Hello, everyone. This happened to me about a month ago. I was thinking all the time about telling my story to Audiogon community and now I decided to do it.
I bought Furutech e-TP60 power distributor(
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisaa1i6-furutech-e-tp60-ac-distribution?show_listing=true) on April 28th. I contacted the seller(TbazAudio) and no any responses for almost 2 weeks, so I decided to open transaction on Paypal, then the seller quickly shipped the item without asking me if I still needed the item. This made my first bad impression with this seller. The seller felt sorry about the delayed shipping, so the seller offered $20 for compensation if I would keep the item. I decided to keep the item and asked for $20 partial refund. The seller didn’t respond again, my second bad impression, so I decided to give negative feedback. I saw earlier negative feedback from a buyer about late shipping like I had. The seller again immediately refunded. I felt like I really must force the seller. Right now my negative feedback and previous negative feedback are gone. I have no idea how seller negative feedback can be erased.
The item was shipped to my company in Oregon, then it took about 2 weeks to ship to my destination country(Thailand) as I am not based in the US. You can 100% trust this shipping company as they always take photos of the items before shipping. I saw exact same item. When the item arrived, I plugged it and listened, then I felt something was wrong with this item. It sounded worse than my non-audiophile power distributor. I decided to take the item to my Furutech Thailand distributor(Clef Audio). They are Furutech expert as you can see this video clip(
https://fb.watch/5StA_vlGeK/), it’s in Thai language but you can see they can differentiate the fake and the authentic. They checked the item and confirmed that this Furutech e-TP60 is fake product from China. This made me really shocked. Anyone that keeps reading to this point, please follow how to differentiate the fake and the authentic Furutech e-TP60 by looking at this photo item and the authentic on Furutech website.
1.The authentic one is matte silver. The fake one that I got is shiny silver.
2.The authentic one has black lines between receptacles. The fake one that I got has red lines between receptacles.
3.The authentic one has star screws. The fake one that I got has round screws.
4.The authentic one has smooth words "+GC-303". The fake one that I got has elevated C letter.
5.The authentic one has real Furutech receptacles with Furutech logo, ground sign and PSE JET sign. The fake one that I got doesn’t have any logos or signs.
The seller didn’t believe and didn’t accept that he sold fake Furutech product, always kept asking who I talked to confirm that it’s fake. With 5 different points, it’s clear enough that this Furutech e-TP60 is fake. Anyone can look at Alibaba or Aliexpress website and see fake Furutech e-TP60 with very cheap price and same characteristics like this fake item. The seller offered 50% partial refund or return it with full refund. Additionally, the seller offer $25 as compensation. I couldn’t accept fake Furutech product, so I decided to return it. I sent it via DHL Express and it took only 1-2 days to arrive the seller. The seller then again show unprofessionalism by questioning me why it was arrived so quickly without looking tracking number I provided. When the item arrived to the seller, this was the real beginning of unprofessional seller. I told him that this item was fake at the first glance. With the words "+GC-303" on the e-TP60, why would the letter C be a little higher than other words? He was very angry and then told me that the $25 refund was off because I threatened him. He sent a lot of messages to me via Audiogon message. It was like he couldn’t control himself.
OMG!!! This is the real unprofessional seller. How can this seller get Audiogon verified dealer?
I should get $198.37(full refund) + $25 = $223.37. I realized that I misunderstood and calculated wrongly, without $25 refund that the seller broke the deal with unprofessionalism, the total refund must be $198.37 - $20 = $178.37. Claimed that I was a fraud by taking $20-$45 profit by receiving and returning to get profit. I have been in this AV hobby for 5 years and I have an occupation with enough salary to be in this AV hobby. I have work to do. I don’t have enough free time to receive and return to get $20-$45 profit. At last I got full refund($20 + $178.37 = $198.37) with very exhausting way.
I sent e-mail to Mr.Scot Markwell from US Furutech distributor(Elite Audio Video Distribution) to verify fake Furutech product. He helped me confirm that I received fake Furutech product. He also asked me where I bought it and in the future check with him.
There are 2 points that I learned with this situation.
1.You can’t always trust Audiogon verified dealers with positive feedback. I know there are a lot of good Audiogon verified dealers.
2.Even though you are in the US, you must be careful with fake Furutech products from China. You should buy Furutech products from authorized dealer or trusted sellers. I know there are a lot of non-authorized dealers that sell authentic Furutech products.
P.S. I swear and vow that my story is real and true. I have all evidences(all the chats, photos) to confirm my story.
This is the strong and good point of Audiogon support team.
