Counterfeit LEGO SET 42171 - Mercedes-AMG F1

[yzf-r1_william]

I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to Lego and I recently purchased  a Lego 42171 F1 car. The photographs showed a box with all the correct "LEGO" & "Technic" branding so I purchased the set.

The set arrived and the outer packing suggested it was genuine Lego. Once opened it became apparent that the parts were not genuine and the instruction book (a good copy) had no scannable QR code on the front cover.

The Seller was apologetic and immediately allowed a return for a refund.

Was he innocent? - The listing was for 10 items!

Having now done a bit of looking around on Ebay I am conscious that this is not an isolated incident  & from the feedback it would seem that there are many "happy" customers who have unwittingly purchased copies of Lego 42171 sets.

The majority of Sellers are honest and sell the copied Lego as copies at a cheap price but some unscrupulous sellers are not.

Despite reporting three or four of the Sellers listing counterfeit sets under the Lego branding Ebay have replied saying they don't have an issue with any of the listings I reported!

[tressygirl]

eBay do review accounts which have had more than an average return percentage for the same reason and they do take action.  Of course they cannot reveal the number of those cases to happen before taking action.

Your case for a return and report will only add to this seller coming into eBay's radar for sanctions on selling.

@yzf-r1_william 

[jonatjonatjonat]

EBay may do something if they got enough reports, but you’d likely be better off reporting to LEGO. Whether they do anything is up to them but they are likely enrolled in VERO.

i also hardly think selling counterfeit LEGO sets as cheap is any more honest. It’s still counterfeit!

[style_wise]

Currently when I report a counterfeit, I almost always get the 'non issue' response you experienced. Within that email is a link where you can appeal. This seems to send it to an actual human on the VeRO Team to look at, and most of the time I receive a message that the counterfeit item was removed from eBay. I try to include as many facts as possible, and explain any opinions logically, which seems to help.

[direct.gifts]

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The majority of Sellers are honest and sell the copied Lego as copies at a cheap price but some unscrupulous sellers are not.

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Selling copied Lego is wrong regardless of the price set. Copied items cost genuine sellers sales.

If it is a different brand to Lego (there are some) which looks a bit like Lego being sold cheaper then that is fine.

[yzf-r1_william]

I don't consider selling counterfeit Lego as OK but when it is listed as "Fake" at least a purchaser knows it is a copy and its usually priced to reflect that.

Surely selling counterfeit Lego as genuine (& at a higher price) to unknowing Buyers is worse?

[style_wise]

I was wrong, this entire process is now AI... which explains all of the posts about frustrated Buyers reporting counterfeits that continue to be for sale in several categories. Hopefully eBay will improve their AI design in this area if we keep reporting and Beta testing this feature.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Not  sure what you are trying to argue now.

my only statement was arguing that selling fake Lego at a cheap price made them ‘honest’

which it isn’t..

[jas189451]

Just dealing with the same mess. Bought 3 retired sets from 3 different sellers with good reviews. All 3 fake!

[tressygirl]

Open 3 Returns for the  items not as described citing.... ' Does Not Match Photos or Description.

Escalate on day 4 if you do not receive a refund or paid postage labels to return the item,  eBay will then step in and force the refund.

Be careful when leaving feedback if you state ' Fake' the seller can ask for it to be removed.  State something like.... Very disappointed the item did not match the photos or description, that can warn future buyers of the product the seller is selling.

@jas189451 

[yzf-r1_william]

Thats not good.

I have purchased retired sets in the past and not had any issues.

This has become a major problem very quickly as its easy money for the perpetrators, especially with retired sets because they command premium prices.

Sadly my own experience makes me conclude that Ebay do not care about it  & just pretend it does not happen.

I sincerely hope you get your refunds without issue.

[direct.gifts]

To be fair ebay can only act on reports given to them by sellers. Each listing is taken at face value and the assumption is that it is genuine.

This is why it is important to report each seller where there a fake/counterfeit item is received. ebay may not act on a single report but multiple reports may well trigger a review of that seller.

[jas189451]

Yeah, made the mistake. I tried to warn people from buying because they are fake and got a message from eBay for hate speech and/or threats just for saying it’s a fake. Lesson learned, eBay protects the culprit rather than the (future) victims.

Off from eBay I guess. 

[jas189451]

Reported with bullet proof evidence that the items are fake. Complaint rejected of course as they make money on the sales.