Chinese knockoffs.

[Julie Bove]

Has this become very common lately? I know that dollar stores have always sold Chinese crap and I have avoided that. But recently I ordered an extra wall plug in for our Iphone 5's and it wasn't an Apple product. Ordered from Ebay. Never again. The thing was a joke! The prongs on it looked weird and wouldn't even go into the outlet.

Just now I needed to order a new GE stove burner. Seems that the same thing is happening over at Amazon. I had seen on the news that there have been complaints of knockoffs. Well, it seems that they are doing it with stove burners. Show a picture of the genuine GE thing but that's not what people are getting. At least that's what the reviews say.

I once had a burner go bad in an old apartment. Not sure how old the stove was. Probably pretty old. I had walked into the other room when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like one of those whistling fireworks. Whistling Pete/Piccolo Pete. I looked towards the noise, saw blue sparks hitting the ceiling, then heard a "bang". All went silent. No more sparks, but I then hear water. It was water leaking out of my pan that I was boiling pasta in. Somehow the very tip (outside of coil) became super heated and literally blew right off, shooting sparks and shooting a hole in my pan! Landlord fixed the stove for me.

But after witnessing that, there is no way I am taking a chance on a Chinese knockoff. I ordered straight from GE where I know I am getting the right thing.

Now that I think of it, it's not just electrical things. I ordered what I thought were Tom's shoes from their outlet. What I got was a joke. Tiny shoes that maybe appeared from a distance to be that brand but were very poorly made.

This is frustrating, especially if I need something that I can't find in a store and have to get online. Anyone else been burned by bogus parts? Or other things?

[philoÂÂ]

for some things a Chinese knock off may be OK but I would defiantly not cheap out for those 115v to USB adapters for iPhones. I've heard of people getting electrocuted.

Also, the cord itself for the iPhone is a piece of crap...yes the genuine Apple product. Even though they will supposedly exchange it free...they only last a few months.

I got a Belkin cord for my wife and after four months there is no sign of wear. For all I know it's made in China too...but where ever it's made Belkin is a good product.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, What you mean? Apple is made in China too, LOL! Expect some quality stuff from Amazon or Dollar store? There are things you buy from there and things you go to specialty store. Chinese knock off has difference is quality too. Again you get what you pay for. An example, I have a high end home theater gear; AV receiver, speakers, all made in China. Their quality is very high justifying the high price. For an example look at the price for an Anthem AV receiver or Paradigm speakers.

[rbowman]

In some cases, a part manufactured in China is all you're going to find so it's a toss up between 'genuine GE made in China' and 'GE knockoff made in China'.

Amazon seems good at dealing with the problem. I ordered 3 Photon microlights; 2 were Photon's and the third was a cuckoo. It worked but had an obscure Chinese battery and the light color was a little different. I emailed Amazon customer service, told them it was defective but it wasn't as advertised. They refunded the price and I noticed the third party distributor was no longer listed. I don't know how the 'sold by X fulfilled by Amazon' or 'sold and shipped by X' relationships work but Amazon does seem to prune the knockoff shops.

I very seldom look on eBay but other than the seller rating I think it's more of a crapshoot.

[Ralph Mowery]

Aren't the I phones made in China ? I know some Apple products are.

It is just like most everywhere else, there are some good China items and some junk items.

[philoÂÂ]

What I was trying to say is "made in China" is neither good or bad.

There is good quality and bad quality

[Jeff Wisnia]

Last Sunday (Father's Day) all the greeting cards I received were Hallmark's, but the last line of the fine print on the back of each one said it was manufactured in China.

Jeff

[Ralph Mowery]

Just like that POS John Deere riding mower I bought at the dealer and not at Lowes.. That model has a history of the transaxel going out after 300 or so hours. Mine did. That is the last thing I will buy from them.

Just junk made to the lowest standrd and price.

Many years ago Japan had a bad reputation for junk, but now many of the beter quality items can be bought from them, cars and electronics especially.

China has some good items also. YOu just have to pay for them. I have bought a few things from China off ebay and don't even see how they can ship it here for what they sell it for including shipping. The quality of the items was fine for the price I payed.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Some of the "bad" stuff is exactly to the specifications of a cheap US company that wants to make a lot of money selling junk from any source that is cheap.

[philoÂÂ]

Yep, I had mentioned that I bought 20 CMOS batteries directly from China

the total was $3.58 including postage

The local drugstore had them for $7 each !

[Not]

What makes you think the part you ordered from GE won't turn out to have been made in China?

[Guv Bob]

Beware of any appliances or parts these days. Most if not all are made overseas.

My Frigidaire (Model 40064747757 Nov 2007) developed strain cracks around the burners in the stove top where indentations had been pressed out. Typically this is caused by either poor quality steel or drawing lubricant during the stamping process. It's a mfg defect - not caused by use. Fridigidaire would not replace it - only would sell me a new stove top over $300.

Here's a photo showing the cracks. Cracks go all the way through the metal:

[Guv Bob]

Ask someone who lost their job because of their factory being relocated to China if there are any good China items. I hear they are having pollution problems now in China. Boo hoo.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Prolly is but on different specs.(better quality)

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Frigidaire is not top tier product to begin with. I never owned one.

[clare]

You only get what you pay for - if you are lucky. You seldom get more than you pay for - excluding trouble.

[clare]

In the case of the JD tractor there was a reason the model you bought was (just a guess) about 20% cheaper than their deluxe model of the same horsepower and cutting width. "If you want first quality oats, you need to be willing to pay first quality price. If, however, you are willing to settle for oats that have already been through the horse, they DO come a little cheaper"

[rbowman]

If you go back to the 1800's when the German states were playing catchup with the industrial revolution, they were know for the cheap junk the produced. The Germans learned, the Japanese learned, the Koreans learned, and now the Chinese are learning fast. About the only people who didn't learn are the US politicians that watched all the manufacturing head towards the setting sun.

[clare]

Used to be, 50 years ago.

[Guv Bob]

around the burners in the stove top where indentations had been pressed out. Typically this is caused by either poor quality steel or drawing lubricant during the stamping process. It's a mfg defect - not caused by use. Fridigidaire would not replace it - only would sell me a new stove top over $300.

Nope....

Doesn't matter to me what they were thinking. I offered to send this one back, pay shipping on a new one plus a reasonable cost, but they would even discuss it. Whatever.... So they lost a customer, plus bad press from me.

I even mentioned the other problems, just as helpful feedback for their own info. Two of the 5 burners started to fail within 2 years -- I was able to adjust them, but I never heard of this happening in all my years of using various other gas ranges. Also, if we turn any gas valve on too slowly, it fills up the stove top with gas and then ignites. Supposed to start the sparking before the gas comes out. They have the wrong people working phone tech support.