I find that the mindset of the Chinese sellers is to advertise a product which lives up to its claims but only in the short term. It is not designed to last.

# My first example a spotlight, an LED, which flashes or beams to order. The problem is that the chargeable battery torch is so small that it only lasts about 15 minutes so if you want to go on a ramble at night you’d be well advised not to take such an instrument.

# The next example is a pool aerator of which we bought two. The first one is a circular one with solar cells that are supposed to charge a little pump which will theoretically cause water re-oxygenation by making a little fountain.

The problem is that it only works when the sun is shining directly down on it. If the sun shines at 45 degrees, there isn’t enough voltage generated to allow the pump to work.

# The second one charged by sunlight is slightly more robust. You can put the solar angle at 45 degrees and it will collect enough sunlight to power the small pump but it is a small pump. There is about 1 meter of pipe which you place in the water and it is true that bubbles come up but only a tiny stream so if you have anything other than our goldfish bowl it is unlikely to deliver the amount of oxygen necessary to keep the water in good condition.

# Another example was an electric bike which I did not buy which was for sale at something under 600 pounds. This for an electric bike is ridiculously cheap. The problem is the need for reliable service and if there isn’t any because if spare parts cannot be easily obtained no one will take it off you to do the servicing and you have to pay for it to be returned to China at a cost if I recall of 42 pounds.

Impossible instructions

The other beef I have is the instructions. They have to by law provide instructions to make sure you don’t do silly things like electrocute yourself but they are written in print that is so small that you can barely read it. I reckon it’s about 6 pt maximum. Even with my glasses I have to use a magnifying glass. Also the English is so bad that you can scarcely understand what they’re talking about

My advice is unless you can get assurance of return if the item does not work i.e. a guarantee and a service agent in the United Kingdom, it’s not worth the hassle. If it fails there is very little if anything you can do.

However if you’re buying something like an item of clothing then you’re probably safer.