Counterfeits vs. Clones

[LynxMistiq]

Ok, so I recently bought three counterfeit "Protank 3" tanks online and of course I didn't know they were counterfeits 'til I actually opened up the boxes and saw them. I checked the serials on them and two of the tanks had the exact same serial # (which would never happen with authentic tanks). I contacted the company who's selling these tanks and they have yet to respond (don't think they will either). The fact that they are selling them as authentic Kangertech Protank 3 tanks and have gone through the trouble of mass printing the scratch off serial number bars, gets to me a bit. It doesn't upset me that I was taken, it's more about principles. If they had just done the honest thing and called the tanks "Protank 3 clones", I wouldn't have a problem with it. I suppose I probably wouldn't have purchased the tanks had I known they weren't authentic, but that decision should be mine to make. It should be up to the customer whether or not they want to buy a copy/clone. From what I've seen, this company is banking on people's credulity. The "Protank 3" isn't the only thing they're selling, they're selling other counterfeits as well. I have no problem with clones, a lot of the ones I've seen seem to be just as good as the originals. …but if you're going to sell a clone, list it as such. Anyway, that's my rant.


Has anyone ever experienced this or anything similar (with any products)? Did you do anything about it? How did you handle the issue?
How do you feel about what this company is doing, what's your take on it?

 

[Asbestos4004]

 

[Dougk9589]

Wow I hate to hear that!!

I love my clones for the simple fact that they are what I can afford but I bought them knowing they were clones so I don't expect the quality to be as good as the original. That being said if I were to spend my hard earned money on a 200$ dollar mod and it turned out to be fake I would be very upset. Even though you probably only spent around 50-60 dollars for the counterfeit protanks it is the PRINCIPLE, you paid for a product and that is what you expected to receive.

Where did you order from? Was it a us vendor and were they priced accordingly for what protank 3's should cost?

 

[Susan~S]

To my knowledge that has never happened to me. My expectation of suppliers/vendors/companys is that they are honest in their representation of the products they sell. I too have no problem buying clones but not all clones are created equal. If for instance a vendor is selling a Nemesis Mod and it's a clone, I would them to identify the product as a Nemesis clone by Hcigar or by Ehpro. If they identify it as a 1:1 clone, I expect it to be as such. I have been very happy with the clones I have purchased off ebay, off FastTech and off well respected and well know websites.

 

[Susan~S]

Where did you order from? Was it a us vendor and were they priced accordingly for what protank 3's should cost?

Negative reviews about a vendor can only be posted in the Reviews of Suppliers - Negative forum. If you call them out here, your post will be deleted. At least that is my understanding.

 

[p7willm]

A quick Google brings up prices around $13-$17. A vendor might have ordered too many and be trying to clear out inventory down to $10 before I would say it is a clone. In any case if I saw Protank 3 without any indication that they were clones I would complain and expect the vendor to offer my money back or a real item. If they did not help me out I would post in the negative forum.

 

[LynxMistiq]

Thank you all for your feedback!

It was an eBay vendor. They wouldn't check this site for feedback anyway, even if I were to post negative comments here. I'm definitely going to leave a negative review on eBay though. Like I said, I tried to contact them (over a week ago) and they have not responded. I don't expect them to respond at this point. I also forgot to mention that I emailed Kangertech and have been speaking with them about this. They're starting to go after all of the counterfeiters now to take them down.
The vendor shipped from China, but that could have just been their warehouse and for all I know, they could very well be a US company who has it's manufacturing plant in China.
What I bought were definite counterfeits, no doubt about it. I wouldn't eve call it a clone at this point, because they tried to pass them off as authentic. Luckily, I didn't pay full price for them and they function somewhat decently, so I'm not completely SOL. I've learned my lesson.

 

[ForeverDiving]

I've learned my lesson.

What is that? For me ebay is a necessary evil and I've been buying from vendors there for a couple of decades. Luckily, I've only been really burned once with a very hard to get piece for an old camera, but then it was only a few $$. So, what would you say is the moral of the story here? I don't see, other than a suspect low price, how could you anticipate the deal wass a scam.

Naturally, buying from someone without a good track record is always risky. A poor performance; anything under 98% is definitely a no-no for me. But failing those indicators, I really don't see what can a person do, except avoid completely internet purchases except from highly reputable vendors, and even there you can get a deffective item.

Of course, you were the victim of a deliberate fraud. Thats in a different league. I really hope you get satisfaction by banning them from ebay, if not your money back.

