Update: Xiaomi took no time to investigate the case and found the claims to be false. The company released a detailed statement debunking each and every element of the blast video and reports. You can read the complete statement here.
The Redmi Note 4 is one of the most popular Xiaomi smartphones in India. However, a customer in Bengaluru found the device catching fire while at an unauthorized service center. The issue was caught on the CCTV cameras at the service center, revealing how the entire episode transpired.
The phone was purchased on the 1st of June, 2017 from a retail chain called Poorvika in the city. He then took the phone to an unauthorized retail outlet to service the phone.
Shortly after the servicing was concluded, the employee at the store found that the phone was beginning to heat up while inserting the SIM card. Subsequently, the device was on fire. The phone is still fine for the most part, although the base and the top portion were completely burnt. The fire didn’t cause any injuries, although questions are being raised from all sides.
The user filed a police complaint with the Bellandur Police Station shortly after the incident. Xiaomi has issued a statement, however, claiming that the company is already in touch with the customer.
“At Xiaomi, customer safety is of utmost importance to us. We have reached out to the customer to investigate this matter, and are awaiting a response,” a company spokesperson said.
Cause for concern?
Since we don’t know the facts of the case, it’s hard to tell if the customers need to be worried. However, going by what we know, it’s completely possible that the customer is at fault for heading down to an unauthorized outlet to service the handset. We also have to remember that this is the only case that we can think of, so it’s very likely that even if the company is at fault, it’s an extremely isolated incident.
We recommend contacting Xiaomi to clarify if this is a persistent issue that has come to the surface, or an isolated incident mostly triggered by the consumer’s fault. As it stands, however, existing owners of the Redmi Note 4 have absolutely nothing to worry about.
A happy ending
The customer, Arjun, has been contacted by Xiaomi and has even received a replacement unit from the company. While it’s still not clear as to what caused the issue, the customer appears to be satisfied with the company’s resolution. We’re awaiting further word from Xiaomi on the matter.
Not just limited to Xiaomi
A woman from the Wisconsin area in the U.S. recently sued Apple for $75,000 after her iPhone 4S spontaneously burst into flames while being charged. The lawsuit mentioned that “remnants of internal shorting, indicating that an internal failure of the iPhone’s battery caused the fire.” Apple is yet to issue a proper statement regarding the lawsuit, although we hope to hear more about it in the days to come.
(Image Credits: TechCase)
