HTC Offers One (M8) to User Who Burnt His Samsung Galaxy S4

'TweektheGeek' wrote on popular Internet discussion site Reddit that "my phone Samsung Galaxy S4 had burned and melted while I was sleeping. I was using the official battery and a samsung cable when it happened, and my phone was not under any blankets, or under anything at all for that matter."

The user added that Samsung initially responded to his request and said he would receive a replacement, but he only get a box to ship his burnt Galaxy S4 and not the replacement unit. The Korean firm later started ignoring his queries, he added. This Reddit post was seen by user 'jetleigh', claiming to be 'HTC Product Manager on the AT&T account', who offered him a new HTC One (M8) since he appreciated "the feedback and civil discussion you've generated on reddit while avoiding the 'bashing'."

As a part of the deal, jetleigh added that if Samsung eventually managed to ship the replacement Galaxy S4 to the affected user in the future, "you please donate that to charity or sell it and please donate the funds to an organization of your choice." Needless to say, TweettheGeek accepted the offer.

Samsung smartphones catching fire seems to be becoming a recurring theme, though many times fake battery units are to be blamed. Something similar happened to Ariel Tolfree, who was using her Samsung Galaxy S4 with a counterfeit battery.

"13-year old Ariel Tolfree from Texas found herself rudely awoken in the middle of the night by the smell of her burning phone kept under her pillow," GSM Arenna reported. Even though it was a case of fake third-party components being used, Samsung generously offered to replace the smartphone, the bedding, mattress as well as the pillow.

There have been other instances where a Galaxy S4 caught fire while charging. A user uploaded a video of the incident on YouTube and while Samsung offered a replacement unit, it was only on the condition that the video in question be removed from YouTube.

However, before Samsung could take a step forward, Nokia USA got involved in the issue and offered a new Nokia Lumia to the user via Twitter.

The problem is not Samsung's alone, of course. Last year, an Apple iPhone 5 reportedly exploded in Thailand.