 

[LynxMistiq]

What is that? For me ebay is a necessary evil and I've been buying from vendors there for a couple of decades. Luckily, I've only been really burned once with a very hard to get piece for an old camera, but then it was only a few $$. So, what would you say is the moral of the story here? I don't see, other than a suspect low price, how could you anticipate the deal wass a scam.

Naturally, buying from someone without a good track record is always risky. A poor performance; anything under 98% is definitely a no-no for me. But failing those indicators, I really don't see what can a person do, except avoid completely internet purchases except from highly reputable vendors, and even there you can get a deffective item.

Of course, you were the victim of a deliberate fraud. Thats in a different league. I really hope you get satisfaction by banning them from ebay, if not your money back.

Thanks for the support! It's true there really was no way of knowing they were scammers. They had an outstanding rating, positive feedback, except for one customer (who never stated anything regarding counterfeiting), and the products looked pretty legit. I had a gut feeling about them and I'm almost always right. The lesson I learned was to listen to my gut instinct and avoid having to go through this again (though, I can't say it definitely won't happen again). It's messed up when we have to get to the point where, "listening to our gut" is necessary…but that, unfortunately, is the way it is. There were signs that I ignored, like: they offered more colors than Kangertech has (although, I thought they could have possibly been discontinued colors), the price was ridiculously low (which is why I felt I could buy 3 without breaking the bank), and the one negative review was about the threading (the supposed "Kanger" tanks he/she bought didn't thread properly onto his/her authentic Kangertech pen). In the description, they tell people that these are genuine Kangertech tanks. Other people are getting suckered into buying from this eBay seller. Even at a low price, I would rather know what I'm buying. I'd rather pay full price for quality than half price for crap. …and I don't want to be supporting a company who's scamming people.

…so do you think I should file a claim with eBay? I still haven't received a response to the message I sent the seller.

 

[edyle]

So many people, the vast majority of people that post threads like these, take so long before they finally identify the vendor and post the links etc.

I could never understand why.

Same thing even with people posting about problem with equipment and waiting for everybody to ask what ohms, what volts etc.


There have been aerotanks and nautilus couterfiets recently; a few posts on that as well.

 

[LynxMistiq]

The reason I'm not posting the vender's info here is because it's not allowed. Otherwise, I'd say something.

 

[edyle]

The reason I'm not posting the vender's info here is because it's not allowed. Otherwise, I'd say something.

Not allowed? Where'd you get that idea?
Post the links to the ad corresponding to what you bought so we can all see it the tank is advertised as genuine Kanger protank 3.

And you can post the security code too, because anybody else lurking who has the same security code as you is going to want to know.

You're not doing a supplier review, you are reporting an apparent counterfiet.

Other suppliers are going to want to know too, because we have seen counterfiets here of aerotanks and nautiluses so if it's happening on protank3's also, suppliers are going to want to know.


edit==
Here is a recent thread about fake Aspire Nautilus:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...2-fake-aspire-nautilus-tanks-help-please.html

Here is a recent thread about fake Kanger Aerotank:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/554574-fake-aerotank.html

 

[Caridwen]

The reason I'm not posting the vender's info here is because it's not allowed. Otherwise, I'd say something.

It's not that it's not allowed per say.

If you start a thread talking about terrible service or an issue with a particular product you bought they should be posted in the suppliers thread or forum if they have one here or in Negative reviews. The reason being that the supplier can't post here to respond. They can only respond in the supplier threads or negative reviews. Our goal is
to help you get the issue resolved if at all possible.

 

[Caridwen]

Not allowed? Where'd you get that idea?
Post the links to the ad corresponding to what you bought so we can all see it the tank is advertised as genuine Kanger protank 3.

And you can post the security code too, because anybody else lurking who has the same security code as you is going to want to know.

You're not doing a supplier review, you are reporting an apparent counterfiet.

Other suppliers are going to want to know too, because we have seen counterfiets here of aerotanks and nautiluses so if it's happening on protank3's also, suppliers are going to want to know.


edit==
Here is a recent thread about fake Aspire Nautilus:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...2-fake-aspire-nautilus-tanks-help-please.html

Yes, you can do that.

 

[epicdoom]

Thank you all for your feedback!

It was an eBay vendor. They wouldn't check this site for feedback anyway, even if I were to post negative comments here. I'm definitely going to leave a negative review on eBay though. Like I said, I tried to contact them (over a week ago) and they have not responded. I don't expect them to respond at this point. I also forgot to mention that I emailed Kangertech and have been speaking with them about this. They're starting to go after all of the counterfeiters now to take them down.
The vendor shipped from China, but that could have just been their warehouse and for all I know, they could very well be a US company who has it's manufacturing plant in China.
What I bought were definite counterfeits, no doubt about it. I wouldn't eve call it a clone at this point, because they tried to pass them off as authentic. Luckily, I didn't pay full price for them and they function somewhat decently, so I'm not completely SOL. I've learned my lesson.

