Every single travel adaptor tested by UK safety group failed basic checks, worth reading before your next trip

[Wardlow86]

Electrical Safety First bought 14 travel adaptors from AliExpress, Amazon Marketplace, eBay and TikTok Shop, sent them off for proper lab testing, and every single one failed to meet UK safety requirements, in some cases badly enough that the group says users could be exposed to a real risk of electric shock or even electrocution

The specific failure that stood out most was on the universal style adaptors, in six out of eight tested more than one set of plug pins could be exposed and live at the same time while the adaptor was plugged in, which is exactly the kind of design flaw that turns a convenience gadget into a genuine hazard rather than a minor quality issue

The basic adaptors had their own separate problems, missing safety shutters that are supposed to stop anyone touching live internal parts, missing fuses entirely, and oversized pin holes that do not match proper British plug dimensions, and one Amazon reviewer quoted in the coverage said their unit literally fell apart in their hands and they realised they could have been electrocuted if it had happened mid use

All four platforms said they removed the specific products flagged and treat safety as a priority, AliExpress specifically said it is reviewing every universal adaptor listing that shows all plug pins extended simultaneously and will restrict that unsafe design until sellers fix it, which is a reasonably concrete response compared to the usual vague statement

Electrical Safety First's engineer put it plainly, what looks like a bargain travel adaptor can come at a much higher cost, and the group's broader complaint is that shopping in the UK is currently far too easy to do dangerously through third party marketplace sellers, they want government action rather than just relying on platforms to self police after the fact

UK warning over dangerous travel adaptors - 3 things to watch out forwww.bbc.co.uk

[PlanckLimit81]

14 out of 14 failing is a damning result, that is not a few bad apples that is an entire product category being unsafe by default on these marketplaces

[Arty Kayla]

The dual live pins on universal adaptors is the detail that actually worries me, that is not a manufacturing defect that is a fundamental design choice someone made to seem more convenient

[Squid81]

AliExpress's response of reviewing that exact design flaw across listings is at least specific and actionable, better than the usual we take safety seriously statement with no concrete follow through

[Taker04]

Cheap universal adaptors marketed as one for every country were always going to cut corners somewhere, if it seems too good to be true for three pounds it usually is

[Hydra47]

The reviewer whose adaptor fell apart in their hands is exactly the kind of real world consequence these lab test numbers are trying to warn people about before it becomes a news story about an actual injury

[BetaMyles75]

Genuinely wonder how much enforcement power these platforms actually have against sellers based overseas who just relist the same unsafe product under a slightly different name after getting pulled

[Patrick93]

That whack a mole problem is precisely why the safety group wants government intervention rather than platform self policing, relisting under a new name takes minutes and enforcement clearly cannot keep pace with that alone