The AirPods purchased on Ebay we’re fake.

[neurochemist]

Just a little venting here - I purchased Apple Airpod Pros that were fake.  

After opening the envelope in which they were delivered, something just didn’t seem right.  I compared them to another set of Airpod Pros that were also new and unopened and the differences were obvious.  Even though the seller (@castahamme) didn’t accept returns, I was able to relay to eBay that the product “didn’t seem authentic” and was able to ship them back without incident.

A few things frustrate me.  The first is this seller sold multiple AirPods prior to my purchase and chances are they were able to fool/cheat those other people.  The second is the seller waited until the  last possible day to refund my money.  After they received the package I sent them, they sat on the refund for another  five days before releasing the money back.   Why are they creating more of a hassle for me?  You clearly  tried to cheat me in a deal and now you’re going to withhold my money until Ebay forces you to give it back?  

Before returning the fake AirPods, I made a video (my very first one) of some salient and subtle differences between genuine & fake AirPods and uploaded it to YouTube.   Since I couldn’t readily find a YouTube video that just focused on an unopened box, I wanted to make the video so someone didn’t need to open a new box or use the AirPods inside to test for authenticity.  Opening the box may create more of a return hassle for the customer -

https://youtu.be/QRaxCVFpbfY

I hope this helps somebody out there.

[lamber9347]

@neurochemist That's nice of you to create a video which will help others out to recognize authentic Apple air pods. The good thing is you got your money refunded and only lost some time. Nothing you can do about a bad seller such as this, they will get theirs Karma soon enough. Put this behind you now and think positive that you are educating others and doing good. Best of luck to you....

[neurochemist]

Thank you for your reply and positivity.  Best to you.

[mjjb_56]

Wow I am proud of you for doing the Video. Now that is an outstanding service to so many People.  You sir are a Activist that follows through to help not only yourself but so many others.

I hope Ebay sees your Post as this really would be helpful for others who would like to do the same with other items.  I personally have no idea how to do a Video like this so I find what you did would be a great teaching tool for all Sellers and Buyers.

[g00dies4saleonline]

In addition, you can also do a google search for the serial number on the box without even opening it. When these companies tool up to make knock-offs, they'll make a run of thousands, all with the same serial number. Pretty much all of these serials have been made public and are easily searchable. Just sucks that most people will have already taken delivery before they find out.

Buyers Beware, though. If scammers selling these knock-offs happen to be "top-rated" sellers, there's a good possibility eBay is removing legitimate negative feedbacks left by buyers who were previously duped. That's literally eBay's policy now. They will actually remove legitimate negative feedback that would otherwise warn you that you're likely to get scammed. Ask me how I know...

[mudshark61369]

@neurochemist,

  "Before returning the fake AirPods, I made a video (my very first one) of some salient and subtle differences between genuine & fake AirPods and uploaded it to YouTube".

Making a video was a good thing to do. In terms of this seller, why haven't you left a negative feedback? That will do more to help ebay shoppers than the video will.  They have recently received one negative for fake AirPods and a second one will drop their feedback percentage by a lot.  The seller doesn't have anything listed currently, possibly because of the defects they have received for the two fake airPod sales.  If you haven't left one because you are afraid of retaliation make sure to add the seller to your Blocked Buyer List (BBL)

  "Opening the box may create more of a return hassle for the customer".

Opening a new in box item, does not make a return any harder. All a buyer has to do is file a not as described claim it doesn't matter which reason they choose and the seller has to accept the return for refund, no matter what their return policy is. 

  "The second is the seller waited until the last possible day to refund my money. After they received the package I sent them, they sat on the refund for another five days before releasing the money back".

Since you sell on ebay you should know that payments processed using Managed Payments take 2-3 days to be completed. So do refunds and that time frame can be longer if the refund is issued on or just before a weekend and/or national holiday. 

[g00dies4saleonline]

"In terms of this seller, why haven't you left a negative feedback? That will do more to help ebay shoppers than the video will."

That may be an option if the seller isn't a "top-rated" seller. Unfortunately, if they're a "top-rated" seller, that option is likely to be an exercise in futility considering that negative feedback can simply be removed by whining to eBay.

