Dodgy USB chargers in the news

[king9017]

If you've read the news today, you will have heard about the NSW women who died from electrocution due to a dodgy USB charger. The person who sold her the charger face 2 years jail and $800K fine. I've noticed that the chargers pictured in the news today are currently available on eBay and many have been sold. Fair Trading has advised everyone not to buy or use these, and to dispose of them if you have them in your possession. I wonder what eBay will do about this?

Story:

http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/About_us/News_and_events/Media_releases/2014_media_releases/20...

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/faulty-usb-phone-charger-blamed-for-sheryl-aldeguers-death-20140627-zsoc8....

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/woman-found-dead-holding-laptop-in-apparent-electrocution-...

[cq_tech]

As the absolute majority of these lethal chargers are being privately imported by buyers on ebay and other on-line sites, maybe the responsibility for stopping them from entering the country should lie at the point of entry, with Australian Customs.

Anything without a C-tick should be arbitrarily confiscated and destroyed, and that would have the flow-on effect of preventing people from buying them on-line, knowing that they'll be stopped by Customs before they receive them.

The problem with ebay is that they'll just trot out the usual party line about only being a facilitator, and that it's the responsibility of the buyer to know what they can and cannot bring into the country. It really annoys me that Donohoe can sit back in the US, growing increasingly wealthier from Australians who are putting their lives on the line daily by buying lethal garbage from his cash-cow Australian site.

Maybe some of our own overpaid politicians should start earning their salaries by getting off their lazy backsides and doing something constructive about putting a stop to ebay's complicity in bringing these killer USB chargers into the country? And pigs might fly, too...

[padi*0409]

"searches in the sky for a flying pig".....................

Unfortunately flying politicians flying free are easier to spot cq.........................

Say no more................

[harley_babes_hoard]

How on earth do you expect ebay tell if they are dodgey or not? sellers are responsible for items they list not ebay. even you said you can't tell which ones are safe to use. Banning all of them from australia is not the answer.

[king9017]

Apple has a USB charger trade-in program where you get a discount on a genuine Apple charger if you trade-in your dodgy charger. They'll dispose of the dodgy charger for you.

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter-takeback/

[king9017]

A good diagram clarifying what happened to the young lady:

[putney32]

padi and harley.... in this particular case the lady did not buy it off ebay

it was bought from a booth seller in a suburban shopping center, and that booth has been closed and sealed off while police investigat.

there are indeed very very heavy fines on the owner / retailer in such cases.

[cq_tech]

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@king9017 wrote:

Apple has a USB charger trade-in program where you get a discount on a genuine Apple charger if you trade-in your dodgy charger. They'll dispose of the dodgy charger for you.

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter-takeback/

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Sometimes it really pays to read the small print. The special pricing on Apple USB power adapters is limited to one adapter for each iPhone, iPad, and iPod you own and is valid until October 18, 2013.

Also, if you check out the genuine Apple USB chargers at http://www.apple.com/power-adapters/ you'll note from the images that none of them have Australian-compliant insulated pins on them.

[ambridgebuckskins]

If you do happen to live in a house which doesn't have an ELCB fitted in the fuse box, do yourself a life-saving favour and pay an electrician around $150 to have one fitted. If it saves your life, or those of your children, it will definitely be money well spent. If you don't know whether you have one or not, then please go and check your fuse box now.

When the chap came to install the smart meter, he mentioned that my house didn't have one of those. Which he found baffling because a new fuse box had recently been fitted. He couldn't understand why the electrician didn't put one in.

The chap did it there and then.

Which goes to show that even with the regular visits from an electrician, you may not have one installed.

[cq_tech]

If the banning of non-approved or non-compliant USB chargers from Australia is not the answer, then maybe you have a better idea?

[cq_tech]

There you have the perfect example of why ELCBs should be made mandatory for all Australian residential properties regardless of when they were built. Good on your electrician for having the presence of mind to let you know, and good on you for allowing the fellow to install it.