They'll give you a new phone and swap over your data
Samsung is setting up Galaxy Note 7 exchange booths in airports around the world, hoping to stop customers taking the dangerous device onto flights at the last minute. The first of these new "customer service points" appear to have been introduced 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 in "high-traffic terminals" before security screening, says Samsung, and allow Note 7 owners to swap their phone for an unspecified exchange device. According to a report from ABC7News in San Francisco — where a Samsung exchange desk has appeared at the city's international airport — employees for the tech company are on hand to help customers transfer their data onto a new phone.
Samsung has a team of representatives at SFO to help customers with the Note7 phone. It's banned from US flights. pic.twitter.com/2IiEcg6hsU
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) October 17, 2016
These are necessary measures, as despite two global recalls for the Note 7 and daily news coverage of its dangers, analysts say that more than 1 million devices are still in use. And as of last week, it's now a federal crime to bring a Note 7 onto a flight in the US, meaning that anyone caught with the phone risks fines and even imprisonment of up to 10 years. Basically, if you're going on holiday any time soon you need to remember to bring your passport, buy some sunscreen, and leave any potentially explosive electronics at home.
