Fake Ralph Lauren Shirt purchased on Ebay

Biker-Budgie

I purchased a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt on Ebay - all the photo's looked the part (they were as the seller had used RL images and not his own)
Uk Seller and around half the retail price (ex-stock? its possible i thought)
At point of sale i had to email him to notify of the size required - at this point i also mentioned that if the item was counterfeit then please cancel the auction - i can spot them and would kick off if he supplied fake goods. no reply was ever received.

A week or so later and the shirt arrived, blatent rip off - i could spend all day listing the difference's between the genuine and fake item - not totaly suprised as i know what ebay is like for dodgy sellers.

I emailed the guy who explained they were in fact seconds and 'some minor faults may be visible' - this is laughable as the shirt could only become more fake if someone had drawn the logo on in crayon. a few emails bounced between us, i wasnt a happy bunny for being lied too and inteligence insulted by this idiot.
So i opened a dispute, the seller offered to replace - i stated i woudnt return the item until i received a genuine shirt, he then offered a refund if i returned the item - i declined as didnt want to lose the evidence - this was eventualy escelated to Ebay who promptly refunded me and closed the case.

The thing that has annoyed me is this seller is still selling these items, Ebay doesnt seem to have done anything about the crime prefering to pay me off and sweep it under the carpet.
I would rather not get the money back and get this guy prosecuted to be completely honest.

anyone any idea's where else i can go with this? i contacted trading standards and they didnt seem too interested either - i still have the shirt.

lee636

Report each listing to eBay.

Enfieldian

Oooh.

I have been looking at these recently....

Got one from a UK based seller that stacked up with the online "How to spot a fake" guides and appears to be legit.

It seems as though the main thing to look for is the threads behind the label at the neck and take it from there. Any other pointers you can suggest?

Biker-Budgie

dont buy off this guy -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130418229511&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

ths photo's he has used are of an original, the supplied item was dignificantly different.

I noticed primarily when i removed it from the bag as the quality of the material didnt feel right - RL uses 100% cotton and this had a tougher feel to it.

then i loaded up the images of the original shirt from the RL web site and examined the positioning of the details. the one i purchased was a 2010 US open shirt, heres the obvious stuff i noticed :-

#1 the Big pony motif to the front looks mutated - the logo has been stretched so its taller and thinner than the original.

#2 the big pony motif is incorrectly located, the original has the head of the pony in line with the bottom of the buttons, mine has its feet level with the bottom of the buttons as the button neckline drops a lot further than the original.

#3 Embroidery to sleeve has a blue background on original, black on copy

#4 Embroidery to sleeve should have a tennis ball, its so distorted on the copy it looks like a rugby ball.

#5 Collar apears to be from a totaly different material to button detail (different shade of navy blue)

#6 Chest bands sit too low - in fact they are closer to my naval than chest, they are also too thick on the copy.

The guides are usefull but not exhaustive as the fraudsters adapt their methods on each manufacturing run.

Biker-Budgie

lee636 wrote: »

Report each listing to eBay.

thanks, i will try that too

emerald_starcat

Their feedback are DSR's would put me off.

Biker-Budgie

sorry what are DSR's? the feedback was ok when i purchased - im the one who left the negative stating they are fake.

cyberbob

Biker-Budgie wrote: »

im the one who left the negative stating they are fake.

Unless there is evidence other than your word against his. He can get that removed.

I think your obsessing over this a wee bit too much you've reported it to trading standards. Got your refund. Let it go and move on.

Biker-Budgie wrote:

At point of sale i had to email him to notify of the size required - at this point i also mentioned that if the item was counterfeit then please cancel the auction

No Seller would admit they are selling fakes, bit of a silly thing to ask really. If you were already suspicious (which you must have been to ask) you should have walked away.

thecruncher

Err yeah what are DSR's? No way of knowing unless it's a reputable source. Some replicas are so good it doesn't really matter anyway.

greeneye

OP out of interest how did you convince paypal the item was fake? I thought you had to provide a letter of sorts from a retailer to prove an item was counterfeit. Also just reading paypal's latest policy amendments :
Sellers - "If you lose a Significantly Not as Described Claim because the item you sold is counterfeit, you will be required to provide a full refund to the buyer and you will not receive the item back (it will be destroyed)."
It doesn't specify who destroys it though - have paypal advised you to destroy the item or requested you send it to them for destruction? Just imagining paypal having a big bonfire round the back of their offices once a week.

Biker-Budgie

i went through ebay resolution centre - the seller requested i send it back, i declined but stated i would happily send it to trading standards or Ebay for them to verify its authenticity and i escelated the case for ebay to judge - they found in my favour, at no point have i been told to do anything with the shirt which i found a little suprising.

im more miffed that Ebay dont seem to take it very seriously, maybe i am 'obsessing' over this but i dont like being lie'd too.