Dodgy plugs leave SA consumers exposed

Potentially lethal multi-plug adaptors, pulled off shelves eight months ago, continue to be used in SA , putting consumers at risk of electric shock.

And all because those accountable to consumers - including the country's regulatory authority, electrical suppliers and retailers - never bothered to mention the recall of thousands of substandard multi-plugs and extension cord units.

An undisclosed national recall in March this year, prompted by the National Regulator on Compulsory Specifications (NCRS), came to light only last week after the Sunday Times was alerted to a small recall notice placed in a daily newspaper.

The advert, placed by multi-plug importer SGA Trading last Tuesday, announced the recall of some 38000 multi-plugs which allow a standard three-pin plug to be inserted incorrectly into a socket, leaving a live pin exposed.

The flawed plugs were removed from stores in March and redesigned. Unfortunately the redesign sparked another recall last month after it caused a new safety breach in some; if a plug is turned 180 degrees, it leaves the earth pin exposed.

Woolworths, which started selling SGA plugs under its own brand five weeks ago, removed implicated stock last week only after I alerted it to the recall. The retailer, which followed up with a customer notice last Friday, is investigating why it wasn't notified. Massmart published detailed notices in newspapers across the country on Thursday, eight months after it pulled a whole range of substandard multi-plugs brands off shelf.

Massmart stopped stocking SGA products following the March recall when these plugs, as well as six other brands, including Ellies, Yodata and Reelco, were fingered for non-compliance.

So why weren't Makro and Builder's Warehouse customers who'd already bought these dodgy plugs warned at the time? And what about Game customers, affected by the second, more recent recall?

Said Massmart's Brian Leroni: "Quite frankly we did nothing ... you've prompted us to ask why we didn't do it. We will now initiate a customer recall."

The retailer wasn't alone in this oversight. Hi-Fi Corporation, affected by the original recall, also kept quiet. As did Pick n Pay, although it apologised and on Thursday issued a recall notice for customers.

Electrical engineer and publisher Chris Yelland, who alerted retailers and the NRCS to the flaws in March, is appalled at the lack of proactive action taken by retailers. And what of the regulator's responsibility to protect consumers? Why has it remained silent?

NRCS communications manager Mirriam Moswaane said the regulator had "intrusted (sic)" SGA to alert consumers.

"From that time when the non-compliance was discovered, retailers and distributers were sanctioned, meaning that consumers could not have been exposed to these products so it is not correct to suggest that we sat and did nothing."

Moswaane's response ignores the issue of those already sold. I pointed this out only to be told that her "final comment" was that the regulator had had to wait for a "process" to be completed first, allowing the problem to be rectified. "When we weren't happy with that process, we instructed SGA to publish a recall notice," she said.

Although Moswaane - whose salary you and I pay - would not disclose the names of other brands with non-compliant products, importer Yodata confirmed its products were deemed non-compliant in March and again last month, after which it was told by the regulator to prepare a public recall notice. This has yet to be published.

So how did these plugs end up being sold in the first place?

"We do not do pre-market approval ... these products were not brought to us to check against compliance before they were put in the market," she said.

However, importers had to obtain a safety test report confirming compliance, Moswaane said, and produce them during NRCS inspections.

Besides being after the fact, SGA's recall notice was run in various regional papers for one day only. At least one of them was buried in the classified section alongside escort ads - hardly a page scoured by the average consumer.

The ad was low on detail and provided no helpline number.

Another offender, Ellies, did issue a recall notice in March but did so in a niche trade magazine. Very useful.

What is it with suppliers who place recall ads? They show reluctance to be open and transparent; instead resorting to subterfuge (or so it would appear) by hiding their ads, not describing the recalled product clearly and avoiding detail.

SGA Trading owner Steve Ackhurst said at the time of sale, all his products had been tested by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and passed. On the delay in telling consumers, he said the NRCS had "advised us on what to do".

And SABS's role in all this? I couldn't get anything official but one supplier told me there had been a "misinterpretation" of the standard. Clearly, it's a gamble to rely on third parties to protect your interests timeously, if at all.

Consumers must check their multi-plugs at home and work. If a plug allows incorrect insertion, take it back to the retailer for a refund or replacement. And whatever multi-plug you buy in future, check the design.

The sad reality of today's dog-eat-dog world is that often the only person watching out for you is you.

Ackhurst asked me not to kill his business. The NCRS told me the "idea is not to kill industry".

What happened to not killing the consumer?

Sunday smile

At kulula.com for having a reader's luggage couriered to her holiday destination after she mistakenly collected another passenger's bag when she arrived in Durban from Johannesburg last month. Great service from a low-budget airline.

Sunday snarl

At Woolworths, Adderley Street, Cape Town, for playing music in the shop, just like all other "tatty" stores that think customers should be entertained while they shop. "Somehow, one expected better from Woolies," commented a reader from Fish Hoek.