What good is Ebay's counterfeit policy - buyer POV
Summary: davidthiel1 purchased a Samsung 990 PRO 2TB drive from an online seller, which turned out to be a counterfeit Samsung 980 500GB drive. Despite encountering issues and a verification process that proved the drive was fake, both Samsung and the seller failed to provide a resolution. The buyer faced a dilemma with personal data on the drive but could not return it due to security concerns. Attempts to resolve the issue with eBay's resolution department were unsuccessful, leading to dissatisfaction with eBay's counterfeit policy and a vow not to purchase electronics from the platform again.
Bought a Samsung 990 PRO 2TB drive from seller. Came in the mail and worked.
But kept getting Driver Power State failure blue screen. Software analysis showed it to be a hardware problem.
Started using drive for backing up files. At some point (during first week), drive failed.
Couldn't recover files. Couldn't wipe drive. Computer, on restart, would not POST.
Removed drive and computer worked fine. Reinstalled drive and computer would not POST, but worked with drive out.
Placed warranty claim with Samsung. They wanted numbers and pictures from me.
The result was they wouldn't cover it as it was a counterfeit drive.
I bought and M.2 usb adapter and plugged drive into it.
Two partition programs identified it as a Samsung 980 500GB drive, as did another drive program.
Tried to wipe the drive with these programs. Received unable, hardware failure.
Got the same message when trying using a command prompt.
Investigation shows a 990 label being put on 980 drives out of southeast Asia.
Tried using Samsung Magician to wipe drive. It would not recognize it.
Investigation shows that cheap, lesser drives are being changed to show they are Samsung, when they are not.
Magician won't recognizes these, and won't show them. (further indication of counterfeit fraud)
Not certain how this is done, but I wonder if the controller chip on the drive can be rewritten.
So now I have a counterfeit drive with personal files on it that I cannot remove.
Started return policy to see what I could get on a counterfeit drive.
Seller wants drive back before refunding money. I will not send a drive with personal files
on it that can be recovered by someone with knowledge and right equipment.
Talked on the phone with Ebay resolution department twice.
Here's what I found as recommended:
Open a formal return request: If you haven't already, go to your purchase history and select Return this item, choosing Doesn't match description or Received a fake item.
Ignore the seller:
The seller is required by eBay to provide a prepaid return label within
3 business days. They cannot withhold your money if you follow the
system, but they will demand the drive back first.Ask eBay to step in: On the 4th business day, a button will appear in your return case details allowing you to ask eBay to step in.
State the safety risk:
Explain clearly to the eBay customer support agent that the item is a
dangerous counterfeit that has put your personal cybersecurity at risk,
and that you cannot legally or safely mail a drive containing
unencrypted personal data.
In some cases involving hazardous or illegal counterfeit goods, eBay will issue a courtesy refund and instruct you to safely destroy and dispose of the drive rather than returning it to a fraudulent seller.
I went through this twice with Ebay. In the end, they won't step in. One agent even asked her supervisor.
So my choice is to send drive with personal files back to seller to get refund, or keep drive and eat $325.
Ebay has a counterfeit money back guarantee policy, but it is all but useless.
In this case, buyer makes money off me.
Won't ever buy electronics from Ebay again.
I can't even go back and change my feedback on buyer from five start to one star and explain why.
What a sham.
tobaccocardyahoo
·Aug 19, 2026 at 2:25 AMYou used a drive you knew had a problem before you used it to back up your files.
Driver Power State failure blue screen.
Do you not see how you contributed to the ugly situation you are in, that you must return the drive containing your data.
Not to defend the seller, in any way, but you share in the blame and in a court of law might not be made whole under this or similar situations.
You are partially responsible for any loss you have incurred.