FAKE! - HLG QB288 kit bought from Amazon - Fraud Seller

[PJ Diaz]

So I thought I was finally gonna be cool, and bought (what I thought was gonna be) a HLG QB 288 v2 kit from Amazon. Here is the Amazon listing (currently none in stock, I bought when there was 3 left on Dec 14th):

Amazon.com : Horticulture Lighting Group USA HLG 135 Kit Quantum Board V2 LED Grow Lamp Veg & Bloom 3000K : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : Horticulture Lighting Group USA HLG 135 Kit Quantum Board V2 LED Grow Lamp Veg & Bloom 3000K : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

This was bought from a 3rd party Amazon seller, "Justdeals247", which I now realize is a mistake. It took him a while to ship, and I had to remind him to ship it, but I wasn't really in a hurry so not a big deal. The shipping did take longer than expected and didn't arrive until 6-days after promised. When I was watching the shipment tracking I realized that it was shipping from China direct, and not the US. I thought "huh, that's odd.."

Finally when the kit came and I opened it, I immediately noticed a couple of unusual things..

1. The heatsink looked a bit different than the pics I've seen of slate 2 online:



..but I thought, meh whatever.. a heatsink is a heatsink. Then..

2. I turned the sink over, and noticed that the board was already screwed onto the sink. I thought that to be odd. I also immediately noticed no LHG logo or insignia:



I did find some small print on the QB, but doesn't mean a lot to me:



At that point I realized that this is likely some knock-off crap, and I was scammed so I looked closer at the contents. There was a Mean Well driver, but is it fake too?



Then I found this packing slip:



The fact that is says non-dimmable driver makes me think it's completely fake shit. I paid $166 for something that cost this Amazon seller $45. Refund time.

After my first request to the seller for a refund, they tried to talk me into keeping the crap:



I did think about keeping it and just replace the QB later, but considering the driver was likely fake too I wanted half my money back if I was gonna keep this knock off shit. Here is their reply:



Well, now I have to make a trip to the post office, pay to ship it back, hope Amazon reimburses my shipping, and wait for a refund. At the same time Amazon will do nothing to this seller who is selling fake counterfeit shit.

Lesson learned. Buy from HLG direct.

 

[welight]

The driver appears to be a genuine MW, the A suffix and the two black plastic caps indicate it is a dimmable driver, the invoice is a just an undervalued invoice, their attempt to help you pay less import tax. Its not Genuine HLG, is it a good light, cant really say
cheers

 

[Hust17]

The driver appears to be a genuine MW, the A suffix and the two black plastic caps indicate it is a dimmable driver, the invoice is a just an undervalued invoice, their attempt to help you pay less import tax. Its not Genuine HLG, is it a good light, cant really say
cheers

That’s not what my Mw driver looks like. I googled images and I think they knocked off a hybrid of two MW schemes.

 

[Hust17]

Their reply is pretty telling. I’d open a case and force them to pay return shipping

 

[PJ Diaz]

The driver appears to be a genuine MW, the A suffix and the two black plastic caps indicate it is a dimmable driver, the invoice is a just an undervalued invoice, their attempt to help you pay less import tax. Its not Genuine HLG, is it a good light, cant really say
cheers

Yes, it "appears" to be genuine, complete with a sticker for s/n, but is it really genuine? A quick google search says that there is a big problem with fake MW drivers out in the world. I thought about taking the driver apart to check the circuit board, but seems like too much work.

That’s not what my Mw driver looks like. I googled images and I think they knocked off a hybrid of two MW schemes.

Yeah, that's what I thought too after googling several images.

Their reply is pretty telling. I’d open a case and force them to pay return shipping

Amazon says they will credit me for the shipping once I show them a receipt. Not sure if they will make the seller pay for it, or just eat it themselves.

What really gets me is this seller says he sells :30 of these a month" and will likely get away with it. Funny thing is he's having me return it to what appears to be him home address. I had half a mind to call the local authorities in his area to have them look in, but then I didn't really wanna necessarily be a snitch either. Also thought about sending it back with rocks instead of product, but them I'm just as bad as the seller.

 

[Hust17]

Snitches get stitches, agreed, not worth it. I would report him on amazon for sure though for false advertising

 

[coreywebster]

Yes, it "appears" to be genuine, complete with a sticker for s/n, but is it really genuine? A quick google search says that there is a big problem with fake MW drivers out in the world. I thought about taking the driver apart to check the circuit board, but seems like too much work.



Yeah, that's what I thought too after googling several images.



Amazon says they will credit me for the shipping once I show them a receipt. Not sure if they will make the seller pay for it, or just eat it themselves.

