[Aditya]

Harman International India has issued a legal notice to ShopClues.com over the alleged sale of counterfeit JBL products. The company has asked the e-commerce portal to remove all fake products from its website and blacklist the dealers.

In its statement, Harman has alleged that a sizeable number of JBL products sold on ShopClues are counterfeit and replicas of original items. Apart from delisting all such products and blacklisting the concerned vendors, the company has asked the portal to implement certain vendor verification procedures to prevent such issues from recurring.

Harman has also urged buyer looking to purchase products online to use its official e-commerce website - harmanaudio.in .

[MHG]

Here is a very old thread (also seen in the related threads section below) that talks about identifying fake JBL products: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/produc...kers-subs.html - probably merge this news item with that thread ?

Ontopic though, shopclues is full of fake items, especially mobile accessories. Avoid it if you want quality products from reputed sources.

[H_Dogg72]

Even flip kart and Amazon have quite a number of fakes.
Best policy to buy:
eBay : top rated seller
Flipkart: WS retail or fulfilled by flip kart
Amazon: fulfilled by Amazon
Follow this and you're golden.

[vasanthn21]

Interesting. This also looks like a publicity pitch by Harman. A large paragraph on "About Harman" in the legal notice! (Is this a standard practise?). Or possibly Harman has plans of expanding on a large scale in the Indian market, especially after receiving great reviews on the Zest.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Interesting. This also looks like a publicity pitch by Harman. A large paragraph on "About Harman" in the legal notice! (Is this a standard practise?). Or possibly Harman has plans of expanding on a large scale in the Indian market, especially after receiving great reviews on the Zest.

Its a decent enough practice.

I'd think most Indian consumers know about JBL and Infinity, but not HI - so it may be just reaffirming the brand. Before TBHP (and Sam) I didn't know about HI!

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Interesting. This also looks like a publicity pitch by Harman. A large paragraph on "About Harman" in the legal notice! (Is this a standard practise?).

In every press release, a paragraph about the company issuing it printed towards the end. Hence, it's a standard practice.

[puchoo]

Shopclues is the equivalent of the big chinese bazaar found in many many places. Whether it is JBL or something else , it's best to avoid the site anyway like a plague. I believe their founder was arrested for something and while the new CEO may be saying many things to make their vision and work sound all ethical and inspiring the fact of the matter is that they are happy selling fake products and probably hoping to get a buy out from one of the other eCommerce guys soon enough so they can get some money into their pockets and live the retired life.

[amit_purohit20]

Off topic- I was in search of a good USB mobile phone charger to be used in car. One of the reputed brands to go for is Belkin.

But Belkin chargers retail on online sites as low as Rs 45 (+Paid shipping charges) to Rs1200+
I was so confused in selecting the original one. I was not interested in buying a fake but at the same time was not interested in buying a fake/original with a exhorbitant price tag! Many items carried similar warranties thus making it confusing.
I landed up not buying a Belkin, thus a loss for the company.

I recently ordered a Fly Car Mobile Phone holder for Rs450 on Flipkart and the same original product was available on SnapDeal for Rs 220! So sometimes its the online portals also which sell at double the rates! Its so confusing to makeout the original from the fake ones.

I really support Harman's decision to bring some control over these fake ones.

If chinese suppliers want to sell products at less price let them sell but not using some one else's hard earned brand name.

[Pallavi]

Originally Posted by puchoo

Shopclues is the equivalent of the big chinese bazaar found in many many places. Whether it is JBL or something else , it's best to avoid the site anyway like a plague.

They sell MontBlanc pen fakes too. The pens are listed as Authentic MontBlanc copy

The site has some unbelievable discounts (upwards 80%!!)

[H_Dogg72]

Originally Posted by H_Dogg72

Even flip kart and Amazon have quite a number of fakes.
Best policy to buy:
eBay : top rated seller
Flipkart: WS retail or fulfilled by flip kart
Amazon: fulfilled by Amazon
Follow this and you're golden.

It's the Indian aliexpress.
Nothing more to it. If you'd like to be assured about genuine products, see my quoted post.

[Catalyst_delhi]

I have never had a positive experience with shopclues - It could be just my bad luck that their products advertised are mostly not genuine. I like Ebay and Flipkart. Fake products to turn up from time to time so I opt for COD whenever it is possible

[WildInstincts]

Since Harman has taken action only on ShopClues.com, it is safe to assume that other leading online shopping portals such as Flipcart, eBay, Amazon etc are relatively safe to buy Harman products? I know that they recommend their official e-commerce website, but not quite sure they would meet the competitive prices offered by other online sites.

[ramb]

I recently saw a news article in economic times about online portals selling counterfeit products.
http://articles.economictimes.indiat...ivek-prabhakar

I never order any products from online portal. Its best to visit the authorized store to buy products and have peace of mind. People are lured with discounts and finally they end up buying counterfeit products. There is nothing like going out shopping and looking at the products be it clothes, electronic goods etc and then buying them after we are totally satisfied.
Recently a friend of mine ordered a reputed brand jeans in a famous online portal only to find it to be counterfeit.
The only thing I can imagine buying online is Books and nothing else. Not sure in future people will buy cars online if they are put for sale without even test driving them just because they come cheap.

[WildInstincts]

Originally Posted by ramb

Not sure in future people will buy cars online if they are put for sale without even test driving them just because they come cheap.

Why in future? A friend of mine bought a 5 series BMW online (used) from eBay about 10 years ago in US. He did not see the car in person before confirming the order. Lucky him, it worked out well.

[MSC]

the issue is not just related to jbl harman products. why just shopclues . if you browse through the automotive menu in snapdeal or flipkart, most of products are fake Chinese imitations and nothing else.
The image shown is different and the product you receive is something else .
rather than saving 1000 odd rs. on e commerce sites, its better to go for a full fledged dealer who might prove a bit expensive but at least when systems go kaput, you have someone to run up to.
in online sellers you have no option but to keep calling customer care and its very unlikely that you get through your trouble easily.