Gizzu UPS almost burned down my entire house and put our lives at risk

Disgusting company with shady business practices.

I purchased a Gizzu GPS500 Lithium Ion battery station from Loot.co.za in March a day after the recall was announced (which I did not see). Loot made no attempt to stop the delivery of the faulty unit or to contact me to return it.

The unit was from a batch that was affected. Sadly, I found out too late.

A month after I bought the UPS, it suddenly exploded and caused a battery fire which destroyed my entire home office. Almost everything in that room was badly damaged, including building fixtures, furniture, computers and expensive personal belongings worth R280K altogether.

Smoke from the fire spread to the rest of the house and we had to claim building insurance to have the entire house repaired/ repainted.

A lawyer's Letter of Demand was sent to Loot and Syntech (the manufacturer of the faulty UPS) on 30 May to seek compensation for the damages. We provided photo and video evidence, a fire brigade report, eyewitness reports and all the information to prove that the cause of fire was indeed the UPS.

Loot ignored it completely. Syntech's only action was to submit a claim to their public liability insurer, who subsequently denied liability. They are putting all the blame to Loot, since Loot did not adhere to the recall and failed to inform me of the same.

Not a single apology, corrective action, or assistance to help replace the damaged items because "it was all our resellers fault. We knew nothing. Close the door behind you."

If this is the kind of company you want to deal with, it's entirely your choice. But don't say I didn't warn you when your life is turned upside town, while the ones responsible for your misfortune laughs at you in your face.