In a joint lawsuit filed in Seoul on Monday, 527 plaintiffs from South Korea were seeking 500,000 South Korean won (405,000 euros) each in compensation after Samsung's fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 was discontinued, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Lawyer Ko-Young-yeel told reporters that consumers' rights were violated as Samsung stopped production of the smartphone. "The consumers were also deprived of their rights to get after-sales service," he said, adding that the company "should compensate for the mental distress caused by such a situation."

Samsung, which only began selling the phone on August 19, was forced to halt production following a global recall and multiple reports of some of the devices catching fire.

'Don't leave!'

Earlier on Monday, Samsung had offered a series of discounts and incentives to retain customers.

The company said that Note 7 buyers in South Korea, who were willing to exchange their devices for a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, could later get the firm's new flagship models to hit the market next year.

This upgrade program could include a Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8 phablet. But Samsung said the deal was conditional on customers having ended a two-year contract with a mobile service provider for their S7 devices.

The Asian electronics giant indicated that at least for the time being that special upgrade offer was only available in the country's home market of South Korea.

hg/jd (dpa, Reuters)