Did you know the most dangerous product in your home may be one you bought online in a few clicks — from a seller you have never heard of? On October 29, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall of about 11,000 HAIARA W5 PRO power banks sold on Amazon.com by Mitrytech (Recall No. 27-056). The lithium battery can explode and ignite. The seller had received about 600 reports of fires and other thermal incidents, including three burn injuries and nine incidents of property damage. The black units, marked “20W” on the front and “Model: W5 PRO” on the side, were sold from May 2025 through September 2026 for about $18 to $22. A recall alone does not prove liability in any individual case. It does raise a question Florida buyers ask more every year: when an online product hurts you, who is actually responsible?

The Seller on Your Receipt Is Rarely the Whole Story

A marketplace listing can involve many companies: the foreign manufacturer, the importer, the brand on the box, the third-party seller on the receipt, and a distributor. When the seller is overseas or disappears after a recall, a buyer may be told no one will answer for the harm. That is not always true.

Florida law looks at the chain of distribution. Responsibility can extend beyond the manufacturer to importers, distributors, and retailers that placed a defective product into commerce. Whether a marketplace platform itself is legally a “seller” is a contested, fact-specific question — which is why these cases need a prompt review of who made, imported, sold, and shipped your unit.

Three Defects — and You Do Not Have to Prove Carelessness

Florida generally recognizes three kinds of defects. A manufacturing defect means your one unit came out wrong — for example, a battery cell assembled with a flaw. A design defect means the whole line is unreasonably dangerous as designed. A failure-to-warn defect means the warnings did not fairly disclose a known risk, such as charging or storage dangers for a lithium battery.

Florida also applies strict liability in product cases: the focus is on the condition of the product, not only on proving the maker was careless. You still must prove the product was defective and caused your injury — a recall is evidence of a known danger, not proof in your own case.

If a Battery Product Burns You: Safety First, Evidence Second

Get medical care for any burn first, and call 911 if a device is smoking, swelling, hissing, or on fire — do not try to preserve evidence while a fire risk is active. Once everyone is safe, stop using and charging the product. For the HAIARA power banks, the recall directs consumers to contact Mitrytech for a full refund.

Preservation has a safety limit with lithium batteries. Do not keep a damaged unit loose in a bedroom or car. Photograph the product, labels, damage, and scene. Save the unit only if it can be stored safely and unaltered — outdoors in a fire-safe container, as fire or hazardous-waste officials advise — and get legal guidance before returning or destroying it. A refund for an $18 power bank is not compensation for burn care, lost work, or a damaged home.

Save the Digital Paper Trail

Save the order confirmation showing the seller and brand names, screenshots of the listing and any safety claims it made, packaging labels, and every message with the seller, marketplace, or recall administrator. Report the incident to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov. Do not delete the order history or photos of the injury and property damage, and do not sign a release or give a recorded statement before you understand what it covers.

Fault and Deadlines in Florida Product Cases

Defective-product claims are not medical malpractice. They follow Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule: your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault — for example, if you kept charging a visibly swollen battery after warnings — and barred entirely if you are found more than 50% at fault. How the product was used, charged, and stored can therefore become part of the case.

Two clocks run at once. Florida generally allows four years from the injury to file, and a statute of repose (Fla. Stat. § 95.031) generally bars a claim once 12 years have passed since the product was first delivered to a consumer — even if the injury was recent. Do not wait for a recall letter to have a claim reviewed.

What to Do If an Online Product Injured You

Get care, make the product safe, photograph everything, download the order record, and preserve what can be preserved safely before accepting a refund remedy. Then have the chain of distribution reviewed while the records are still available.

If you or a loved one was burned or otherwise seriously injured by a defective or recalled product bought online in Miami-Dade or Broward County, Tacher Law offers free consultations for defective product and other personal injury matters. Call +1 (305) 644-2211 or visit our contact page to discuss your situation.

Tacher Law, 16445 Collins Avenue, Suite 1625, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160.