Alert: Counterfeit Nitecore I2 Charger

[faren]

Please note this is not a name and shame thread, there is a reasonable chance the supplier is dropshipping and therefore isn't aware that the item was counterfeit. Although I still feel it is my duty to state from where I purchased the counterfeit charger to prevent others from making the same mistake. I am in the process of receiving a full refund for this item, so props to GearBest. Their full response is at the bottom of this post.

So I ordered another nitecore I2 charger from GearBest which I received 7/6/16. As the item had come from China the first thing I did was check the authenticity on the nitecore website, and it turns out the charger is counterfeit.

To be fair to GB I should also point out that I also received 2 other items in the same order, a 100% authentic moonshot RTA and an also 100% authentic wismec releux rx200, only the charger was problematic.

Ok, so back to the point, a few things to note about the fake charger:-
It gets extremely hot compared to the genuine nitecore, hot enough to feel like it's burning your fingers.
On the first charge (yes, I did test it) the batteries had to be removed mid cycle as their temperature had risen well above what I would consider safe, even for this type of charger (which tends to run hot, but never heats the batteries).
There was a strong, very noticeable smell of burning electronics emanating from the device. While this did also happen with the genuine charger, with the counterfeit the smell was significantly stronger (filled the whole room).
After a complete cycle (which took exactly the amount of time as the genuine charger on Sony VTC5's) the battery tested to 4.17 ~ 4.18 volts. As these are married batteries an undercharge of .03 volts is not acceptable. The 'test' battery was topped up to 4.2v on the genuine nitecore.

To help people identify counterfeit chargers from the same batch I have uploaded images of the fake charger next to my genuine (puchased from amazon, validated by nitecore) charger for comparison.

I was amazed at just how good the fake is, likelihood is without the code I wouldn't even have noticed any difference.







Searching the fake code (right) brought me to a statement from nitecore (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=574359929398014&id=530034443830563)

"Finanlly, after validating the scratch code 8462 5484 0107 8217 on our validation page(http://charger.nitecore.com/validation), it showed that the first-time validation happened in last year and not operated by our sales! That means it is a counterfeit charger!!!"

"In this case, we think many counterfeit chagers are using this falk vidation code( 8462 5484 0107 8217)!" (sic)

Turns out this is the exact code on my box (pictured above).





















Tapering (above) is noticeably different by comparison.







Fake charger really overdoes it on the nitecore branded capacitors, containing way more than the genuine charger!!. lol





Yesterday I ordered one from myepack and received it this morning. Tested genuine, lesson learned. And as for the fake, in the trash it goes.

Vendor response: 06/09/2016 04:42:21 CST

Dear Faren,


Thank you for contacting Gearbest.

We sincerely sorry to hear this about your item.


We would like to work together to resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

Please review our warranty here:http://www.gearbest.com/about/warranty-and-return.html


For this problem, we need to confirm with the supplier and the product department. Please kindly contact us two days later.
Once we have got the feedback from them, we will resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

Thank you for your cooperation. We will do our best to help you.

Best Regards
Lara
Gearbest Customer Service
www.gearbest.com/

Vendor response: 06/10/2016 12:07:52 CST

Dear Faren,


Thank you for contacting us.


Your feedback has attracted our highest attention and we apologise for this happening.


I do apologize on behalf of our company.

This product is now off the shelf and we have been looking into this issue thoroughly.


Even we have very strict QC test, from this case, we have been strengthening this process and taken some measures to avoid same thing happening.


We promise :

All NiteCore products have been re-tested and we are 100% sure that all NiteCore products are genuine on Gearbest now.


For your case, here are our soluitons:

1. We are processing your full refund for this product--9.96 USD.

For credit card refund, it may take up to 7-25 business days to appear in your account.

This entirely depends on your credit card company.


2. For your valuable feedback and show our appreciation, we offer you 500 points

Please note that the points to appear in your GB account ---“My points”

Learn more about points from www.gearbest.com/about/about-points.html?157wrew


Here is suggestion:

www.gearbest.com/chargers-batteries/pp_105267.html is very similar with your product you bought, you can consider this one for your further order.



Thanks for your patience.

If any problem more, please feel free to contact us again.


Best Regards

Gearbest Customer Service

www.gearbest.com/

Lets see what happens.

[prr]

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed heads up faren

[calnorth]

Interesting..that you got their website product verification to work faren

I tried it 4 months back with an new D4 and their site failed. Emailed them off their site...also failed/dead. Somebody here attempted to tag them and nothing. So won't buy their stuff ever again!

[faren]

Jun 8, 2016 13:46:01 GMT calnorth said:

Interesting..that you got their website product verification to work faren

I tried it 4 months back with an new D4 and their site failed. Emailed them off their site...also failed/dead. Somebody here attempted to tag them and nothing. So won't buy their stuff ever again!

Hmm, interesting indeed. I know their image verification can be a bit naughty but I've never had an issue with the actual code validation, worked fine an all 3 of my genuine nitecores.

I've read on a few forums people complaining that their system doesn't work but personally haven't had a problem with it. Could just be there are now so many fakes in circulation.

[Bobsbeer]

What have Gearbest had to say about it?

[faren]

Jun 8, 2016 15:53:19 GMT Bobsbeer said:

What have Gearbest had to say about it?

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/post/1099971/thread

"damp"

Hehehe, I don't think so. They are on holiday atm so I will update the thread when I get a more concise response.

[lexs1411]

Never checked mine brought it from GB 8months ago have been on site and entered code and thankfully mine is all ok.
Something I should have done I guess when I got it.

[Bobsbeer]

Jun 8, 2016 15:58:37 GMT faren said:

Jun 8, 2016 15:53:19 GMT Bobsbeer said:

What have Gearbest had to say about it?

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/post/1099971/thread

"damp"

Hehehe, I don't think so. They are on holiday atm so I will update the thread when I get a more concise response.

Is that the translation from Chinese that should read "dodgy". 

[joeten]

I could not figure out the DAMP part, possibly DUD. To be fair Isabella has mentioned sending a new one if they do hope it is not the same story.

[VapingBad]

Good info, I will tag them nitecoreuk

[Perpetua]

I've added a ' Please Read ' label to your thread faren . . . . thank you for taking the time to compile such a detailed alert for us all.

[faren]

Jun 8, 2016 17:39:26 GMT Perpetua said:

I've added a ' Please Read ' label to your thread faren . . . . thank you for taking the time to compile such a detailed alert for us all.

No problem at all I just hope no harm comes to anyone from actually using one of these fakes , not to mention how much damage it does vaping on the whole every time one of these things 'blows up' so to speak.

[tonyb]

Good info that I think I've seen posted somewhere else recently.

[faren]

Jun 9, 2016 1:07:56 GMT tonyb said:

Good info that I think I've seen posted somewhere else recently.

Hope so. Would like a link to that also.

[VapingBad]

There was this allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/53608/safety-issue-nitecore-d4-clone a year ago.