Smoke alarms for sale with online retailers fail safety test process

Four smoke alarms widely available online have completely failed to work when tested by a consumer group.

All four alarms, three of which carried a CE safety standards mark, failed to sound in every test conducted by Which? after the watchdog bought them on eBay and Wish.

All of the alarms were unbranded, made in China and sold through Chinese resellers. Two came with instructions that were not in English, meaning that the product cannot lawfully be sold in the UK.

Which? said it was “disturbing” that three of the alarms carried CE marks, which suggested to consumers they met all safety standards despite the testing suggesting they would be “useless” in a real fire and could put lives at risk.

In a snapshot study, the watchdog found the four alarms accounted for 171 of the cheapest 500 listings for smoke detectors on eBay.

On Wish, 28 out of 200 listings were for three of the alarms.

Ebay has now removed listings for the four alarms. Which? said it was passing its findings to the Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) as the latest example of the availability of unsafe products.

The group is calling on eBay and Wish to contact everyone who has purchased one of these products to alert them and to explain how they can get their money back.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “It’s extremely concerning that eBay and Wish are listing smoke alarms that simply do not work, which could put people’s lives at risk in the event of a fire. Anyone who has one of the products highlighted should stop using it immediately.”

Ebay said: “The listings flagged by Which? have been removed and the sellers informed. The safety of customers is our number one priority and we work closely with bodies such as Trading Standards to ensure listings sold on our marketplace comply with the law.”

Wish.com told Which?: “As a marketplace with more than two billion products, we look to our community to help us ensure that our products are up to the standard that customers expect.