Jitterbug Cellphone Could Fail to Reach Emergency 911 in a No-Service Area

Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

May 22, 2009

Alert #09-744

Samsung Recalls to Upgrade Certain Cell Phones; Could Fail to Reach Emergency 911 in a No-Service Area

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC.

Name of Product: Samsung “Jitterbug” Cell Phones

Units: About 160,000

Manufacturer: Samsung Telecommunications America, of Richardson, Texas

Distributor: GreatCall d/b/a Jitterbug, of San Diego, Calif.

Hazard: The recalled cell phones that are in a no-service area and display an “out of range, try again later” message could fail to connect to emergency 911.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: This recall involves “Jitterbug” cell phones model numbers SPH-a110 and SPH-a120 with standard key pads and version BB14 software. No other Samsung wireless phones or software versions are included in this recall.

Sold through: Directly to consumers through targeted national advertisements and publications, electronics and drug stores nationwide, and on the Web at www.jitterbug.com from March 2008 through May 2009 for about $150.

Manufactured in: Korea

Remedy: Samsung and Jitterbug are directly contacting consumers to schedule a free software upgrade. Consumers should call Samsung if they have not already been contacted.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Samsung toll-free at (866) 304-4980 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, and on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.samsung.com

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Source: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09744.html