Samsung Accused of Trying to Silence Report of GS4 Fire

By Jane McEntegart
published

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a smokin' phone

Last week, YouTube user GhostlyRich posted a video to the video sharing site claiming his Samsung Galaxy S4 had caught fire. GhostlyRich, real name Richard Wygand, said that he didn't do anything out of the ordinary with his phone. He plugged the device in to charge via a Samsung-issued charger and went to sleep. He woke up to smoke and saw that the phone's charging port, case, and back plate were melted.

(Image credit: GhostlyRich)

 
Wygand said that his provider, Rogers, told him to take the phone back to Samsung. Before it would replace the phone, Samsung apparently asked for proof in the form of a video. Unfortunately, it seems Samsung would rather not share that proof with the rest of the world. Wygand posted his video proof to YouTube and sent a link to Samsung. Now, Samsung says it will only replace the device if Wygand takes his video down and promises not to discuss the incident any further.

The letter, which has been posted to PasteBin, also prohibits Mr. Wygand and his family from talking about the settlement or pursuing further action relating to the incident. Samsung has not commented on Wygand's decision to release the letter.

Released in the spring of this year, the Galaxy S4 was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in March. It packs a quad-core CPU, Adreno 320 graphics, a 5-inch display, 2 GB of RAM, up to 64 GB of storage and a 2600 mAh Li-ion battery.

Follow Jane McEntegart @JaneMcEntegart. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Jane McEntegart
46 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jimmysmitty
    I have a S4 and have charged it every night and the thing never gets warm. It doesn't even get very warm when playing a intensive game on it.

    I hope the guy gets a new one but unless this is as wide spread as the Dell batteries was years ago, it could be a one time manufacture incident and that is bound to happen.
    Reply
  • Benthon
    One does not simply delete something from the internet. How many examples of this does it take before companies learn this?
    Reply
  • unimatrixalpha
    Battery exploding into "molten lava"? LOL, this guy exaggerates way too much.
    Reply
  • unimatrixalpha
    Battery exploding into "molten lava"? LOL, this guy exaggerates way too much.
    Reply
  • st379
    sgs 1 no gps.
    sgs 3 sudden death syndrom (and warranty not covering it if you change your rom).
    sgs 4 catching fire (maybe they want to increase the income of the movie).

    and you are calling an iphone owner an idiot? lol who is the idiot now?
    i can't wait for the sgs 5 suprise maybe it will blow up in your pants and you will lose a leg and stop buying million of their phones, after the sgs 1 i did not buy any of their product.
    Reply
  • shardey
    Is this like the Apple articles where the person used a 3rd party charger? Also, it really helps to let your phone charge while not using it, especially gaming.
    Reply
  • JD88
    I think the intelligence of this guy is pretty well summed up by this video.

    A year and a half on my S3 and I haven't had a single issue with the hardware.

    Any phone from any company can have a one time problem. This is a lot different than the iPhone and Xbox issues hes talking about due to the nature of the problem.
    Reply
  • Dragoic
    Why Samsung. Just why?

    I used to dislike Apple (Not hate). But surely this change my view a whole lot. Nokia, take my money and give me back a revamped version of either a 3310 or 3510i.
    Reply
  • jezus53
    12139237 said:
    sgs 1 no gps.
    sgs 3 sudden death syndrom (and warranty not covering it if you change your rom).
    sgs 4 catching fire (maybe they want to increase the income of the movie).

    and you are calling an iphone owner an idiot? lol who is the idiot now?
    i can't wait for the sgs 5 suprise maybe it will blow up in your pants and you will lose a leg and stop buying million of their phones, after the sgs 1 i did not buy any of their product.

    I seem to remember an incident where the iphone had problems with call signal and the solution was the user was holding the phone wrong. Yeah, the iphone is free of problems that's for sure.
    Reply
  • vmem
    12139321 said:
    I think the intelligence of this guy is pretty well summed up by this video.

    A year and a half on my S3 and I haven't had a single issue with the hardware.

    Any phone from any company can have a one time problem. This is a lot different than the iPhone and Xbox issues hes talking about due to the nature of the problem.

    the guy's just pissed, not stupid (as demonstrated by READING and COMPREHENDING a legal document and making a conscious decision about the proper course of action to take)

    as for defective products, yes, I agree any electronic product in general may have a problem. and no, this should not be treated differently. Samsung can tell you to take the youtube video down etc etc, that's fine. but asking someone to sign away all their rights to talk about the incident BEFORE even sending a replacement is utterly unacceptable. I've tried iphones in the past, I'm big on android now, but I have never seen this kind of behavior from a major electronic company as acceptable. and honestly, you shouldn't either
    Reply