File a paypal claim I know I would. That will get a response and if not no big deal paypal will refund you because they didn't respond. ebay has a good policy for counterfeit goods and paypal will make sure you get your money back

 

[LynxMistiq]

Not allowed? Where'd you get that idea?
Post the links to the ad corresponding to what you bought so we can all see it the tank is advertised as genuine Kanger protank 3.

And you can post the security code too, because anybody else lurking who has the same security code as you is going to want to know.

You're not doing a supplier review, you are reporting an apparent counterfiet.

Other suppliers are going to want to know too, because we have seen counterfiets here of aerotanks and nautiluses so if it's happening on protank3's also, suppliers are going to want to know.


edit==
Here is a recent thread about fake Aspire Nautilus:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...2-fake-aspire-nautilus-tanks-help-please.html

Here is a recent thread about fake Kanger Aerotank:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/new-members-forum/554574-fake-aerotank.html

Ok, I'll post the info. Thanks.

 

[LynxMistiq]

It's not that it's not allowed per say.

If you start a thread talking about terrible service or an issue with a particular product you bought they should be posted in the suppliers thread or forum if they have one here or in Negative reviews. The reason being that the supplier can't post here to respond. They can only respond in the supplier threads or negative reviews. Our goal is
to help you get the issue resolved if at all possible.

Thanks for clearing that up for me! I'm still fairly new to ECF and I'm still learning the ins and outs of how things work around here and what is/isn't allowed.

 

[LynxMistiq]

Today, they just changed the description on eBay to say that they are selling clones, no doubt to cover their butts and because Kangertech came after them. I'm glad they did that. Just make sure to always read the descriptions. I hope they keep it that way. When I bought the tanks, they claimed they were authentic Kangertech.

Here are the codes that were on the boxes:
16800 58681 42623 23332 (two of the boxes had this serial)
16800 58735 67996 48877

When I checked the codes, the messages that appear are as follows: "Beware of imitations! This product has been queried for 1102 times, the time of first query is 2013-12-11 11:18:03" & "Security code error, and guard against counterfeiting".
Seller's name: Venadeal

 

[edyle]

Today, they just changed the description on eBay to say that they are selling clones, no doubt to cover their butts and because Kangertech came after them. I'm glad they did that. Just make sure to always read the descriptions. I hope they keep it that way. When I bought the tanks, they claimed they were authentic Kangertech.

Here are the codes that were on the boxes:
16800 58681 42623 23332 (two of the boxes had this serial)
16800 58735 67996 48877

When I checked the codes, the messages that appear are as follows: "Beware of imitations! This product has been queried for 1102 times, the time of first query is 2013-12-11 11:18:03" & "Security code error, and guard against counterfeiting".
Seller's name: Venadeal

I've never found a way to find an item on ebay by using the sellers name

 

[VapieDan]

Ok, so I recently bought three counterfeit "Protank 3" tanks online and of course I didn't know they were counterfeits 'til I actually opened up the boxes and saw them. I checked the serials on them and two of the tanks had the exact same serial # (which would never happen with authentic tanks). I contacted the company who's selling these tanks and they have yet to respond (don't think they will either). The fact that they are selling them as authentic Kangertech Protank 3 tanks and have gone through the trouble of mass printing the scratch off serial number bars, gets to me a bit. It doesn't upset me that I was taken, it's more about principles. If they had just done the honest thing and called the tanks "Protank 3 clones", I wouldn't have a problem with it. I suppose I probably wouldn't have purchased the tanks had I known they weren't authentic, but that decision should be mine to make. It should be up to the customer whether or not they want to buy a copy/clone. From what I've seen, this company is banking on people's credulity. The "Protank 3" isn't the only thing they're selling, they're selling other counterfeits as well. I have no problem with clones, a lot of the ones I've seen seem to be just as good as the originals. …but if you're going to sell a clone, list it as such. Anyway, that's my rant.


Has anyone ever experienced this or anything similar (with any products)? Did you do anything about it? How did you handle the issue?
How do you feel about what this company is doing, what's your take on it?

I agree that passing off a copy, replica, or clone as an original is unacceptable. A local dealer in my area bought some tanks which were really good fakes unknowingly. He sold them as such (not original) and hats off to him. Since the price was reduced I bought several and found them fantastic!