‘Hoverboards’ were banned in Australia last month after countless incidents of fires, risk of electric shock and the product category making up two thirds of all product recalls on the ACCC website.
Strict new standards were put into place, so strict that to date only one ‘hoverboard’ has met all of the safety certifications, becoming Australia’s only fully compliant self-balancing board available through major retail stores.
Image: Gizmodo
Kaiser Baas are the manufacturers of the Revo Glider, and although the company is pleased to have gained accreditation, it says the ban and new requirements “does not eliminate or resolve the real issue at hand.”
“The announced ban has directly affected legitimate small business operators and retailers who are credible and spend thousands of dollars to ensure all safety standards are met to all legal requirements,” Evan Kourambas, Managing Director at Kaiser Baas said. “The ban unfortunately does not affect the rogue traders who are often untraceable and sell inferior products through online channels such as eBay and Gumtree.”
“Unsurprisingly, all of the self-balancing boards that have caught fire in Australia are notably unbranded units purchased online through unknown sources. Not one has been linked to a legitimate business”, Kourambas explains.
He says more measures need to implemented to directly target the “real problem”.
“Currently, there is no industry watch dog to stop people from importing and selling electrical goods direct to the consumers and consumer education is equally as important,” Kourambas says. “Consumers are price driven and if a product appears to be a carbon copy of a branded product, I can guarantee that the consumer will purchase the cheaper option.”
“In the electronics industry, consumers need to understand you often pay for what you get. Purchasing cheap, inferior models through unauthorised websites or retailers is dangerous as you simply do not know what you are getting.”