Help - how to tell Joyetech/ego one clone??

[Barbara E.]

I just bought a few Joyetech 1100mah ego one kits through a group buy of several small local stores. They arrived yesterday and look great but I got suspicious when my son told me the final price. It was too low. The particular store owner who placed the order bought them as authentic. (And, yes, I trust the other owner. We help each other out all the time.)

Anyway, I went to the Joyetech site and entered the s/n number that was provided on the warranty card in the kit. The site then showed me a security number. Now I scratched off the security number on the card and it matched the number on the site. So far so good.

But other sites where I've verified item's authenticity usually say something like 'this number has been checked one time' (which is a good assurance that it's real) or 'this number has been checked 4,593 times (which means it's fake). The Joyetech site doesn't say anything like that. It just gives the security number (which does match) but a clone manufacturer could have bought an authentic one and just used the same s/n & security number combination over and over.

Is there any way to tell positively if a joyetech product is authentic or not?

(I've pulled the kits from our shelves until I can get this settled to my satisfaction.)

 

[cascadian]

Open a second box if it has a different s/n you will know.

 

[hawkglass]

Buy a confiremed authentic strait from joytech and weigh the two in comparison if its a clone it will weigh less because of cut corners in the cloning proscess usualy by around 8-10grams off anything less than 7 is just variation between devices

 

[Barbara E.]

Open a second box if it has a different s/n you will know.

[facepalm] Duh.

I'm an idiot, this never occurred to me.

Ok, did exactly this and - surprise, surprise - the second one has the same set of numbers. Definitely a clone.

*%(@*(%#!!! Luckily I've only sold one and I know the buyer so I can give her a call and fix it. Now we have to deal with the seller.

Well, as you can see, it *is* possible for a store to sell clones and not know it. Agghhhh!!!!!

 

[Zamazam]

I just bought a few Joyetech 1100mah ego one kits through a group buy of several small local stores. They arrived yesterday and look great but I got suspicious when my son told me the final price. It was too low. The particular store owner who placed the order bought them as authentic. (And, yes, I trust the other owner. We help each other out all the time.)

Anyway, I went to the Joyetech site and entered the s/n number that was provided on the warranty card in the kit. The site then showed me a security number. Now I scratched off the security number on the card and it matched the number on the site. So far so good.

But other sites where I've verified item's authenticity usually say something like 'this number has been checked one time' (which is a good assurance that it's real) or 'this number has been checked 4,593 times (which means it's fake). The Joyetech site doesn't say anything like that. It just gives the security number (which does match) but a clone manufacturer could have bought an authentic one and just used the same s/n & security number combination over and over.

Is there any way to tell positively if a joyetech product is authentic or not?

(I've pulled the kits from our shelves until I can get this settled to my satisfaction.)

Post photos of the mod, the top 510, the bottom, and the documentation that came with it. I think I can spot it with that info.

 

[Zamazam]

[facepalm] Duh.

I'm an idiot, this never occurred to me.

Ok, did exactly this and - surprise, surprise - the second one has the same set of numbers. Definitely a clone.

*%(@*(%#!!! Luckily I've only sold one and I know the buyer so I can give her a call and fix it. Now we have to deal with the seller.

Well, as you can see, it *is* possible for a store to sell clones and not know it. Agghhhh!!!!!

Check a third one please.

 

[Barbara E.]

I have now checked all five I have and all have the exact same s/n and security code numbers.

 

[Zamazam]

Fuck. Is their a way to return them? That stuff isn't cool. Name the wholesaler (not the other shop) that sold you the counterfeit crap.

 

[cascadian]

Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay as part of the "group buy"? And for future information you would have to order at least 10 but Joyetech has pretty easy minimums for even smaller vape shops. They have let me mix and match colors to meet the minimums in the past.

 

[Barbara E.]

I'm sure there's a way to return them (or get some sort of refund) but the person that actually placed the order has to do it. Boy, is he PISSED!! (Especially since he just ordered another 20 and the package is already in the mail.)

 

[Barbara E.]

Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay as part of the "group buy"? And for future information you would have to order at least 10 but Joyetech has pretty easy minimums for even smaller vape shops. They have let me mix and match colors to meet the minimums in the past.

It was $22 something for the 1100mah. That's what tipped me off - I thought they'd be a bit higher.

Cascadian - Last time I checked Joyetech, the minimum was 50. (Or wait, maybe that was Kanger.) Anyway, 10 as a minimum is fine. I'll have to check them out again. Thanks for the info.

On the bright side, I now have a new little white ego one clone for my very own.

 

[cascadian]

It was $22 something for the 1100mah. That's what tipped me off - I thought they'd be a bit higher.

Cascadian - Last time I checked Joyetech, the minimum was 50. (Or wait, maybe that was Kanger.) Anyway, 10 as a minimum is fine. I'll have to check them out again. Thanks for the info.

On the bright side, I now have a new little white ego one clone for my very own.

Minimum is 10 for the ego ones... I just ordered some XL kits 2 weeks ago. The only ego one products I have ever seen being advertised at less than $32 each were clearly labeled as clones is why I asked. If it seems to good to be true it usually is! A quantity of 20 sounds like he must be ordering off of Alibaba or Dhgate. If he is, tell him not to as there are plenty of good US distributors if he doesn't want to purchase through Joyetech USA.

