AW's website?

[frosting]

So I took a chance(and well aware my chances were high for fakes) on eBay to buy some temptingly cheap 18650 AWs. Annnnd, they were fakes.

Holographic sticker? Check. Holographic sticker reacting to UV light? Nope. Oh and the recycling symbol is completely black? Uh Oh.

Anyhoo, the return process was hassle free, got my refund before I even shipped unknown to me, and the seller sent me a message about how "Oh keep them, and here's your refund, they're 100% real but every couple of months this happens. Some website makes me look fake, my batteries are not." Now, this next part is important.
Seller claims, paraphrased "AW is not a company at all, just a battery standard and many companies make AW batteries"

To my knowledge, the company behind the brand AW picks high quality cells, then wraps and sells them. Am I misinformed or is the seller misinformed? And most importantly, if the seller is misinformed here, what exactly is AW's website?? I'd like to foward that information to him. He seems very, very confident his batteries are 100% real although I'm not but I don't question maybe I'm wrong. Most of all I want to make sure I'm being safe buying batteries(yes I will be coughing up the extra $10 for real ones) and at least attempt to show this guy his error if he is wrong because he's selling a lot of these batteries.


Thanks you!

 

[Baditude]

AW (Andrew Wan) is a Chinese battery reseller based in Hong Kong. His company buys large lots of battery cells from the better Japanese battery manufacturers. He is aware that not all batteries leave the factories of equal quality, so he and his staff inspect and test each individual battery for quality and performance. Only the top tier are wrapped in the red shrink wrap with the holographic AW logo sticker.

AW batteries are the most recommended batteries by mod manufacturers, because those batteries are the highest and most consistant quality. This reputation and their popularity makes them the most counterfeited batteries in the world. All of the batteries sold by Alibaba (a huge battery reseller in China) are counterfeit, and many of the batteries sold by Ebay and Amazon come from here.

AW does not have his own website, but posts information from this website -- CPF Marketplace: IMR16340 / IMR14500 / IMR18350 / IMR18490 / IMR18650 / IMR26500 *Part 2*

AW sells directly to authorized AW vendors:

AW Batteries - USA

AW Batteries - UK

http://www.ecigarette-politics.com/aw-batteries-authorised-dealers.html

 

[dr g]

Not all the various ways of telling AWs are fake are accurate (the black recycling symbol can be found on genuines, firsthand experience), but the claim by the seller is BS. AW batteries only come from AW himself (originally).

 

[frosting]

AW (Andrew Wan) is a Chinese battery reseller based in Hong Kong. His company buys large lots of battery cells from the better Japanese battery manufacturers. He is aware that not all batteries leave the factories of equal quality, so he and his staff inspect and test each individual battery for quality and performance. Only the top tier are wrapped in the red shrink wrap with the holographic AW logo sticker.

AW batteries are the most recommended batteries by mod manufacturers, because those batteries are the highest and most consistant quality. This reputation and their popularity makes them the most counterfeited batteries in the world. All of the batteries sold by Alibaba (a huge battery reseller in China) are counterfeit, and many of the batteries sold by Ebay and Amazon come from here.

AW does not have his own website, but posts information from this website -- CPF Marketplace: IMR16340 / IMR14500 / IMR18350 / IMR18490 / IMR18650 / IMR26500 *Part 2*

AW sells directly to authorized AW vendors:

AW Batteries - USA

AW Batteries - UK

AW Batteries - Authorised Dealers

Thanks for the detailed response, I figured the seller was simply making me doubt my own knowledge. I am surprised such a valued brand doesn't have an actual website though.

Not all the various ways of telling AWs are fake are accurate (the black recycling symbol can be found on genuines, firsthand experience), but the claim by the seller is BS. AW batteries only come from AW himself (originally).

Yup, my reaction exactly. Some AWs do have black recycles, all of the new generation 18650s do not seem to however from everything I saw.

 

[pnyc]

I have seen AW batteries went through different design changes since 2008. The first generation did not have CE/RoHS/recycle markings. 2nd generation had the markings and a solid back recycle symbol but later changed to a hollow symbol around 2012. Latest version features a hologram label and hollow recycle symbol .

 

[frosting]

Just an update on the response I got from the seller, this is paraphrased and not exact :




I have been selling these batteries for years and am familiar with all of these stories. None are true - Andrew Wong(however, this is the name he used) does not relabel batteries. If you sell anything on the internet some people are going to look online and think its fake for various reasons. Like I said, this happens once every couple of months out of several hundred sells so it's negligible. The reason I refund the money without any hassle is because once someone is convinced they are fake, I have not been able to convince them any other way. I appreciate your message in your research anyhow and I hope you have a great night.




Soooo basically, in a nutshell no helping this guy and doesn't even understand the product he's selling, but claims to have yeeeears selling them although only been on ebay one.

 

[pnyc]

Obviously he lied. And from all I know, all fake sellers lied in order to deceive. No difference than fake Gucci/LV/Rolex sellers in Times Square.

Just an update on the response I got from the seller, this is paraphrased and not exact :




I have been selling these batteries for years and am familiar with all of these stories. None are true - Andrew Wong(however, this is the name he used) does not relabel batteries. If you sell anything on the internet some people are going to look online and think its fake for various reasons. Like I said, this happens once every couple of months out of several hundred sells so it's negligible. The reason I refund the money without any hassle is because once someone is convinced they are fake, I have not been able to convince them any other way. I appreciate your message in your research anyhow and I hope you have a great night.




Soooo basically, in a nutshell no helping this guy and doesn't even understand the product he's selling, but claims to have yeeeears selling them although only been on ebay one.