Every travel adaptor bought from the biggest online marketplaces and sold to UK consumers failed basic safety tests – and some could deliver a fatal electric shock, campaigners have warned.
Electrical Safety First (ESF) tested 14 products purchased from AliExpress, Amazon Marketplace, eBay and TikTok Shop. All failed to meet UK safety requirements, the charity revealed, with some devices exposing users to “risk of serious electric shock or electrocution”.
“All 14 travel adaptors bought from online marketplaces failed safety tests, risking electric shock and fire.”
“What looks like a bargain could come at a much higher cost,” said Giuseppe Capanna, ESF product safety engineer, urging holidaymakers to “think before they buy” and stick to trusted retailers.
The investigation focused on six regular travel adaptors and eight universal adaptors suspected of posing safety concerns. Among the universal models, six out of eight allowed multiple sets of pins to be exposed simultaneously – a direct violation of UK rules, which mandate that only one set of pins can emerge at a time.
None of the eight universal adaptors met required dimensions or mechanical strength. During tests, some pins snapped off under force. ESF warned that anyone trying to remove a broken pin from a socket would be at risk of electric shock.
The six basic adaptors also raised fire safety alarms. They lacked safety shutters – the protective barriers that prevent contact with live internal parts – as well as missing fuses and oversized pin holes.
Online reviews suggested these faulty devices are already in consumers’ hands. On Amazon Marketplace, one user wrote that the adaptor “fell apart in their hands” and that they “could have been electrocuted” if it happened during use.
All four platforms said they had removed the flagged products from sale. “We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and our own policies,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “The products identified have been removed from sale.”
But with thousands of such adaptors potentially still in homes – and more heading to holiday suitcases this summer – Capanna warned that shoppers should buy from trusted retailers “so they can travel with confidence”. The Office for Product Safety and Standards has already issued alerts and ordered recalls for similar products, citing fire and shock risks.
