Image Credit: Nashville Fire Department
Amazon is being sued by a family in Nashville after a faulty hoverboard destroyed their $1 million home.
The online retail giant has been accused of knowingly selling a dangerous product, with the Fox family claiming that they had been sold a counterfeit product from China rather than a product with a Samsung branded lithium ion battery, as had reportedly been listed in the product’s description. The lawsuit, filed by Steve Anderson of the law firm Anderson & Reynolds PLC, describes how the hoverboard destroyed destroyed the Fox’s home. It reads: “Plaintiff Megan Fox purchased a self-balancing scooter, more commonly known as a hoverboard, through the Amazon.com website on November 3, 2015. She kept the hoverboard in its box in a closet in the family’s home at [redacted] until just before Christmas … the hoverboard burst into flames inside the fox house on Saturday, January 9, 2016.
“The fire completely destroyed the Plaintiffs’ house and virtually all of their personal belongings in a matter of minutes. More importantly, the lives of Hailey (16 years old) and Matthew Fox (14 years old) were nearly taken, but the courage and the heroic efforts of their father allowed them to escape with serious personal and psychological injuries.”
Brian Fox saved his children from the fire after they were stuck on the second floor of their home. The lawsuit continues to claim that the company that sold the hoverboard via Amazon, known as “W-Deals,” is a fraudulent organization that has avoided all contact from lawyers since the fire. According to Tennessee, if the manufacturer cannot be identified then the seller is held responsible for such a lawsuit, meaning that Amazon is in the firing line.
In December 2015 Amazon pulled all hoverboards from its store, likely as a result of the Fox’s fire. Since then the retailer has returned to selling the products, but only from reputable brands such as Swagtron and Razor.
You can watch a video of the explosion that started the fire below:
Here is the lawsuit in full:
Nashville hoverboard lawsuit by TNdigital on Scribd
