In Early September I decided to purchase an Apple Ipod Touch 32 GB 2nd generation. I went on line to find the best deal available. There, I found a company (AHplaza) located in Taiyuan, China and selling various consumer products on line.in particular, this company advertises the Apple Ipod Touch 32BG (and many others products) on its website and provides clear pictures and specifications of the Apple product.
Company Information
Name: AH Plaza
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0861 5536 3119 88
Address: No. 324 Jiefang Road
Jiancaoping District Taiyuan China
Web: www.AHPlaza.com
I visited their website and found my product for 70 Euro plus 10 Euro shipment. The price was very attractive and I exchanged a number of emails with this company to inquire аbout: price, x-rate, shipment, product authenticity, warranty, customs, and money transfer.
The string of emails exchanged is quite long and leaves no doubt about the product I intended to purchase and the product the company would ship after receiving payment. Before purchasing, I Googled the company name and did not find any thing negative or suspicious. I sent a bank wire transfer on September 30 and waited for a package from China.
International Wire Transfer
Date: Sept 30
Cost: $147.21 ($107.21 transferred funds for Ipod, plus $40.00 transfer fee)
From: this writer
To: Bank of China
Taiyuan Bei cheng Branch
Jian caoping qu, Taiyuan, China.
Beneficiary Zhixiang Liu
A/c No: 4563513500009800311
Swift code: BK CH CN BJ 680
City: Taiyuan
Country: China
About two weeks later, I did receive a package from China. This package contained some paper work; however this paper work shows a commercial value of $0.00 and states that the product is a MP5.
Shipping box from China Post included Paper work as follows:
EMS and USPS labels
EMS Shipping Slip (No. EB091689534CN)
Commercial Invoice stating the good is an MP5 and has a $0.00 value
The copy of a persons identification card in Chinese
The package received did not contain the Apple Ipod Touch 32GB I had ordered and paid for. I received what appeared to be a poorly functioning, counterfeit Apple MP4 player (not MP5).
Information on back of product received
Serial No.: 6U734VMXYOP
Description: Designed by Apple in California Assembled in China
Model No.: A1199
EMC No.: 2115
Memory: 4GB (the product has a sticker clearly indicating the product memory)
It is quite obvious that Customs Declaration and Statement made in the paperwork are in clear violation of US Postal Services Regulations and of US Customs Regulations.
After complaining several times by email to the company about the apparent error in the shipment and sending pictures of the product shipped, I received an email indicating the real product is more expansive and what they shipped is all they could send for the money I paid!
From this last email exchange, it is quite clear that AHplaza willingly shipped a product other than what I had ordered and misled me in the numerous email communications exchanged before the purchase.
For information, the story gets more interesting.in light of the blatant AHplaza bad faith, I tried to contact the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC to report what is in effect a cross-border commercial fraud. Although I reached several people at the Embassy and explained my misfortune, no one so far has been willing to accept a formal complaint and I have been given the run around, everyone advising me to call someone else with no one returning my numerous calls. Only one person so far has been willing to give me an email address to send a formal complain, but this email was a private email address (not an official Embassy based email) and is inactive, all the email messages I sent to this address were return to me with some indication the messages can not be delivered!? From the Embassy reaction so far, I tend to think that the Chinese authorities are simply trying to lay a convenient blind eye on the commercial fraudulent Internet activities of Chinese citizen selling fake products in the US.
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