> From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> I found them only on the 'Bay, at somewhat to wildly inflated prices.
Be very, very careful about SD cards on evilBay -- or even from Shamazon! There
are a LOT of counterfeits out there!
Typically, they are doctored somehow so they will format at the advertised
capacity, but they won’t actually hold anywhere near that capacity. Then they
slap a laser-printed label on them with the new, improved capacity.
I got screwed on a lot of ten small cards (128 MB), branded Panasonic, sold by
someone in Hong Kong. They formatted to 128 MB, but Apple’s Disk Utility “write
zeros” test failed, as did copying anything bigger than a few megs.
The seller insisted that I return them, and then refused to reimburse me either
original shipping (“FREE,” but they deducted a rather large amount as “their
cost” of shipping) or the cost of my return shipping, which was more than the
base price of the cards. By the time all that had transpired, the evilBay
timeout for help had timed out -- I couldn’t even leave negative feedback, let
alone appeal to authorities. I got real upset with evilBay, and said I was on
the verge of cancelling my account. They relented, and reimbursed the purchase
price ($22), but not my return shipping. The scammer is STILL SELLING THEM, and
claims he “tests” them all.
I thought buying from a “reputable” source would help, so I bought a couple
Lexar-branded 64GB cards via Shamazon. They also formatted to capacity, but
would hold no more than a couple gigs. I thought I was buying FROM Shamazon,
but they were actually just MARKETED through Shamazon by a third party, and so
Different Rules Apply(TM). Shamazon said I would only receive a refund when the
seller acknowledged the return, which they never did. So I was out another $40.
(Shamazon did the same thing to me on a bargain focal reducer that I returned
after determining that it was roughly equivalent of ear wax on a skylight
filter; out another $60.)
So I am never ordering from Shamazon again, and told them so, and why. I got
only a robot response.
If you order from Shamazon, BE SURE you are actually ordering from Shamazon;
their buyer protection policy on third-party sales is rather weak.
Good luck, and remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. :-)
Jan
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