After-Market / Fake Products (Headsets)

Question

My iphone is already here: it's the e61. I don't think this device, rightly lauded everywhere else, gets enough praise in the U.S. But it needs a companion. In December, I started to look for a bluetooth headset. I narrowed my search to Nokia BH-800 and BH-900. And there begins my run-in with an aftermarket product - and what kind of support I received from the marketplace, including Nokia. Almost every company carps about "after market" products, aka fakes. We are told that billions are lost because of "after market" products, mainly from China. Tiffany even made a public issue of it with ebay. So how much do companies really care about fakes - and attempts by consumers to expose them? I'm starting to wonder. I have had to jump through incredible hoops to a) prove a "BH-800" fake, which I conclusively did and have been reporting my progress to both ebay and Nokia; b) get any kind of refund, in this case from PayPal, which has agreed with my claim but continues to demand things of me within deadlines that frankly stun me; and c) nothing has been done with the seller - he's still on business on ebay. It appears to be all in vain. This is how it all happened: In December, I bought a BH-800 from a Hong Kong-based seller on ebay with, at the time, great feedback. The package arrived. It looked original. There was no warranty card and the manual looked suspect, I thought, but maybe that was an Asian version - all would be forgiven if the product itself was the real thing. Sure enough, the product charged. It paired with my e61. Then, within 15 minutes it started to beep: low battery. I tried to recharge the unit. No luck. The red light wouldn't even come on. I e-mailed the seller. He promised quick action and asked to me keep trying to charge the headset. No luck. I e-mailed him again. No response. I e-mailed again, no response. This is where my ire kicked in, as both a Nokia user and a Nokia shareholder. I reported my experience with the headset and the lack of Seller communication to PayPal - and filed a claim for refund. Online, I read about Nokia's efforts to shut down fakes. I thought, great: they can be like Tiffany, aggressively fighting the after-markets. So I e-mailed Nokia Customer Service, which, to its credit, asked me to send them the item number and the Seller info. I did. Then PayPal wrote me back. They wanted proof (or as they call it, authentication by a third party) that my BH-800 was a fake. I had 10 days to do it, or the claim was canceled. I wrote Nokia Customer Service again, asking for their help in authenticating the product - at my expense. Not hearing back, I called Nokia Customer Service and explained what I was trying to do. "Is this about a phone," they kept asking. No, about a fake headset - you guys care about fakes, don't you. I was asked to e-mail again. I did. I got an e-mail that said my query had been forwarded to the "appropriate product department". I noted the urgency of the the PayPal 10-day deadline, again. So, then, I called the Nokia flagship store in New York. Someone said to bring the piece in. I happened to going to NY on business. I took the piece in. Assistant Manager Joanne Losinno was great. She agreed to help me. She had never seen anything like it. The piece was smaller than an original BH-800, there was no UPC code, the manual was a fake, the accompanying pouch was not the standard. What Losinno couldn't do was state on paper, for legal reasons she said, that the item was an out and out fake. But she could make darn close in a letter. Which she did. In turn, I faxed her letter to PayPal, as instructed. Two days ago, I received my response. Yes, I could get a refund if I a) I returned the item to the Seller in Hong Kong at my own expense; b) reported a confirmed tracking number within 10 days to PayPal; c) I wait until the Seller confirms that he has received it. In the absence of all that, I lose my claim. As of this writing, I have satisfied two of those three conditions. Sending the package registered USPS cost me $17, or more than 50% of the original PayPal charge. Meanwhile, Nokia Customer Service has never gotten back to me - on an effort that I wanted to believe I was undertaking on their behalf. You see, I am also a Nokia shareholder, which I had mentioned to Customer Service. As far as I know, Nokia CS has no idea that their NY flagship store was even involved, since they neither suggested it nor responded when I said I was going to do that - a critical piece that would have brought everyone in the loop effortlessly. Meanwhile ebay continues to host this seller and others like him. Sister company PayPal continues to accept payments on behalf of this Seller. Recently, the Seller's negative ratings have started to pile up. I also went back and dug deeper into his ratings. I'm not the first to receive a fake BH-800 - a fact also reported to Paypal. Meanwhile, I bought a BH-900, an authentic one, on ebay, from a U.S.-based seller, and am very happy with it. Still, I wonder about Nokia, which can integrate complicated functions on its phones but not its responsiveness to a diligent customer. I doubt I'll hear from Nokia, but it's a nice thought. Life goes on, and so do fakes. I will be happy to provide documentation on all of the above to bona fide parties with a stake in supporting my efforts.

Answer 1

Short ago I bought this adaptor to connect an iMac with my beamer (Mitsubishi HC 1100) and the outcome is - better than ever. Clearly you can say that one adapter is better than two. I can't believe that it took so long until this adaptor was developed. I had been looking for it already one year ago