A $279 hoverboard purchased last year burst into flames in a Tennessee house in January, causing what the owners say is $1.9 million in property loss, according to Ars Technica.
Brian and Megan Fox of Nashville have filed a lawsuit against Amazon for $30 million in damages, due in part to the couple’s inability to find out who actually manufactured the product. As the seller, they said, Amazon is responsible for the property damage, injuries, and emotional distress from the family’s two children having to evacuate the house through a second floor window during the fire.
The complaint was filed in October for the fire that occurred on Jan. 9. The couple spent the intervening months investigating the product, they told The Tennessean.
Megan Fox said that she ordered the hoverboard, which was advertised as a FITURBO F1, from Amazon and that it was shipped from China shortly before Christmas 2015. On Jan. 9 the hoverboard allegedly caught fire while sitting in the house, not plugged in to power.
The couple also investigated the seller through which they bought the hoverboard, but have not been able to contact the listed company, “W-Deals,” which appears to be registered to an apartment building in Brooklyn. The hoverboard was also advertised as containing an “Original Samsung Advanced Battery,” but Samsung has denied manufacturing the lithium battery found in the faulty hoverboard.
With the manufacturer apparently untraceable, the Foxes turned to Amazon. According to the couple’s lawyer, Steve Anderson, Tennessee product law places the responsibility on the seller if the manufacturer is unable to be found.
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon should have known that the hoverboard was dangerous and that it misrepresented the legitimacy of both the hoverboard and the battery.
Last holiday season, hoverboards were in the news for catching fire while charging due to faulty batteries. About 500,000 of the recreational boards were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in July.