Exploding Charger, what rights do I have?

[jsmith589]

Hi there,
A few months ago, a Canon charger I had bought from Ebay exploded close to my face with considerable force. It had not been modified or messed with by myself and was a matter of weeks old.
I immediately contacted the seller to explain what had happened and asked them to tell me what they intended to do about this serious incident. I got a very short response back in poor English. I discovered that the seller was not even based in this county and was in fact in China. - The response said that every charger he sends is electrically tested and it must have been a problem with my battery. The charger did not have a battery in it at the time of explosion so I doubt that this is the case. After repeatedly contacting him for a refund at the very least, my mails been ignored.
I have also contacted Ebay who have also ignored my correspondences.

I am furious that sellers like this are allowed to get away with selling such dangerous and fake items. I have tried contacting both the seller and Ebay and got nowhere. What other options do I have?
More than anything, I really want to see a stop in this kind of thing happening. These items are non-genuine and clearly not tested to our electrical standards. The explosion left me shaken and scared to go near plug sockets for a number of days for fear something else may explode. When the charger blew, it left two live cables hanging from the plug socket - extremely dangerous.

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I feel it is wrong to allow this sort of thing to continue. I have reported it to my trading standards and they advised me to try and deal with UK based sellers, which is all well and good but not always obvious on Ebay until you have committed to a purchase.

[bluebottle]

Re: Exploding Charger, what rights do I have?

Speak to a legal professional at your local Law Centre where you can obtain free legal advice. I would also contact Canon UK about the incident as, if this charger that blew up in your face is counterfeit, Canon will be keen to stop any further fakes getting onto the UK consumer market. You may need to go back to Trading Standards if Canon UK tell you the charger is a fake.

[valeriej43]

Re: Exploding Charger, what rights do I have?

If you paid by paypal contact them, i ordered something which i never got,the seller made excuses and said she thought her partner had sent it,this went on for a couple of weeks,but ebay did get involved eventiually and i got my money back from paypal
I know your situation is different, but paypal may refund your money, and ebay may ban the seller,
As bluebottle has suggested i wouls also contact canon, and trading standards, i am alway wary if i buy off ebay and try to see which country the sellers are in
As far as i know it does usually indicate where the stuff is coming from,i wouldnt buy anything from china,and i try not to buy anything MADE in China, because of the way they treat animals over there,which is a different story, but my reasons for boycotting Chinese stuff if possible

[bluebottle]

Re: Exploding Charger, what rights do I have?

I would be inclined to contact Canon UK first thing Monday morning. If Canon UK confirm the charger is a fake, eBay haven't really got much room to argue as it ain't gonna look good if it gets out they are allowing sellers to peddle fakes - and dangerous fakes at that - on eBay.