Are the Electronics You’ve Bought Online Safe? | Don’t Be Electricked

Don’t Be Electricked – Are the Electronics You’ve Bought Online Safe? | AD

Lots of people now choose to do the majority of their shopping online, whether they’re shopping for clothes, entertainment, food or electrical goods. Everything is easily available online and the low price tags of some of the things that you can order on the internet are very attractive but the products are not always safe.

The problem with shopping for some types of products from online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Wish is that they are not bound to the same laws as traditional retailers. This means that there are many electrical products being sold each year that are unsafe for their intended use.

There has been an increase in the number of fake electrical products sold to shoppers in the UK and these products can be so hard to spot. They often look just like the genuine products on the outside but often contain faulty or sub-standard components that can overheat, cause fires and even delivery fatal electrical shocks.

It’s a very dangerous problem and it’s important that buyers are careful when shopping for electrical goods online. Shop directly from trusted manufacturers and suppliers and be aware of warning signs such as the seller not providing any contact details, prices that look too good to be true and reviews that look fake. Avoid buying electrical goods from unregulated, third-party sellers as these could be dangerous.

Electrical Safety First is a charity organisation who are campaigning around the safety of electrical items bought online. The campaign is called #DontBeElectricked and has the aim to reduce deaths and injury caused by dodgy electrical items with their petition to stop the sale of dangerous electrical goods on online marketplaces. Click the link to sign the petition to help change the law so that online marketplaces will have to follow the same safety regulations as other UK retailers, so that electrical goods sold on their sites by third party sellers are safe for use and to ensure that any electrical products that have been reported as unsafe are removed from the site within 24 hours. Customers shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of electronics they’ve bought online. Together we can make a difference!

I have had a few personal experiences of dodgy electrical items that I purchased online. I bought some fairy lights from eBay to decorate with for Christmas a few years ago and it was soon apparent that they were not safe to use – they overheated and started smelling funny which made me very concerned that they were going to melt or set on fire. I’m so glad that we had never left them unattended before noticing this. I have also had a bad experience with a phone charger purchased online that would get so hot when plugged in that the plug-in bit of the cable burnt my fingers when I unplugged it. Last, but not least, my family also had a bad festive experience with a faulty microwave that nearly ruined Christmas as it overloaded the electrical circuit and caused a power cut right when it was time to serve up the festive meal…

Luckily no one got hurt! These experiences have made me very vary when buying electrical goods. I am now very careful when buying anything electrical and will only choose retailers and brands that I trust to be safe.

Please join the #DontBeElectricked campaign and sign the petition to demand action against the unlawful sale of dangerous electrical goods!

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