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Apple Files $2M+ Lawsuit Against Counterfeiter, Finds 90% of 'Genuine' Accessories on Amazon Are Knockoffs
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Yes that's exactly how I read the article (the screenshots show sold by Amazon.com). And I've seen the "Genuine" Apple cables on Groupon but they always seemed almost obviously counterfeit to me (and I trust Groupon much less than Amazon).
So what I don't understand is, how were they being sold by Mobile Star when it says "sold by Amazon.com?" Isn't that completely Amazon's fault then? That's totally misleading/false advertising, and I think I once bought USB adapters and they came in generic clear bags, which was a red flag to me. I purposefully did not pick a cheaper one from 3rd party seller thinking Amazon would be safe...
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Just saying: Chargers are much more risky than cables. The charger is plugged into 220 Volt or 110 Volt. That's a death trap if it isn't built competently. The cable just transfers a few Volt from charger to device; that's much less risk.
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Well, if there are two dozen "genuine Apple" chargers on Amazon, and you can't see any difference between them, what should you base your purchase decision on? If you buy an expensive one, you are likely just an idiot who purchased a fake charger for a lot of money.
Apple needs to make its own cables MUCH cheaper. Third party Lightning cables are terrible - they'll just stop being recognised, even if you buy Belkin and similar 'quality' brands. The genuine Apple ones work much better, even if old and frayed.
Trouble is, some copys are so good that you can't tell much difference between those and genuine Haier product.
Seems to be more than just "fulfilled by Amazon" stuff in question. I used trust "sold by Amazon.com" but I guess I shouldn't!
"Consumers, relying on Amazon.com’s reputation, have no reason to suspect the power products they purchased from Amazon.com are anything but genuine. This is particularly true where, as here, the products are sold directly “by Amazon.com” as genuine Apple products using Apple’s own product marketing images."
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...pters-and-charging-cables-through-amazon.html
"Consumers, relying on Amazon.com’s reputation, have no reason to suspect the power products they purchased from Amazon.com are anything but genuine. This is particularly true where, as here, the products are sold directly “by Amazon.com” as genuine Apple products using Apple’s own product marketing images."
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...pters-and-charging-cables-through-amazon.html
I bought an iPod off eBay - there was no doubt in my mind that it was counterfeit. I have seen counterfeit Beats headphones as well. All of this stuff that I have personally seen comes from China not to mention the quality is pure crap. I compared the counterfeit headphones against real ones and the counterfeit ones sounded like crap. As a seller on eBay I have been approached by Chinese companies to buy counterfeit items from them as well. They need to crack down on this stuff as it rampant and not even hidden at all.
I tried to buy batteries off of Amazon the other day (a somewhat unusual type that I could only find by going to hardware store). Impossible to have any confidence you are getting a name brand item or a new battery. I didn't buy any and instead went to hardware store.
I'm never buying a charger off of Amazon again. I certainly never bought an "Apple" one. But now I don't have confidence that others reportedly from well known electronic manufacturers would actually be from that manufacturer. Sure the incentive to copy is less for those items than to copy Apple (in part due to Apple's own markup), but I have my concerns.
Purchase OEM, bypassing the 'idiots' who made a decision to purchase from a third party vendor. Purchasing from Apple is a safe bet and process of elimination from third party vendors who make false claims. That was my point.
Spot check and confiscate a small fraction. With the slim margins of these sellers, it wouldn't take much to slow them down. Heck a team of one person in one distribution center typing in the word "Apple" a few times a day and then going and looking at a few items in the warehouse would be able to make a dent. That one person could catch and ban a half-dozen counterfeiters a day if they wanted to. But for now Amazon has been largely ignoring this issue in favor of driving traffic through its site.
I have original iPod dock cables from the early 2000s that still work perfectly. You need to care for your cables better!
That's strange, I've never had one fail. My ipad1 cable is still going strong.
My question is, is there any indication that they are counterfeit? Apple should tell us what to look for.
Also, what's the likelihood of buying a counterfeit Apple cable or airport on eBay if the item is fully packaged and seller has a 100% rating?
Also, what's the likelihood of buying a counterfeit Apple cable or airport on eBay if the item is fully packaged and seller has a 100% rating?
lol, the 30pin cables? What device do you have that even uses those anymore!? 1.5 out of 5 stars on Apple's own site. I'm not anal with my cables. I plug in and unplug quickly, I use my devices while plugged in which causes the cable to bend at 90 degrees. I don't consider that abusive. That's just normal use, which I'd expect the cable to handle for 2-3 years. Not <1.
This would never have happened if Jobs was alive. Counterfeiters don't fear Tim, but they would have feared Jobs.
It's simply CounterfeitGate.
It's simply CounterfeitGate.
I don't think third party cables are junk. I'm talking about the certified cables that have Mfi logo (hopefully these are not fake, lol) on the packaging. I have Patriot, Choetech, Anker, and also some other non-Apple Lightning cables that are all Mfi certified, and they work fine without any problems.
But I agree, Apple's original cables are way overpriced.
Wow! I have used Apple cables for years and never had a problem. My iPad 2 gets charged every 5 to 10 days and I'm still using the original cable. My children break their cable in about 2 years. I guess it depends on how hard you are on it. I, fall on the careful side of users.
Didn't realize I needed to baby a cable. I'll cradle my $2k+ laptop, not my $20 cord. The fact that you only charge your iPad every 5-10days (the fact that the battery even holds a charge at this point) tells me you don't don't actually use your products very much. Maybe your children get more done on the equipment then you do. I've had my MacBook for 4+ years now and the vowel letters are worn down. That's how much use my equipment gets..
Add Aukey to that as well. 4 A's... I have several chargers, cables, and a USB battery charger from Aukey via Amazon. Great products. Anker is at the top of my list as well, but I did once receive counterfeit Anker cables. Amazon rectified pretty quickly.
Scary stuff. I know Amazon isn't going to police it's millions of "re sellers", but I figured "sold and shipped by Amazon.com" was safe. If they don't go through the effort to ensure that, shopping there's not much better than shooting your money into the sun or buying on eBay.
Edit: just sent Amazon some "feedback" on this issue, which I rarely bother with. If this kind of stuff means anything to you (i.e. your stuff not bursting into flames), I'd encourage you to do the same (politely and productively, of course.)
Edit: just sent Amazon some "feedback" on this issue, which I rarely bother with. If this kind of stuff means anything to you (i.e. your stuff not bursting into flames), I'd encourage you to do the same (politely and productively, of course.)
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FINALLY. Its such a pain in the @$$ searching for "Genuine OEM 65W MagSafe 2" and they send a counterfeit POS EVERY. TIME.
Google: Who owns Mobile Star LLC. Very interesting results. Jack Braha. Owns their own USD 2.88 Million building in Metuchen NJ. Three related companies contained within. Annual total revenues of approximately USD $13 Million.
But the problem is as soon as Apple tells us (some markings) to look for, the counterfeiters (the good ones anyway) will just copy that also.
On eBay from a regular person (not a store with 1000s of feedback) is more reliable, in my opinion. Even better, obviously, if they provide a receipt. I've bought from eBay purposefully picking lightning cables new in box, but then as soon as I got it (I was skeptical) I figured out even the box was counterfeited--only slightly off, luckily kept some Apple genuine boxes to compare. I messaged the seller, had no issues returning and getting my money back, but few days later eBay pulled the listing completely. (I hate it when they do that, it's as if eBay completely disavows all knowledge and wipes it off their servers).
So now I just stick to big name stores like Staples, Micro Center, B&H Photo. I have also gotten chargers and cables from OWC/MacSales (bulk package, no box) and they seem to be OEM.
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