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90% of Apple Chargers Sold on Amazon are Counterfeit

truthatallcost

truthatallcost

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Online shoppers beware for most marketplaces online are fully loaded with fake Mac chargers and cables that are so close to the real thing, they even have Amazon fooled! Amazon is indeed one of the largest online marketplaces at present, similar to eBay the site allows merchants to sell their products online. However, there are some merchants selling fake Mac charges and cables and have it labeled as ‘genuine’ since these items seem so much like the original, and Apple has finally had enough.

Apple had this to say:

“Over the last nine months, Apple, as part of its ongoing brand protection efforts, has purchased well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine by sellers on Amazon.com and delivered through Amazon’s “Fulfillment by Amazon” program. Apple’s internal examination and testing for these products revealed almost 90% of these products are counterfeit.”
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Beware if you buy Apple products from Amazon. We're inundated with bad phony products from China, and some of these fake Apple chargers have killed people.

Thoughts?
Comments?
90% of Chargers Sold on Amazon are Counterfeit Apple Products!
 
TheGoverness said:
Ha! Ha! Ha! Apple sucks.

#AndroidSQUAD
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My iPhone and iPad don't explode...

On topic, assume anything bought from the marketplace is a counterfeit. It is way too common.
 
Redress said:
My iPhone and iPad don't explode...

On topic, assume anything bought from the marketplace is a counterfeit. It is way too common.
Click to expand...

My Rollex disagrees with you.
 
I don't think a charger, itself, would be prone to explosion.
 
truthatallcost said:
Beware if you buy Apple products from Amazon. We're inundated with bad phony products from China, and some of these fake Apple chargers have killed people.

Thoughts?
Comments?
90% of Chargers Sold on Amazon are Counterfeit Apple Products!
Click to expand...

Thoughts?
A. "Online shoppers beware for most marketplaces online are fully loaded with fake Mac chargers and cables that are so close to the real thing, they even have Amazon fooled!"
B. "We're inundated with bad phony products from China, and some of these fake Apple chargers have killed people."

So, which is it? Are they so close to original that even Amazon is fooled or are they bad phony products that kill people?

And, I'm fairly conscientious about reading the news. I've never read about an Apple users dying from a faulty charger. Of course, I do understand Apple's need to stop people from selling reasonably prices quality chargers for their devices when Apple is busy selling grossly overpriced quality chargers for their devices.

I did a search and found this:
"Is it safe to use cheap iPad and iPhone chargers that aren't made by Apple? After three people were injured in East Asia by malfunctioning chargers (two of whom died) and another suffered burns in England, iPhone/iPad charger safety is a hot topic. Plus, Apple has been forced to recall millions of its own chargers, too. Here's our best advice on the safety of low-cost, imitation, third-party and even knockoff and counterfeit chargers for the iPhone and iPad. "
Apple recall: Find out whether you need to exchange your Apple charger - News - Macworld UK

And then I found this:
"Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the two prong Apple AC wall plug adapters designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and Brazil may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. These wall plug adapters shipped from 2003 to 2015 with Mac and certain iOS devices, and were also included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit."
Apple AC Wall Plug Adapter Exchange Program - Apple Support

Apparently the horrible terrible deadly problem isn't limited to knockoffs. And, I wonder, where are Apple chargers made? We know where the iPhones are made, don't we?
 
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truthatallcost said:
Beware if you buy Apple products from Amazon. We're inundated with bad phony products from China, and some of these fake Apple chargers have killed people.

Thoughts?
Comments?
90% of Chargers Sold on Amazon are Counterfeit Apple Products!
Click to expand...

And yet, if I were a US based manufacturer of electronics, and I saw an opportunity to capture market share by making approved quality chargers for Apple products, I'd have to jump through so many regulatory hurdles to make them I would never be able to sell them, even at twice the price.
 
truthatallcost said:
Beware if you buy Apple products from Amazon. We're inundated with bad phony products from China, and some of these fake Apple chargers have killed people.

Thoughts?
Comments?
90% of Chargers Sold on Amazon are Counterfeit Apple Products!
Click to expand...

Can you back up that (bolded above) assertion?

Your supplied link falls very far short of that:

As per Apple, these fake accessories can cause harm to their brand’s devices and should be considered dangerous.
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These, and many other claims, that use of any non-genune parts and/or accessories is dangerous require proof. I fully agree that Apple, or any other brand, should be able to prevent the marketing products as being made under their name - but nobody should be able to assert that any of these other "off-brand" parts/accesories are dangerous without proof. There appears to (legally) be a big difference in saying that product X is an Apple model Z charger as opposed to product X can charge an Apple model Z.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Can you back up that (bolded above) assertion?

