Amazon Bans Non-compliant USB-C Cables
We’ve reported previously on how poorly made USB-C cables could ruin a laptop. Online retailer Amazon is now taking steps to protect its customers from such cables, adding to its list of prohibited items “Any USB-C (or USB Type-C) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications issued by ‘USB Implementers Forum Inc.’” Amazon vendors caught selling faulty cables risk Amazon closing their accounts and destroying any merchandise stored in the company’s fulfillment centers. While this isn’t a guarantee that all cables purchased through Amazon will work properly, third-party vendors now have extra incentive to sell only quality cables. We hope to see other online retailers follow Amazon’s lead, but even still, we recommend sticking with reputable manufacturers when buying USB-C cables.
The work from Benson Leung (Google Engineer) shows that ~ 30% of USB-C cables that fail his standards testing. His work encouraged a lot of other individuals to do testing too. There are quite a few websites popping up in response to this such as: usbccompliant.co.uk (UK/EU) & usbccompliant.com (US).These sites have already been listing the "Benson" compliant cables listed on Amazon