Freeport woman’s smartphone bursts into flames

A Freeport woman is criticizing Motorola's response after she told the company that her smartphone caught fire.

Nadege Valcin, who works as an event planner, says she tried to take the battery out of her Motorola Moto G4 when it burst into flames in her hand.

"I had to drop the phone on the floor," he says. "My hands could have been burnt. My face could've been burnt. It wasn't a very pleasant or expected experience."

Planning events without a phone in 2018 is difficult, she says. So she contacted Motorola seeking a replacement and says she balked when the company wanted her to pay for it.

"They didn't want to take any responsibility," she says. "They wanted to put it all on me." 

Motorola says that's because the Moto G4 does not have a removable battery.

"Motorola reminds customers that products with embedded batteries should only be removed by a Motorola-approved service center or other trained professionals," the company says.

But Valcin says that's not a warning she received in advance.

"It could happen to other people simply because there's nothing on the phone that says you cannot remove the battery," she says.