Your supplied link falls very far short of that:



These, and many other claims, that use of any non-genune parts and/or accessories is dangerous require proof. I fully agree that Apple, or any other brand, should be able to prevent the marketing products as being made under their name - but nobody should be able to assert that any of these other "off-brand" parts/accesories are dangerous without proof. There appears to (legally) be a big difference in saying that product X is an Apple model Z charger as opposed to product X can charge an Apple model Z.
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Off-brand chargers aren't guaranteed to be bad, but they're not guaranteed to be good, either.

Apple is trying to scare people into using their products. It wouldn't be so despicable if they didn't overprice their products so horrendously.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Can you back up that (bolded above) assertion?
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Most of the deaths I've read about have occurred in China and India, but counterfeit Chinese goods have killed people in America before.

If someone was killed by a fake charger from Amazon in the US, would investigators even be able to tell that it was fake at this point? Amazon sells a huge amount of goods, as does eBay and Alibaba, and all 3 of those sites deal in counterfeit goods.
 
truthatallcost said:
Most of the deaths I've read about have occurred in China and India, but counterfeit Chinese goods have killed people in America before.

If someone was killed by a fake charger from Amazon in the US, would investigators even be able to tell that it was fake at this point? Amazon sells a huge amount of goods, as does eBay and Alibaba, and all 3 of those sites deal in counterfeit goods.
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So many words to simply say no.

If a battery charger works then it does not matter what brand it is.

How do battery chargers work? - Explain that Stuff
 
ttwtt78640 said:
So many words to simply say no.

If a battery charger works then it does not matter what brand it is.

How do battery chargers work? - Explain that Stuff
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean that Amazon has carte blanche to do whatever they want. While I think American companies were greedy by transferring production to China, that still doesn't give American companies the right to sell crappy counterfeits to consumers.

We should be preventing injury before it happens, and just because the media doesn't have any stories reporting electrocution by fake phone charger, doesn't mean it won't happen.

Why are we constantly settling for the same low standards that countries like Brazil and China settle for now?
 
truthatallcost said:
That doesn't mean that Amazon has carte blanche to do whatever they want. While I think American companies were greedy by transferring production to China, that still doesn't give American companies the right to sell crappy counterfeits to consumers.

We should be preventing injury before it happens, and just because the media doesn't have any stories reporting electrocution by fake phone charger, doesn't mean it won't happen.

Why are we constantly settling for the same low standards that countries like Brazil and China settle for now?
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I agree that some cheap immitations have serious problems but so does not allowing any certification for sale of safe alternaives. What makes a "real" brand better may only cost $1 more to make but can sell for $10 more. Safety/performance regulations are important but are often designed to limit (or eliminate) competitiion - simply artificially boosting profits.

A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best
 
Just one more way that the people who run America have screwed us.......

But then we have known for awhile that they have deep morality problems.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
I agree that some cheap immitations have serious problems but so does not allowing any certification for sale of safe alternaives. What makes a "real" brand better may only cost $1 more to make but can sell for $10 more. Safety/performance regulations are important but are often designed to limit (or eliminate) competitiion - simply artificially boosting profits.

A dozen USB chargers in the lab: Apple is very good, but not quite the best
Click to expand...

Well, there's nothing illegal about setting aftermarket products. Companies sell aftermarket phone chargers, batteries, and car parts and that's perfectly legal. In my experience, many aftermarket parts are just as good as more expensive, officially licensed items.

What's illegal is selling aftermarket parts with official company logos made to fool the consumer into thinking they're getting an Apple product. This is what I think we need to resolve.
 
truthatallcost said:
Well, there's nothing illegal about setting aftermarket products. Companies sell aftermarket phone chargers, batteries, and car parts and that's perfectly legal. In my experience, many aftermarket parts are just as good as more expensive, officially licensed items.

What's illegal is selling aftermarket parts with official company logos made to fool the consumer into thinking they're getting an Apple product. This is what I think we need to resolve.
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I agree 100%. My point is that if you need a 5V 2A USB (iPod) charger you should be able to get one without going through Apple. Companies go to great lengths to try to force folks to buy only "genuine" parts and accessories when, as you say, many equivalent options should be available.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
I agree 100%. My point is that if you need a 5V 2A USB (iPod) charger you should be able to get one without going through Apple. Companies go to great lengths to try to force folks to buy only "genuine" parts and accessories when, as you say, many equivalent options should be available.
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In my experience, there are alternatives out there if you look. When my tablet started having charging issues, I bought an aftermarket battery, and an aftermarket charger. Now my tablet runs pretty close to brand new. Google wanted $125 for a new battery + charger, I got my aftermarket items for around $55.
 
truthatallcost said:
That doesn't mean that Amazon has carte blanche to do whatever they want. While I think American companies were greedy by transferring production to China, that still doesn't give American companies the right to sell crappy counterfeits to consumers.

