Wow, you really jumped the gun leaving negative feedback. The Diamond has been around for a while. AQ has been known to change braiding & packaging over time (even on the same model). That’s one heck of a leap to assume you’ve got a counterfeit based on the minor packaging differences, and nothing else. You abandoned all faith in the seller, did NO due diligence on your part, and left a neg. You also mentioned the cable is "defective" in your feedback. Is it? If it doesn’t work, then this case should have been as simple as requesting a full refund. If it does work (your paranoia aside), you’re not being fully truthful in your feedback.
I’ve bought cartridges from this same Asian (Hong Kong) seller, totaling much more than this cable, and they were all 100% authentic A-stock. I have full confidence that he sells only genuine articles, and if any mistake happens he’ll resolve it promptly. He has every right to be pissed. I wouldn’t deal with you either.
AQ has had a long history combating counterfeits, so you’re not wrong to be cautious of that, but this was not the right way to handle a transaction. In general it feels like the counterfeiting problem was at its peak in the days of Sky interconnects and K2 speaker cables - and seems like they’ve got this better under control with current models. Anyways, they will authenticate a cable for free (and dispose of counterfeits when found, like they should). I've sent in a number of AQ cables over the years an never got a fake. Because I'm a careful buyer who doesn't freak out on his sellers lol.