RANT, fake Swarovski crystal beads

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Arrrrrrrrg, I'm really angry, I bought beads that were advertised as Swarovski crystal on ebay and they're fake. I know it's my own fault (buyer beware, should always read feedback) but I'm still really angry at them. I contacted them and it's like they didn't even read my message to them (said to wait for the beads to arrive), why would I say to them that they sold me fakes if they hadn't arrived yet?

*stomps around room* *roars* I don't know how to vent properly without scaring my dog. I tried screaming earlier but he thought it was his fault poor lad. I know I'm over-reacting but I'm angry for two reasons, one I hate liars and two I was planning on using these beads for to make jewellery to sell.

Anyways, two links to a how to spot fake Swarovski crystal 5301:

http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Spot-Fak ... 0019823618
http://www.firemountaingems.com/encyclo ... KHWTNSRYRG

Well, look through the seller's page. If they have a return policy, copy it and paste it to your hard drive.

Next, just because there is negative feedback on the sellers page doesn't nessicarily mean they're fake. Just as often as people can't spot a fake before they buy, people dont always spot fakes after purchase. Its pretty common for people to mis-accuse sellers on ebay of all kinds of things because of one minor, unrelated (To what they're saying in their feedback), negative experience. Basically what Im saying, you can't do anything till they arrive anyway, so when they do, open em up and follow the instructions on the pages you've already linked to find out if they are actually fake (Theres a good chance, but check before assuming).

Finally, if they are fake, continue to try to get in touch with the seller. Email, Phone, w/e's available. IF they do have a return policy, and they don't attempt to honor it or make themselves impossible to reach (You might have to put up with trying to call them in their time zone, etc etc), you can report them to Ebay (actually, if you ascertain that the items are in fact fake, contact ebay before trying to return them). That in and of itself probably wont do much, but ebay from what Ive seen is pretty good about regulating its sellers. They won't give access to certain things (Or revoke given access) if they get enough complaints about certain things (Lieing and misrepresenting goods are two of these). After that, Ebay *Might* be able to either refund part of the money you spent, OR cover part of its cost, IF and ONLY if certain conditions are met. Get the Beads, Check em out. If they're fake, Don't send em back right away, and keep ALL packaging they came in. Keep your emails with your confirmation/Payment information. Once you KNOW with out a doubt that what you bought are fake, contact Ebay and ask them about it.

Good luck

Thank you for your advice, I will check for a returns policy but it was for a small amount of beads and it might not be worth my while. I could use them by just saying shiny/sparkling beads for my bracelets instead of Swarovski crystal. I wouldn't mislead people, they are pretty beads.

Putting Swarovski crystal on an item on ebay makes for easier sales though and this is why I'm annoyed because I can't do this in good concience when the beads aren't genuine.

I've already recieved the beads and they didn't look right compared to other Swarovski crystal items I have seen in the official shops. I checked further about my specific beads (as the shops I've gone to previously didn't seem to stock beads and I wanted to be sure) and how to judge a fake from a real one, the beads I've recieved are fake. They are pretty but fake. The cut is all over the place and the holes are not all through the center of the beads (a little less than half are off center in some way), this doesn't happen with real ones.

I have contacted the seller and they responded saying that they were selling real ones. Little makes me angrier than when someone persists in a lie. After I did my research and contacted them I checked their feedback, one of the first feedback I saw (in neutral) said "Admitted beads are imitation, but refunded no problem".

If they had said Swarovski crystal-like, I'd have much less of a problem with them. Even if they had admitted to the fact of the beads being imitations, I would have been less angry. The fact that they're still trying to dupe me makes me really annoyed.

Feedback isn't always trustworthy though...

I once bought a pair of hair straighteners on eBay, they were a nice expensive brand and genuine, only they had a US plug. They hadn't put this on their auction and blamed me for not asking (why would I have reason to ask if it was able to be used in the UK if it's on the UK site?), when I contacted them they told me to get an adapter (cost me an additional £10, and as it turns out cannot be used on this brand, so they broke after the first use). The seller had a 14 day return and 1 year guarantee, but when I emailed them about it they ignored me...I went via PayPal to get my money back...the seller claimed with eBay I hadn't paid and eBay ignored all the emails I sent them showing how the seller had ignored me, given me bad advice, and the emails from PayPal showing they'd refunded my money...but I still got banned from eBay from selling for some length of time.

I left this person negative feedback - they left a counter-comment to mine and then left negative feedback on my account too - I had to give up that account as a result. The problem is eBay really don't do enough to help when things go wrong or when sellers con people (including making listings that are misleading or lacking in important details!), and feedback in particular is terrible because you CAN'T leave real feedback when a seller does something wrong, because they end-up coming after you!

Thanks Bloodheart.

The neutral feedback said over and over variations of "fake Swarovski crystal" though. If it was just one or two I wouldn't blame myself but there were 62 neutral feedback and about 33 negative feedback. Positive feedback was high but still, that amount of neutral/negative feedback when people fear leaving anything less than positive feedback on ebay should have told me something.

I think I'll leave feedback stating that they're fake but pretty, neutral/positive depending on response to my most recent email.

I've calmed down a good bit now, I decided earlier that I wouldn't do anything that could be construed as rash until I was totally calm so I'll wait until Tuesday to be sure.