Damn ebay. I got a counterfeit phone battery.

[flot]

This is just sad. I paid $10 for a cell phone battery on ebay, which has a retail price of $30. Of course the seller has a photo of the item and of course the seller says it is 100% new oem blah blah.

So the battery arrives, and it is in what looks like real Nokia packaging. It is in plastic on a piece of cardboard branded with the Nokia logo, all the right wording, etc. The back of the cardboard even has a CUTOUT to let you see the Nokia hologram sticker on the battery.

Two things were odd - one, the front of the package stated something like "to verify authenticity, see the enclosed user manual" (there was none) and then, where my battery has some kind of moisture detector (I think?) this battery just had a sticker with a pink line on it.

Anyway, whatever, the thing looked 98% legit but still not quite right. So I go to put it in my phone and the !(#@%*& battery is just a tiny, tiny bit bigger than my original. JUST ENOUGH that my phone cover will not close with the battery installed.

I'm almost positive it's a fake - the amazing thing is that it's worthwhile for someone to go to all the trouble produce such a thing.

Sent the seller an email this morning, no reply yet. :|

 

[Syringer]

How are his feedbacks?

 

[SoulAssassin]

dremel ftw

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: Syringer
How are his feedbacks?

He had 5000 and 99.5% positive.

It is entirely possible that the SELLER accidentally receieved a batch of counterfeits, but I really doubt it. I'm sure if I held this package and a real Nokia battery package side by side I would see differences.

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
dremel ftw

That sounds like a brilliant idea, considering the damage any counterfit battery will eventually do to this guy's phone when it blows up or overheats and swells to 3x its regular size :roll:

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: acemcmac

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
dremel ftw

That sounds like a brilliant idea, considering the damage any counterfit battery will eventually do to this guy's phone when it blows up or overheats and swells to 3x its regular size :roll:

I've used several 3rd party batteries in phones I've owned and never had a problem. While I would doubt their engineering skills if they can't get the physical size right, I wouldn't isht on non-OEM batteries so quickly.

 

[OutHouse]

walmart/radio shack/ Target/cell phones + FTW.

 

[mb]

Send the battery back to the seller covered in ranch.

 

[eplebnista]

Another fake battery in this thread.

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
Another fake battery in this thread.

Wow, thanks for that link, I hadn't seen the thread. Very similar about how the battery is close but not quite right. Mine isn't bulging outward but the case itself was just not quite manufactured to the right tolerances.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: flot
I'm almost positive it's a fake - the amazing thing is that it's worthwhile for someone to go to all the trouble produce such a thing.

Yeah - $10 here isn't much, but $10 over in Asia is actually quite a lot.