Counterfeit Products.What can we do?

[malishadesilva2010]

Hi,

I just bought a guitar and the ukulele from a seller.The seller was based in NSW Australia.

Both are fakes.(The Guitar was ESP LTD and the ukulele was Ibanez)

The seller has a 30 day money back guarantee. I really can't be bothered to repack and re post them again.So I decided to keep them.Also my issue is not about money.

Its about the principle of the thing.

Also if I send them back he will dupe someone else.

But I was just wondering in a world where everything is faked is there any way to overcome this.

One of the securities we had was to buy from Australian sellers. Well that was what I was thinking up to now. 

This seller's advert has been directly cut and paste sections from the original sites. Sellers like this will give a bad name to Australian sellers.Not only that what about the honest and straightforward seller who are genuinely trying to do a good business?

This is a losing battle in our world. Only thing that matters is Money, Money and more Money.Isn't there anything that we can do?They get away with it so easily.

It makes me sad,very sad.He is still there selling stuff.When I read the reviews on his  bay site most of his clients seems to be very happy with there purchases.

I heard that this was common in sites like Alibaba & Ali express where they openly advertise and sell counterfeits of known brands.But now its here in Australia.

Is it only me that's sad about these things?Is there anyone else out there? 

Thanks

[horizon1907]

IMO  If you do not report them as being Fakes and Open a dispute, you are in a sense condoning the sale of them.  If you go right through the proper chanels and follow through, things may change. If not, they will continue to be sold and Zero will be done. 

[harley_babes_hoard]

Sorry to burst your bubble but fakes have been in Australia for as long as I can remember. Not much you can do to stop it. I do find it odd that you can't be bothered sending the item back and are not worried about keeping the fakes.

[lyndal1838]

You seem to be the only buyer who has issues with the seller selling fakes.

Did you even bother to contact him before leaving the negative.....it would appear not as he is willing to refund your money.

[beautysecretfashion]

Obviously it is against the law to sell fakes. You will find that it is against the law to even re send it back to the seller.

I had an issue a little while ago. I contacted seller to let them know the item they sent me was a fake, they denied it. I took it to a stockist of genuine item and they confirmed it as a fake.

I contacted police and consumer affairs to see where I stood. I was told to destroy item as it is against the law to even return to the provider!!

Obviously I lodged a Paypal dispute as seller refused to refund or accept responsibility.   Low and behold... a couple of months later that seller is no longer registered on ebay.

I agree why let someone else get caught out by the shonky seller.

Do the right thing for yourself and other potential victims.

♥

[brucbern]

I bought a pair of fake designer shoes a little while ago. The seller admitted they were fake but I still had to send them back to seller according to paypal. It didn't matter how much I argued with them that they were breaking the law by selling them. This was after ebay had removed the listing after I had already paid for them. Obviously ebay knew there was a problem with the listing!! Lo and behold the seller then re listed, so I promptly reported the item & they were removed thankfully.

[cq_tech]

Paypal were wrong to demand that you return them to the seller. In fact, you can't legally return them anywhere as it is illegal to send fake or counterfeit items via Australia Post. Paypal should have told you to destroy them and refunded you once you provided photographic proof that you'd done so.

Most Paypal CSRs are well aware of the regulations regarding counterfeit items in Australia so if it ever happens again, simply ask to speak with a supervisor and remind him that you can't legally send them via AP.

I buy quite a lot of stuff through AliExpress now and a couple of weeks ago was sent 2 x counterfeit USB drives but when I lodged a dispute, the sellers both told me that they'd only refund upon return.

Thing is, it would have cost me more to send them back than the items cost in the first place so I politely told them that under Australian Law, it was illegal to send them via the post and that if they didn't refund me without return, I would have my bank perform chargebacks on my credit card.

I told them both that I'd be happy to send them photographs of the items being destroyed by a hammer if they wanted, but there was no way I was sending them back to China. With that, they both refunded me on the spot and didn't even request the photos I'd offered.

Of course, all payments to AliExpress sellers are held in escrow until the buyer acknowledges receipt and that they are happy with their items, so my payments would have been reversed regardless, but some sellers are cheeky buggers and they'll try it on if you're not aware of your rights under the law.

[brucbern]

I did supposedly speak to a supervisor- at least they kept me waiting on the line quite a long time until they found one(probably hoping I'd give up). I did tell them that it was against the law to send counterfeits through the mail but he just kept saying they were the sellers property and if I wanted the refund I had to return them! I replied " great so they can then turn around and sell the fakes to someone else" and he didn't have an answer. I also said "so does that mean I am free to sell illegal fakes on ebay", his reply was "if that's what you feel you have to do!!!!!" He did agree to credit my paypal account the cost of the postage.

[bsal6160]

There is a new returns policy in placed. If they are fake then return at SELLERS cost.

[cq_tech]

Paypal have lost the plot and they think they're a bloody law unto themselves, illegally withholding sellers' payments for 21 days (or longer) and in your case, telling you to break the law because it suited them for you to do so. I'd have taken it to the FOS myself, if I'd been told that, which is why it pays to know the law.

It's all very well for them to credit your account with the cost of postage, but that's not the point. Australia Post's regulations are quite specific in that regard and counterfeits simply cannot be sent in the mail under any circumstances. Perhaps a phone call to the Federal Police to let them know that Paypal are encouraging people to break the law might be in order?

Bsal says there's a new policy in place which states that fakes must be returned at the seller's cost. Well how do they expect you to do that? By train? By Taxi? I know, if the seller wants it back, I'll deliver it to him in China personally at their expense, because that's the only way they're going to get them back legally. As I said, Paypal have clearly lost the plot.