Country of Origin - Misleading behaviour

Lricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 13:02
Last edited 28/11/2020 - 14:59

I'm hoping to get more opinions on the matter.

I purchased a device from an Australian company for a few hundred dollars. The website claims "Country of origin" is South Korea but the sticker on the base has the name of a Chinese company. That same company is on the charger, which states "Made in China".

Now, the product itself is extremely well reviewed and I don't have an issue with where it was made. I'm more annoyed that it seems very misleading and deceptive. Especially because the box has the name of a Korean head company, but makes no claim as to where the product is made. The same goes with all the paperwork in the box. The manufacturer is not listed anywhere other than on the tiny sticker with the Chinese company name. One of the deciding factors to justify paying the premium for the device was that it was made in Korea.

Questions:
1. Would you expect country of origin would mean country of manufacture?
2. Would you consider the conduct of the company misleading?
3. What would you recommend to do next?

EDIT: I was just browsing the home page of the website which clearly states all their products are manufactured in Korea, confirming they are being deceitful intentionally.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • Heaps for Cheaps on 28/11/2020 - 13:15
    +2
    1. No
    2. No
    3. Enjoy the item. Move on.

    I remember at supermarket a customer was asking for a box 30 pack coke to be reduced because the carry handle was broken, so slight outer packaging damage. The staff replied that they can't reduce the item but can sell the packaging alone from another 30 pack which is in perfect condition, sans 30 cans, for 50% off if it the packaging is of most importance to the customer.

    TLDR: Enjoy the item.

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 15:33
      +5

      Thanks for your reply.

      Looking back at their website, they claim their devices are manufactured in Korea which in my opinion, confirms they're being misleading. Either way, the device itself looks good and as I stated in the post, the issue is not with where the product was made.

      A lot of people, whether they acknowledge it or not, perceive goods made in China to be inferior or less trustworthy.

      • Hybroid on 28/11/2020 - 20:37

        A lot of people, whether they acknowledge it or not, perceive goods made in China to be inferior or less trustworthy.

        Not really.

        Chinese randomly branded products, especially those that slap an unpronounceable name on the exact same OEM product with many different names, then maybe as a generalisation.

        But pretty much everything is made in China nowadays and there's plenty of high quality products made in China, especially those with international design and QA e.g. Apple iPhones.

    • theHMASfriendship on 28/11/2020 - 16:07
      +3

      Any more supermarket stories?

      • elgrande on 29/11/2020 - 07:41
        +3

        I once sliced a 2L coke with a carton cutter whilst building a floor stack, it burst all over another team member.

    • subywagon on 28/11/2020 - 16:21
      +2

      mwalks, I wish I could neg your comment a few more times.

      • Heaps for Cheaps on 28/11/2020 - 16:46
        +3

        If you join OzBargain premium you could…

        • subywagon on 28/11/2020 - 20:43
          +1

          Great! Where do I sign up? :P

  • brad1-8tsi on 28/11/2020 - 14:29
    +2

    Who would have thought the day would have come when people buying a Korean product were willing to pay a price premium? How the world has changed in 20-25 years.

    • FireRunner on 28/11/2020 - 14:39
      -1

      One day "Made in China" will be sought after

      • askme69 on 28/11/2020 - 21:25

        😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 15:31
      +1

      Why do people pay a premium for Hyundai over Chery or Great Wall car? Why did you pay extra for a VAG car?

      • [Deactivated] on 28/11/2020 - 16:51
        +9

        Why would anyone pay for a Chery?

      • mskeggs on 28/11/2020 - 19:12
        +3

        Right, but that is the point brad1-8tsi is making. The Korean cars occupied the same market niche a relatively short time ago.
        And the reputation on early Korean cars was deserved.
        They did do an amazing job of raising quality swiftly.

        • Thrift on 28/11/2020 - 19:50
          +9

          1955 Doc Brown: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".
          Marty McFly: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.
          1955 Doc Brown: Unbelievable.

        • brad1-8tsi on 29/11/2020 - 10:43

          Yep.
          Nobody remember the Hyundais that Alan Bond brought in to Australia with the cracking chassis that they fixed under recall using large pop rivets.

          The advances that Korean industry has made in terms of quality and design is quite amazing. Qudos to them.

          • Dslrfirst on 29/11/2020 - 11:00

            @brad1-8tsi: To clarify, the riveting ethod was an accepted industry practice.

            • brad1-8tsi on 29/11/2020 - 21:41

              @Dslrfirst: sure it worked but the cracking shouldn't have happened in the first place.

      • Mechz on 29/11/2020 - 01:07
        +1

        A lot of people pay a premium for VAG.

      • Speckled Jim on 30/11/2020 - 16:27

        I've noticed small island countries have something akin to "small man syndrome", but with positive outcomes.

        Korea - we're agreed they're right up there, quality-wise. My 2002 Elantra refuses to die despite my abuse and neglect.

        Taiwan - I made the mistake of lumping them in with mainland China, as I'd seen "Made in Taiwan R.O.C." on labels in the past. Being less politically-aware, I assumed this was their proud association and not done under duress.
        Taiwanese steel is just better somehow. I suspect China cuts theirs with potash or other filler.
        Pray I'm right, as my eBay coilovers are from Taiwan and I'm eyeing a Kymco…

        NZ - Whittaker's and Sistema, say no more.