 

[Barbara E.]

After thinking about it a bit, I really feel Joyetech shares part of the blame. As an individual consumer, if I'd checked the authenticity code at joyetech's web site, I would have been satisfied they were authentic. It's too easy for a clone maker to buy one authentic model and then simply use the same authenticity code over and over. If the joyetech site had warned me that this particular code had been checked a bunch of times - like other manufacturers do - I would have been alerted to a problem.

As a store owner, I had others to check and see that all the numbers were the same. (Thanks again for suggesting that, cascadian. ) But as an individual consumer, I wouldn't have had that option.

 

[Zamazam]

I paid $38 per unit on a group buy for 150 units 2200Mah, bought 3 of them. They are the real deal. There have been reports of the counterfeits getting super hot, not just warm when charging. This is a serious issue for Joyetech. Mine get warm for a short period when they are ramping up the charge, but then cool off as the charge rate levels. The counterfeits don't, they get too hot to handle which is a dangerous situation all around.

 

[Barbara E.]

Clones are a serious issue for all manufacturers. I used to see a lot of clone Vision Spinners. I can't tell you how many customers I've had come in with the opinion that Vision spinners were awful (because they bought one at the local Jockey Lot for fifteen dollars and it crapped out after three weeks). Of course we try to educate them but most people (obviously, including ourselves ) can't always tell clones from authentic.

What upsets me is that both the other store owner and I are very careful since we don't sell clones. Yet we got fooled.

 

[Zamazam]

You still need to name the wholesaler so other shops don't get burned.

 

[Barbara E.]

It was through DHgate. The particular seller was 'towoto'. If you check his listings now, they do say that it's a 1:1 clone at the bottom of the listing. The other store owner says that that was not there when he placed the order. He also says that (according to DHgate rules), if something is a clone, it's supposed to say so in the title (which his listings do not). But I don't know if that's really true or not.

I do know that when we opened our store (1.5 years ago), we got taken in several times by listings claiming they were authentic merchandise (even showing all the right documentation, etc.) when they weren't. But DHgate always took our side when we disputed the payment. They seem to have cracked down on fake listings several months ago but I just did several searches and clone listings seem to be cropping up again.

Of course, now I always email the seller first to make sure they are authentic and I tell them up front that I will dispute the payment if the items are clones. The other store owner says he did that too (emailed the seller to assure authenticity beforehand). So who knows what happened. Luckily I only had six and I've already pulled them from the shelves.

In any case, I'm really not happy with Joyetech right now either. They should have better verification procedures in place.

 

[Joshua Iles]

That sucks that even stores are getting taken for a ride by these cloners. I'm with u, if its a clone say so on the listing. Good catch tho on your part and its nice to see a store willing to bite the bullet to keep from selling a crap product. Unfortunately I believe there are known clones being sold as authentics at ridiculous b&m markups anyway, and some online shops. Also very bad on joyetech for not listing the #s like other vendors do that state they've been checked x amt of times. I know the few x I've actually checked a verification code I've only checked it once, didn't go back the next day or week to check it again to see if the status changed. Hoping for a smooth resolution.

 

[Barbara E.]

<snip> Also very bad on joyetech for not listing the #s like other vendors do that state they've been checked x amt of times. I know the few x I've actually checked a verification code I've only checked it once, didn't go back the next day or week to check it again to see if the status changed. Hoping for a smooth resolution.

Well, if you checked the verification code on an item and the site said it's been checked 1 time (maybe 2 times if the vendor checked it initially), you're probably fine. It's when it says that the code has been checked dozens/hundreds/thousands of times that you know the manufacturer bought one authentic item to get a valid code, then simply slapped the same code on all their items.

 

[TmB]

So aside from the serial, are there any other ways of telling the difference between a clone and an authentic one?

I have a kit coming that I bought from a seller on eBay. It was $38US + shipping. I've seen them on sale on some sites for $39, so the price isn't too good to be true, and the seller did use the word 'authentic' in the product title (though after the words ego one)... but if fakes are floating around, it's got me wondering.

I got the 1100mah azure blue one.

 

[Barbara E.]

I compared my (clone) white one to an authentic one and there was a distinct difference in color. The clone was a flat white while the authentic had more of a pearlescent finish. Going by pictures, it looks like it should be the same for the blue but I can't swear to it.

The problem with ebay is that you can't trust the reviews at all. If you complain about something and the seller refunds your money, the transaction is cancelled and you can't leave a review.

I did a quick search on ebay for 'ego one 1100' (there weren't that many listings) and many say '100% authentic'. But the company 'Joyetech' is not mentioned. Of course that might not mean anything - or it might.

 

[TmB]

Hmm, that's a good point.. 'Joyetech' isn't mentioned anywhere in the listing.

 

[TmB]

Got it today. Looked up the code, matched the serial.. but I'm wondering if it's the same serial as the other fakes have been using. Can someone PM me to confirm?

I question the authenticity because it doesn't seem quite as high quality as I was expecting. The finishing of Joyetech's products is usually really good, but this one I have is a bit iffy.