Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have not realised that when you buy Apple products from Amazon they may well be fake?

45 replies

themymble · 18/02/2025 18:45

I bought some AirPods for my son for Christmas on Black Friday. Fulfilled by Amazon, so not a third party. They never really worked properly so I took them to the Apple Store today to get them looked at and it turns out they are fake!!! I had no idea this could happen. The man at the Genius Bar said it was the third fake pair from Amazon in the last few weeks! Aibu fro have not realised that Amazon sell fake products??

OP posts:
trainermush · 18/02/2025 23:00

i don't really use them anymore as it's pot luck.

Original poster
themymble · 19/02/2025 19:54

I won’t be using them ever again after this. I have stayed in all day for a courier to come to collect them and guess what? They haven’t arrived. Now, looking at the packaging and comparing to a genuine box it’s obvious they are counterfeit. I’ve also read tens of reviews from people who’ve had the same experience and it appears to have been a problem for some time. I find it pretty shocking that this problem is clearly well known and hasn’t been resolved. And also that any knowledge of the issue is denied by the employees. One person I spoke to said it was “fake news” that other people had experienced the same. Lesson learned.

OP posts:
WednesdaysChild25 · 19/02/2025 20:18

Apple products as expensive as they are, I would only buy them from Apple directly. I do buy from Amazon but I don’t spend a lot on the items I get from there. I certainly wouldn’t buy high-end branded products.

Diningtableornot · 19/02/2025 20:23

I only buy apple products from apple, there are too many fakes around.

MiniPumpkin · 19/02/2025 20:38

I bought ‘apple’ iphone charger from Amazon. The metal melts and breaks off in little pieces inside the phones. They ruined every iPhone in this house and my girls iPad. Then devices cannot take charge from any charger . I went to Apple Store and yes it’s very common. Thank god they picked out the metal for free and all is working again

NotThatWitty · 19/02/2025 20:51

O had the exact same issue a couple of months back with a Samsung FE Smartwatch. Bought from Amazon, even from the 'Samsung store' of their website. Turned it on to use, and during setup, it was locked to the Middle East region.
I complained, and sent it back the same day, and so got a full refund. Then went to Currys and picked up another one, which asked me to select 'United Kingdom', asnsoon as I turned it on.

bakebeans · 19/02/2025 22:48

💯 not wrong. I bought a phone charger. Went to unplug my phone which had been on for no longer than 5 minutes and burnt my hand unplugging it. It was that hot. Sent it back. Won’t be doing that again.

I’ve see a recent article about a house fire which started due to a charger being plugged in. Makes me wonder
do not buy

BertieBotts · 19/02/2025 22:54

Amazon practice stock mixing - so they will have all their own stock plus some of the third party stock in their warehouse.

Some of the third party stuff is fake because amazon is riddled with fakes and cheaply made poor quality no safety standard dropshipped tat.

Amazon receive an order and fulfil it out of the mixed bin - some of which will be genuine, some of which will be third party supplied fakes.

It has been an issue for a while, there was a big article about it I think in an American publication but it's a problem worldwide.

Here - found it. So it's been an issue for at least 5 years.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/amazon-counterfeit-fake-products/

BertieBotts · 19/02/2025 22:56

Oh well never mind, they are both paywalled unless you haven't read an NYT article this month yet.

There might be an unblocker for the WSJ one - NYT unblockers don't seem to work.

Bojanglesmcduff · 19/02/2025 22:57

You just shouldn’t buy from Amazon if it’s electronics or beauty items or anything else you need to be safe like things for babies because there are so many fakes and so much that doesn’t adhere to safety regulations. I always find it a shock people don’t realise this, there have been many reports, but you’re right op most people aren’t aware

Devianinc · 19/02/2025 22:58

A lot of things on Amazon are counterfeit from what I’ve heard. I never jumped on the Amazon wagon. Even their hair products and skin treatments are supposedly fake.

CurlyCabbage · 19/02/2025 23:01

Amazon is terribpe for some branded thongs. I never buy apple products or skincare/ haircare. Always weird and fake in the end.

ArtTheClown · 19/02/2025 23:04

I'd buy from official third party stores on Amazon but wouldn't use random third party sellers for expensive or branded items.

That won't help you. The goods aren't separated, you could get the real goods or the fake ones.

Liverstreaming · 19/02/2025 23:04

Yup. I bought a small bottle of branded shampoo and really liked it, so bought a giant bottle of the same brand. Total crap. Took a while for the penny to drop it was fake shampoo and not my menopausal hair, so that’s money down the drain.

thecherryfox · 19/02/2025 23:10

Scammersarescum · 18/02/2025 19:08

So much stuff on amazon is fake.

My husband ordered some soap we use regularly and I had a massive allergic reaction to it. They would not refund.

I try to use Amazon as little as possible these days, dodgy goods, fake reviews, questionable ethics......

similar here, brought a fabric softener that I usually buy from a supermarket - I brought a bulk version from Amazon. The consistency was more watered down but I didn’t think too much of it until I washed, dried and wore the clothes where my skin has had a major allergic reaction to it. I’ve been using the same product for years from supermarkets, so it’s obviously fake from Amazon.

its scary how they can get away with it, people buy ingredients of things based on the product they’re buying - not the fake ingredients. It can seriously harm someone.

Yoyokitten · 19/02/2025 23:16

I stopped using Amazon a year ago.
Our bank account was hacked, and someone in Kent received an expensive set of saucepans and took the money out of our account.
I've also bought a well known and very pricey perfume which was fake. So annoying.
Sorry it happened to you.
Hope you get your money back.

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 19/02/2025 23:18

Yeah i don't trust amazon for a lot of products tbh

Tallyrand · 19/02/2025 23:39

I bought a Google WiFi mesh puck to extend our existing set up. Price was comparable to what Google were charging so I didn't even question it. When delivered it was obviously 2nd hand because the packaging wasn't Google branded and the equipment was dirty. The puck stopped working after 6 months I just chucked it in the bin.

Amazon is so unusable now anyway, you search for something and get a load of Sponsored items.then the same items just without the sponsored tag then the same items but just from different sellers.

I stopped using it ages ago but keep my sub for the Video app.

Franjipanl8r · 19/02/2025 23:55

Not trying to sound smug but am genuinely surprised people trust Amazon. You can buy all sorts of cheap crap from China on there. I’ve had to ask my MIL to stop buying toys from Amazon as they can’t be trusted to be safe.

Anything expensive I always buy direct from the retailer for exactly the reason you’ve explained OP.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page