Connector inside of light fitting?

[RrogerD]

Is there no earth conductor present in the supply cable ?
You indicated it's only 2 core ?
There is nothing about the fitting in your first pic that suggests it's double insulated ,class 2 fitting.

It is only 2-core.
Is 'double-insulated class 2' the legal requirement for the uk? I'm not an electrician. I have no knowledge of these things tbh. I just thought that I would buy from the internet, piece it together, wire in and then I'd be good to go. I didn't realise it was going to be this much of a b*ll ache

 

[pcaouolte]

Oh dear, now this does worry me. The pics in my initial post are the unit with me having put it all together. It came in a small box with all of the items wrapped in plastic. There are no assemble instructions. The 'Product Use Manual' is very generic and doesn't relate to this item tbh. It does show a CE mark on the 'manual' but no numbers or BS standard etc.

Where do I go from here?

It was paid for direct by credit card. Although as always with these things they tend to go through a 3rd party payment system like worldpay etc.

Contact your credit card provider to get your money back, lots of information here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...our-money-back-if-you-paid-by-card-or-paypal/

 

[RrogerD]

Contact your credit card provider to get your money back, lots of information here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...our-money-back-if-you-paid-by-card-or-paypal/

Thanks.
I think I'll be calling Trading Standards later this morning to find out where I stand. Assuming it is proven to be unsafe for use then I should have a good case. Looking at their Return Policy, it is written as making it near impossible to return an item without losing out ("original, undamaged packaging"; "less cost of return postage" etc)

 

[Rodders53]

The wires are very thin, more like headphone wire thickness.

On the 6-legged one your first photo shows the cables have some maker marks/spec type approvals and " 2 x 0.75 mm2" which is a good cross sectional area size for luminaires (6A rated I believe).

 

[RrogerD]

On the 6-legged one your first photo shows the cables have some maker marks/spec type approvals and " 2 x 0.75 mm2" which is a good cross sectional area size for luminaires (6A rated I believe).

Ah, well spotted, thanks.

 

[flameport]

Assuming it is proven to be unsafe for use

Doesn't matter whether its safe or not, or whether anyone proves that.
It's been supplied with no instructions and no CE / UKCA marking. That's enough to make it illegal.
Then there is the matter of no returns policy / illegal returns policy, no proper contact details and so on.

Is 'double-insulated class 2' the legal requirement for the uk?

No. Can be Class I, II or III.
However the product must be suitably marked as such and provided with instructions on how to install and use it to ensure that whatever safety features it has are properly maintained.

paid for direct by credit card

It cost ~£200.

Section 75 claim via your credit card provider.

 

[aesmith]

I've just purchased a couple of light fittings, direct from China.

Thanks

I believe if it's shipped direct from outside the UK, then legally the purchaser is the importer. The company paid, are they UK based or are they also overseas?

 

[flameport]

Company details on this page of the website: https://www.lightingo.co.uk/content/7-terms-of-use as an image of text at the bottom of the page.
UK phone number at the bottom right of most pages.
It's a rather unusual company in that its limited by shares, but hasn't issued any shares, has no shareholders and therefore no one in control of it.

I believe if it's shipped direct from outside the UK, then legally the purchaser is the importer.

True if you buy items from a vendor in China and they send them to you.

Not if you buy items from a UK vendor who then has them imported - your contract is with the UK vendor, the UK vendor is the importer, and also the UK/EU representative of the manufacturer and as such, responsible for the product complying with the appropriate directives.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Looking at the website, there is one mention of a parent company in the 'Terms of Use' section:

Coobuy is listed at Companies House:

COOBUY LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

COOBUY LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

(Although it's finances are suspiciously minimal!)

Unfortunately Coobuy seems to be linked to a number of other poorly regarded websites:

Coobuy limited | De-Reviews

de-reviews.com

Of course, you can't believe everything you find on the web, but there are some posts that suggest scam activities:

There are also a couple of reviews listed on 192.COM - not the most complementary:

So, as has been suggested, this seems to be a company to be very wary of.
They could be just drop-shippers, or a dodgy shell company.

Having said all that, and playing devils advocate, the OP's light fitting doesn't look too bad.
I have dealt with some dodgy direct from China imports, that really did use bell wire and plugs with sheathed earth pins.
The OP's fitting appears to have decent wiring and standard bulb holders.
The risks of using it as a ceiling lamp, would likely be minimal.
Flameport is completely correct, this should never have been sold; but, whether you use it or not may depend on how much you can be bothered to fight.

 

[RrogerD]

Looking at the website, there is one mention of a parent company in the 'Terms of Use' section:

View attachment 290565
Coobuy is listed at Companies House:

COOBUY LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

COOBUY LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

(Although it's finances are suspiciously minimal!)

