Fake DS Lite

[Joe]

Well it seems that my wife bought one of these fake Nintendo DS Lites. Our son wanted one for Christmas and she couldn't find one in the shops, so like many people she turned to Ebay and bought a nice navy blue one from Hong Kong and paid £110 for it!!! I did think that was odd at the time as I have never seen a DS lite in navy blue. Anway, when we saw the news report we got it out to test it. Yes, the power adapter does look dodgy and is now in the bin, but the game console itself is an immaculate copy and it works fine even the wireless - our other son has a real one so we were able to compare. Not really sure what to do? We have started a dispute with e-bay and Paypal and haven't heard anything as of yet.

However, ebay must know about this, unless they don't watch the news, and I am very surprised to see that ebay are still allowing people to flog these fake DS lites. Not sure how they could validate the genuine ones though... tricky. I guess this will be a drawn our process requiring an expert to validate ours as fake. It's not going to be sorted for Christmas is it...

[Tony]

I guess it is an almost impossible task for Ebay to police this, but they have to do more. I guess the fine they got recently in France might encourage this. See: French court fines eBay for sale of counterfeit handbags ? The Register

I wonder how many of these are fake Nintendos DS Lites

Personally, I would only buy from UK sellers because at least UK sellers risk jail for selling fakes which may put many off - hopefully.

[GlasgowGirl]

Ebay is a bit of a minefield - it can be a great source for bargains or items that are hard to get in this country, but as you've discovered, it can also be a zone in which rip-off merchants thrive. You may need to keep at it with your dispute with eBay - I've heard of a few people who have said that it takes a few attempts to get beyond an automated reply and actually deal with a human. This thread on eBay's discussion boards might be helpful. There is also a phone number for eBay listed here, although I do not know if it's accurate.

[Joe]

I suppose what we will have to do is give it to him for Christmas and swap it for a real one afterwards when they go on sale again and when, hopefully, we will have the money back from Paypal. Thanks for the links and yes they ARE still selling the fakes - they even show the fake boxes in some of the listings.

[Sir Tarquin]

Hi Joe,

First post!!!
Could ypou please keep me posted as to what is happening with your 'dodgy' DS as i am in exactly the same situation. I do not want to send it back either as this will mean no DS for christmas and me being out of pocket by £10-15 for postage.

Thanks

Paul.

[Joe]

Managed to get a new real one for Christmas which is good. The seller says we can have our money back if we send back the DS lite, we won't send it even unless he sends the money first. Should we bother, as basically he tried to rip us off. He denies it is fake and is still selling fake ones and a whole load of other branded stuff that is probably fake on Ebay.

[jackie1969uk]

I certainly wouldn't trust the word of the seller in this case. Use Paypal to make a claim no matter what the seller tries to get you to believe and check the dates I think you only have about 45 days to start the claim and I see no reason why they would not see in your favour. You will need to return it to get the refund but I would wait until the formal request comes direct from Paypal to return the item and also get proof of posting. You should get a full refund of the Paypal amount paid but the postage costs to return the item will be at your expense.

Also make sure you report the seller to Ebay for selling counterfeit goods.

[Tony]

Jackie is right Joe it is your word against his. I guess they will ask for some kind of confirmation that it is fake from a third party and the proper thing to do would be to not send it back, but to pass it to Trading Standards so it can be destroyed. They have failed safety checks and are dangerous.

Tony

[Joe]

Well I just sent it back to the seller. Paypal insist you resolve with trader first. Hope to get a refund otherwise I am covered by Paypal. Used recorder mail, took photos etc. Also reported trader to ebay for selling fakes. Joe

[Tony]

Thanks Joe for the update, it will be interesting to find out how long it takes you to get your money back.