Exchange booths have started appearing, initially in South Korea, allowing travellers to exchange their Note Airport 7 before they take the flight.
The program of such exchange booths is now spreading to the rest of the world.
Option in Airports
It is possible that owners of the Note 7 might have missed the two recalls of the device on the news. In case they have also missed the text message sent from carriers to their phones or the push notification sent to their phones, they have another option to ditch the Note 7. All notifications are asking owners to power the device off immediately and return it to the carrier or to the retail shop where they purchased the device and get an exchange offer.
The latest option offered to owners of the device is that they can return it in the exchange booths set up in airports before boarding an airplane.
Halt in Production
Samsung has stopped production of the Note 7 following the problems of explosion of batteries. Now, it is banned to fly with your Note 7 even if it is off. You cannot carry it in your carry on and neither can you check it in with your checked luggage. Most of the airlines all over the US and Australia and even everywhere else in the world have banned carrying the Note 7 on flights.
Booths in South Korea Airport
Exchange booths have been set up in the Incheon Airport of South Korea to assist owners to ditch their Note 7 devices, if they have not already done so. The initiative is now being spread in other parts of the world as well, with exchange booths now available in airports in Australia as well. The service booths will enable the owners to leave their phones in the booth and switch out the data present on it to another Samsung phone.
Exchange Booth Details
The Exchange booths will be open from 6 in the morning to 8 in the night at terminals that are classified as high traffic. These airports include the Sydney Airport, Kingsford Smith, the Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine, the Brisbane, the Adelaide and the Perth Airport. The booths are also available in the Gold Coast Airport and the Canberra Airport, the last of which operates from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening.
Samsung’s Initiative
Samsung has notified that it will also create other such exchange booths or stands in several other airports of the world. There will be help desks that assist owners of the phone who have missed out the news regarding the ban of their devices. There might also be several travellers who were not able to surrender their device to the retailer where they bought it. They might have difficult in travelling with these phones and can return it in these trade in booths located in the airports.
Last Resort
The exchange booths or trade in booths should obviously be the last resort of customers. It can be a nightmarish situation for travellers turning up at the airport and finding that they will not be able to carry their phones with them. After trading their phones, they will be able to switch the data from the old phones on to the new Samsung device given to them at the service desk. However, they will have the unenviable task of logging into all the apps all over again, setting up authentications and so on.