Amazon Cracks Down on Sales of Shoddy USB-C Cables
Amazon Cracks Down on Sales of Shoddy USB-C Cables
Following some bad press, Amazon is now cracking down on sales of shoddy USB-C cables.
According to the company’s listings restrictions, any USB-C or USB Type-C cable or adapter not compliant with standards specifications issued by the USB Implementers Forum Inc. is prohibited from sale on Amazon.
The move comes after Google engineer Benson Leung took it upon himself to review USB-C cables found on Amazon, many of which he considered shoddy or dangerous. For example, he posted a one-star review of Surjtech’s 3M USB A-to-C cable, which he said caused serious damage to his laptop.
“On my [Chromebook] Pixel [2015], both USB Type-C ports stopped responding immediately,” he wrote at the time. “Neither would charge or act as a host when I plugged in a USB device such as an ethernet adapter.”
The culprit, according to Leung, was a miswired cable; the accessory was not actually a USB 3.1 cord, despite a blue connector on the A side and SuperSpeed logos. “Upon closer analysis, serious damage has been done to components related to charging and managing the USB Type-C port’s capabilities,” he said in the Amazon review of the product, which was quickly pulled from Amazon.
In a Wednesday Google+ post, Leung said Amazon’s ban is “Really great news, but we all have to continue to be vigilant and call out any bad products we find on Amazon and other stores (both online and brick-and-mortar) as we find them.”
As Engadget points out, a loophole still allows for listings that sell off-brand cables, so customers should always read product reviews before making a purchase.
Sarmad Gardezi
Latest posts by Sarmad Gardezi (see all)
- Opera’s getting serious about adblocking with its new VPN for iPhone and iPad - May 9, 2016
- How to Buy a Cell Phone - May 9, 2016
- Facebook loses round one in privacy fight over photo tagging feature - May 9, 2016