AZBOX WARNING: AzBox Premium HD Plus counterfeit units now being sold in the North American market!

[pwrsurge]

Please be advised that counterfeit AzBox Premium HD Plus units are now being manufactured by several companies in China. These companies include but are not limited to:

Shenzhen Manruta Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China
Shenzhen Hua Gang Electronics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China
Shenzhen Splendid Electronics And Plastics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China
Shenzhen Xingyu Broadband Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China
Shenzhen Clearskye Electronic Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Shenzhen Tenry Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Guangdong Tianji Digital Science Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Shenzhen Sat-Sources Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Shenzhen Jwell Electronic Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Greatdvb Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Shenzhen Geton Electronics Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China
Shenzhen Rus Media Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guandong, China

As genuine AzBox Premium HD Plus units were manufactured in Korea, all the above companies from China are producing AzBox clones. Shortly after these companies began producing counterfeit AzBox units, unauthorised AzBox retailers began to appear in the Canadian market.

Please note that we are currently analyzing these AzBox counterfeit products sold by unauthorised retailers in collaboration with OpenSat Lda. and all subsequent firmware releases will include code in order to permanently disable these devices.

In order to avoid purchasing one of these counterfeit units, we strongly recommend only purchasing AzBox products from authorised AzBox Canada dealers or from Rick's Satellite who is authorised for the U.S. market.


Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[turbosat]

Go git 'em pwrsurge! Sounds like everybody in china is ripping you off.

 

[pwrsurge]

As of January 1, 2013, the following 4 unauthorised Canadian retailers have been confirmed:

Worldwide Satellites http://www.worldwidesatellites.com
7222 Torbram Rd. Unit 16, Mississauga, ON

GO Satellite http://www.gosatellite.com
B3-1410 Parkway Blvd #16, Coquiltlam, BC

Incredible Entertainment http://www.incrediblefta.com
106 - 13569 76th Ave., Surrey, BC

"watching-tv and accessories" eBay store http://myworld.ebay.ca/tv-watcher
eBay ID: tv-watcher - Gloucester, ON

Please note that we are currently analyzing AzBox counterfeit products sold by unauthorised retailers in collaboration with OpenSat Lda. and all subsequent firmware releases will include code in order to permanently disable these devices. Also, our newest AzBox products such as the AzBox miniMe are manufactured with a proprietary security dongle installed inside the unit which makes it impossible to counterfeit.

AzBox Canada remains committed in protecting the AzBox brand in the Canadian market by taking several measures up to and including legal action in collaboration with OpenSat Lda. against unauthorised usage of its AzBox trademark and preventing the sale of counterfeit units in the Canadian marketplace.

If you accidentally purchased an AzBox product from an unauthorised retailer, please contact us and we will assist you in going after the unauthorised seller to try and get your money back!


Best Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[AcWxRadar]

Pwrsurge,

I want to take the time to personally thank you for being so proactive in this endeavor. I have not had an experience with a counterfeit box, but I did deal (long ago) with a rather unreliable seller who would not honor the warranty arrangement and policy as prescribed by Opensat. Through my registered complaint and multitudes of others, Opensat pulled that seller's authorization. Folks like yourself keep the business honest and the customers from getting raked. I am very glad that you are a member of our forum and keep us up to date on these BAD activities as well as all the GOOD things, too! Your time, honesty, devotion and dedication is most appreciated! That is where you build a base of loyalty among your customers, keep them and gain more!

Thank you!

Gordy (AKA RADAR)

 

[tanka]

I see azbox premium plus for sale at www.worldwidesatellites.com and looks same the one I have butt the difference I buy at Ricks satellites two years ago looks the same.Price $349.99 us

 

[pwrsurge]

I see azbox premium plus for sale at www.worldwidesatellites.com and looks same the one I have butt the difference I buy at Ricks satellites two years ago looks the same.

I hope you realize that it's not hard for them to copy pictures already taken from a genuine unit downloaded from the Internet instead of taking pictures of the units they are actually selling.


