Amazon seller hasn't got the idea yet!

[silverfox1961]

This is a longish post but bear with me as it involves consumer safety and the fact that a few Chinese companies are trying to sell goods in the UK whilst supplying fake plugs and fuses.

 

I recently bought this item:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01NCMF1XJ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

On looking at the 'kettle lead' that came with it, the Earth pin is partially insulated when it should be solid with no insulation. On checking the fuse, it is also fake. These fake fuses have no sand within to absorb the shock when the fuse blows. For example.

http://tinyurl.com/j7oycpv

 

What follows is my email exchange with the seller.

 

ME:

Good morning,

I am contacting you due to an issue I have with the LED strip power lead. If you are the manufacturer then you need to take action. If you are the seller, you need to contact your manufacturer to ensure the problem is rectified.

The problem is the mains lead. It is a fake! This lead is what we in the UK call a Kettle Lead. UK regulations state that ONLY the Live and Neutral pins on the plug be half covered with insulation and the Earth pin must be solid with no insulation. On this plug, all three pins are half insulated. This must be rectified as soon as possible.

As well as the above problem, there is also an issue with the fuse. That too is fake. I will try and upload a picture of the fuse next to a genuine one. the fake fuse is smaller than the genuine one and weighs less that the genuine one which suggests that the fuse has no sand within to absorb the shock if the fuse blew. As well as that problem, a product that uses low power should never be fitted with a 13a fuse. A 3a or 5a is the most that should be fitted.

When I review this, I will be making people aware of this issue but I wanted to give you the right of reply first

 

Their first response:

Dear buyer,

Thank you for your email and sorry to her that.

But please noted that all the items are past the QC test, so please do not worry about. May i know whether the item is work or not?

Wait for your reply.

Not quite the answer I was expecting so I replied with:

This is not the reply I had hoped for so I will explain again.

It does not matter that the plug has passed QC checks in China. They mean nothing to the UK and the regulations that surround the plugs.

For a UK plug to be legal in this country, the Earth pin MUST NOT be half covered in plastic. It MUST be of solid construction. You, as the seller are responsible for ensuring the products you sell to the UK are compliant with the regulations. I suggest you contact the manufacturer to complain that they are making shoddy goods for you.

I would suggest you make sure that you and the manufacturer are aware of the legislation regarding supplying UK compliant plugs and fuses.

http://www.thehealthandsafetyconsultancy.co.uk/guides/plugsandsockets.asp

http://www.bs1363.org.uk/

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjV3u7wmdvRAhXqDcAKHeotBvkQFgghMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F294047%2F07-615-product-standards-electrical-equipment-plugs-sockets-guidance-notes.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFrYpu6GPlZ5sWfL6epA9xaywpBFw

On to the fuse. All UK compliant uses MUST be of the correct size and have sand within the fuse to absorb any shock should the fuse blow. These fuses are NOT UK compliant as they have fake fuses. They are smaller that a real fuse and they contain no sand. The following is a short video of what can happen when a fake plug with a fake fuse blows..

Unfortunately, I will now be reporting this issue to Amazon and I will be leaving a review stating that these plugs and fuses are fake.

I did contact Amazon expecting them to take action. All they did was to take the product away from their 'Fulfilled By Amazon' tag so as to distance themselves from sending out shoddy products.

 

 

Anyway, it has been over a week since my last email to the seller so I was surprised to find this in my inbox today and these are their word in full.

 

Thanks for your mail and sorry for any inconvenience caused. Sorry about that our item does not meet your satisfacftion, there is no problem for u to return it back to us for full refund.

 

But before that, is there any chance for u to send it to others as a present in the furture or keep it for other use? We prefer to offer 30% discount, just one kind of suggestion, pls. no offense.

 

Just think that it is convenient for you and can save the hassle and time to return it back. Because we based in China, the postage you sent back to us will be a little expensive. What do you think?

I just couldn't believe that any company could say the bit in red. Yes, sure, I will give it to someone else so that they have the problem of fake plugs and fuses instead of me.

The saying, "You couldn't make this up." is so apt in this situation. As it happens, I have a spare kettle lead so it doesn't matter to me one iota.

[unclebulgaria67]

I have ordered things like laptop adapters via Amazon before and have never been sure they have come from a UK company with product complying to relevant safety standards. They were cheap and lasted about a year. I don't have these anymore and would never buy any such product again that i could not be sure was safe to use.

 

Amazon must surely have some responsibility here and i would suggest you send an email to Trading Standards, with a copy to your local MP to take up with the relevant minister.

[silverfox1961]

In the post above is a link but for easy access

http://www.bs1363.org.uk/

 

It seems from that site that Amazon give promises then do nothing. Ebay do the same but to a lesser extent. Once notified, Ebay tend to remove the listing but don't ban the seller which then leads to another post being made selling the same thing.

 

I would recommend that people check whether the plug they are using is real or fake. With the fuses, there are two ways to test whether they are genuine or not. The first is to break it and see if there is any silica sand in which obviously defeats the object as the fuse is done with afterwards.

The second way is to weigh a genuine fuse and a fake fuse. Kitchen scales are no good for this as the fuses are very light so you would need scales that weigh in the micro gram scales. If you don't have those scales, you could always contact your local friendly drug dealer as they are bound to have some (JOKE)