Counterfeit ADATA MicroSDHC from 'Grab-A-Deal'

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KevinL

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Topic # 86737 13-Jul-2011 00:29

Thought I'd start a new thread...

Deli23: Hi guys,

Just bumping the tread to let everyone know that grab a deal has A-data 32 gd micro sdhc class 10 SD cards for $50.00 (NZ) - 5 hours or so left. Was just looking for a card to buy today and there it was. Also includes delivery.

http://grab-a-deal.co.nz/index.php/frontend/campaigns/single/87/50-for-a-32GB-ADATA-Micro-SDHC-Memory-Card-Class10-Adaptor-value-125-incl-Nationwide-Delivery

After hearing about this deal in the Galaxy S II owner's thread, I purchased an ADATA 32GB microSDHC class 10 card on the Grab-a-deal website for the low, low price of $50 shipped (which in retrospect is suspiciously low). After some considerable delay in shipping, the card finally arrived today.

jpanwala: Hey guys... I have received my 32 GB micro SDHC card today by courier, and auto-doc is indeed the guys at streetbitz..

Just a warning though, dont freak out when you receive the parcel, was in a open unsealed box with no company name etc, there is branding on the card itself and it is working fine for me so far, so not so good out of the box experience, but hey if it works as it should, its a steal for 50 bucks! 31.03 GB free memory on mounting... :)

As stated, the packaging is generic and the only branding is on the card itself (will upload some pictures at some point, but the card is still in the process of testing).

Unfortunately it appears that the card is a counterfeit - a 1GB card with a fake boot table to allow it to report 32GB capacity.

I am in the process of testing with h2testw (http://flashfakecentral.wordpress.com/testing-flash-memory-chips/h2testw-english/) which essentially fills the drive with test data, then verifies that is is readable.

My interim results (still 4 hours to go):

Warning: Only 31764 of 31765 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
925.9 MByte OK (1896416 sectors)
7.0 GByte DATA LOST (14768838 sectors)
Details:2.0 GByte overwritten (4372171 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
4.9 GByte corrupted (10396667 sectors)
209.9 MByte aliased memory (430049 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000039dfc000
Expected: 0x0000000039dfc000
Found: 0x00000007c1300000
H2testw version 1.3

Have written a somewhat restrained email to streetbitz@hotmail.com - will report back if and when I hear from them. I'd be interested in someone else's results, too - maybe it's just my card (hey, pigs could fly).

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Reply # 492732 13-Jul-2011 03:10

+1

mines doing the same.. that's two of us!

johnr

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Reply # 492734 13-Jul-2011 05:48

Sounds like you were scammed

KevinL

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Reply # 492737 13-Jul-2011 06:34

Here's the completed result for the "ADATA 32GB Class 10":

Warning: Only 31764 of 31765 MByte tested.

The media is likely to be defective.
925.9 MByte OK (1896416 sectors)
30.1 GByte DATA LOST (63156256 sectors)
Details:2.0 GByte overwritten (4372171 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
28.0 GByte corrupted (58784085 sectors)
209.9 MByte aliased memory (430049 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000039dfc000
Expected: 0x0000000039dfc000
Found: 0x00000007c1300000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.11 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.48 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Compared to a genuine sandisk 8GB class 4 I had handy:

Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 12.1 MBytes/s
Reading speed: 18.8 MBytes/S
H2testw v1.4

KevinL

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Reply # 492740 13-Jul-2011 07:05

Hmm. It appears that "Grab-A-Deal" and "Streetbitz/Auto-Doc Ltd" are one and the same!

domain_name: grab-a-deal.co.nz
domain_dateregistered: 2011-02-08T16:47:46+13:00
domain_datebilleduntil: 2012-02-08T16:47:46+13:00
domain_datelastmodified: 2011-03-18T12:24:47+13:00
domain_delegaterequested: yes
domain_signed: no
%
registrar_name: Domain Agent
registrar_address1: PO Box 302829
registrar_address2: North Harbour
registrar_city: Auckland
registrar_country: NZ (NEW ZEALAND)
registrar_phone: +64 9 477 0055
registrar_fax: +64 9 475 5976
registrar_email: dns@domainagent.co.nz
%
registrant_contact_name: Grab A Deal
registrant_contact_address1: PO Box 104020
registrant_contact_address2: Lincoln North, Waitakere
registrant_contact_city: Auckland
registrant_contact_country: NZ (NEW ZEALAND)
registrant_contact_phone: +64 837 0490
registrant_contact_email: grab-a-deal@hotmail.co.nz

And the yellow pages entry for Streetbitz:

Streetbitz Performance (Auto-Doc Ltd)
09-837-0490
1/8 Moselle Ave, Henderson, Auckland

KevinL

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Reply # 492742 13-Jul-2011 07:23

According to http://grab-a-deal.co.nz/index.php/frontend/campaigns/recent_deals they have sold 36 "ADATA MicroSDHC cards". I also note they have sold another 13 "Transcend 32GB SDHC cards", and 96 "64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drives".

