Fake chargers (XTAR, Nitecore)!!!

Batteries and Chargers Chargers
77

@antonkochubey: Simon is my real name which kreisler - who deleted his post^^ - knows. :)

Now about all that stuff with fake Xtar chargers.. I have exchanged several messages with both Xtar and Efest (aka bestvaping, bestinone, powerwholesale) representatives and I got very different answers.

So the following is based upon the facts I got.

I dont know if that video was shot at bestvaping. Honestly, no idea who is telling the truth right now. Do I think it is possible that it was shot at bestvaping? Yes, but even if it was, I dont think its an issue.

In my opinion, Efest didnt sell any fake charger in the past. Why do I think that?

Xtar HAD distributors in China. They just cancelled their contracts with most of them, so friendly fire as someone called it earlier is possible. How could you possibly control where hundreds/thousands of chargers eventually show up? Maybe Xtar sold them to Efest (or the company in question) directly but wanted to stop that very quick? Maybe some of the resellers made better business than Xtar and they didnt like it?

Xtar didnt warn about fake chargers, they even say they are not dangerous.

About the low price thing.. I bought mine during a special sale about 30% under MSRP. And its genuine. What does that tell us? Some distributors give up a part of their earning on one product to promote their shop. Nothing more, nothing less.

Nitecore didnt investigate, although there are Nitecore chargers in the video. Nitecore is a competitor of Xtar. Would a company knowingly sell fake Xtar chargers but genuine ones from Nitecore?

Business in China works a little different than in the western world. A former friend can be your worst enemy the next day. Stealing business partners is very common.

As you see, there are more possible scenarios than I have fingers. In the end, we will NEVER know the truth. Probably Xtar and Efest will know it, but I'm not even sure about that. If there even is an investigation by lawyers, it will soon end because they wont find anyone responsible. I mean, suing someone in China for copyright infringement is ridiculous.

Personal note: I still trust Efest and Xtar and I would buy from both without hesitation. So, what is our benefit from all these videos, posts, bashing, complaining, complaining about people who complain and so on? Well, now we know that you cant compare chinese companies to western ones. It just works differently there. A lot of that is somewhere between morally questionable and plain wrong.

But lets be honest: we are insignificant to most chinese manufacturers. And its great that they still care about us.

Live long and prosper!

78

I ordered a nitecore intellecharger from ebay seller Harris Outdoors last month. It took 19 days to get to me. Supposed to be a us seller.
You fellas think maybe i got a fake?

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Get yours and run it by Nitecore.

Suspicious about them… I don’t know but they’ve been running a free shipping special on Amazon with a “Nitecore EC1 ULTIMATE PACKAGE! INCLUDES i2 INTELLICHARGER AND 2 X 16340 PROTECTED BATTERIES” (trustfire cells, not nitecore) for $55 and that’s cheaper than buying them all at fasttech! (Could just be a loss-leader for nitecore, though)

But 19 days and they write in their ad “ALL PRODUCTS ARE SHIPPED FROM OLD SAYBROOK, CT. USA!” Isn’t that where Battery Junction is from? Same Company???

80

[quote=marcl]

PHEW! Looks like yours is the real deal! There have been problems with fake Chinese food before and to my knowledge the only way to tell is the fortune cookies…
[/quote]

I don't think you even know what Chinese food is. That's like calling chimichangas 'Mexican food'.

Anyway, fake crap is gonna turn up everywhere, sometimes more obvious than others, it's how the world is, has been and always will be in such a globally materialistic society...now where was that special on the biggest baddest flashlight there is?

81

Don’t worry so much. Even XTAR acknowledged they are good high quality fakes and not dangerous. Seldom have original brand praise their fakes. So these must be good.

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Did Xtar give some kind of confirmation that the raid was at bestvaping? For me, it is an issue because that will be part of my consideration if I can trust bestvaping’s or Xtar’s integrity with products they sell. I hope Xtar doesn’t toy with an idea that they can bait consumers with a vague news and then manipulate their buying behavior.

Were there arrests and charges filed after the raid?

If Xtar wanted that raid to be a message to those allegedly making fake Xtar product, they should have maximized media exposure of that raid. Why can’t I find any legitimate news report link of that raid?

China might have different way of conducting business but I am not in China and Xtar is aware that it is also selling products outside of China. I wanted assurance that the product I buy is not a fake.

So far, Xtar is being quiet while bestvading is defending itself from a unsubstantiated (as of now) accusation here.

Xtar’s integrity to honor done deals will also reflect on how it would treat me with their products and warrantees.

If I can’t trust them, I won’t buy from them.

How do you know if your Chinese food is the real deal aside from being cooked by a Chinese cook in a Chinese restaurant or Chinese Take Out store?

