Ghd hair straighteners

The folowing is an account of the attitude towards customers of GHD.....Having purchased a pair of GHD hair straighteners for our Daughters birthday we had reason to return them after 7 days as faulty,which we found very unsatisfactory,considering they cost £105.

After keeping them for 2 weeks they have informed us that these hair straighteners were in fact counterfeit (their words).We asked how this could be,as they came in the genuine GHD packaging and were complete with all the relevant documents and warranty certificate,etc.

They had the audacity to tell us that it is immpossible for members of the public to tell the difference and that they should check on their website for information.Now for the ridiculous statement on GHD's website.It states that "if you buy GHD straighteners and wish to check their authenticity you should enter the code from the hologram on the lead" (after spending over £100 to find they are fake).How utterly stupid.

They then went on to say that SUPERDRUG are currently selling counterfeits and you should check very carefully before purchasing.Well,correct me if I appear a bit thick,but if you can't trust a shop such as SUPERDRUG then you may as well give up.

I personally believe that they are actually condoning the sale of fakes to make customers buy from them direct (at more cost,of course).We asked them why they are not taking action to stop this so called counterfeiting and they said they were warning Trading Standing Offices.We asked why they were not taking direct action to warn people and they failed to answer us.

So be aware that you are more than likely blowing over a £100 on this rubbish and GHD will not honour the warranty.

Paul Carcone said:

Erm...it's a little unfair to ask GHD to refund you for a product that is not theirs. They did not make, nor did they sell the product, nor did they get any of your £105...as such I can;t understand why you think that they would refund you.

I also can't understand why you don't take them back to the place you bought them from and demand the refund from there...?

Surely this would be the easiest option...??

As for the product itself...I bought some for my wife a couple of years ago and they're still working perfectly.

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Sorry if you missed the point I am making,but it is the attitude of GHD and not the fact that the straighteners have stopped working.

If they know that there are counterfeits on sale that are indistinguishable from the real thing they should take steps to protect the public from this ripoff,and not make invalid excuses,after all,if they are not able to be recognised as fakes until after you have parted with over £100 then surely they should take steps to protect their "good" name by stopping the sale of this rubbish.

I can assure you that these straighteners are absolutely 100% identical to the "real" thing and even have the disc in the box with all relevant paperwork.I defy anyone to tell the difference.

As I said,the company have actually stated that it is not possible to tell the difference without entering the hologram number,which is a bit stupid considering you would not have this until after you have purchased them.

Holograms


Hi,as a matter of interest the Hologram is identical to the real thing and is absolutely undetectable as a fake to the naked eye (the words of a GHD rep).I found all this a little strange,as most if not all counterfeits are usually detectable in some way.

I have done a little bit of research into the REAL story behind these so called "Counterfeits" and was absolutely shocked to find out what has really been going on.This affects the Pink ones only as far as I can find out.

I would not post what I have found out without the permission of someone that runs this site,as it could have implications for them,but I will say that certain people refuse to sell these things.

Everyone seems to be missing the point I am making and that is that GHD are in fact aware of where these things are being sold and refuse to take action against anyone.This is confirmed by a local Hairdressing salon,who was in fact a GHD agent.I am only trying to warn people that regardless of where you purchase these straighteners,be extremely careful,as you can not be sure what you are getting.

pieface said:

But I think your point is wrong. ghd are taking action against people - there are lots of forums on the internet discussing the fact that legal action is being taken against people selling on ebay. The issue for any brand owner is how they can enforce their intellectual property - where they can (e.g. through the ebay vero programme) they take action, but when the seller is overseas it is much harder to track down and shut down. Trading standards are the enforcers in the UK and as you have mentioned in an earlier post ghd are working with them. Do you think ghd should have a private security function scouring the world? What should they be doing?
ghd, like other brand owners (apple, gucci etc) only supply original genuine equipment direct to authorised companies. all of these companies are listed through their official websites - so actually, if you do a 2 minute piece of research it is very easy to guarantee you are getting original equipment.

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I think you are wrong in the way you think.It sounds like you have shares in GHD.If you can't see the point I am making then surely you should accept that other people have the right to their views.

I have had direct contact with GHD and their attitude towards counterfeits is disgusting.Maybe if they took as much interest as the film studios do with DVD's,etc,then there would not be a problem.

