Major US carriers allow Galaxy Note 7 customers to exchange replacement units with other phones

All major wireless carriers in the US such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will let consumers exchange their replacement Galaxy Note 7 units with any other device.

The latest move comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Samsung are investigating the latest fire incident on a Southwest Airlines flight, which had to be evacuated just before take off, after a Note 7 device started smoking. The owner of the handset said that it was a replacement unit, which he reportedly picked from an AT&T store.

A Sprint spokesperson told Recode, "[the carrier] is working collaboratively with Samsung to better understand the most recent concerns regarding replacement [of] Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns regarding their device, we will exchange it for any other device at any Sprint retail store during the investigation window."

Both Verizon and AT&T have also said that they would allow consumers to exchange their replacement Note 7 units with other smartphones.

"For any Verizon customer concerned about the safety of their replacement Note 7 smartphone, they will be able to exchange it for an alternate smartphone," a company representative said.

T-Mobile has updated its Note 7 exchange policy saying, "Customers can bring their Galaxy Note7, along with accessories they purchased from T-Mobile, to a T-Mobile store and exchange it for a new CPSC-approved Note7 replacement or a full refund and choose from any device in T-Mobile's inventory. This applies to recalled, replacement and newly purchased Note 7s."

As part of the official recall by Samsung, all carriers are allowing users to exchange the faulty Note 7 with another device or get a refund.

Samsung in its response to the fire incident said that it is investigating the case to determine the cause and promises to share the findings soon.

"Samsung understands the concern our carriers and consumers must be feeling after recent reports have raised questions about our newly released replacement Note7 devices," the company said in a statement.

"We remain in close contact with the CPSC throughout this process. If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the CPSC to take immediate steps to address the situation," it added.