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

P. S. Did you notice that the rearview picture they have posted on their website has both DVB-S2 and DVB-T tuners installed? Hmmmm... how can it be then that they are selling the unit with only a single DVB-S2 tuner?!? As you know, DVB-T tuners are useless in the North American market which is why we don't even carry them as an option. I posted the picture they currently have on their site below as they will most likely change it as soon as they read this.

 

[PrinceLH]

I hope they hurry up and release some new code for the AZ Premium Plus. Disable the clones and get our current box working with YouTube. I'm looking forward to this.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Your list of clone manufacturers and of the resellers are a line-up of the usual offenders. Have observed these companies repeatedly associated with the distribution of clones over many years.

Great to see that you are taking action against these companies! Kudos!!! :up

 

[pwrsurge]

Please note that we have just added Research Electronics from Waterloo, ON to our list of unauthorised Canadian AzBox retailers so as of January 11, 2013, the following 5 unauthorised Canadian retailers have been confirmed:

Worldwide Satellites http://www.worldwidesatellites.com
7222 Torbram Rd. Unit 16, Mississauga, ON

GO Satellite http://www.gosatellite.com
B3-1410 Parkway Blvd #16, Coquiltlam, BC

Incredible Entertainment http://www.incrediblefta.com
106 - 13569 76th Ave., Surrey, BC

"watching-tv and accessories" eBay store http://myworld.ebay.ca/tv-watcher
eBay ID: tv-watcher - Gloucester, ON

Research Electronics http://www.researchelectronic.com
100 Frobisher Dr. Unit # 12, Waterloo, ON


Please note that any AzBox products purchased in Canada from unauthorised retailers will receive NO support or warranty.

If you accidentally purchased an AzBox product from an unauthorised retailer, please contact us and we will assist you in going after the unauthorised seller to try and get your money back!


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[pwrsurge]

I hope they hurry up and release some new code for the AZ Premium Plus. Disable the clones and get our current box working with YouTube. I'm looking forward to this.

From time to time, YouTube does change their website structure and/or API so adjustments are sometimes required for YouTube viewer applications. We actually were planning on releasing a firmware update back in October of last year in order to fix YouTube and a few other things. However during that same month, we found out that unauthorised dealers started selling Premium Plus clones so unfortunately, we had to put the firmware update on hold.

We are currently analyzing the clone units being sold and will resume releasing firmware updates once we are able to disable these clones with our future firmware updates.

In the meantime, please feel free to assist us in our fight against AzBox counterfeit units by:

- Reporting ebay user "tv-watcher" as a seller of counterfeit products. We have been in contact with ebay since late November about this seller but it is often difficult to get ebay take action unless they receive complaints from several different users. If you have an ebay account, please do the following:

1. Click on the following link: http://cgi1.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ctive=1&itemId=221139030617&seller=tv-watcher
If you prefer, you may also view the item first at http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Azbox-P...US_Satellite_TV_Receivers&hash=item337ce9d259 and selecting the "Report item" link before the detailed item description.

2. Login to your ebay account

3. Select "Copyright and trademark" as a Report Category

4. Select "Counterfeit item or authenticity disclaimer" as a Reason for Report

5. Select "Counterfeit, fake, or replica items" as a Detailed Reason. You will then see "The item in the listing appears to be a counterfeit, fake, or replica." appear to the right.

6. Click on the blue Continue button on the bottom of the screen

7. Type in a brief description such as: "Counterfeit item as seller is an unauthorised AzBox retailer as per http://unauthorised.azbox.ca"

8. Click on the blue Send report button and you are done!


- Warning people about unauthorised AzBox Canada retailers using blogs or social media such as Facebook and Twitter. To make it easier, we have created the following alias URL's:

* Unauthorised retailers: http://unauthorised.azbox.ca or if you prefer, http://unauthorized.azbox.ca

* Authorised AzBox Canada dealers: http://dealers.azbox.ca


We appreciate any support we receive in our fight against counterfeit AzBox units.



Best regards,

PwrSurge


EDIT: The "tv-watcher" user account has now been suspended and ALL his items got delisted! For those people who had a chance to report this item, THANK YOU!

