I agree with @murky on this one. There are certain things in this world where the brand matters, and buying “the best” tool available for a particular job is one of those situations I won’t compromise on once I’ve made that choice. I decided to invest in Darn Tough brand socks two years ago because they have a lifetime warranty. They are fantastic, and there is a reason they are so expensive. I would have been pretty unhappy if I was sent knockoff socks for multiple reasons. Same with these pruners, I already have cheap ones and want to upgrade to “the best” for a reason. I don’t need another set of junk pruners, I expect something that will last a long long time, that’s why I chose to spend 3x as much money compared to the fiskars I already have. The fiskars are a decent tool for me to snip smaller scions to bench graft and other light duty tasks, but that’s not what I want the ARS for. Hence why I intend to demand a refund if I’m sent the wrong product.
Why list it as an ARS pruner if they are going to send cheap unbranded Chinese junk instead? If I was ARS I would be taking corrective action to protect my brand. Anyone who doesn’t know better will end up with a poor impression of ARS in the end if they think this is the quality of the real deal.
Call Amazon directly. You can find their number on the web. That’s what I had to do, in order to get ALL of my money back, plus they told me to keep the pruners. Don’t let the seller Buffalo you.
Yeah, they’re obviously not interested in doing the right thing. I just “complained” to Amazon about them. We’ll see what happens…
KongtingUS’s response to my request for a “full” refund:
Honey, what you said is absolutely correct. We are the same product, and it is very sharp and easy to use. I apologize for this. If you stay with the product, I will apply for it for you. Thank you
Like I said the bottom line Amazon is allowing counterfeiters to operate under their roof which means Amazon is the responsible party. If I rented an extra room to a counterfeiter in my house that becomes my problem after the first time they get in trouble for it. We understand they may not have known at first people were selling counterfeits. Amazon is big but laws still apply to them. Do you have pictures of the fakes?
Closer to a “bait and switch” than a counterfeit IMO. The product I received does not pretend to be an ARS brand product. No trademarks, no logos, no mention of their name/address on packaging… It’s simply a similar product…
Other than “VS-8” being etched onto the blade, which is borderline counterfeiting I suppose… But could probably be argued by this manufacturer that it is simply their part number and means “Very Sharp 8inch pruner”
It was mis-advertised as being an ARS brand product and there is why Amazon should make it right. I was shown pictures of one product, from a specific manufacturer, and was shipped something entirely different. Even if they’re halfway decent, I can’t abide being lied to.
If the pruners were made in China, which I strongly suspect they are, but are marked “Made in Japan”, that’s fraudulent imo. It’s intentionally lying to customers by trying to represent the product as something it’s not.
Japan has an outstanding reputation of manufacturing top quality products. Everyone knows this, just as everyone knows Chinese manufactured goods aren’t the best quality (generally). The manufacturers of these pruners know that and are deliberately deceiving customers to increase sales, and/or command a higher sale’s price.
It would be the equivalent of someone buying fruit from a grocery store, marking it up, and selling it at a farm market, as something they grew themselves.
It’s actually illegal to label a product “Made in USA”, when it’s not. I’m not sure of the legality of lying that a product is “Made in Japan”, when it’s not.
Mmmmm… a roadside orchard I picked apples for 40 years ago…used to have 100 acres in trees. These days it’s may be 30. But they still sell lots of apples…it’s ‘implied’ they’re produced there on the farm.
What does “made in” actually mean though? Geez I’m starting to sound like a lawyer aren’t I?
We just had to replace our heat pump and the new one proudly proclaims:
So does that mean the components are built in the U.S.A., or perhaps in China? I’m betting the latter and at least “some” final assembly happens here.
Many many years ago we (work) bought some computers (80486 probably, did I mention this was long ago) which came fully assembled, minus CPUs. Those chips came shipped separately and we installed them. It was suggested by the vendor that we could claim “Made in the U.S.A.” as a result.
But yeah I suspect these pruners were 100% made in China and not in Japan. But I don’t know that for sure, I only suspect it.
If they do refund me 100% I’ll gladly return them, they wouldn’t be my property at that point. Two wrongs doesn’t make a right…
All’s well that ends well… Amazon refunded the remainder of the purchase price. I advised the seller that I would not be shipping them back on my dime but would be happy to if they supplied a shipping label. They declined.
cool, now you know how to interact with Amazon for future issues as well.
Last I checked, mined “shipped” over 10 days ago, but the tracking info just shows shipping information received. I won’t be surprised if it eventually gets canceled, or just is no-show and refund. Or maybe it will show up on the porch without any more updates on the tracking.
I’ve not sold anything on Amazon in many years, but I doubt their seller policies have changed much. You basically have to agree that the customer is right and Amazon can do just about anything they want. I sold a bunch of movies on DVD and got ripped off more than once. Very little recourse to do anything about it either… What was common was someone purchasing a kid’s movie, claiming it was scratched and unplayable and Amazon refunding them from my seller’s account. What I’d get back was their month’s old DVD that their kids had indeed scratched. I ended up having paid to ship my good one to them, and shipping for their bad one back to me, and no viable product in the end. Sucks.
Those movies at least were not fakes/copies/counterfeits/bait-and-switches, the customers received precisely what was advertised. I hope they had a bout of conscious for ripping me off… Probably not.
I purchased what I hoped would be a legitimate product, there were reports on here of people receiving the real deal for around that price. When they however tried to rip me off, all bet’s were off… This time I was the customer and had Amazon on my side. I offered to return them and would certainly do so, but not on my dime. There is no moral high ground that would make it OK otherwise (to me at least).
Hopefully being out the product, and the shipping, will help to convince this seller to find a new line of “work”…
Yes, they tried to get me to put my services on their site. Not for a moment…The more people go to Amazon, the only jobs in a local community are going to be delivery truck drivers. And most people can’t stay in business by competing at the least price for an item.
Service, doing business / people in the community, and the re-circulating of that local cash in the local economy are all reasons to avoid Amazon.
Well, it doesn’t seem to be adequate to keep local businesses functioning around here. I’m as selfish as most, come home tired and get a lot of the products I need with some clicks (hurting Home Depot as well)- this is the inevitable future, I’m afraid- and those drivers will be out of their jobs in a few more years.
The holly grain of capitalism is efficiency but if and when humans become largely obsolete in this equation we will have to reassess- which, of course becomes a political discussion and an essential one. Just not here.
Almost 60 years ago I remember in school that discussions on the future economy was about how we would fill the hours with all the leisure time we would have in the 21st century. Were the predictions wrong or merely pre-mature? If I had more leisure time I’d prune more at home.
Wife bought an unlocked phone …gets here and its locked. Waste of time and shipping costs (luckily they paid to have it shipped back). I noticed then the seller rating was horrible, so something to check out before ordering.
