Mega-retailer Amazon now liable for hazardous products sold on its site, including faulty e-bike batteries

Online retail giant Amazon stocks thousands of products that appeal to cyclists, from affordable cycling apparel to commonly used sports nutrition and even complete bicycles. 

However, among the thousands of products, there can be a handful of duds or even downright unsafe ones.

In 2021, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) filed an administrative complaint against Amazon, stating that specific products sold by Amazon may be defective and could cause injury or even death. The complaint asserted that Amazon is legally responsible for recalling such products.

Under the Consumer Product Safety Act, manufacturers, distributors, or retails must warn customers about the risks and provide remedies to remove the faulty or risky products from homes and the marketplace.

The products named in the complaint included 24,000 faulty carbon monoxide detectors, 400,000 hair dryers sold without key water-immersion protection devices, and children’s sleepwear garments that violated flammable fabric safety standards.

Recently, Amazon was listed as one retailer selling dangerous e-bike batteries. The CPSC issued a warning but was unable to coordinate with the battery manufacturer for a formal recall.

Amazon argued that it was not acting as a “distributor” of the hazardous items and, therefore, was not liable for notifying or protecting the public.

Three years later, the Administrative Law Judge ruled that Amazon is indeed a distributor, and the CPSC voted unanimously in agreement. As a result, Amazon must now create and submit plans to notify consumers and the public about product hazards and provide refunds or replacements for faulty or risky products. The CPSC will ultimately decide if the plans are sufficient for consumer protection and notification. 

With concerns over e-bike battery safety ever-present, this ruling may offer greater comfort to those who buy e-bikes or e-bike batteries from Amazon and are concerned about whether or not the products are safe for consumers.

Additionally, there have been numerous online complaints about counterfeit bike products on Amazon in recent history - the complaints mention everything from bike chains to bike cleats. This new ruling could protect cyclists from faulty or dangerous bike products trying to pass as the real, vetted thing. 

The public must now wait on Amazon to provide drafts of its plans to notify consumers about dangerous or faulty products as well as ways to return them for a refund, but this is a step in the right direction for cyclists who rely on safe, legitimate equipment to get them from Point A to Point B by bike.