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15,000 Hoverboards Seized As Unsafe In United Kingdom (nationaltradingstandards.uk)
puddingebola writes: National Trading Standards and trading standards services in Scotland have released figures that 15,000 of 17,000 hoverboards have been seized at ports of entry in the UK because of safety concerns. The boards were seized "due to a range of concerns, such as safety issues with the plug, cabling, charger, battery or the cut-off switch within the board, which often fails." Are we pushing hoverboard technology too far too quickly, or are there just a group of criminal sociopaths manufacturing unsafe devices at Christmastime and pumping them into the market? Mashable has a story summary with links to video of a man in Alabama with his hoverboard on fire. The government of New York City isn't so hot on hoverboards, either.
Hoverboard users running into me on the sidewalk will be balanced by watching them accidentally run into small bumps and fall flat on their stupid faces.
They aren't being sold for 500 quid, they are being sold for half that direct to consumers on sites like Banggood, eBay and Deal Extreme.
Consumers directly importing unsafe goods is a growing problem. Drones, hoverboards, chargers, batteries... While European shops have to abide by common safety standards, you can basically import anything you like and most of the time it won't be checked. The only reason hoverboards are is that they cost enough to be charged duty and VAT on.
I wonder what will happen to all the consumers who bought these things. Most of these sellers make it clear that customs is your problem, and Trading Standards won't pay to return them. The best option is probably to claim on your credit card under section 75, unless you paid by PayPal in which case you are likely screwed.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
In a perverse sort of way, I suppose it counts as 'progress' that Li-ion batteries big enough to be dangerous are also cheap enough to find their way into dangerously shoddy crap that is just an electrical fire waiting to happen; but that doesn't change the fact that dangerously shoddy crap is just an electrical fire waiting to happen; and now it has moved into devices large enough to burn reasonably enthusiastically; which used to be the preserve of fairly expensive gear, with Ni-Cd batteries in the cheap seats.