Feng Lingling and her daughter who was burnt in a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 explosion. (Photo/WeChat account of Guizhou Metropolitan Daily)
(ECNS) -- A Samsung Galaxy Note 4 exploded while charging early on March 9, resulting in serious burns to a young girl in her sleep who's family is still fighting over compensation, Beijing Youth Daily reports.
Feng Lingling, a villager from Puding County, Anshun City of Guizhou Province, was woken by a blast and noticed thick smoke rising from her phone at 4 a.m. Though she responded quickly to quench a ball of flame on her 5-year-old daughter's chest, the girl was later diagnosed with second-degree burns at a local hospital.
Feng bought the smartphone at a Puding outlet of Guizhou Feilida Technology Co. in August 2016 for 2,699 yuan ($396) with a one-year warranty.
On March 11, Puding's market supervision administration accepted to review the case and has since issued a series of orders to Guizhou Feilida. Company executive Ma Yan said representatives visited the girl following the accident and gave her 10,000 yuan. On March 17, they returned with a further 10,000 yuan towards treatment.
Guizhou Feilida sent letters on March 11 and March 12 to Guizhou Samsung Electronics, urging it to not "shirk responsibility,"Ma said. However, no response has yet been forthcoming.
She confirmed the phone was made by Samsung, with no repair or maintenance records, and that her company had followed proper procedures in purchasing the phone from the Guiyang branch of Beijing Putian Taili Telecommunications Technology Co.
On April 5, Feng demanded Guizhou Feilida pay 1.79 million yuan in compensation, including 300,000 yuan for medical expenses and 270,000 yuan towards lost income, but the company refused. "We've made every effort to enable the child to access better treatment," Ma said, adding that the company had offered to provide 102,200 yuan for medical treatment prior to responsibility being clarified.
After the two sides failed to reach consensus, Guizhou Feilida expressed the hope that Feng would file a lawsuit.
On May 29 and June 2, Feng contacted the headquarters of China Consumers Association and Samsung China in Beijing. Samsung Electronics (Beijing) later issued a report on June 21, saying the Note 4's battery was not produced by the company.
"Why is it so difficult to safeguard my legal rights?" Feng asked. She said she hopes Samsung and relevant parties would shoulder responsibility as soon as possible.
