Meet the Brits left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after fire-prone Samsung Note 7 recall

SAMSUNG has recalled its fire-prone Note 7 smartphones and offered refunds or exchanges to anyone who owns one.

But some Brits have been left out of pocket after buying a second hand phone or stocking up on accessories which are now useless.

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Steve Medcalf, a 46-year-old builder from East Yorkshire, bought his phone from a private seller on eBay last week and was delighted when it arrived by special delivery the day afterwards.

However, when Samsung issued its recall he was appalled when the vendor allegedly refused to give him his cash back.

The reports of exploding phones worried Steve so much that he kept his model outside in a shed, even thought it was "meant to be the safe model".

He told The Sun Online: "I have emailed eBay and PayPal, the method I used to pay for the phone. I am still waiting for a response."

Steve also contacted Samsung, but claimed the firm did not help him properly either.

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He added: "What peeves me also is the fact I have purchased accessories for it such as a case and in-car charger."

Stuart Amey, a 46-year-old bus driver from Sutton, has been left almost £200 out of pocket after buying a number of accessories for his Samsung Note 7.

He bought the items from EE, which was also his carrier. But despite being able to cancel his contract, he was unable to get a refund for the accessories.

Stuart is now left with a case he bought for £50, a wireless charger which cost £45 and a VR headset that was £99.

"Samsung have just washed their hands off of the fact that people also bought accessories with this phone and are now more concerned with trying to flog us all off with the Samsung S7," he said.

"Samsung sold me an exploding phone and now there really making my life difficult.

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"I should be able to send the whole lot back to Samsung for a refund but there only interested in the phone."

In a statement, Samsung said: "We are currently working with our channel partners across the region to put in place a replacement programme which will allow you to exchange your Note7 for a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.

"When you exchange your device you will be refunded the difference in price.

"Alternatively you can obtain a full refund. Details of how the exchange programme will work will be  and directly to each customer on a regular basis."

We asked eBay what customers should do if they bought a new or second hand Samsung S7 phone from a seller.

A spokesman told us people like Steve should raise a complaint using eBay's internal procedure if the seller refuses to offer a refund.

A human will then step in to resolve the problem.

The spokesman added: "Based on the fact that the product is faulty, we will certainly review it if a seller declines to offer the refund."