UK Ecig Store vahvisti heillä 19.-28. marraskuuta myytyjen Sony VTC -akkujen olleen tuoteväärennöksiä, eivätkä ne pysty tarjoamaan akun luvattua 30A purkuvirtaa. Todellisuudessa ne eivät olleet kyvykkäitä edes 20A purkuvirtaan.
Huolestuttavaa asiasta tekee se, että kyseisiä akkuja käyttää juuri ne höyryttelijät, jotka tarvitsevat tuota 30A purkuvirtaa matalavastuksissa höyrystimissään ja tälläiset tuoteväärennösakut saattavat antaa periksi heti luoden valtavan turvallisuusriskin.
Vyöry väärennetyistä akuista lähti liikkelle, kun UKV -yhteisön jäsen osti testaustarkoituksessa akkuja kyseisestä liikkeestä, sillä epäili niiden olevan tuoteväärennöksiä, koska Sony ei enää valmista kyseisiä akkuja.
UK Ecig Store on tehnyt takaisinkutsun kaikille tuona aikana myydyille Sonyn VTC5 -akuille, oli ne sitten toimivia tai ei, ja hyvittää akkujen takaisin lähetyksen sekä ostosarvon asiakkaille.
Jos olet ostanut kyseisiä akkuja mistä tahansa lähteestä, suosittelemme varmistamaan akkujen alkuperän myyjältä.
Alla vielä UK Ecig Storen lähettämä sähköposti asiasta:
Hi All,
We have spent the past week testing the VTC5 batteries amid allegations that they were not authentic. What we had to do was ensure that the results we found from our tests were similar to those that were posted online. This was not an easy process, as we had to test a large number of batteries to ensure a balanced result. Unfortunately, we can confirm that we have been supplied with a number of non-genuine VTC5 batteries.
Our initial tests, conducted when we took stock of the batteries, proved successful. However, we only tested a small number of the VTC5‘s and whilst they performed well, we now know that they did not reflect the entire batch. We have subsequently tested a larger number of the VTC5 batteries against a number of genuine VTC5 batteries, as well as other batteries in our range.
We can confirm that around 30% of the VTC5 batteries in question are not capable of consistently reaching the targeted 30amp limit on a continuous discharge, they are also not reaching the 25amp limit – which our tests have shown genuine VTC5 batteries to produce. Many also look different when compared to the genuine VTC5 batteries; upon closer inspection. As such, we recommend not using these batteries.
We are now conducting a full product recall on all VTC5 batteries purchased from us between 19th – 28th November 2014, regardless of whether they perform to standard or not. All customers will be issued a refund and should return the batteries to us if they are able to; postage for return will of course be refunded. Those who have already requested a refund should have been refunded already, and if not – please do get in touch.
Whilst we are not the first company to be a victim of counterfeit batteries, this does not mean that we do not take this incident very seriously. Although our suppliers are some of the most trusted companies in the e-cig industry this does not mean that we are immune to unfortunate incidents such as this. We will be extensively testing a larger number of batteries to ensure authenticity prior to release, as standard. 99% of the time we deal directly with manufacturers, but with the VTC5 batteries we are unable to source them directly from Sony. A problem that is widespread within this industry.
We apologise for this incident and the difficulty it has caused our customers. This is something that simply cannot happen, and we will endeavour to ensure that it will never happen again.
Sincerely, UK ECIG STORE