Please Help: BBand A2.2 from Ebay China

rayma · #1 09-09-2018, 09:37 PM

Hi there, I fell for it. I wanted to get a dual scource pick up system for my gig and I saw a great deal from ebay. $70 BBand A2.2. and I bought it.

After I paid, I did a search and realize that it could be fake. My bad for not doing my research beforehand.

How do you think it's a fake?

B-band's webiste is down. What happened to this company? There's no other place to get info.

If anyone has any information, please share.

If I can prove it's fake, then I am covered by Paypal protection. But I need verifiable proof. Thanks.

pukematrix · #2 09-09-2018, 09:59 PM

Bob Colosi was a B-Band dealer and his site indicates he’s moving on from the brand. Perhaps he might have more info on the company. I buy bicycle components on eBay from time to time and have started to filter by North America or US only to lessen the chance of getting a knock-off. You just never know. I hope it works out for you.

Austin

v32 finish · #3 09-09-2018, 10:15 PM

I was surprised to find out just how many products and items you can get counterfeits from China. On the advice of a friend, I found a place called "DHGate" which is similar to a Chinese e-bay, and it is rife with all manner of counterfeit. A coworker ordered an Astros jersey from some seller on there for $25 (this is a $175 shirt) and it came in looking flawless, with holograms and *perfect Nike tags. If he hadn't told us it was a fake, we would have never known..

Then I saw a site advising "how to spot a fake Chinese ES-335" .. really makes you wonder. I'm not usually really a suspicious person by nature, but. . (maybe I should be?!) anyway. I'm sorry this post doesn't have any real concrete advice. Where was it sent from/ is the address verifiable?

I'm sorry to hear you may have to take the hit on this. I know you said their site is down, but. . is there NO way to contact this company to try to find out and verify? other than that you have no recourse other than telling paypal, and just acting like you know it's fake. they may not care, on a relatively small item. but I doubt they'll do that on your account more than once.

either way, good luck friend.

Scott

(just a quick edit: i want to clarify here, after thinking about it, that I don't think that last option of telling paypal is 100% ethical. I would personally steer clear of that if you think that it may actually be real. if you're nearly certain that it's fake, but just don't know how to prove it, then I would probably do it. just want to clarify as I don't want to advise anyone to do something immoral etc. i agree that contacting Bob C is a good start.)

Boneyard75 · #4 09-10-2018, 05:08 AM

I think that they may be simply selling off the old stock.
If B Band is out-of-business, this would make the most sense....but, I truly don't know.....someone would have to go through a lot of trouble to fake the products & we have become extremely distrustful.....
Boneyard

DenverSteve · #5 09-10-2018, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayma

Hi there, I fell for it. , How do you think it's a fake?

Buying anything from China that costs substantially less than what it should , should be seriously scrutinized prior to purchase. I live by an adage that has served me well for many decades. "You may not always get what you pay for, but you never get what you don't pay for." If it seems too good to be real, it probably isn't. In other words, deal only with authorized representatives of/for any company whose products you are purchasing. I believe it is better to pay once for the real thing than spend time looking for "a deal" that has a high percentage chance that something is amiss.

hat · #6 09-10-2018, 05:48 AM

I have a genuine B-band A2.2 in the box. If you could post some pics, we might be able to compare to what I have....

Shoreline Music · #7 09-10-2018, 08:09 AM

I used to be B-Band's biggest dealer. They stopped selling in the US last year, and I suspect at this point they've officially folded.

Post (or PM) a picture, and we can guess whether you're dealing with a fake. Note that their USTs switched to a braided look in the last couple of years. Otherwise they were the thin red design for many years.

Also, for what it's worth, I have a few spare B-Band parts lying about.

rayma · #8 09-10-2018, 09:45 AM

I haven't got the item yet. But thes

e are pics from the seller at eBay. If there's some definitive proof, I will flag them down but there are a number of Chinese sellers with 98 - 100% rating selling these.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mz...jgm30vyKDsU_F7

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Dx...qz-_9NxngYV0cg

Thanks for the help guys!

Dave L · #9 09-10-2018, 10:04 PM

I have a B-Band I bought last year. That looks like the one I have.

Shoreline Music · #10 09-11-2018, 07:42 AM

That looks legit to me.

rayma · #11 09-11-2018, 09:45 AM

Thanks everyone, fingers crossed. I will update everyone when it arrives. You never know what you get from eBay. Lesson learnt. thanks for all your input.

MikeBmusic · #12 09-12-2018, 06:51 AM

It's not unusual for the Chinese counterfeit sellers to use pictures of the REAL items, rather than their counterfeits. Sometimes, the items are worth the (very discounted) price paid, other times not.

varmonter · #13 09-12-2018, 08:38 AM

I can’t tell you what to do. These things are buyer beware. I don’t know that
You have recourse here if the item is fake. I have heard stories where let’s say a company like bband hires a company in China to manufacture their products.
The contract an 8 hour shift and produce the item for bband .
Then the Chinese company puts on a night shift and produces a run of
Counterfeits . But in essence your buying the same thing just not paying the
Markup the American company tacks on. In your case I don’t know.
But when you get it ..and it works as designed no big whoop.
Your not buying a Picasso here.

rayma · #14 10-19-2018, 10:05 AM

Thanks everyone, it came. Packaging was off, just a box and some bubble wrap. Everything was put together, cables, connectors, it's just a matter of drilling the holes and sticking.

Everything worked. It's a great pickup.

Still have no clue what's going on at B-Band. But a flood of "aftermarket" pickups is not good for the company.

Thanks of your input.

fazool · #15 10-19-2018, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by v32 finish

I was surprised to find out just how many products and items you can get counterfeits from China. ..

Search youtube for the documentary on the "counterfeit mall".

I worked for a company that sold factory equipment. A US manufacturer set up a US factory in China and sent us orders for expensive equipment. We got a duplicate identical copied order for another purchase at a different address down the street. The locals were counterfeiting the entire factory, not just the products (we rejected the second order).

Three decades in global manufacturing and I could fill up the AGF with stories like this.