We should be preventing injury before it happens, and just because the media doesn't have any stories reporting electrocution by fake phone charger, doesn't mean it won't happen.

Why are we constantly settling for the same low standards that countries like Brazil and China settle for now?
Click to expand...

No one is saying Amazon has carte blanche to do whatever they want. And counterfeit selling on any online marketplace is commonplace. Amazon also has a policy to combat counterfeiters, but it requires people to report the counterfeit items. Apparently it is almost impossible to physically check all the thousands and thousands of sellers on the marketplace and all their goods.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201166010

Amazon Anti-Counterfeiting Policy

Customers trust that they can always buy with confidence on Amazon.com. Products offered for sale on Amazon.com must be authentic. The sale of counterfeit products, including any products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured, is strictly prohibited.

We take product authenticity very seriously. It is each seller’s responsibility to source and sell only authentic products. If you sell counterfeit goods, we may immediately suspend or terminate your selling privileges and destroy inventory in our fulfillment centers without reimbursement. In addition, if we determine that a seller account has been used to engage in fraud or other illegal activity, remittances and payments may be withheld or forfeited. The sale of counterfeit goods can also lead to legal action by rights holders and civil and criminal penalties.

We are constantly innovating on behalf of our customers and working with manufacturers, content owners, vendors, and sellers to improve the ways we detect and prevent counterfeit products from reaching our marketplace. We work hard on this issue every day because we know that our customers trust that they are buying authentic products when they shop on Amazon.com. This is why we stand behind the products sold on our site with our A-to-z Guarantee. We also encourage anyone who has a product authenticity concern to notify us, and we will investigate it thoroughly and take any appropriate actions.
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Redress said:
No one is saying Amazon has carte blanche to do whatever they want. And counterfeit selling on any online marketplace is commonplace. Amazon also has a policy to combat counterfeiters, but it requires people to report the counterfeit items. Apparently it is almost impossible to physically check all the thousands and thousands of sellers on the marketplace and all their goods.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201166010
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Amazon's policy statement is useless Red. They are proffitting off counterfeit items, so I don't expect any honesty to come out of them on the issue.

Unlike eBay, Amazon has their sellers ship the items they sell directly to an Amazon distribution center. Amazon stocks the items, and then ships the items as they're sold, which means Amazon employees are handling the items that get sold.

EBay at least has somewhat of an excuse as to why so many counterfeits slip by them. Amazon has a very weak excuse, considering that they are in possession of the items they sell, and don't run any quality control tests to assure that their products are real.
 
truthatallcost said:
Amazon's policy statement is useless Red. They are proffitting off counterfeit items, so I don't expect any honesty to come out of them on the issue.

Unlike eBay, Amazon has their sellers ship the items they sell directly to an Amazon distribution center. Amazon stocks the items, and then ships the items as they're sold, which means Amazon employees are handling the items that get sold.

EBay at least has somewhat of an excuse as to why so many counterfeits slip by them. Amazon has a very weak excuse, considering that they are in possession of the items they sell, and don't run any quality control tests to assure that their products are real.
Click to expand...

And let me ask you, does the question "why has no one up till now objected to this third world practice taking place at Amazon, when the law would support taking it down immediately" perk your interest?

I know it does mine.
 
truthatallcost said:
Amazon's policy statement is useless Red. They are proffitting off counterfeit items, so I don't expect any honesty to come out of them on the issue.

Unlike eBay, Amazon has their sellers ship the items they sell directly to an Amazon distribution center. Amazon stocks the items, and then ships the items as they're sold, which means Amazon employees are handling the items that get sold.

EBay at least has somewhat of an excuse as to why so many counterfeits slip by them. Amazon has a very weak excuse, considering that they are in possession of the items they sell, and don't run any quality control tests to assure that their products are real.
Click to expand...

And what exactly do you think they should do about it? Physically inspect everything sold on the marketplace? Not practical in any way. Shut down the marketplace and others like it, such as ebay and newegg? That is not going to happen. So what exactly do you think should be done, other than whine about the problem(and not really about the problem, but about one retailer)?

And note: some portion(I do not know what portion, the vast majority of stuff I buy on the marketplace) of marketplace stuff never passes through amazon physically.
 
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