Earlier this week, a judge in Tennessee ruled that Amazon isn’t liable for damages caused by a hoverboard that spontaneously exploded and burned down a family’s house, even though they bought it on Amazon’s website. “The plaintiff claimed that Amazon didn’t properly warn her about the dangers they knew existed with the product, but the judge didn’t agree,” reports CNBC. At the time, hoverboards were all the rage; Amazon sold almost 250,000 of them over a 30-day period. The plaintiff claims the company had an obligation to warn customers properly about the dangers it knew existed. “[The plaintiff] bought the hoverboard on Amazon, the receipt came from Amazon, the box had an Amazon label and all the money was in Amazon’s hands,” adds CNBC. “[The plaintiff] has been unable to find the Chinese manufacturer of the device.” From the report: It’s the latest legal victory for Amazon, which has for years fended off litigation related to product quality and safety by arguing that, for a big and growing part of its business, it’s just a marketplace. There are buyers on one end and sellers on the other — the argument goes — and Amazon connects them through a popular portal, facilitating the transaction with a sophisticated logistics system. The courts are reinforcing the power of Amazon’s business model as the ultimate middleman. But for American consumers, there’s growing cause for concern. […] But if Amazon isn’t liable when faulty products sold through its website cause personal injuries and property damage, customers are often left with no recourse. That’s because it’s frequently impossible for consumers to figure out who manufactured the defective product and hold that party responsible.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot