Confusion regarding a pre-owned Headphone Zone order

[sauravghosh]

Gents, please help me out here. So I purchased a pre-owned Audio Technica headphone, M20x from HPZ. The advert. mentioned that the item was bought on 20.06.20, from Amazon. And that was the main reason why I went for it, as it was a relatively newer item for being used. But when I received the item I noticed that the box is completely yellowish (which is very unlikely to happen in just two years) and most importantly, the import date is mentioned JUNE, 2018. So in that case Amazon must have sold a two year old item. Is it even possible? I've not seen Amazon selling that old items since I've been shopping with them.

So I contacted HPZ, asked them to share me the original invoice (the product didn't come with the invoice at first place) and today they did, and the invoice does mention purchase date as 04.06.2020. I contacted Amazon customer care and requested them to check the authenticity of the invoice but they couldn't do it as they need additional details of the original account holder such as email, phone number etc.

Here are some photos, the advert of HPZ (screen capture) and the box with all the labels. Could you decipher anything from these? Please advise what to do. I strongly believe that the seller has either forged the Amazon invoice to make the purchase date appear more recent (June, 20 instead of June, 18), or, the M20x he ordered from Amazon is not the one I received (as in I received an older item where he's kept the newer one). Or I could be wrong and Amazon did indeed sell a two year item!

F... me dead for a momentary lapse of decision making to buy a used item just to save tiny bit of money.

 

[ibose]

I still don't understand the issue. What makes you think the Amazon invoice is forged ? Just the Import Date ? I see that the Amazon product listing mentions that this headphone was first listed in 2017. I don't know if there is any law which prevents an Amazon seller or anyone else to sell a 2 year old imported product as long as it is functional and the manufacturer supports the warranty from the date of sale.
I would be more concerned if the product itself is genuine or not and for that you can write to ATH customer care with the serial number.

 

[sauravghosh]

I still don't understand the issue. What makes you think the Amazon invoice is forged ? Just the Import Date ?
I would be more concerned if the product itself is genuine or not and for that you can write to ATH customer care with the serial number.

Yes, just the import date. From my experience Amazon has not sold me a product which is that old. If anyone's experience varies then please share here, I'm keen to know. I'm not sure whether there's a law concerning that either.

Thanks for the other advice of contacting AT customer care. On it

PS: AT customer support has a limit of 250 characters, like twitter. Lovely! Now I have to find some email or something.

 

[blr_p]

I contacted Amazon customer care and requested them to check the authenticity of the invoice but they couldn't do it as they need additional details of the original account holder such as email, phone number etc.

I don't understand why Amazon can't do a simple 'smell test' check as you asked.

Whether indeed they sold such an item on the date mentioned given the order number.

It seems they need more data to perform the search. Such as the email, and phone number of the original buyer.

You will have to contact HPZ again for that I guess.

 

[sauravghosh]

Yes sir. The customer rep confirmed it's an Amazon order but when I asked for additional details like whether the date was matching, he replied he cannot access any further unless I provide him all those other details, as according to him it's asking for authentication. I've contacted HPZ already, I'm highly doubt they will provide me these details. They somehow want to be done with it, not sure whether they are involved in these type of malpractices.
I've also somehow managed to raise a support ticket with AT, let's see whether they respond. Imagine explaining the situation in 250 characters, with the inclusion of links containing photos. Hilarious stuff.

PS: Someone on this platform posted an email address of some high ranking Amazon official, wish I remembered that. If such things still exists please let me know.

 

[superczar]

Gents, please help me out here. So I purchased a pre-owned Audio Technica headphone, M20x from HPZ. The advert. mentioned that the item was bought on 20.06.20, from Amazon. And that was the main reason why I went for it, as it was a relatively newer item for being used. But when I received the item I noticed that the box is completely yellowish (which is very unlikely to happen in just two years) and most importantly, the import date is mentioned JUNE, 2018. So in that case Amazon must have sold a two year old item. Is it even possible? I've not seen Amazon selling that old items since I've been shopping with them.

So I contacted HPZ, asked them to share me the original invoice (the product didn't come with the invoice at first place) and today they did, and the invoice does mention purchase date as 04.06.2020. I contacted Amazon customer care and requested them to check the authenticity of the invoice but they couldn't do it as they need additional details of the original account holder such as email, phone number etc.

Here are some photos, the advert of HPZ (screen capture) and the box with all the labels. Could you decipher anything from these? Please advise what to do. I strongly believe that the seller has either forged the Amazon invoice to make the purchase date appear more recent (June, 20 instead of June, 18), or, the M20x he ordered from Amazon is not the one I received (as in I received an older item where he's kept the newer one). Or I could be wrong and Amazon did indeed sell a two year item!

F... me dead for a momentary lapse of decision making to buy a used item just to save tiny bit of money.

it was listed as pre-owned, right?
Is the item itself damaged or abused?

If the damage is limited to the box , i wouldn’t worry too much about it.

I keep any empty boxes for expensive items in a shed which sees a lot of sunlight and is exposed partially to the elements.
2 years is a long time - these boxes turn yellow in a few months

Also, amazon cannot and won’t disclose information about purchases made by someone else to you - that would be a breach of consumer privacy

 

[blr_p]

Yes sir. The customer rep confirmed it's an Amazon order but when I asked for additional details like whether the date was matching, he replied he cannot access any further unless I provide him all those other details, as according to him it's asking for authentication.

So Amazon has some code of privacy to follow. Good to know.

I've contacted HPZ already, I'm highly doubt they will provide me these details. They somehow want to be done with it, not sure whether they are involved in these type of malpractices.

As I said if the seller got a post-dated receipt or faked it then what can HPZ do?

How could HPZ verify those details ? Amazon would also refuse to give the details you asked to HPZ too isn't it

I really doubt HPZ would be up to any malpractice. My one interaction with them just does not support this allegation. That Somani guy is on a mission.

Their intent is to build an audio enthusiasts community and you can't do that by breaching trust.

I've also somehow managed to raise a support ticket with AT, let's see whether they respond. Imagine explaining the situation in 250 characters, with the inclusion of links containing photos. Hilarious stuff.

PS: Someone on this platform posted an email address of some high ranking Amazon official, wish I remembered that. If such things still exists please let me know.

Chat is just to collect your details before handing over to a rep. You're interacting with a bot.

I keep any empty boxes for expensive items in a shed which sees a lot of sunlight and is exposed partially to the elements.
2 years is a long time - these boxes turn yellow in a few months

Also, amazon cannot and won’t disclose information about purchases made by someone else to you - that would be a breach of consumer privacy

Bingo!

 

[desiibond]

Are those headphones working well? If so, use your time in searching for new music instead of doing a witch hunt. Yes, I did receive products with worn out packaging in the past. There was no issue with the products though. They are still working, years later.

 

[sauravghosh]

I hope those who are senior in age (assuming some are) here actually gets the point. I have no problem with a shitty looking box, or some cosmetic crap. But there is a suspicion that what was advertised might not have been sold to me. And, in case someone has forged a bill to make their old product appear newer then I cannot say how that makes me feel. If this is normal to you then good luck, but I don't take misdeeds, however small, lightly. Even the thought of that is unprincipled. That headphone has stayed in the box till receipt, and that's where it's going to stay until I get to the bottom of this.

 

[blr_p]

Yes, I did receive products with worn out packaging in the past. There was no issue with the products though. They are still working, years later.

I bought a Bosch heat gun from Cloudtail. Came in the original box and the seller just slapped the amazon label on it.

Yes, there was no amazon carton, it was delivered in the original box that was worse for wear. This has never happened before

The product works fine.

I've contacted HPZ already, I highly doubt they will provide me with these details. They somehow want to be done with it, not sure whether they are involved in these type of malpractices.

They must have those details but it will be clear what your intent is. See whether they provide it.

Otherwise, do you have the option to return it?

Since you are not happy with the purchase for your own reasons.

Hell! tell them why you're not happy and let's see how they respond.

 

[Chaos]

If it's just the box wake up and smell the coffee instead of going on a witch hunt.

I received a brand new HD650 from amazon with a slightly damaged box so this should be fine.

 

[AINDRASIS_GUPTA]

If the state of the headphone is in good condition, then there's nothing to worry about.

However, you should have got the Monoprice Modern Retro + Brainwavz XL pads. They blow the M20X out of the water and would have cost you just a slight more than what you paid (around 4.5K INR).

The M20X is really outdated by today's standards.

 

[belictony]

I hope those who are senior in age (assuming some are) here actually gets the point. I have no problem with a shitty looking box, or some cosmetic crap. But there is a suspicion that what was advertised might not have been sold to me. And, in case someone has forged a bill to make their old product appear newer then I cannot say how that makes me feel. If this is normal to you then good luck, but I don't take misdeeds, however small, lightly. Even the thought of that is unprincipled. That headphone has stayed in the box till receipt, and that's where it's going to stay until I get to the bottom of this.

Others who responded does not say its normal. You have the product in your hands now. you 2 options:
1. Spend more time chasing these companies in state of worry. Given the situation, there is no hope for refund or return unless HPZ terms and conditions allows it. So any time spent on this is going to the drain and not going to give you any peace. World is not fair as you expect it to be.

2. Learn your lesson and enjoy the product peacefully.

 

[sauravghosh]

Thanks again, fellas. I didn't create this topic because of a weird looking, damaged box. If there were a competition of receiving damaged box, then I would probably be near the top of the list as I've forgotten how many of them I received from Amazon. This is about whether a different item was sent to me than advertised, whether it's right to accept an item which is two years old, whether there was any fabrications done with the invoice and all these concerns! If the product itself is a fake, how would I deduce that, without a reference m20x side by side? Just by listening to this headphone I would never be able to identify whether it's a genuine.

Audio Technica replied, specifically this guy Saikh Ahmed, who was in Beyer few years ago and now he's here and a very very insincere person as I've dealt with him before, and he simply says kindly register your product at below link. Well .... I'll do that, and hope if the bill is fake they will detect that, but I doubt it. Meanwhile, emailed the seller as well, Cambium Retail, requesting them to confirm whether they sold it on that date but I don't expect any response after seeing their review on Google Maps.

Call it witch hunt or whatever you want, but I'm doing what my instincts tell me as there's foul smell in this transaction. Wasting half hour to a hour every day, it's just horrible, but again, my fault, I chose to buy this shite.

World is not fair as you expect it to be.

I may know a bit too much about that, thanks.

 

[blr_p]

If the product itself is a fake, how would I deduce that, without a reference m20x side by side? Just by listening to this headphone I would never be able to identify whether it's a genuine.

Your ears should tell you that. Look for spelling mistakes and dodgy grammar.

Is there a serial# on the product you can check with their office in India?

Check the photos below and compare.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20X

Audio-Technica ATH-M20X Monitorkopfhörer - dynamisch, geschlossen, ohrumschließend, 40 mm Treiber mit Neodym-Magnetsystem und CCAW-Schwingspulen, 90 Grad schwenkbare Ohrmuscheln, Frequenzbereich 15 - 20.000 Hz, Max. Eingangsleistung 700 mW bei 1...

www.thomann.de

It's not worth faking the low end of the range