Samsung has purchased full-page ads in three major U.S. newspapers, and has also published an open letter on its website, to apologize for the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco.
The letters, which appeared in Monday editions of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, were aimed at English-speaking consumers, according to The Korean Herald. The letter is signed by Gregory Lee, the president and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America.
“An important tenet of our mission is to offer best-in-class safety and quality. Recently, we fell short on this promise. For this we are truly sorry,” reads the ad. “We will re-examine every aspect of the device, including all hardware, software, manufacturing and the overall battery structure. We will move as quickly as possible, but will take the time needed to get the right answers.”
The online letter posted on the Samsung website was signed by Y H Eom, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, and read:
To our valued customers,
At Samsung, we innovate to deliver breakthrough technologies that enrich people’s lives. An important tenet of our mission is to offer best-in-class safety and quality. Recently, we fell short on this promise.
Because we had not gone on general sale in Europe with the Note7, there were a small number of affected customers here. For those customers who received the device during the pre-order phase, we recognize that we have not lived up to your expectations, or our own high standards. For this we are truly sorry.
We take seriously our responsibility to address concerns about safety and quality. In collaboration with government agencies and industry partners around the world, we are taking proactive steps to do better. Here is an update of our actions.
As you have heard – or experienced personally – we have stopped production of the Galaxy Note7. We are working swiftly to ensure every Note7 device is safely returned. For those directly affected, we appreciate your patience throughout the replacement process.
Samsung is fully committed to identifying and addressing the source of the Note7’s battery issue. We have already initiated investigations with independent third party experts to carefully revisit every aspect of the device, including the battery, hardware and software, and manufacturing processes. Once available, we will transparently share our findings.
Samsung has a long heritage of innovation and we have shown that we can and will learn from our mistakes. While we are always looking to innovate and create the next generation of great consumer technology, safety will remain our top priority. We will invest to better serve your needs through enhanced customer care and quality assurance.
On behalf of all our employees across Europe, we are truly sorry, and grateful for your ongoing support. We will listen to you, learn from this and act in a way that allows us to win back your trust.
Sincerely,
YH Eom
President and CEO – Samsung Electronics Europe
Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 back in August, and reports quickly began to roll in of users seeing the device spontaneously combust, whether on a charger or not. The phones caused fires, which caused both personal injuries and property damage.
Samsung replaced the units with supposedly safe versions of the device, but the new devices also experienced issues, also exploding and catching fire. The South Korean firm eventually recalled all of the devices, and discontinued the model completely.
The company still isn’t certain what caused some of the handsets to catch fire, and it says it will continue to investigate the device’s design and manufacturing process, in order to determine exactly what went wrong.
The full-page apology ads also apologizes for reported issues with 34 models of the company’s top-loading washing machines, also subject to a company recall. 2.8 million machines in the U.S. were recalled by Samsung last week, following reports that the top could become detached from the chassis during normal use.
So far, there have been nine reports of injuries related to the washing machines, and Samsung has received over 700 reports of the faulty washers since the issue became known.
