One in six UK residents buy dodgy or fake electrical items; even though they’re at possible risk of the faulty products catching fire or even exploding.
A new investigation carried out by Electrical Safety First reveals that an estimated nine million UK shoppers purchase fake electrical product as a Christmas gifts.
Here’s two straighteners which look identical from the outside. The insides, however, tell a different story..
The majority of shoppers have been unable to tell the difference between the real electrical product and the fake one. A is the fake hair straightener.Electrical Safety First is warning the general public about the dangers of fake products catching fire or exploding. In this example, the black one is real, and the silver is fake.
Electrical Safety First found that some fake Nutribullets were capable of exploding (as shown above)
Electrical Safety First examined a selection of random popular electrical accessories such as chargers, headphones and adaptors, purchased through online marketplaces.
The investigation revealed that while many items appear to be genuine on the product page and even in appearance. Until internal examination, many were substandard and deemed dangerous.
Many people are unable to distinguish if an Apple charger is real or fakeHere’s an example of a faulty Apple plug. This looks real, right?
Wrong. It is indeed fake.
Here’s the damage a faulty plug could cause….
When asked to identify fake and genuine electrical products from images, the majority of UK consumers held difficulties differentiate them apart.
Shopper Mrs Didbin bought a Herstyler hair straightener through an online marketplace three years ago for a fraction of the advertised price in her local shopping centre.
She had no issues with the item until a few weeks ago – when she plugged the product in she heard a strange crackling noise coming from the plug before it burst into flames in her hands.
Mrs Didbin said: “It never occurred to me to check if it was genuine, as I presumed everything on Amazon is real, as Amazon is such a reputable online service.
“I picked it up but dropped it immediately when flames erupted from both sides. I luckily didn’t injure myself or get electrocuted as a result, but I was left with a tingling in my arm for about 20 minutes. Since this terrifying experience, I make sure I only buy electrical products from trusted retailers. Given what information I know now, I strongly expect the product was a fake. I would not buy online again”.We hope we’ve given you an insight into how you can identify faulty products and open your eyes to the possible risks they could pose.
If you’ve owned any products similar to the examples above and believe it’s faulty or/concerned about your safety; please contact us.
