Philips - no need to sell a plug with electrical items in the UK?!?!

leaston

Hi,

I just purchased a men's grooming kit from Asda. It's a Philips QG3040 and costs £19. When I got it home, I found the charger only has a 2 pronged plug on it. So, I just rang Philips customer care and explained that as I'm in the UK, it's not much use.

The response I got (obviously from a script) was:
We aren't required by European law to sell any product in the UK with anything other than a 2 pronged plug. There's nothing we can do about it!

I explained that this isn't mentioned on the packaging and that I shouldn't expect to have to go and buy an adapter just to use the shaver. The woman (Carrie) who I spoke to just kept talking over me with the line quoted above. I ended up saying that far as I'm concerned the product isn't as described and is not fit for purpose as I cannot plug it in. She just read the script again and wouldn't budge.

So, who's in the right? Are electrical products ok to sell in the UK with only a 2 pronged plug? Doesn't it have to state that on the packaging?

Asda are going to refund me when I go back to the store, but I'm steaming at the moment after talking to Philips. I won't be buying anything else made by them! :mad:

Cheers,
Leaston

djb215

Are you sure it's not a shaver plug? You know the shaver points in the bathroom, 240V/110V?

Tozer

djb215 wrote: »

Are you sure it's not a shaver plug? You know the shaver points in the bathroom, 240V/110V?

Definitely will be! All stuff like this is sold with 2-pronged shaver plugs.

An adapter will cost you something like £2...

Ephemera

leaston wrote: »

Hi,

I just purchased a men's grooming kit from Asda. It's a Philips QG3040 and costs £19. When I got it home, I found the charger only has a 2 pronged plug on it. So, I just rang Philips customer care and explained that as I'm in the UK, it's not much use.

The response I got (obviously from a script) was:
We aren't required by European law to sell any product in the UK with anything other than a 2 pronged plug. There's nothing we can do about it!

I explained that this isn't mentioned on the packaging and that I shouldn't expect to have to go and buy an adapter just to use the shaver. The woman (Carrie) who I spoke to just kept talking over me with the line quoted above. I ended up saying that far as I'm concerned the product isn't as described and is not fit for purpose as I cannot plug it in. She just read the script again and wouldn't budge.

So, who's in the right? Are electrical products ok to sell in the UK with only a 2 pronged plug? Doesn't it have to state that on the packaging?

Asda are going to refund me when I go back to the store, but I'm steaming at the moment after talking to Philips. I won't be buying anything else made by them! :mad:

Cheers,
Leaston

I'm guessing you've never bought a shaver or a rechargeable toothbrush?

You can buy a shaver adapter from most big electrical retailers, you might be able to get them in Boots...

It is frustrating but the reason for it is so you can use them at the shaver points in your bathroom... as a grooming kit I would imagine that's where you'd be mostly using it...

pinkshoes

As above, it's not a European 2 prong plug, it'll be a shaver point plug, which comes with all electrical "grooming" products like electric toothbrushes, shavers etc...

leaston

It is a shaver plug. Philips did admit on the phone that the packaging states that an electrical charger is included, but it doesn't say that it requires either a shaver socket or adapter. They said this will be changed.

Wildcat_SEO

Some supermarkets have the adapter plugs near or next to bathroom items that require them.

stugib

This is what you need - guess a shaver plug is an acceptable exclusion without looking up the relevant bit:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/sustainability/regulations/ecdirect/page12568.html

I had the same problem with some excercise equipment I bought from Decathlon - they sent me a conversion plug as I'd apparently been unlucky enough to pick up a rare box where they hadn't included one :rolleyes:

Tozer

stugib wrote: »

This is what you need - guess a shaver plug is an acceptable exclusion without looking up the relevant bit:

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/sustainability/regulations/ecdirect/page12568.html

I had the same problem with some excercise equipment I bought from Decathlon - they sent me a conversion plug as I'd apparently been unlucky enough to pick up a rare box where they hadn't included one :rolleyes:

Its not the same though is it.

This is not a grey import issue but a normal bathroom product sold with the normal bathroom plug.

stugib

Tozer wrote: »

Its not the same though is it.

This is not a grey import issue but a normal bathroom product sold with the normal bathroom plug.

Written in a hurry. What I meant was: I found this link when I bought a product with an EU plug, but items with a shaver plug probably comes under the exceptions from items that need to do so.

baldelectrician

If it is a normal bathroom product then a 2 pin plug is normal- how may bathroom shaver sockets do you see that are 3 pin?

It is now permitted to have a 3 pin socket in a bathroom (new wiring regs) 3m horizontally from the bath.