Ordering a Riva and getting a knock-off, how common is this sort of thing?

[JudgeVape]

I ordered a Riva kit from a popular vendor (which I shall decline to name)last week to serve as a backup to the one I already had and was surprised when I opened the package and discovered that I was sent something that looked like a Riva but wasn't. It was a KGo according to the included manual.

Just by physical appearance, the quality difference was not hard to detect. The button on one of the two batteries was improperly seated and did not stick out nearly as far as it should. The gold accents were also of a less polished, less smooth finish, probably made with a fairly cheap pot metal. The fun really began when I tried to screw atomizers or cartomizers into both batteries. These devices (including atomizers I bought from the same vendor) only screwed all the way on with substantial effort and were crooked when fully threaded.

Needless to say, I will shortly be returning it for a refund. I am willing to give the vendor the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was a fluke.

However, I have already recommended the Riva to one soon-to-be vaping convert and will do so again to others, but I don't want them to order and get what, by all appearances, is a substantially inferior product.

Has anyone else heard of this sort of thing happening?

 

[BigTex]

Please let us know what vendor so we can avoid this problem. I recently ordered a riva for my brother from Liberty Flights. He doesn't know much about PVs, so probably wouldn't realize it was a knockoff. I would hate to think that I ordered him a cheap knockoff and he has been using it thinking it was a Riva.

 

[JudgeVape]

I really will not name the vendor unless I subsequently confirm this to be more than a fluke. I would suspect that it was.

There are two pretty easy ways to tell if a Riva is the genuine article:

1. The included manual says "EM-RiVa Instruction Manual"
2. An even better way is that the batteries say "RIVA" on them in what appears to be etching just above the exterior threading. You can use the zoom view on the two pictures here: (Riva 900mAh Battery - Avid Vaper) and can just make it out. Avid-Vaper is not the vendor I ordered the kit from, btw.

 

[OgreLokon]

Please let us know what vendor so we can avoid this problem. I recently ordered a riva for my brother from Liberty Flights. He doesn't know much about PVs, so probably wouldn't realize it was a knockoff. I would hate to think that I ordered him a cheap knockoff and he has been using it thinking it was a Riva.

This, this, and a bit more of this. Don't let someone else make the same mistake,

 

[Bianchi]

Why not contact the vendor and ask if you received the correct device?

 

[Nomoreash]

If the link you purchased from said Riva, with no other details to say it wasn't and you received anything other than a Riva it's classic bait and switch. No reason not to list the vendor for doing this nor to get your money back due to mis-representation....and no I haven't seen this being a big issue with the Riva.

 

[Alky]

Please post the vendor so I can avoid them. That's a pretty big "mistake".

 

[Athena Cherise]

Yes, please let us know!! I am looking at buying a Riva and would hate to get ripped off....

 

[AC0J]

Or dont list the vendor, and leave us all wondering what the point of this post was. You can also let us know what they do about it. So they can save their reputation if they do you right.

 

[JudgeVape]

Really guys, not gonna do it. The vendor is well-regarded and the fact that no one has chimed in with a similar experience leads me to believe it was a fluke. At a casual glance, the KGo could very well be mistaken for a Riva. If it wasn't for the crapping threading (which may itself have been unusual for a KGo, who knows?) I might not even have noticed.

 

[JudgeVape]

Or dont list the vendor, and leave us all wondering what the point of this post was.

The point of the post was exactly what I said it was, to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

You can also let us know what they do about it. So they can save their reputation if they do you right.

That I will gladly do.

 

[AC0J]

well then, I'm not telling you where I get free juice then!!!

 

[Vermonster13]

A knock off of a knock off. Pretty funny.

 

[JudgeVape]

well then, I'm not telling you where I get free juice then!!!

 

[Hotwire]

The old adage rings true - you get what you pay for.

I always wondered why, say, and ego kit would be 89usd on the Janty website and then 39usd on another site. Can't be just that the other site love people so much that they don't want to make as much money as Janty....

 

[bruzzo]

the instructions i got with my riva kit also came with kgo instruction manual. liberty flights is where i got mine from. no markings anywhere on the batteries.
Doesn't seem to be a problem with the batteries though they work the way they should.

 

[JudgeVape]

The old adage rings true - you get what you pay for.

I always wondered why, say, and ego kit would be 89usd on the Janty website and then 39usd on another site. Can't be just that the other site love people so much that they don't want to make as much money as Janty....

I have to admit. That had been exactly my thoughts as well.

 

[JudgeVape]

the instructions i got with my riva kit also came with kgo instruction manual. liberty flights is where i got mine from. no markings anywhere on the batteries.
Doesn't seem to be a problem with the batteries though they work the way they should.

Out of curiosity, how long ago did you buy it?

 

[bruzzo]

only been a few weeks, but so far the batteries seem to be holding up to heavy use.

 

[Tol]

I purchased a Riva from Liberty Flights about 3 weeks ago. I don't know if my manual said EM-Riva (don't have it with me) but I just checked both batteries and they do have the RIVA etched into the gold accent right above the threads.