Seller is selling fakes/replicas but can get negative feedback removed within minutes

[probablyanerd]

TLDR; Big seller is selling fakes, can get negative feedback removed in minutes and has not been affected despite multiple reports.

Hi guys,
So I'll avoid naming the store, just incase its against terms of service to mention them directly.
But there is a rather large Australian seller (50k+ items sold) that is selling a lot of fake items as "genuine" and any negative feedback they receive is removed within minutes. 

My personal experience:
I bought a 512gb micro sd card from them for slightly under the competitors price, so I figured it wasn't really a "too good to be true" scenario and would have no issues.
However, upon arrival, something that should have taken 5-10 minutes at most to install on it, took 36 hours and failed.
So I did some testing, only to find out its far slower and far smaller  than what I paid for. (like 50-60gb total size)
After contacting the seller regarding it and getting no response, I left negative feedback to warn others.
Then, 30 minutes later I checked their profile and the feedback was gone.
They had also blocked me on ebay.
And the icing on the cake was that ebay support had rejected my return/refund request.
Thankfully I managed to get onto a good support agent via phone and he spent about 30-45 minutes making sure I got my refund.

Now, the main reason I'm here about this is that I know its not just a one off.
There have been multiple reports of their products being fakes/replicas even though they're passed off as genuine.
They have 100% positive feedback still, which means they've had other negative feedbacks removed and they're completely unaffected despite multiple reports about their fake products.

Does anyone have any information that could explain this ridiculous power they seem to have?
I hate to jump to the "corruption" angle right away.

[papermoon.lady]

Can you share the item number please?

You are right, naming and shaming is not allowed. Sharing the item number, however, is allowed and allows members to have a better idea.

[probablyanerd]

Hi,
Item number 234635882491 is the item I'm referring to.
And my friends got item number 233692071039 which was post definitely also fake/replica from the same seller.

[papermoon.lady]

While the seller seems to be OK, there are a couple of things in the description that are a bit unusual, like mentioning COVID restrictions and lockdowns, and that he will be away because of COVID until February 2023 or until further notice, and mentioning that because of this support will be limited.

He also mentions not to use h2testw, or that it will void the warranty. H2testw does wipe out all data, so if the Micro SD card contains some data, they will be wiped out. However, I have always saved all data before performing the test, and after the test I have always wiped out the test results saved to the SD card and put the original data back on it. Simple. H2testw is used to prove authenticity. You could even try it yourself. It is free.

[probablyanerd]

Yes, I ran h2testw on it myself which was how I confirmed for certain that it is not real.
The covid stuff was not there when I originally faced my issue, so I think that is relatively new. 

I'm just confused as to how they can get legitimate negative feedback removed within such a short period of time and how they can continue to sell fake/replica products and not face any repercussions on ebays end. 

[papermoon.lady · Accepted solution]

Sadly, it has been mentioned before on this forum that the negative feedback of big, powerful sellers is sometimes (or even often) removed even if it breaks no rules and is truthful.

On the other hand, most of my favourite sellers are small, and sometimes I have seen really unfair feedback that was not removed.

[padi*0409]

---

@papermoon.lady wrote:

Sadly, it has been mentioned before on this forum that the negative feedback of big, powerful sellers is sometimes (or even often) removed even if it breaks no rules and is truthful.

---

Yes, that's well known on the boards Papermoon, and those "teflon sellers" do nothing to help with eBay's image to members, be they buyer or sellers.

[gutterpunkz05]

There are ways to report fake/counterfeit items,  don't know if h2testw is acceptable proof, as usually it requires verification from the manufacturer or authorized  agent.

If you stated, fake or similar, in the FB, the seller can simply report the FB as defamatory and it will be removed.

The  Covid stuff etc on the listing, must have been present, as the description of the item was not revised

for the duration of the listing.

Your refund for the item, was most likely funded by ebay, as a matter of goodwill, rather than the seller.

Note: you will not be advised of any actions, if any, taken by ebay in relation to the seller.  It is however quite common for ebay to request sellers provide documentation, to verify their source and validity of items.

[probablyanerd]

I've reported multiple fake items of theirs and ebay has done nothing about it.
I must have scrolled past the covid stuff then. Thats beside the point tbh.

As for the feedback being removed for being "defamatory" that sounds like corruption to me. If I get an item that is fake or I suspect to be fake, I should be entitled to leave negative feedback stating such.
Just like the seller can provide a response and also negative feedback to me.
But instead of disputing it and actually communicating with me to resolve the issue, the store blocked me.

I'll just file a report with fair trading and I still have the micro SD card on hand so that they can confirm for their selves that it is fake/counterfeit.

Claims that "It is however quite common for ebay to request sellers provide documentation, to verify their source and validity of items." either hasn't happened to the store or is absolute bs.

[countessalmirena]

This is an instance when reporting the seller to Fair Trading (and possibly also to ACCC) may be best. There’s an ABN clearly visible so the seller can be dealt with using Australian Consumer Law.

For a business to state that checking the actual memory card capacity voids warranty is bizarre.

You have a refund, so you’ve probably done as much as you can on eBay. It is misleading when accurate negatives don’t stick with certain sellers… but it doesn’t seem to be something you can change.

One correction: seller certainly cannot provide negative feedback to buyers. That has been in place for years. The only feedback a seller can give is positive – or no feedback. Hence all buyer-only eBay accounts have 100% feedback glowing with rectitude irrespective of whether they’re a good buyer or a buyer from the mouth of hell.