Unfortunately Coobuy seems to be linked to a number of other poorly regarded websites:

Coobuy limited | De-Reviews

de-reviews.com

Of course, you can't believe everything you find on the web, but there are some posts that suggest scam activities:

View attachment 290567

There are also a couple of reviews listed on 192.COM - not the most complementary:
View attachment 290568

So, as has been suggested, this seems to be a company to be very wary of.
They could be just drop-shippers, or a dodgy shell company.

Having said all that, and playing devils advocate, the OP's light fitting doesn't look too bad.
I have dealt with some dodgy direct from China imports, that really did use bell wire and plugs with sheathed earth pins.
The OP's fitting appears to have decent wiring and standard bulb holders.
The risks of using it as a ceiling lamp, would likely be minimal.
Flameport is completely correct, this should never have been sold; but, whether you use it or not may depend on how much you can be bothered to fight.

Thank you very much for your investigations.
I've written an email this morning to Trading Standards although, being a uk based company it appears to go just to Citizens Advice. I've sent copies of all invoice, packaging, instructions etc. We'll see what comes of it but I shan't hold my breath.

Is there anyone else that I should be sending it to?

In the meantime, I think that I'll hold-off using the fittings. Everything's great,assuming it is, until the proverbial happens and then I find that I'm not covered by my house insurance or similar because the item was not uk safety approved etc.

What a nightmare!

 

[opps]

Thanks.
I think I'll be calling Trading Standards later this morning to find out where I stand. Assuming it is proven to be unsafe for use then I should have a good case. Looking at their Return Policy, it is written as making it near impossible to return an item without losing out ("original, undamaged packaging"; "less cost of return postage" etc)

It is no longer your problem once you contact your credit card company.

That said, I hope that you complain to trading standards and possibly to the ICO- the site is not GDPR compliant.

Additionally complain to NOMINET- their domain name records only show the name of the registrar. By law, companies are required to provide their full details rather than hiding behind a registrar.

I have also noticed that every product page shows the same CE/ROHS cert.

Their site is hosted on Blue Host servers- unfortunately, as an American provider it may be difficult to convince them to pull the plug, that said, the site is likely to be in breach of the T&C's

Out of interest, what name appeared on your credit card bill? AFAIK, if the credit card company wants, it can contact the payment gateway and ask for the retailer to be black listed.

Best of luck.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Additionally complain to NOMINET- their domain name records only show the name of the registrar. By law, companies are required to provide their full details rather than hiding behind a registrar.

That's interesting. A few of the scam websites I have seen lately are using "WitheldforPrivacy" as the registrant:

Withheld for Privacy

Protect your customer’s data with our privacy protection service

withheldforprivacy.com

I guess, these guys aren't interested in that extra cost!

 

[RandomGrinch]

What a nightmare!

Don't beat yourself up over this.
Everything is designed to look so legitimate on the surface.

The situation is partly our fault! Sorry!
Just think, if you hadn't have asked a perfectly innocent question on a DIY forum, the fitting would have been installed without a second thought and no-one would have been the wiser...

...it's even possible that the light fitting is a perfectly legitimate product - the con being, that this outfit has had it shipped directly to you, from the OEM, bypassing all the usual regulatory safeguards; vastly reducing their costs.

 

[opps]

Their address is

Victoria Street 2 Victoria Square
AL1 3TF
St Albans
United Kingdom

According to their Trust Pilot page- I suspect that is nothing more than the modern equivalent of a PO box- there are hundreds of other firms listed at that address.

LightingO is rated "Great" with 4 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with LightingO's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 235 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

Someone, just left the following review

A website that claims to be be British and yet does not publish their address on their site (a legal requirement).

A website that does not publish their address on the Nominet Whois is (again, another legal requirement).

A company that has lots of 5 star reviews from people that have never reviewed any other companies. Strange given that the company website doesn't even link to TrustPilot.

I had never heard of the company until coming across a mention of them on diynot dot com. (see: Connector inside of light fitting?)

The light fitting does not look to be legal (in the UK/EU) and every one of their products online seems to display the same CE/ROHS certificate.

I have never purchased from them, but unless they are able to provide a valid response, I will not.

I do not doubt that they will complain to Trust Pilot about this post. I hope that Trust Pilot take the time to read my post. It will take seconds to verify that my post is truthful.

I have serious doubts about Lightin0, I hope that I can continue to trust Trust Pilot

Looking at their replies to complaints, from those that I saw, they seem to consist of "but we sent you a gazillion emails"

They currently have about 65% 5 star reviews and the rest are 1 star reviews.

One person complained that she was advised that she had to ship the faulty item back to China

LightingO is rated "Great" with 4 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with LightingO's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 235 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

I suspect that they based in China- It would help if the OP mentioned who received the online payment.

 

[pcaouolte]

The parent company of Coobuy Ltd is listed as DFENG LIMITED which is a company registered in Hong Kong.