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I stopped buying important things from Amazon for this reason. I don't want to risk getting counterfeit products. We just got an email from Amazon that they id
by atonse 7y ago
I stopped buying important things from Amazon for this reason. I don't want to risk getting counterfeit products.
We just got an email from Amazon that they identified that the water filter refills I bought 6 months ago were fake, so they issued a refund. But I hate the idea that they allowed it in the first place itself. And this is something that's affecting the health of my family. (Thankfully our unfiltered tap water won't kill us but still...)
We've been trying to avoid Amazon as much as possible and it's been hard. But not impossible. They've got such a head start over everyone else on their solid logistics operation.
They're actually open to competition... from ex-Amazonians. It's like all the ex-googlers that left and took those ideas to make open source versions because Google was so far ahead.
1) Retail return policies are mostly liberal. It's the smaller stores that tend to be more stingy.
2) Price Matching solves any issues with regard to lower prices
3) Returning is actually easier since you get the instant gratification of a refund, not 5 days later. Anyway with amazon we've always had to drop it off to UPS, so we don't save time making the trip.
The bigger issue is that since Amazon is so large and pervasive everywhere, it's very tough to actually boycott the company. Brands like Whole Foods, Ring, AWS etc are still important parts of our lives and careers.
- heyoni 7y agoCouldn’t you just buy from manufacturers directly on amazon?
- unicornfinder 7y agoEven if you do, that doesn't protect you from counterfeits because of commingling.
- behringer 7y agoTrue, but sometimes I go to the manufacturer's website and order there.
- crusty 7y agoCo-mingeling is exactly right. I bought a Samsung product sold and fulfilled by Amazon and still got a counterfeit. I didn't discover it was counterfeit until after the standard return warranty and when I contacted Amazon, they couldn't have cared less, and basically acted like it was being counterfeit was just another aspect of a product that should be evaluated by a customer during the return period. Amazon can FO and die!
- heyoni 7y agoStupid question but what exactly is co-mingeling?
- MichaelApproved 7y agoOh man, water filters. I should add that to my list. The problem is, I want to buy a generic filter because fridge manufacturer has the typical massive markup that a manufacturer does (like printer ink) but finding a reputable generic is difficult.
- daveFNbuck 7y agoI used to buy pet fountain filters on Amazon, but I've changed to a policy of not buying anything health-related since reading about Amazon's counterfeit issues. I considered buying a pet fountain filter, but checked the reviews and found lots of horror stories about build up of slime and mold on counterfeit filters. One story even had a cat dying in way plausibly connected to the filter [1]. Unfiltered tap water won't kill you, but a counterfeit filter might. [1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2T55842GRHFBG https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2T55842GRHFBG
- MICHAELSEN 7y ago*The Poisoned City? Author : Anna Cark. Great read! Offers a BETTER PERSPECTIVE of just EXACTLY how HARMFUL unfiltered H20 can be to the human body. I am going to Ghana very soon & the last time I was there, everyone had filtration devices & I DID NOT! I will Make sure that I DONT/WONT go down this time around. I mean I would rather drink 190 grain verses the toxicity of 3rd wheel country...
- cinnamonheart 7y agoWe had constant issues with our fridge water dispenser using 'Samsung' water filters bought on Amazon. Out of desperation, I just bought a cheap off-brand one, hoping if it was at least being honest about not being an official product, it'd at least be functional as a replacement. All of the issues with our fridge have since vanished. I've since learnt real Samsung water filters come with an authentication tag, and none of the ones I ordered on Amazon came with one. I think we've been drinking water from counterfeit filters for a year now. https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/home-appliances-accessories/refrigerators/haf-cin-refrigerator-water-filter-haf-cin-exp https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/home-appliances-a...
- _jal 7y agoFridge-based DRM to protect one business model, willful blindness to counterfeiting to protect another. What a bleak, horrible future we live in.
- blaser-waffle 7y agoWait until you hear about Keurig coffee machines or John Deer tractors...
- threatofrain 7y agoIt’s just what happens when you mix the spirit of legal and business imperatives with tech, but there probably was never a tipping point for a world of hobbyists. Nobody accuses the lawyer or businessman of malfeasance when they secure the business moat.
- exergy 7y agoThese kinds of things have me quitting most things recently. I don't own a TV, don't own a car, don't drink coffee anymore, don't subscribe to any streaming service, don't have a TV, don't have social media. My internet usage basically boils down to NYT, HN, Reddit and Youtube. I can't say I miss much of what I gave up. My life is far from deprived. The caveat is that I live in western Europe, with good public transport, accessibility to plenty of nature and many things to do outside of glowing rectangles.
- acollins1331 7y agoIt shouldn't be that hard to find an alternative to whole foods. I also question your need to install surveillance in your own home at all.
- pacaro 7y agoIt's really not clear that water filters are doing anything positive (you'd have to get your water tested to know) and they do have a tendency to increase the bacterial load in the water because of the inevitable biofilm that accumulates on the filter surfaces. In addition it's just another single use plastic product
- ses1984 7y agoThey can make your water taste a lot better. My tap water is barely palatable. If I didn't use these filters, I would drink tap anyway but the rest of my family would probably resort to bottled water.
- fortran77 7y agoThis is a non-sequitur. Nothing to do with the point that was being made. And in a 'fridge, it can help reduce some scale, etc, in the internal workings of the ice maker and water dispenser.
- JohnJamesRambo 7y agoMy fear with a counterfeit water filter would be what it adds to the water. There is something in there and if it is counterfeit you don’t know what the plastic and filter material is. You could be leaching plasticizers, bpa, lead, who knows what into your drinking water.
- pacaro 7y ago
- deogeo 7y ago> (Thankfully our unfiltered tap water won't kill us but still...) But a filter that uses toxic materials could.
- daveFNbuck 7y agoOr even just a filter that's poorly designed and becomes a breeding ground for harmful microorganisms.
- scruple 7y ago> I stopped buying important things from Amazon for this reason. I don't want to risk getting counterfeit products. There's nothing in my life that I buy where I would accept a counterfeit. I accept that it has absolutely happened, that it will continue to happen, but I have nearly completely retreated from Amazon since having children.