Christmas lights sold to Great Britain customer and now they don't work

[lindasbestbuyz]

I sold light sets to a customer in Great Britain.  They were fully functional here in the US and the pictures show as much.

The customer purchased an adapter in GB and plugged them in today and she is complaining they don't work.  I found some info online that the adapter can't just adapt the outlet, but the voltage has to dial down to 115V or they will burn out in 2 minutes.  

What is my responsibility to this customer.? I have tried to find a solution to her issue, but I think this is beyond her capability to get these to work.  I have no guarantee either that she damaged them by plugging into too high a voltage.  I do not want to pay all the shipping to get these back to the US.  

Thoughts please?

Linda

[myoasisjewels]

an EU adapter just makes it so that the plug will fit in the outlet in the wall.... that is all it does. your customer would need an additional appliance that converts the 220V down to 110V.... otherwise it will fry instantly. anybody knows that much..... so if the customer admits in writing to have simply plugged this into their 200V outlet, then they have clearly caused the damage due to their own neglect (given that it 110V is stated on your item).

[tellmemama]

This is no reflection on you as a seller but unless there is something really special about them, why on earth would anyone buy something as easily available as Christmas lights from anywhere other than their home country?  Yes, I know there is such a thing as a converter but I certainly wouldn't buy a hairdryer from Yugoslavia when I can find one right here ready to go out of the box.  Without having to pay the extra expense for a converter to make it work or the extra cost in shipping.

It just seems...odd.

<edit:spelling>

[kensgiftshop]

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@lindasbestbuyz wrote:

I sold light sets to a customer in Great Britain.  They were fully functional here in the US and the pictures show as much.

The customer purchased an adapter in GB and plugged them in today and she is complaining they don't work.  I found some info online that the adapter can't just adapt the outlet, but the voltage has to dial down to 115V or they will burn out in 2 minutes.  

What is my responsibility to this customer.? I have tried to find a solution to her issue, but I think this is beyond her capability to get these to work.  I have no guarantee either that she damaged them by plugging into too high a voltage.  I do not want to pay all the shipping to get these back to the US.  

Thoughts please?

Linda

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I looked at one of the listings, and there was nothing mentioned about the voltage or needing an adapter if you are in another country.

If buyer files an INAD, you won't have much choice but paying to have them returned or just refund.

[pink.fish.rule]

While a seller would be wise to include that info in the listing one also wonders just how MUCH buyer hand holding we're supposed to do.

The onus is on the buyer to know about different voltages between countries fgs.

[ittybitnot]

The onus is on the buyer to know about different voltages between countries fgs.

The sad part is that THIS IS EBAY.  Even if the buyer fried the lights it doesn't matter once the SNAD button is chosen for a return.

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

Are these the Snowflake Lights for $30 + $40 international shipping?

They are unusual and I can see why someone might be taken with them.

But one of the pictures is of the plug-- that should have been a clue.

However, rather than pay to have them returned, I'd suggest offering to refund just the selling price (no shipping either way) and then Blocked Bidder List.

It would probably also be a good idea in future to only list plug in items for shipping to countries where the voltage matches the USA-- which is only Canada to my knowledge.

[lindasbestbuyz]

This is a link to one of the 3 listings of lights.  They are vintage from 1995.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264541439825 

[lindasbestbuyz]

This is really good information. Yes, the cord tags state the UL voltage.

[a_c_green]

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@lindasbestbuyz wrote:

The customer purchased an adapter in GB and plugged them in today and she is complaining they don't work.  I found some info online that the adapter can't just adapt the outlet, but the voltage has to dial down to 115V or they will burn out in 2 minutes. 

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Two minutes? If you shot 220V through that 120V light set, you'd get maybe two seconds of really bright light before they blew out, accompanied by little screaming noises from each tiny bulb. 

This underscores the difference between a plug adapter and a voltage converter. The former won't lower the voltage; the latter will. Unfortunately the buyer seems to have used only a plug adapter, with predictable results. 

Both adapters and converters are widely available, but the buyer has to know the difference between the two. It probably doesn't help that modern power supplies commonly provided with laptops are capable of handling the entire range of 110V through 230V or so (e.g. Hewlett-Packard) automatically, and if a plug adapter is just fine for a U.S. laptop, you'd think it could certainly handle a U.S. Christmas light set, but it won't.

[2015mhfashions]

EU adapter will not work in the UK, all wall outlets in the UK have a large 3 pin plug that operates at 230v, so not only would the plug not fit the voltage would fry the lights. It is possible to obtain a UK to US adapter but the voltage would be a problem.