If you’ve got an AmazonBasics portable battery pack, pay attention. Some of those babies are getting hotter than the curry you ordered after six pints down the Dog & Duck, and Amazon wants them back. So, which Amazon portable battery packs are being recalled?
According to a safety notice posted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been 53 cases of these batteries overheating in the US. One reported “chemical burns due to contact with battery acid”, while another four reported “property damage, including fire and smoke damage”.
The power banks, commonly used to top up mobile phones and tablets, have a product ID printed on the back of the unit. The following product ID numbers are being recalled:
- B00LRK8EVO
- B00LRK8HJ8
- B00LRK8I7O
- B00LRK8IV0
- B00LRK8JDC
- B00ZQ4JQAA
Given that Amazon knows exactly which customers it’s sold the devices to, it’s highly likely the company will be contacting customers directly to arrange replacements or refunds. If there’s one thing Amazon is hot on (pun absolutely intended), it’s customer service.
Although they are branded AmazonBasics, Amazon doesn’t actually make the battery packs itself. They’re made by the Guoguang Electric Company in China. I imagine someone there is having a bad day.
Although the recall has been announced in the US and Canada, the BBC reports that an unknown number of UK customers have been sold the faulty units. More than a quarter of a million of the devices have been sold in the US alone.
AmazonBasics is the retailer’s cheap and cheerful brand, which often offers IT equipment at a fraction of the price of branded equivalents.
Amazon is by no means the first company to suffer problems with overheating batteries. The volatile nature of lithium-ion cells has made battery recalls almost a way of life in the tech industry.
Now read this: AmazonBasics DSLR and Laptop Backpack review: too basic or a bargain?
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