  • shangoz on 28/11/2020 - 14:37
    +1

    most of the electronics, electricals, car manufactures, accesseries etc, make in asia including China Thailand Vietnam Japan Korea Malaysia etc etc anyway, be open mind for OEM products, very hard to find one products from beginning tiny screw to the end labels everything manufacture in one big Roof.

  • SF3 on 28/11/2020 - 15:03

    Apple is “made in china” at least final assembly, not all electronics inside would be China made tho.

    • mskeggs on 28/11/2020 - 19:14
      +2

      I saw a tear down of the newest iPhone that showed a substantial increase in Korean and Taiwanese semiconductors compared to the last that had a fair whack of Chinese components.

  • SF3 on 28/11/2020 - 15:07
    +2

    Or you see legit products that are “ Made in Australia 0% Australian ingredients” 🤣

    https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Country%20of%20Origin%2…

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 15:35
      -1

      Thanks for the link, but unfortunately that's for food labelling.

      • Pufff on 28/11/2020 - 16:31
        +1

        Same concept. Companies don't care, only factor is cost for them.
        Supply chains these days are complex.
        You want each individual part labelled according to where it was made?
        Labelling for where each part was assembled?
        What about the origin of the materials?
        You'll get hundreds of labels on tech items.

    • Bystander on 28/11/2020 - 19:11

      "Made in" is so misleading that it ought to be banned.

      • mskeggs on 28/11/2020 - 19:16

        I think it is a hard area.
        I would buy a suit made in Australia from Italian wool fabric that was sourced from Australian sheep.
        Where is the “made in” there?

        Recently Birdseye got in trouble about this regarding fish fingers. If they use foreign fish, but are sliced and crumbed and packaged here, where were they made?

        • Bystander on 28/11/2020 - 19:23
          +1

          My beef is that it's abused more often than not. It's deliberately used to misinform the consumer.

          I'm much happier seeing "Product of" and a %ge thereof. That covers your suit as well.

  • pharkurnell on 28/11/2020 - 15:38
    +1

    Yes
    Yes
    Move on and enjoy it.

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 15:40

      Thanks. This will probably be the outcome.

      It's interesting to see the response so far.

  • subywagon on 28/11/2020 - 16:24
    +3

    The whole made in, product of, etc is a big farce. I especially don't want to eat food items from certain countries and find it really misleading how they label food products.

    • whooah1979 on 28/11/2020 - 18:26

      Buy locally grown produce.

      • jacross on 30/11/2020 - 15:31

        But what if one of the Countries he doesn't want to eat food from is Australia?

  • lainey13 on 28/11/2020 - 19:28

    Is the charger a separate unit from the device? It could very well have been made in china, but the main unit might still be Korean made.

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 20:27

      It is. But the device it also stamped with the same manufacturer company on it, which is based in China.

  • askme69 on 28/11/2020 - 21:28

    Had the same dilemma not long ago when buying a Doona.

    Australian wool made in China or unknown material made in Australia or % of etc etc.

    • ricerocket on 28/11/2020 - 22:08

      That seems to be more about labelling rather than misleading behaviour, but it's confusing regardless.

      It may be a genuine mistake, albeit a huge one to not know where your own products are manufactured. Their response to my question was that they import them directly from Korea, which doesn't seem like a valid reason to state that it's manufactured there. As everyone here's already called out, just because it came country A doesn't mean it was made there.

  • DoctorCalculon on 28/11/2020 - 23:42
    +1

    OP, what you are forgetting is this. All the design work, manufacturing plans, etc. were done in South Korea. The actual parts that make up the product were manufactured (sub-contracted) elsewhere, and in this case to a company within China.

    So, the country of origin is still correct. Therefore, no deception.

    If I were to buy a Kia or Hyundai vehicle, I don't expect all parts to be made in South Korea. In fact, they have car manufacturing plants all over the world including the US. Nevertheless, the country of origin of these vehicles is still stated as South Korea.

    • ricerocket on 29/11/2020 - 00:26

      I would have agreed more with you, if I hadn't gone back on their home page which states that their machines are manufactured in Korea. I knew I read that before buying somewhere, hence my surprise when I saw the Chinese company on the sticker.

  • snooksy on 29/11/2020 - 09:03

    How do you know the product isn’t made in Korea? You state that the charger says made in China. Charger from China labelled with Korean company name. Item from Korea, labelled with Korean company name. These days you don’t usually not buy something made in China for quality reasons, you buy something not made in China because you dislike the communist government, human rights issues or the fact that the CCP just started a trade war with Australia. Good on you for paying a little bit more to protect Australian jobs and not buy something made in China. Korea isn’t putting Australians out of work which looks likely with the trade situation with China.

    • ricerocket on 29/11/2020 - 11:35

      The company name stamped at the bottom of the machine itself is the same as the one on the charger and is based in China.

  • OzHunterNSW on 29/11/2020 - 11:46
    -2

    Who cares… really…. who cares… just get on with life

  • LFO on 29/11/2020 - 13:58

    Times are changing and if country of origin is important then careful reading is needed before purchase.

    Also beware "Made in XXXXX with imported items". Means anything!

    Recently bought an Eneloop pack with charger. It said "Japanese" all over but the charger is not (fine print says so)
    More annoyed that the rated miliAMps of "2000" might not be so … rather than worrying about a properly made and tested charger from China …

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