cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/9485476

A new Which? investigation has found potentially lethal knock-off chargers still being sold on online marketplaces seven years after the consumer champion first exposed the danger they pose to UK consumers.

More than half of cheap charger bought from Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu and others fail safety checks or miss legally required product markings.

Archived version

Here is the link to the original study by the consumer group Which?

Cheap phone chargers sold on some of Britain’s biggest online marketplaces can explode, catch fire or electrocute users, according to safety tests by Which?.

An investigation by the consumer group found that nine out of fifteen USB phone chargers bought from retailers including Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, B&Q Marketplace and Debenhams Marketplace failed electrical safety tests. Some were found to contain lumps of modelling clay to make them feel more substantial.

Every charger tested was also found to be missing legally required information on its packaging, documentation or the product itself, meaning none could legally be sold in the UK.

The findings are likely to increase pressure on ministers to use new powers to force online marketplaces to take greater responsibility for the safety of products sold by third-party agents.

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The findings come despite repeated warnings about unsafe electrical products sold online. Which? first highlighted dangerous chargers on major marketplaces in 2019 and has since carried out a series of investigations into potentially hazardous products sold through third-party platforms.

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Which? is calling on the government to use powers contained in the Product Regulation and Metrology Act, which received royal assent last year, to impose explicit legal duties on online marketplaces to ensure products sold through their platforms are safe.

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The legislation allows ministers to introduce new requirements through secondary legislation but the government has yet to bring forward detailed rules. A consultation on potential changes was launched recently.

Consumer groups argue that the delay is allowing unsafe goods to continue reaching British households.

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Amazon said customer safety was a top priority and that it had removed the products highlighted by Which?. AliExpress said both identified products had been removed and affected customers would be informed of the risks. Debenhams said it had removed the listing and was contacting customers to offer refunds.

eBay said that all of the products identified in the investigation had already been removed through its existing safety processes before Which? shared its findings and pointed to measures that it said prevented 21 million potentially unsafe listings from appearing on the site last year.

Temu and Shein said they had removed or suspended the relevant listings while reviewing compliance with British labelling and documentation requirements.