Galaxy S4 allegedly catches fire, Nokia steps in to help after Samsung flubs support

One of the big selling points in buying a Lumia Windows Phone, besides the unique and excellent design, is the customer support that Nokia offers. Whether they have had issues with firmware, a defective unit or just general feedback, the Finnish company has always treated their customers with respect. That hands-on sincerity has not gone unnoticed by many and it’s something that Samsung could learn a thing or two about.

Recently, an owner of a Galaxy S4 claimed that his phone caught fire during the battery charging process. The video was posted on YouTube and it quickly went viral. To be fair to Samsung, such events are super rare and are always plausible with electronics. There’s no indication that this is widespread event. Rather, it looks to be an isolated case of some defective hardware.

In that sense, this should be an open and closed situation. Samsung reportedly contacted the owner and were willing to replace his S4 with a “like device”. The only catch was they purportedly wanted Richard, the owner of the S4, to remain quiet on the matter. Removal of his video and his silence of the event going forward was evidently requested of him in a letter from Samsung. Recoiling at this request, Richard made a second video opining Samsung’s strong-arm tactics.

Never missing an opportunity to take advantage of Samsung’s failure for customer support, Nokia stepped in with a Tweet to Richard “we want to help you out. Let me send you a Nokia Lumia so you can experience how customer service should *really* work.”

Since then, a small dialog has opened between Nokia and Richard, with the Lumia maker offering a phone on Richard’s carrier, Rogers. That means he’ll most likely be getting a brand new Lumia 1020 for his troubles with Samsung. Not a bad deal and Richard genuinely seems thrilled with the prospect.

It’s not unreasonable that Samsung would request the video be taken down. After all, they have an image to protect and clearly the S4 is okay in terms of safety. However, they have certainly erred in how they are dealing with the unfortunate event, and now the “fix” is worse than the original offense of a defective unit.

Kudos to Nokia for stepping in and trying to win a new convert. It’s a slow battle, but we have to admit that once you become a fan of Nokia, it’s hard to go back.

This also isn't the first (or last) time Nokia has taken on Samsung. Recently, the company teased the Korean firm about their Smart Gear on Twitter, as seen above. They have also humorously​ welcomed Samsung back to Windows Phone and pitted the Lumia 920 against the S3.

Source: Nokia (Twitter), Richard Wygand (@ghostlyrich, Twitter); via: WP-Hub; Thanks, Tyler V., for the tip