Amazon Now Giving Refunds on Hoverboards, Govt. Says

But today the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has released a statement explaining the various aspects of ongoing investigations into the two-wheeled balance boards.

“As encouraged as I am by Amazon’s actions, I expect other retailers and manufacturers of hoverboards to take action and offer a full refund now to their customers as well”, Kaye said. The CPSC is investigating the injury reports to see if it can determine whether or not a product flaw, like the hoverboards speeding up or lurching without warning, is leading to the spikes in serious fall injuries associated with the devices.

“At first glance, it is easy to believe the risk of falling off a hoverboard is an obvious one and to dismiss those injuries as user inexperience or error”, said CPSC chairman Elliot F. Kaye in a statement.

Amazon is offering refunds to anyone who bought hoverboards on its website. The government agency is seeing an “increasing number of serious injuries and emergency room visits”.

Kaye also said the CPSC was looking particularly closely at the battery packs and charger compatibility as potential causes of the boards catching fire.

Trading Standards revealed last December that more than 17,000 hoverboards imported from beyond the European Union have been examined, of which over 15,000 (88%) failed basic safety checks.

Just as hoverboards started to look like the personal transportation method of the future, owners across the country have begun reporting that their units are bursting into flames right beneath their feet.

Kaye also expressed concern over the risk of falls, noting that “current designs of these products might not take fully into consideration the different weights of different users”. Most recently, the online retailer has emailed some customers in the USA who purchased the boards and offered refunds.

As of Thursday local time, Amazon still had hoverboards available for sale, including some made by Swagway.