So as it turns out those hugely popular hoverboards many of you likely have are under a major recall in the U.S.
This effects Chinese made models sold with a variety of different brands which totals up to about 501,000 hoverboards. This follows 99 incidents followed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission where battery packs have overheated.
These have lead to the hoverboards catching fire which have went on to cause burn injuries and property damage. Owners of the following models are to contact the companies responsible, which should fix the problem or give you a full refund!
The models are as follows:
- 267,000 Swagway X1s
- 84,000 iMotos
- 70,000 Powerboards
- 28,000 Hovertraxs
- 25,000 Hype Roams
- 16,000 Hover-Ways
A spokesperson for Swagway told the BBC that they would be refitting the X1’s with new “UL-certified” battery packs.
“UL-Certification means that the product has been tested by Underwriters Laboratories, one of the largest consumer products testing labs in the world,” she explained.
“Please note that this does not affect any of the other models made by Swagway.”
Safety Certificates
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the Chinese retailer Alibaba had given it a commitment that in the future it would require sellers to have safety check certificates for the hoverboards they sell via its sites.
However, the recall is not limited to kit sold via AliExpress.com and Alibaba.com.
The overstock.com website, Boscov’s department stores and Yuka Clothing shops have also sold some stock that is subject to the recall.
Customers are also being asked to send back a further 5,000 Swagway hoverboards that are in Canada.
House Fires
This isn’t the first time the hoverboards have been in the media for being a safety risk.
The UK in December had an incident when the UK’s Trading Standards agencies seized over 38,000 hoverboards they said were in danger of overhearting. This came after several house fires were blamed on the hoverboards, they are also illegal to ride on pavements and roads too which makes them somewhat pointless to own now…
In the US, Amazon stopped selling the boards from sale and began offering customers full refunds in January after the Consumer Product Safety Commission voiced concerns.
They stopped selling all examples of them a month later, later though they decided to return some brands for sale on the site.