A quick search on Tineye (http://www.tineye.com/search/3ba4b08689ebb746325bf48b3c0f55c6aaeb85e8/?pluginver=chrome-1.1) gives a number of hits - almost all linking to other reports of fake flash drives sold on eBay.

Any suggestions on where to go if I don't hear from Streetbitz/Grab-A-Deal? Commerce Commision? Consumer Affairs? Foreign Affairs and Trade?

ZollyMonsta

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Reply # 492746 13-Jul-2011 07:50

... Don't forget fair go, so others can be warned... They'd love this story.

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mrgsm021

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Reply # 492749 13-Jul-2011 07:53

If this is true then I am glad I missed out on the deal.

It does sound suspiciously cheap... my SanDisk 32GB class 2 MicroSDHC cost me $110 including shipping from ebay, so $50 for a class 10 32GB, alarm bells ringing..

vinnieg

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Reply # 492751 13-Jul-2011 07:57

Go straight to the ComCom about it eh, I did that when I was last sold counterfeit speakers

Also ask for a refund immediately it you haven't already. If they ask you to send the product back, don't. If you paid via Credit card, contact the issuer ASAP and report the situation :)

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garvani

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Reply # 492761 13-Jul-2011 09:07

Has anyone considered that they themselves don't know they are counterfeit? Have you approached the company in question? That would be the first step surely.

KevinL

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Reply # 492765 13-Jul-2011 09:24

I had considered that they didn't know that they were counterfeit. Here's the (quick) reply from Streetbitz:

"Thank you for your email. We are extremely sorry to hear that the micro sd card is not 32gb.

We do not have any intention to deceive our customers. Our supplier has supplied us with faulty cards and we are happy for you to return the faulty card back to us by normal post and we will give you a refund."

then shortly after

"If you can email your bank account details we can process your refund today which will show in your account tomorrow and if you can post the faulty card back to us as we have to send them back to our supplier to get our refund as well.

Once again we are extremely sorry for all the inconvenience caused."

I don't really have the time/motivation to pursue it further, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I'll suggest they test their other products before dispatching, though.

xpd

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Reply # 492769 13-Jul-2011 09:36

At least theyve acknowleged the issue, they are probably truely innocent in this case. Hopefully they'll go spew at their supplier and be a bit more aware of such things.

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vinnieg

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Reply # 492773 13-Jul-2011 09:43

Yeah, they probably snapped up an aliexpress deal, without first checking

wouldn't trust anything to be genuine on Aliexpress, DHGate or Dealextreme :)

At least they are handling it well. As long as they fully refund you and offer to pay the return shipping too

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freitasm

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Reply # 492774 13-Jul-2011 09:46

And seriously folks, when government officials go around trying to find "pirates" this is the kind of things they should be looking for, instead of worrying who is copying a less than funny TV program that's not even available here.

Pirated and fake goods is a huge market that makes lots of money - while the person copying a video is not making anything and does not intend to. The manufacturer of these crap things is probably laughing away to the bank, thinking on how he's going to make fake DG sunglasses and Channel bags next...

It's possible Grab-a-Deal was just caught in the middle, but still...

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freitasm

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Reply # 492775 13-Jul-2011 09:47

vinnieg: At least they are handling it well. As long as they fully refund you and offer to pay the return shipping too

They are not. Getting the goods back, and sending to the supplier will just make them sell the same things somewhere else. They should be used as evidence.

But, you can see how much an international investigation would cost and why law enforcement wouldn't even bother...

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KevinL

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Reply # 492783 13-Jul-2011 09:53

"Thanks Kevin.

Thank you for your suggestion regarding testing the flash drives, as we relied on our local supplier and overlooked this point we will make sure that in future we test the products.

Once again we are here to supply quality products to our customers and that is what we will work on improving in future.

You refund has been processed and will show in your account either tomorrow if not then on Friday.

Kind Regards
StreetBitz"

For what it's worth, here's some pictures of the offending card:

Here's what it's meant to look like:

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