I ordered 3 microUSB cables over ebay. My phone was at about 50% battery and I wanted to use it as a hot spot for some browsing on my laptop, so I plugged it in, a charging icon appeared on the phone, my laptop showed it as a connected usb device and so I went about my business.

About 30 minutes later I checked the phone and to my dismay saw 45% battery. But ahh, I thought, I have been putting the poor little thing under too much pressure, acting as a WiFi hotspot must drain the battery quicker than it can charge via usb, perhaps even using my laptops usb port wouldn't output enough power. Unscathed I continued on and when I was going to bed I plugged the usb cable into a mains adapter and switched everything battery consuming off and content, went to sleep.

The next morning I was awoken by my phones alarm which got cut off unexpectedly. I attempted to unlock my phone which showed no more signs of life.

Why isn't my phone charging with these new USB cables?

For clarity:

• They transfer data with no problems
• The phone appears to be charging, showing all the signs and lights it normally would,
  the cable that came with the phone works as you would expect, so its not a fault with the phone,
• I think they slow the discharging of the phone, but I could be wrong.

Are these just bad quality cables? Is there a way to fix this issue?