BBC One – The One Show – ‘Energy saving’ plugs and ‘fuel-saving’ devices

Watchdog investigated devices for sale on Amazon and eBay which claim to reduce household power consumption by 30 per cent and others which claim to reduce a vehicle’s fuel consumption by 15 per cent. Watchdog had these devices tested by experts under lab conditions at the University of Coventry. They found that none of these devices offered any benefits whatsoever. An internal inspection of one of the ‘fuel-saving’ devices found it lacked the technological capacity to have any effect on the vehicle’s fuel consumption. Testing on the ‘energy-saving’ plugs found they actually consumed electricity rather than saving it.

An Amazon spokesperson told Watchdog:

“Third party sellers are independent businesses. They are required to provide accurate information to ensure a trustworthy experience for Amazon customers, to act lawfully and follow all applicable regulations and Amazon policies when listing items for sale in our store. Product listing information must not be misleading. We are looking into this.”

An eBay spokesperson told Watchdog:

“We welcome the information provided to us by Watchdog, and have removed the listings which did not comply with relevant product safety standards. We work with Trading Standards, OPSS, and other global regulators to ensure that listings on eBay comply with product safety standards. In addition, eBay-partnered authorities can use eBay’s Regulatory Portal to immediately remove unsafe product listings.

“eBay also has comprehensive block filter algorithms that aim to prevent listings offering known unsafe products. These algorithms blocked 7.4 million unsafe products in 2021. Our international policy teams also perform regular checks on the marketplace to identify and remove listings offering unsafe products.

“eBay also has strict policies against sellers misleading buyers with products that don’t do what they say they will. We intend to review these product categories to determine whether the products can deliver the benefits they claim, or whether they should be prohibited from eBay.”

Individual sellers

The seller of the “OBD2 ECO Fuel Chip Tuning Box, OBD2 ECO Fuel Save Power Chip Tuning Box 15% Green ABS Universal for Cars Since 1996” – bought through Amazon, said:

“Thank you for your understanding, it’s my pleasure to help you. we don’t need, If you have any other problems, please feel free to contact with me”

The seller of the “Car Fuel Saver Save On Gas Economizer Save Gas Features Fuel Vehicle”, bought through eBay said:

“Dear customer, Thank you for your message, we are so sorry for this, So you tested this product and it didn’t work So you want us to stop selling this product? If there’s any other problems, please feel free to contact us. Have a nice day 🙂 Best regards”

The seller of the “Eco OBD OBD2 Economy Fuel Saver Tuning Box Chip Device For Petrol Car Gas Saving”, bought through eBay, sent instructions on using the product and a certificate of compliance, and said:

“At the end, I sent you an attchament about this product’s CE certificate, please check. Sincerely, we write this. We will try our best to provide our sales on ebay. We will always provide good products and services to customers on ebay selling. If you have any question, please feel free to contact us.”

The seller of the “Energy Saver Box Home Smart Electricity Power Saver Device UK Plug Office I2S9”, bought through eBay, offered a refund.

The seller of the “28KW Home Electricity Power Energy Factor Saver Saving Up To 30% 90-250V Digi GN”, bought through eBay, said: “Dear buyer, i am sorry about the inconvenience. I have reported to my partner. We will check it asap and improve it in the future. To make thing better, we can offer partial money. You can keep the item, no need to return, Return will take much time and money Is that okay?”

The seller of the “UK Plug Electric Energy Saver Power Device Electricity Saving Box Energy Saving”, bought through eBay, did not respond to a request to comment.