucus, a clear sign of smoke inhalation. The hospital ended up diagnosing Klering with acute bronchitis.

When news channel WKYT reached out to Samsung for comment, the company failed to respond. However, the Samsung was in contact with Klering, and had paid him to get an X-ray done of the device. But here's where things get murky: a Samsung representative accidentally sent him a text message that shouldn't sit well with anyone: "Just now got this. I can try and slow him down if we think it will matter, or we just let him do what he keeps threatening to do and see if he does it." This is the sort of thing that will lose Samsung at least one customer for life. 

Michael Klering's Samsung Galaxy Note 7 caught fire filling his bedroom with smoke - Credit: WKYT

That absurdity aside, think about this for a moment. If there is actually an issue with these replacement phones, Samsung will be forced to pull them from the market as well, and issue another recall. That would be a recall of a replacement product for a recalled product. The situation would be unparalleled, so it's no surprise that Samsung would rather sweep this incident under the rug and hope it goes away. Well, it clearly didn't.