South Koreans returned their discontinued Samsung Note 7 smartphones Thursday, with the beleaguered electronics giant offering swap incentives in the hope of retaining customer loyalty after a damaging recall fiasco.

  Two days after the company announced it was finally killing off the flagship handset over issues with exploding batteries, owners were given the option of a full refund or an exchange for a different Samsung smartphone.

Those opting to get their money received a 30,000 won (US$26) gift card, while anyone choosing to swap for another Samsung handset got an additional 70,000 won phone bill credit.

“This is compensation for our customers who experienced a big inconvenience,” the company said in a statement.
The world’s largest smartphone maker initially recalled 2.5 million Note 7s on September 2 after reports of units burning up.

  The already damaging move turned into a full-blown crisis when replacement Note 7s also started catching fire.

The debacle triggered a three-day stock rout that shaved 10 percent — around $23 billion — off Samsung’s market value. The plunge was only arrested on Thursday when stock closed up 1.4 percent.

A day earlier, Samsung slashed its third quarter profit estimate by one third.