Hoverboards Harder To Find As Retailers Like Amazon and Wal-Mart Pull Them From Their Shelves and Websites
image: swagway
If you’ve been looking for a “hoverboard” to give as a Christmas gift, you’re going to find it’s much harder than before. Amazon has opted to suspend the sales of the majority of these devices on both its UK and U.S. websites.
Amazon’s move comes after a backlash of house fires and explosions linked to the hoverboards. Amazon asked every hoverboard manufacturer to give the website documentation that they’re following every single safety standard. Amazon is asking for safety requirements that deal with the devices’ chargers and batteries, not for the safety of the ride.
The rise in popularity for hoverboards is due in part to the patent war, which has led to many importers buying shoddy “made-in-China” products.
Amazon informed U.S. hoverboard sellers that they have to provide proof of passing certain test from private company UL, which is in charge of testing batteries and chargers.
Well-known importers Swagway released a statement that said its company has already met the certifications and that the company happy Amazon has taken steps to eliminate the low-quality boards. Swagway said safety is its main concern, and that it was glad that action was being taken in light of the number of fires that have occurred with the low-quality batteries.
The company said it was working on way to ensure consumers can recognize authentic Swagway boards to cheap imitation ones that have added the branded logo to unauthorized products. Consumers, it should said, should only by a hoverboard from an authorized retailer to give themselves added protection.
Although Swagway claims the hoverboards it makes us UL certified, a Swagway board recently caught fire in New York.
And, Amazon is not the only big-name retailer to quit stocking the hoverboard. Wal-Mart has also made the move to stop selling the product in its brick-and-mortar stores earlier in December. However, the company still offers the Razor hoverboard through its website.
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