[neurochemist]

Hello and thank you for your advice.

The reason why I have yet to leave feedback for the seller isn’t so much because of retaliation on eBay, but retaliation in real life.  Blocking them on eBay is one matter, but the fact that they have a physical address is another issue in which I’m not entirely comfortable.

Also in regards to the refund delay, I fully realize it takes a few business days for a refund to process and be allocated back to an account, however based on the message updates eBay sent me, this wasn’t the source for the delay -  I was notified when the return package was received by the seller and that I should wait until a specified target date before escalating a claims process.   In the mean time, eBay would message me if the seller refunded.  So, I patiently waited for the full 5 days.  It wasn’t until the beginning of the 6th day at just after midnight when the seller made the effort to click on buttons and initiate the refund.  Afterwards, it was another 2-3 days before the process was final.

I’m not an impatient person and I’m glad I got a refund, but I feel like the seller was dragging out the inevitable and messing around. 

[neurochemist]

Thank for your encouragement!

[neurochemist]

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond.

I agree with you.  Ebay really does have a problem in helping both buyers and seller engage in a positive transactional experience.  Problems persist while fees for sellers increase and buyers worry about receiving authentic merchandise.

[mudshark61369]

You replied to my post:

  " I fully realize it takes a few business days for a refund to process and be allocated back to an account, however based on the message updates eBay sent me, this wasn’t the source for the delay - I was notified when the return package was received by the seller and that I should wait until a specified target date before escalating a claims process. In the mean time, eBay would message me if the seller refunded. So, I patiently waited for the full 5 days. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 6th day at just after midnight when the seller made the effort to click on buttons and initiate the refund. Afterwards, it was another 2-3 days before the process was final".

As I remember from yesterday, I found the seller you bought from and they have not done a lot of selling. They may have used the funds from yours and other sales already, so they had to replace them in the bank account they use for ebay, in order to send the refund. Because that had received another feedback for selling fake airpods ebay may have been holding their funds and it took them some time to learn how to deal with issuing a refund if that was the case.  While it may have taken awhile the MBG worked for you, and you did get the refund and that is what matters.

 "The reason why I have yet to leave feedback for the seller isn’t so much because of retaliation on eBay, but retaliation in real life. Blocking them on eBay is one matter, but the fact that they have a physical address is another issue in which I’m not entirely comfortable".

What do you think the seller would do?  If a seller were to make a threat in a message, you have their name and address and you could report them to their local P.D.. Cyber threats are taken more seriously these days by law enforcement. 

  In all of my years on these boards, no matter what threats seller's have made, and there have been some doozies, I've yet to hear of one of them following through, other than buying or having someone buy something from a buyer/seller in retaliation for a negative. 

  If a seller had followed through with a threat to harm someone, or their property, there would have been news reports about it.  That is just the type of story the networks would love to report on for days.

[sexyyel3]

I’m so upset I’ve just been told by apple mine are fake and EBay won’t help me! I want to cry 😫

[kathiec]

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@sexyyel3 wrote:

I’m so upset I’ve just been told by apple mine are fake and EBay won’t help me! I want to cry 😫

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Rather than crying why don't you give us a bit more detail. Why won't eBay help? If you're beyond the 30-day deadline to open a case on eBay you have 180 days to open a case on Paypal, if that's how you paid. Or dispute the charge with your credit card.

[albertabrightalberta]

@neurochemist 

You need not worry about feedback as long as it's accurate, honest and unemotional. Don't mention having to open a case for a return or it'll be removed. You can say something to the effect of, "Counterfeit Apple ear pods. Disappointed." 

The seller does have another neg for fake ear pods so it's not his first rodeo. 

[kathiec]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

@neurochemist 

You need not worry about feedback as long as it's accurate, honest and unemotional. Don't mention having to open a case for a return or it'll be removed. You can say something to the effect of, "Counterfeit Apple ear pods. Disappointed." 

The seller does have another neg for fake ear pods so it's not his first rodeo. 

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The OP was made in January, so the feedback ship sailed long ago.