Beware of StereoSource on ebay: selling fradulent equipment!!

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics Pro60 compenent speakers and an Eclipse da6213 amplifier from this seller about one month ago. I decided not to keep the Pro60's and sold them exactly as I received them from StereoSource (I did not even remove the speakers from the box) to a member on ECA.

I now have leared, thanks to Matt who bought them from me, that someone had removed all serial numbers from the entire set - on the box, the basket, and the crossovers. Needless to say I was pretty shocked when he emailed me immediately upon recipt and accused me of trying to pull a scam!! This prompted me to contact StereoSource right away and explain the situation and demand a refund.

Luckly, they were compliant and offered me a full refund including the shipping costs. However, they insisted in their email respose that the both the amp and the speakers were "new and genuine products"!! How can you be assured authenticity without any way to trace the product back to the manufacturer. This "company" sould not be in business..period!!

I cannot say for sure if the seller did this, but whoever did does not want Boston Acoustics and Eclipse to know of their possession. They actually hacked the serial number and barcode off the crossovers on the speakers and the barcode off the bottom of the amp with a razor blade. As you can see in the pictures, they did not even take the time to cut it nicely!!! They also replaced the codes with some generic label that just looks like a serial number. Note: the one picture shows what an acutal Pro60 serial number should look like.

I contacted both Boston Acoustics and Eclipse regarding this and they are looking into it. I'm sure they hear about this all the time, but one more case helps put this garbage to an end as far as I'm concerned. I also let eBay now what is going on so that the know what type of products are being sold as "new" and "authentic" on their website.

The moral of the story: Be extremely cautious about any online purchases. Always ask for ligitimacy and authenticity of the product being sold - whether it's from a private seller, an eBay store, or an online company.

The sad part is that this company will no doubt take the very same tampered products that I returned to them and turn right around and put them up for sale again as "new"!!

Be careful guys!!

John

Bogus serial label

Authentic serial number with barcode

Click to read more...

 

[walkychalky 10+ year member]

thats odd

 

[DZNUTTS 10+ year member]

very strange. so are they stolen or p.o.s. knock offs?

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

your the one at fault really....

you never checked the numbers before you resold them so your buyer thinks your pulling a fast one,whos to say you didnt weather it be to your knowledge or not

alot of Ebay sellers remove serial numbers AS PER MFG's REQUEST

so they dont have to warrenty the product

 

[jer_stud56 10+ year member]

Hmm weird story...well thanks for the heads up though. excelerater is right though Manufactures say if you sell online you must remove serial codes so they cannot be warrantied.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I'll preface this by saying that what happened to you does indeed **** - without a doubt.

Having said that....what I am reading in your original post is that you bought some Eclipse and some Boston Acoustics gear from an eBayer and ended up being surprised that it was an unauthorized sale? Are you truly that naive?

Almost every big seller on eBay whether they are established eBayers or brand new users proclaim themselves to be 'authorized' resellers of the various brands they carry. Now I don't claim to be an expert on all brands or even as familiar with them as Iam Kenwood but I have seen countless users on eBay carrying Kenwood eXcelon gear and claiming to be authorized. Well - I know for a fact there is only ONE online reseller authorized to sell Kenwood's eXcelon lineup and you'll not find any eBay listings posted by them. I do not know how many online dealers are authorized to carry the "regular" Kenwood lineup but I know for certain (info straight from KenwoodUSA) that no one on eBay is authorized for the eXcelon stuff.

This doesn't mean that the stuff available on eBay isn't legit and perfectly operational equipment.....just that the vast majority of it is being resold without the knowledge and authority of the company that produced it excepting those cases as described by excelerator where the manufacturer wants to remove themselves from possible warranty liability stemming from an unauthorized sale.

 

[MarineGYSGT 10+ year member]

The same goes with KICKER products. There is only one store on ebay that is an authorized seller but many claim to be. This was something I ran into about a year ago. It may be different now and they are all actually authorized but I dont even bother anymore. I got what I wanted and needed and I am staying with it.

 

[jer_stud56 10+ year member]

It's to get the unknowing customer looking at their stuff and trusting in them to do a deal. The more "high powered" they sound with the companies stuff, the more the trust. It's not illegal, it's just mis-informing. That's the point of having the ability to message them and ask if it has a warranty with the actual provider of the product -OR- the eBayer themselves.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

what I am reading in your original post is that you bought some Eclipse and some Boston Acoustics gear from an eBayer and ended up being surprised that it was an unauthorized sale? Are you truly that naive?

Of course not! Yea, I expected to get a pair of Boston Pro60's authorized for $350 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif how stupid do you think I am:crazy:

The products may indeed be made by Boston and Eclipse, but without the serial number there is no way of assuring authenticity. The issue here is that the seller described the items as "new" and assured me that they were "genuine"....neither of which is technically true. The bottom line: buy at your own risk!!

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Of course not! Yea, I expected to get a pair of Boston Pro60's authorized for $350 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif how stupid do you think I am:crazy:

Your original post mentioned nothing of the price paid and I do not care enough to have a look through that eBayer's listings to find out what they're going for. Ease up, sunshine...

The products may indeed be made by Boston and Eclipse, but without the serial number there is no way of assuring authenticity. The issue here is that the seller described the items as "new" and assured me that they were "genuine"....neither of which is technically true. The bottom line: buy at your own risk!!

This is true of ANY transaction on eBay.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

your the one at fault really....you never checked the numbers before you resold them so your buyer thinks your pulling a fast one,whos to say you didnt weather it be to your knowledge or not

alot of Ebay sellers remove serial numbers AS PER MFG's REQUEST

so they dont have to warrenty the product

Well then if they were legitimate sellers, they would state such actions in their sales/auctions. And, yes you're right, the person I sold the speakers to had every right to be suspicious of me trying to pull a fast one....but I didn't cause I actually have a conscience:up2somet:

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

The same goes with KICKER products. There is only one store on ebay that is an authorized seller but many claim to be. This was something I ran into about a year ago. It may be different now and they are all actually authorized but I dont even bother anymore. I got what I wanted and needed and I am staying with it.

So what, other than the words KICKER, leads you to believe that what you bought was indeed is a genuine Kicker product or a knock off???

 

[HCCAfan]

you bought from a transhipper, plain and simple. boston and eclipse do not allow ebay sales, just like JL, and use serial numbers to track them down to stop them from purchasing more equipment. In an attempt to circumvent this and continue on with buying and selling, they removed the serial numbers for their protection from the manufacturer of being cut-off.

So, your mad cuz you think you got duped. If you want proof of authenticity, and full manufacturers warranty, why are you buying products online from ebay that the manufacturers state openly & widely that anything sold off the net is UNAUTHORIZED & warranty is VOID & NULL.

Its a give and take system. Want to be cheap and save money, you reap what you sew.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

The bottom line: buy at your own risk!!

That has always been the "bottom line" to ebay sales. Yeah, the price is cheap. But it's that cheap because of the risk involved.

 

[Ricky616 10+ year member]

all i know is that my Kenwood Excelon Amp is authentic im sure on that since i bought it from a friend and i was with him when he bought it from Pro Sounds also a kicker seller i got authentic amp and sub