Damage Suit
More than 500 South Korean Galaxy Note 7 smartphone owners have filed a lawsuit against Samsung on October 24, seeking compensation for the Galaxy Note 7 disaster.
Attorney Ko Young-yeel, the head of the Harvest Law Firm, said, “The consumers' rights were severely violated as Samsung stopped production of the Galaxy Note 7 and asked consumers to replace the phone with other models. The group submitted the petition to the Seoul Central District Court, seeking 500,000 won (US$441) compensation per person in their initial claims.
The law firm opened an online Naver café on the 11th to gather victims who want to join the suit. Starting with the first petition, it plans to take the second and third legal actions.
Ko said, “The Galaxy Note 7 consumers were also deprived of their rights to get after-sales service as well as the rights of choice. The company should compensate for the mental distress caused by such a situation. Although the consumers bought the expensive product worth 1 million won (US$883), they had to waste their money and time to check on their batteries and exchange their phones. The company said that they would offer discounts when changing their phones, but it cannot be compared with the damages they had to go through.”