As for your idea about a 2 minute piece of research,I suggest you go back and read my original post regarding the fact that GHD are telling customers that they are "undetectable to the human eye".As a matter of fact a local Hairdresser was offered the exact same thing and informed GHD of this and she was told they could not do anything.How about that for stamping out "counterfeiting".

counterfeiters

pieface said:

The film studios are incredibly unsuccessful in stopping the counterfeiters!
My point about the research is that if you are careful about who you purchase from, i.e. retailers who the brand owner authorises, you can be sure you are getting original equipment.
No, I don't have shares in ghd but I do work for a company where brand and counterfeiting is a problem so know that it is an issue companies like mine and ghd will take extremely seriously. It is also a very complex issue to manage for reasons I have mentioned in earlier posts as enforcement of the chinese counterfeiters is very very difficult and hugely expensive and time consuming. Did your hairdresser tell ghd exactly who offered them the product, what their address/contact details are and for proof of the offer? If she didn't have this then what do you think ghd can do?
You still haven't mentioned where you purchased the fake from - a picture on the internet is bound to be undetectable to the human eye...

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In reply to your last question first.The Hologram is not detectable with the human eye when it is 2 inches away from you,let alone on the internet.The statement you have made regarding taking counterfeiting seriously is also invalid,as the companies concerned use counterfeiting as an excuse to keep prices artificially high.I fully expect someone to tell me that the goverment are not aware of the tons of counterfeit crap that pours into this country every day through ports such as Felixtowe and Harwich,etc,but then the devious goverment are making millions of pounds daily through import duties and vat,whilst turning a blind eye to the chinese criminals (must not upset the chinese must we).As for the film companies,you can go to any car boot sale or street market any day of the week and you will find masses of trading standards with half the metropolitan police in tow to catch someone selling a couple of pirate DVD's,which is a big crime worth spending millions of pounds on because some poor film director is being shortchanged.Once again they whinge about pirating is causing DVD's to be priced high to take pirating into account,but there is a small flaw in this statement,which is as follows.Would someone please explain why the likes of Warner Brothers,CIC,Paramount,etc,were charging over £75 for a VHS film way back in 1980,when pirating did not exist to the extent that it would cause concern to the film companies.This is a fact that can be confirmed.The other thing to take into account was that Video recorders would have died a death if people had to rely on the rubbish that the film companies were putting on video,the quality of the pirate films was actually better than most film companies could manage (or be bothered to put out to the public).Pirating actually forced the film companies to get their act together and give the paying public what they were paying for,but they still whinge about their profits.I do not in any way condone counterfeiting,but as you can see manufacturers can be given a sharp boot up the jacksie when they start getting above their stations and ripping the public off with these ridiculously high prices.The GHD straighteners are more than likely made in the same chinese sweatshop as a pair of Morphy Richards costing a fraction of the price,but where kids are concerned it has to be the dearest,because clever advertising tells them that this is what they should buy.My younger daughter has had her GHD's for just over a year (bought direct from GHD by the way) and has sent them back for repair twice.GHD's excuse for the premature failure was "they must have been used commercially",what a load of tripe,she is a 19 year old kid that uses them maybe twice a week.Sorry to be so negative,but I have more than likely had more negative dealings over the years than you.

Mr Pieface

pieface said:

sorry now I'm confused. After wading through the film bit you go on to say that your daughter has had her ghds for just over a year and they were bought direct from ghd, they've broken and ghd won't fix them. My wifes has them and hers have a 2 year warranty so this is strange. But the whole point of the thread was that you'd bought counterfeits and couldn't tell the difference. What this means is either you are telling porkies or ghds must be that great so even after a bad experience you still bought another! In response to your last statement, yes you've clearly had some bad experiences which have clearly affected your views....

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Look matey,if you are not capable of understanding simple English then I suggest you go and read the Beano or Dandy,as you are evidently some sort of GHD devotee.I do not need people like you giving me advice that amounts to exactly ZERO.If you are happy buying this trash and putting up with the consequences then DO it,but do not sit there like a faceless dictator making stupid,meaningless statements.As a matter of fact I did NOT buy the other straighteners and I do not run my daughters life and tell her what she should buy,so go back and read what I have posted properly.I am so pleased that your wife has had hers for 2 years,but how can you make such a damned,stupid,statement,when you have no more idea what the overall failure rate is than me (or do you).I put this post on here to warn potential buyers of the pitfalls of buying GHD straighteners,genuine or counterfeit,but you seem to have a mission in life to undermine this.What the reasons are are not immediately clear,but I have my own idea as to what you are trying to do.So,unless you are prepared to listen to other peoples experiences and stop acting as if you own GHD I suggest you let potential customers make their own minds up.I wont be replying to any of your threads again,so carry on what you do best.