LUV Southwest Airlines Co

By Trisha Thadani and Georgia Wells 

AT&T Inc. said Sunday that it will stop issuing replacement Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy Note 7 phones after reports of multiple devices melting, further complicating a massive recall and sowing confusion among consumers.

The phone carrier, one of the biggest distributors of Samsung phones, said Galaxy Note 7 customers can return their phones for different models while Samsung and U.S. safety authorities investigate why several phones melted in the past week. It is unclear if the affected phones were Note 7 devices, and if the problems were caused by faulty lithium-ion batteries.

"We're no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents," AT&T said in a statement.

Samsung is working with authorities including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to investigate the new incidents, which include a phone emitting smoke on a Southwest Airlines Co. flight, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

"We are working diligently with authorities and third-party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation," the company said in a statement. "If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC to resolve the situation."

The CPSC doesn't know if the most recent incidents involved replacement Note 7 phones, a spokesman for the CPSC said Sunday.

"It is important for consumers to be reminded that a full refund is one of the options available under the recall," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said.

Samsung launched a recall of the 1 million Note 7 phones in the U.S. last month after faulty lithium-ion batteries caused fires. Under the recall, consumers could exchange their Note 7s for a new device or obtain a refund.

Write to Georgia Wells at Georgia.Wells@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2016 16:20 ET (20:20 GMT)

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