SALT LAKE CITY (WGNO) — Overstock.com, Inc. will no longer sell hoverboards on its website. According to a release on the website, the decision came because of the growing safety concerns.
“Customer safety is always our top priority,” said Overstock.com General Counsel and Senior Vice President Mitch Edwards. “With the continued emergence of news reports highlighting safety concerns with ‘hover board’ self-balancing electric scooters, we have made the decision to remove all similar products from our website as a precautionary measure.”
In the release, the company said it individually contacted customers who already purchased the hoverboards. They have been offered the option to return the item for a full refund if a return is initiated within two weeks of the notice, or within two weeks of product delivery, whichever comes first.
“We will continue to take every measure as this situation unfolds,” said Edwards. “Overstock.com has always, and will always put the safety of our customers first.”
Stories about problems with the hoverboards have popped up in recent months. Most recently, a video caught one catching fire in a mall.
In Lafitte, a family said an “exploding” hoverboard destroyed their home less than a week before Thanksgiving.
“It was like fireworks,” she said, “the middle part of the board–just ‘poof.'” Jessica Horne is the mother of the boy who owned the hoverboard. She said the fire was so intense that her house was in flames within minutes. Read more about that fire here.
This story, along with the other reports, prompted a national fire warning by the National Association of State Fire Marshals. You can read the full warning here.
To read the entire Overstock.com release about selling hoverboards, click here.
