eBay Sides with Counterfeiters

[camaro-68]

I bought what I thought were two genuine Apple Magsafe Chargers earlier in the year from ebay. In May I went to update the firmware and found out that they are not genuine Apple Magsafe chargers. The boxes that were sent were genuine Apple boxes, but they deceptively put a small sticker over the Apple symbol on the top left. The counterfeit Apple Magsafe chargers do not show up in the Settings app to update the firmware. Also, the markings are not correct for a genuine item. The magnet is very weak and it doesn’t charge as quickly as a genuine one.

I'm very disappointed to have received counterfeit items, but to add insult to injury, I was denied a dispute due to me saying I agreed to ebay's policies when I purchased the items. I agreed that it's okay to buy counterfeit goods? I did not notice they were counterfeit until after ebay’s arbitrary 30 day window to dispute it, so they argued it was what I agreed to when I purchased the items. I tried contacting the seller, but the item was no longer on ebay. Even with their "Counterfeit products are illegal and not allowed on eBay,"  eBay would not standup to the fraud. They set it up so you have a very short window to notify them of counterfeit items, then make it impossible to contact them about it. 

[downunder-61]

Go to Paypal if that is how you paid and file Item not as Described, or contact your credit card provider to request a chargeback.

[fab_finds4u]

A very short time???

Ummm, no.

It does not take 30 days to find out if something is counterfeit.  You check as soon as you receive the item. That's plenty of time to make a claim if they're not as described. 

You waited too long to open a claim. When you do that there's  no way to escalate the claim.

If you paid by PayPal you can go to paypal.com/disputes/ and dispute the charge there for up to 180 days, or if you paid with a credit card file a chargeback if their timeline hasn't  expired. 

[mudshark61369]

@camaro-68,

With millions of new listings being posted daily on the site, there is no way ebay can vet them all for accuracy or authenticity.  That means that buyers have to do their due diligence, and use their common sense, when buying on ebay. 

The first step to take is checking the listing's item specifics carefully.  Some listings give a brand name in the title, but in the item specifics after Brand: it may say unknown or be blank. 

Then you should check the feedback profile page of any seller you intend to buy from. On that page look at their country of registry. Then if they have received negative or neutral feedback, click on the numbers of them, to read only those comments. Look for comments saying it wasn't the brand posted, poor quality, slow delivery etc. If their recent feedback shows (private listing) that can be an indication a seller is hiding something.

Common sense tells us, if a new item is listed below trending prices, it may be a scam.  If the seller is registered in China, but sells brand named products, 99% of the time you receive an off brand or counterfeit item.  The chinese are not allowed to sell brand named items, even if they are made in China for the Brand.

As for your dispute being denied by ebay. The money back guarantee (MBG) policy states, you have 30 days from tracking showing a Delivered scan, or from the Last estimated delivery date if tracking is not used, to file a dispute.  There is a Learn more link to the policy on most listing pages.  You agreed to abide by those policies when you Accepted the user agreement.