Counterfeit SanDisk Extreme III SDHC at Best Buy?

Sharkonwheels · 03-11-2009, 08:12 PM

Yep!

Saw their circular online today, $39.99 for the SanDisk Extreme II 8GB SDHC 30MB/Sec edition.
I HATE buying memory cards online, because of counterfeit risks...

Went in, bought 2, came home, and when is a counterfeit!

I popped it in my K20D, light came on, then I got a Memory Full error.
At this point, I didn;t know yet, although the fact that it was blue kind of hit me wierd - all my other E3's are black!

Popped it in my laptop, figuring it might need a format, and windows format said it was 14.6MB.
At this point, I just figured I had a bad card.

Got SanDisk's number and called, guy asked me for a number from the back, and low and behold, it says "16MB" on the back. Front has a decent-enough looking "Extreme III 30MB/s Edition" label on it.

So, now we can't even trust the retailers to buy through the proper channels?
The box was sealed with the round sealing clear tape, the inside plastic container was melt-sealed (I cut it open with scissors).

I assume it will be a huge ordeal to return this, as Best Buy could easily accuse me of trying to swap out a fake for a real one. Guess I could just ask for an exchange as it is defective.

What a nightmare...

We're getting to the point where we're going to need to open them right there at the register, and confirm with SanDisk that they are genuine!!!

UPDATE: After REALLY close scrutiny, looks like someone returned a fake in the box. Looking at the tape with a magnifying glass, shows that it was removed, and I found the slit in the plastic container where they slid the real card out, and the fake in.

T

crispy0009 · 03-11-2009, 08:32 PM

That's crazy!!!
Yeah just ask for an exchange.
BOO! Boo that d-bag who did that to you! Boo.

mtngal · 03-11-2009, 08:57 PM

Best Buy can sometimes be Worst Buy.

Best Buy once sold me a "new" DVD player. It had store tape around the box, but that's not always so unusual, and I didn't think that much about it. I paid full price for it, got it home and unpacked it. Only to find that there was a paper at the bottom of it saying it was a return "complete". Only not everything was there - it was missing the cables. I wasn't really happy about it, but used some cables I had around the house to hook it up, to find out that someone had already set it up in Spanish. At that point I felt ripped off - the item wasn't new and it wasn't complete. If they had sold it at a discount as an open box, fine. But not as a new item.

I took it back, no problem with returning it. They didn't have another one in stock, but they said I could order one and pick it up in a couple of days. Since the store is 50 miles away from the house - NO WAY. They gave me a full refund without a problem, and I went to the Circuit City a half mile away and found the same thing for $5.00 less.

Good luck with your return.

Sharkonwheels · 03-11-2009, 09:06 PM

You guys REALLY want to have a laugh?
I only told HALF the story....

I went in there, and bought two of the Extreme III's - wasn't paying close attention, as the cashier was on the store radio, and I was half on a phone call...

When i got home, I realized they charged me for 1, yet I had two.
Now, I believe somewhat in kharma, or actually, in "what goes around comes around."
But, an angel I am not.

I figured the right thing to do, was to call, and so I did. Spoke with a lady at the CS counter, explained the situation to her, she pulled up my receipt, and asked me to hold.

3-4 minutes later, she came back, and said she spoke to the manager, and that he sent a message to thank me for being honest, and for the gesture, to keep the 2nd one, no cost.

Doing a good thing, 1 of the two was a fake that was returned.

What's that saying - no good deed goes unpunished?

<sigh>

T

soccerjoe5 · 03-11-2009, 09:14 PM

Oh there fake cards are everywhere, and a lot of them are really good fakes that it's hard to spot a difference. I only buy from Adorama or BH.

Sharkonwheels · 03-11-2009, 09:19 PM

Yep - first thing I though strange, was that it was blue.
SanDisk uses blue for only the consumer-grade SD cards.

Extreme's are black, I think even my older Ultra II's are black, as well.
The Extreme III's also have that strange dual-row of dots, also.

This wasn't even a clever attempt - it's not even close.
Even the label is not put on correctly

T

**Damn Brit** · 03-12-2009, 12:01 AM

Originally Posted by mtngal

Best Buy can sometimes be Worst Buy.

Best Buy once sold me a "new" DVD player. It had store tape around the box, but that's not always so unusual, and I didn't think that much about it. I paid full price for it, got it home and unpacked it. Only to find that there was a paper at the bottom of it saying it was a return "complete". Only not everything was there - it was missing the cables. I wasn't really happy about it, but used some cables I had around the house to hook it up, to find out that someone had already set it up in Spanish. At that point I felt ripped off - the item wasn't new and it wasn't complete. If they had sold it at a discount as an open box, fine. But not as a new item.

I took it back, no problem with returning it. They didn't have another one in stock, but they said I could order one and pick it up in a couple of days. Since the store is 50 miles away from the house - NO WAY. They gave me a full refund without a problem, and I went to the Circuit City a half mile away and found the same thing for $5.00 less.

Good luck with your return.

Cicuit City is a lot further than half a mile away now. Must have been that $5, pushed them over the edge because whenever I compared the two, Best Buy was always cheaper and I could always find staff to help me. In Circuit City I always had chase people to get them to serve me.

Sharkonwheels · 03-12-2009, 01:02 PM

Well, BB swapped it out. I told them what I thought had occurred (someone bought a fake online, then swapped it out at BB) and they gave me no trouble at all.

Kudos to BB - I was worried they'd give me grief, but it was quite the opposite.

T

SpecialK · 03-12-2009, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Sharkonwheels

Yep!

UPDATE: After REALLY close scrutiny, looks like someone returned a fake in the box. Looking at the tape with a magnifying glass, shows that it was removed, and I found the slit in the plastic container where they slid the real card out, and the fake in.

T

That is another reason why stores should not take returns. You have a problem - go to the manufacturer.

SpecialK · 03-12-2009, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Sharkonwheels

Yep!

UPDATE: After REALLY close scrutiny, looks like someone returned a fake in the box. Looking at the tape with a magnifying glass, shows that it was removed, and I found the slit in the plastic container where they slid the real card out, and the fake in.

T

That is another reason why stores should not take returns. You have a problem - go to the manufacturer.

SpecialK · 03-12-2009, 08:44 PM

It had store tape around the box, but that's not always so unusual, and I didn't think that much about it. I paid full price for it, got it home and unpacked it. Only to find that there was a paper at the bottom of it saying it was a return "complete". Only not everything was there - it was missing the cables. I wasn't really happy about it, but used some cables I had around the house to hook it up, to find out that someone had already set it up in Spanish.

Yet another reason stores should not accept returns. (It's the CS manager in me...)