What really gets me is this seller says he sells :30 of these a month" and will likely get away with it. Funny thing is he's having me return it to what appears to be him home address. I had half a mind to call the local authorities in his area to have them look in, but then I didn't really wanna necessarily be a snitch either. Also thought about sending it back with rocks instead of product, but them I'm just as bad as the seller.

Its 8 screws to have the top off the driver, I opened one recently, you wont be able to see anything inside because they are completely encased in black plastic of some kind.

Typical scam seller, if you know your buying a clone its one thing, its another to have something branded as genuine and not be.

 

[Hydrowannabe]

Snitches get stitches, agreed, not worth it. I would report him on amazon for sure though for false advertising

umm... getting someone off the market that is selling boleshit product to future cannabis growers....i would support that type of snitch and make sure he doesnt get a damn paper cut. "snitches get stitches" came from jail and stays in jail

 

[Hust17]

umm... getting someone off the market that is selling boleshit product to future cannabis growers....i would support that type of snitch and make sure he doesnt get a damn paper cut. "snitches get stitches" came from jail and stays in jail

I’d agree but I think snitching to Amazon would suffice. Pretty doubtful the local cops are going to do anything about it

 

[kmog33]

Are the diodes legit? I would say it doesn’t matter much if that’s the case imo as long as all the parts are legit and function properly.

 

[beernutz]

I'll look at mine when I get home after work
I have a qb288 hlg...it done fantastic first run

 

[1212ham]

Are Your LED High Bay Light Equipped with Fake Meanwell Driver?

Tips for identifying real MEAN WELL drivers from fake one

www.logosled.com

How to Identify your Mean Well Power Supply

As an official Taiwan Mean Well Power Supply distributor since 2007 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, Kulon Electronics (www.kulon.com) has dedicated itself to provide a better power supply solution fo…

kulonlight.wordpress.com

 

[PJ Diaz]

Are the diodes legit? I would say it doesn’t matter much if that’s the case imo as long as all the parts are legit and function properly.

No idea. I would say it matters, since there is no warranty to back this fake shit. Also they are basically stealing from HLG.

 

[PJ Diaz]

I mailed it back this afternoon. $35 shipping plus $3.50 insurance. Amazon is going to refund me that cost, and then the seller will also refund me the full purchase price when it arrives in a couple of days. I also got them to kick in one month of free Prime.

I did report the seller, but I'm not convinced that Amazon will do much if anything about them.

It seems like Amazon puts the burden of intellectual property infringement on the rights owner, so to really curb this issue it seems that HLG would have to step up directly

 

[PJ Diaz]

Are Your LED High Bay Light Equipped with Fake Meanwell Driver?

Tips for identifying real MEAN WELL drivers from fake one

www.logosled.com

How to Identify your Mean Well Power Supply

As an official Taiwan Mean Well Power Supply distributor since 2007 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, Kulon Electronics (www.kulon.com) has dedicated itself to provide a better power supply solution fo…

kulonlight.wordpress.com

I did check the s/n on the Mean Well site, and it seemed to check out, but then again how hard is it to print out a bunch of fake s/n stickers as long as you have one good one?

 

[tslonige]

Yes, it "appears" to be genuine, complete with a sticker for s/n, but is it really genuine? A quick google search says that there is a big problem with fake MW drivers out in the world. I thought about taking the driver apart to check the circuit board, but seems like too much work.



Yeah, that's what I thought too after googling several images.



Amazon says they will credit me for the shipping once I show them a receipt. Not sure if they will make the seller pay for it, or just eat it themselves.

What really gets me is this seller says he sells :30 of these a month" and will likely get away with it. Funny thing is he's having me return it to what appears to be him home address. I had half a mind to call the local authorities in his area to have them look in, but then I didn't really wanna necessarily be a snitch either. Also thought about sending it back with rocks instead of product, but them I'm just as bad as the seller.

Well I give them a scathing review, that will negatively impact their business. I had a problem with an exhaust fan and by the time I got done with their review they refunded me and told me to keep the fan.

 

[PJ Diaz]

Since I returned the fake light (in the mail), I went ahead and scored a deal on a V1 kit direct from HLG. Can't beat this deal with a stick!

 

[spek9]

Well I give them a scathing review, that will negatively impact their business. I had a problem with an exhaust fan and by the time I got done with their review they refunded me and told me to keep the fan.

I don't trust online reviews at all on sales-type sites, especially positive ones. That said, I do seek and root out all negative reviews to try to put together a pattern of bad behaviour.

If I'm buying something that I have serious questions about, I'll ask people in the respective field, for example, ask on this site when buying grow equipment.

This added feedback from people who actually may be able to identify clones or outright fakes really helps make informed decisions.