The S-Pen stylus for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, stored within the body of the phone, appears to snag on an internal mechanism when inserted upside down. Thus, controversy is arising over who’s liable for it.
Since Samsung Electronics has also admitted to the possibility that accidentally inserting the S-Pen blunt-end first can damage the S-Pen, the Note 5, or both, disputes between consumers and the manufacturer over the Galaxy Note 5 design flaw, many predict, could frequently occur.
There has been an uptick in the hubbub over the Galaxy Note 5’s stylus problem on online blogs, social networking sites and Naver Knowledge Search.
A Galaxy Note 5 user said: “When the S-Pen was inserted upside down, it jammed and I couldn’t pull the stylus out by force even though I am a grown-up man. I was afraid that a firmer pull could free the S-Pen but damage the stylus or the phone, so I called a Samsung service center. They asked me to bring my Galaxy Note 5 to the center.”
Another user wrote, “After I removed the wrongly inserted stylus, the phone’s sensor seems to have broken down. The phone doesn’t vibrate and when I take out the stylus from the slot, there is no popup notification that would otherwise appear. I bought this phone a week ago. I wonder whether I can have it repaired for free or replaced with a new one.”
There are also posts about motherboard breakdowns
Some users complained about mainboard breakdowns. A Galaxy Note 5 user said: “I tried to forcibly remove the stylus from the incorrect position and heard something snap inside. I called a service center and they told me the mainboard might have been broken.”
“My husband told my brother that the stylus wouldn’t come out if it wasn’t inserted pointed end first. Skeptical of what my husband said, my brother tried the upside down stylus trick under the influence of alcohol, only to prove my husband right,” another Galaxy Note 5 user wrote, posting photos of the Galaxy Note 5 with the stylus inserted upside down.
“It’s not common for the stylus to go in the wrong way. Even if it occurs, fatal breakdowns, such as mainboard malfunctions, are unlikely,” an official from Samsung Electronics said. Asked about who should be held liable for stylus-caused breakdowns, the official said, “That will be determined by the Samsung service centers.”
Some suspect that Samsung included a warning about the wrong insertion of the S Pen into the phablet in the Galaxy Note 5’s manual in a bid to batten down the hatches against possible disputes over the S-Pen design flaw.
In fact, products liability (PL) laws stipulate that if manufacturers furnish reasonable explanations, adequate warnings, directions for use or other indications with their products, they cannot be held responsible for their product defects.
Therefore, Samsung is thought to have included the warning to avoid ‘defects in warnings and instructions.’
