Member postings for Mike Crossfield

In response to Tony's observation, I can only reiterate that in my case Paypal would not give me a refund until the fake item had been returned to the vendor. After it had been returned they would then only refund the purchase cost, not the return postage.

I do not give in easily in these kind of disputes, but after many emails and exchanges with Ebay I finally decided life is too short to waste any more time over a few pounds.

Mike

That's as maybe, but who is going to enforce these regulations on a vendor in China? Not Ebay. They say they can only reclaim the amount initially paid, and say that any refund of return postage is up to the buyer to negotiate with the vendor. If the vendor won't communicate, as in my case, this is a bit difficult. And as for Ebay taking action against the seller for supplying fake products, Ebay says that if they get enough complaints they will look into it….

Mike

This procedure didn't work for me.

When I raised a dispute, eBay told me I had to return the fake caliper to the vendor in China, which I did at a cost of £12. When the vendor wouldn't provide the promised refund, despite acknowledging that they had received the returned item, eBay paid up. However, they wouldn't cover the return postage cost. Ebay say that they can only claw back the original Paypal payment. They suggested that I should leave negative feedback!!

I was never offered the option of keeping the fake item.

Mike

Having been recently "conned" myself, I wanted to warn others about counterfeit Mitutoyo callipers currently being offered at bargain prices on eBay (and maybe elsewhere).

The items in question are advertised as Mitutoyo 6 inch digital callipers part 500-196-20. They look quite convincing, and come in apparently correct packaging together with instructions and test certificate. On closer examination, however, they can be seen to be fake. In particular in Inch mode the display only shows 3 digits, not 4, after the decimal point, the serial number on the calliper does not match that on the test certificate, the button functions are not as described in the instructions, and the batteries supplied are not Mitutoyo brand SR44 silver oxide parts. There are other giveaways which you can find on Google if you search for "fake Mitutoyo callipers".

Obviously you can't easily check these points if you are buying mail order, so my advice would be to avoid 500-196-20 callipers being advertised by Chinese suppliers, not least because of the hassle involved in returning counterfeit items and getting a refund.

Incidentally, Mitutoyo has recently introduced an improved version of the 500-196-20 which has better contamination resistance. This has apparently not yet been counterfeited. The part number for the improved product is 500-196-30.

Mike

It's probably worth mentioning my own experience.

The spindle on my 50 year old Super 7 was worn, and the bronze bearing was oval to the tune of about a thou. I managed to buy a new spindle at a very good price, but lacked the skill to scrape the bearing in to suit. I contacted Daz, and since I am a long way from Nottingham we agreed that I would ship the headstock and spindle to him for the work to be done. The job was turned around in a week, and I am delighted with the result. The cost, excluding shipping charges, was £100.

Mike