Fake Bose QC35 Headphones on eBay - Scam Alert

LJimJam79 on 07/09/2017 - 13:07

Hi all, this is a word of warning for a scam that is currently happening on Ebay and is very popular in Australia.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted a pair of Bose QC35 headphones (Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth).

I was browsing OzBargain and keeping an eye out, occasionally a pair would come up for $350 or thereabouts. This is where the Scam is very clever. The Counterfeit headphones are selling for about $50-$70 less than a retail pair (retail $460-$499) which is enough for people to decide that it's a great deal.

When I received my fake pair, i didnt realise they were fake. The retail packaging was correct, the headphones worked, noise cancelling worked, everything worked and they sounded OK. Here's where it gets weird.

There is a Bose Connect app which will only talk to a pair of real Bose Headphones. A friend of mine has the app and a retail pair and it worked right out the box. Mine wouldnt connect…I then found you can plug the headphones into USB and go to a bose website (http://btu.bose.com) and it will update your headphones over USB….mine didnt work either.

I then did some googling and reviewed the ebay store…. The ebay store said "No App Connectivity, Display Unit, OEM Stock"… hmm… I used the serial number on the box and tried to browse the item via the Bose website, invalid serial number. Ok.

I contacted Bose directly… they said there are no such thing as an imported mode, a display model or models without app connectivity.

To be 100% sure, I went to Myer and bought a retail pair of Bose QC35's and the voice prompts when you connect them are TOTALLY different.

On the counterfeit model when you turn it on the voice prompt says "POWER ON" in a female voice, when you pair it with a phone it says "Connected".

On the Retail QC35's the headphones say "Battery 100% (or whatever) and when paired it says "Connected to XXX's iPhone".

I contacted the Ebay store and told them all of this, they disagreed with me but said they would refund me the full amount (I know why they did that, its against the law to sell counterfeit goods on Ebay).

I received the refund in full today hence why now I'm writing this post.

If you are thinking of buying a pair of Bose QC35 headphones from Ozbargain stores or Ebay and you see "No app connectivity, OEM, Display Model" Stay away, they are 100% fake.

My guess is somewhere in china someone has access to the moulds for the shells or second stock then filling them in with 2nd rate electronics and passing it off as retail.

If you know anyone over at Oz Bargain please let them know this, people would be scammed like crazy not knowing this.

PS, for the record the retail Headphones sound amazingly better and the noise cancelling is a lot better as well.

Electrical & Electronics Bose Headphones

Comments

  • ThithLord on 07/09/2017 - 13:20

    Sounds dodgy as hell.

  • aramk on 07/09/2017 - 13:22
    +1

    Here's one I saw earlier yesterday: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bose-QC35-QuietComfort-35-Wireles…. It says refurbished hopefully that makes people want to pay the extra $50 and get a pair from a store they can actual replace.

    • Neilzy on 07/09/2017 - 15:50
      +1

      surely the refusal of PayPal payment option is against eBay's policy as well?

      • [Deactivated] on 07/09/2017 - 18:43

        anywhere that refuses paypal for anything over $100 i refuse to buy

  • 87percent on 07/09/2017 - 13:25
    +5

    how about you name the seller so people know not to buy from them?

    • freelife on 07/09/2017 - 13:30
      +1

      havetop9 is one such Seller. And here's the deviousness - they have very high scores because they sell high volume on other normal items. So getting a few negatives from fake products is nothing to them, they rely on their positive rankings to trick buyers.

      This ad used to be the QC35 until they sold out, so they tried to hide it (you can't delete ads, so they just had to remove images and rename it). DODGY

      http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/sdgfjkhk-sdhytiukiuy-rujrtytliulu…

      • 87percent on 07/09/2017 - 13:31

        if i saw Bose QC35's for $215, my first instinct would be fake

        • JimJam79 on 07/09/2017 - 14:05
          +1

          The beauty of this scam is they sold for $350

  • freelife on 07/09/2017 - 13:26
    +1

    Apparently fake Bose have been around for many many years now. Apparently they've nailed perfecting the fake products and packaging. Some eBay ads that say "refurbished" - these are fake.

    That's why for expensive products, always buy from a reputable local store with refund policies. Trying to resolve when you receive a fake product is a nighmare. Yes I've been there.

    • SaberX on 02/02/2018 - 21:50

      the hard part is alot of these online bose qc35 ones on sale if they aren't myers or jb etc, they usually aren't on the mid $300s on sale like you see.. so it's real hard to decide whether to go ahead and risk being ripped off.

  • sunnyc on 07/09/2017 - 13:26

    There's like thousands of fake hence why you buy from large accounts

  • JimJam79 on 07/09/2017 - 13:49

    Here is a thread I started on Bose.com

    https://community.bose.com/t5/Wireless-Headphones/Fake-QC35/…

  • WTF on 07/09/2017 - 14:08
    +2

    Thanks for the heads up. You should report the store to ebay and leave negative feedback (even though they refunded you the amount)

    • [Deactivated] on 07/09/2017 - 18:43

      always need to neg for fake

      • JimJam79 on 08/09/2017 - 11:33

        Yeah I did that, now the seller is saying he is going to launch an unpaid item dispute with me… after selling me fakes

  • 18 on 07/09/2017 - 22:03

    They gave u a refund, but did they ask for the headphones back?

    and how does the NC compare to the real one despite being counterfeit?

    • JimJam79 on 08/09/2017 - 11:32

      I sent the headphones back at their request, I just wanted my money back in the least amount of time and effort.

      The NC worked but its not as good as the legit pair. The NC on the fakes sometimes had a high pitch noise and sounded a bit weird

  • pretz92 on 08/09/2017 - 04:17
    +1

    their comment for your neg was: Dyslexia in reading description. A disgrace for our eBay community. just wow

    • JimJam79 on 08/09/2017 - 11:31
      +2

      Ridiculous right? The Ebay seller also threatened to contact eBay to launch a dispute for non payment in hope to limit my account….

  • OneIdiot on 08/09/2017 - 09:50

    Thank god I bought from Myer for $350ish when it was on 20% off sale from 449 RRP.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2017 - 17:35

    Do the fake break like the real deals?

  • SKiZO on 02/02/2018 - 13:19

    Thanks for this. I didn't realise they could replicate this. I'm so naïve. I'll have to shell out the full 400 now for piece of mind :(

    Disgraceful practice that ebay doesn't care about cause they are making money of these pricks.

  • SKiZO on 02/02/2018 - 13:25

    Also, when make sure you leave negative feedback first BEFORE you get a refund. Sellers of fake goods have a tendency to refund you immediately because of a loophole. In my experience, ebay won't let you leave negative feedback after you've been refunded. So no one will know that they are selling fake goods. Again this is a disgusting practice that ebay encourages.

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