83

What we buy is Americanized Chinese food. They won’t eat it, just cook it. There for our Chinese food is fake Chinese food.

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Ya, you need to eat real Chinese foods outside USA or Europe. China or south east asia or Taiwan is the place to get them.
And better is have local friends to bring you to nice restaurants. Not all foods are delicious.

85

Yeah... I think american cats are much tougher .

86

No. Boaz…. NOOOOOOOO :bigsmile:

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Is it a debate? Of course no. I do not know if you have heard “one thousand readers, then there may be one thousand Hamlet”,
So there is no need to argue about it here. And no need to be angry about others’s views. there is also an old saying in my country “Qing Zhe Zi Qing, Zhuo Zhe Zi Zhuo” it means: The wise man knows he knows nothing, the fool thinks he knows all. i think XTAR is smart.
Happy here, about flashlight. As usual, I like to learn more, and keep silent. If i offend someone, sorry for that. Have fun!

88

They did. Efest said it wasnt their place. Who do you trust?

Charges, arrests.. dont know and never will. Chinese law seems to forbid releasing more details.

Legitimate report link? You know that a lot of chinese people cant access facebook, twitter and youtube? Its a little different.

Xtar answered my questions via email. They said they are not allowed to give any details in public.

As I said, we cant know for sure because its another world. I will continue living my life and continue buying products from Efest and Xtar. Karma will punish the bad guys.

89

[quote=Annie-one]
Is it a debate? Of course no. I do not know if you have heard “one thousand readers, then there may be one thousand Hamlet”, So there is no need to argue about it here. And no need to be angry about others’s views. there is also an old saying in my country “Qing Zhe Zi Qing, Zhuo Zhe Zi Zhuo” it means: The wise man knows he knows nothing, the fool thinks he knows all. i think XTAR is smart. Happy here, about flashlight. As usual, I like to learn more, and keep silent. If i offend someone, sorry for that. Have fun!

[quote]

There is also an old saying, “Ignorance is bliss,’ because the ignorant fool wouldn’t know what he’s missing so everybody smiling and happy.

Thanks! I just wished you included that information in your previous post, because you had direct communication with Xtar and bestvaping.

So, it was really bestvading office raided by police for alleged fake Xtar products.

Not only in restaurants, I’ve been invited to homes of Chinese chefs to enjoy home-cooked Chinese foods with their families.

Not good enough to know the taste of Chinese food?

90

I just wished you included that information in your previous post. Thank you! :slight_smile:

So, it was really bestvading office raided by police for alleged fake Xtar products.

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There is also an old saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” because the ignorant fool wouldn’t know what he’s missing so everybody smiling and happy… until the cookie crumbles :slight_smile:

92

I kinda did. As I said, I got opposite answers. Its a matter of who you believe now. And even if you believe the raid was at bestvaping, there is no proof that these chargers were fake.

Nobody has ever received a fake product from Efest.

93

Someone mentioned fake Chinese food?

It’s true. In Asia, especially China, the news is flooded with reports of ‘fake food’. That’s no joke. Couple months ago there was a huge ordeal with ‘fake’ baby formula (food). These were not only sold in China but quite a few Asian countries.

As for the 10 mp1s chargers I bought from Bestvaping (efest), I’m now satisfied that they are of good quality. I have 4 left and last night I opened them up to compare with one I bought from QCG. The internal circuits look identical and charging characteristics are the same. Obviously I’m no forensic analyst but good enough for this BLF member.

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Why would you think that I don’t know what Chinese food is?

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As someone who has spent years working in customer facing roles I’d like to offer some advise.

I don’t think this situation has been handled well by BestVaping. As you say, nobody is perfect. Just look at the BLF lights thread and what happened with Rey. People got upset due to lack of communication, once he started telling people what was really happening everybody calmed down and his reputation improved - it went wrong and he did everything he could to make it right. I’d be more inclined to do business with him now than before as I know he understands how important it is to keep people informed.

As I understand things from the replies I’ve had from customer service:

You were selling XTAR chargers
XTAR stopped supplying you
You were offered the same items from a different seller for the same price
You stocked these from the new supplier to fill orders
XTAR contacted you to say these were not genuine goods.

If that really is the case then just say so, it doesn’t sound anywhere near as bad as the drawn out content of this thread. If you said ‘Hey, even we get caught out sometimes, we’ll increase our checks to make sure all our future stock is genuine’ then most people would have let this pass. Even better get proactive like FastTech and tell people how to check goods are genuine and that you’ll work with them on any fakes that slipped through the net.

You really could have turned this whole episode into a positive for yourselves and your customers, instead it’s become something of a stain on your company which is a real shame for everybody. Communication is the key. It’s not expensive and not that hard to get right.

96

I cant really believe that customer service would ever tell a customer something like that.