 

[madmadworld]

have not bought a clone of any box and would not knowingly do so.
but if a person did why do the mfg always go after the end user ?
have they not already got the short end of the stick? and now they get a door stop. now they will hate you and never buy from you.
if a person knowingly buys a clone they will now not update it. just seems like hammering on the innocent.
and a bad look on the brand either way.
just bomb the factories ... talk to a General lol

 

[pwrsurge]

have not bought a clone of any box and would not knowingly do so.
but if a person did why do the mfg always go after the end user ?
have they not already got the short end of the stick? and now they get a door stop. now they will hate you and never buy from you.
if a person knowingly buys a clone they will now not update it. just seems like hammering on the innocent.
and a bad look on the brand either way.
just bomb the factories ... talk to a General lol

We are not going after the end users but rather the clone sellers. We are actually helping anyone who contacts us in regards to purchasing from an unauthorised AzBox seller by assisting them in getting their money back one way or the other once we confirm that they do in fact have a counterfeit AzBox device.

Eventually, the clone sellers will realize that the bad reputation, customer complaints and other issues associated with selling counterfeit devices far outweighs the "quick buck" they are getting and will stop selling them. For the few stubborn sellers who don't care and keep selling regardless, further action up to and including legal action will be taken. Ebay already suspended the user account which was selling these counterfeit devices so we are making progress in our fight against AzBox clones.



Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[madmadworld]

Please note that we are currently analyzing these AzBox counterfeit products sold by unauthorised retailers in collaboration with OpenSat Lda. and all subsequent firmware releases will include code in order to permanently disable these devices.


AzBox Canada

end user=above

is this not a customs issue as no AZ's are made in China ?

 

[pwrsurge]

is this not a customs issue as no AZ's are made in China ?

Unfortunately, it is not currently illegal under Canada's Customs Act to import counterfeit goods so border officials do not actively search for them unless a complaint was made. However for a niche product such as an counterfeit FTA receiver, these goods would most likely have been imported in a single large shipment so there is not much customs can do now that the clones have already been imported into Canada.


Regards,

PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[pwrsurge]

We decided not to release a public document outlining all the differences between the Premium HD Plus clone v.s. authentic units like OpenSat did in the past with the Premium HD (non-plus) clones because it would allow the company who imported these clones to get their Chinese factory to fix the identified differences and make it harder to identify these in the future. However, we do fully outline all these differences in a customized detailed analysis report for each person who was a victim in purchasing one of these counterfeit units once they contact us.

Regardless, we do understand that some people want to see evidence or are simply curious so we will post the most obvious difference between an AzBox Premium HD Plus authentic unit and a clone which is the layout of the ventilation holes on the top cover above the tuner cards.

Counterfeit unit ----------- Reference authentic unit

Counterfeit unit ------------ Reference authentic unit

As you can see with these images, the clone unit clearly has differences with the layout of ventilation holes on the top cover above the tuners. The reference authentic unit on the right only has two parallel columns of 16 holes each while the clone unit on the left has three parallel columns, the first one with 16 holes and the last two with only 6 holes each. The purpose for these ventilation holes are to ensure proper ventilation of the tuner cards which can run hot during normal operation which is why they are supposed to be directly above each tuner card slot. However, the clone unit ventilation holes are NOT directly above each tuner slot which means that it may have overheating issues during regular use.

If you purchased an AzBox Premium HD Plus since 2012 and it has a ventilation hole pattern as shown by the left hand images, please contact us ASAP as you are in possession of a counterfeit unit.


Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[worldwidesatellites]

WorldWideSatellites is finally responding to these false accusations. We want to clear the air, all our AZbox premium HD Plus are 100% original. A particular Retail Vendor is bashing Canadian dealers in order to gain more sales themselves. This is a dirty business strategy and currently were pursuing legal action against this individual. To read more details check out Rick Caylor Forum or worldwidesatellites blog


Regards,


WorldWideSatellites

 

[Keith Brannen]

WorldWideSatellites is finally responding to these false accusations. We want to clear the air, all our AZbox premium HD Plus are 100% original. A particular Retail Vendor is bashing Canadian dealers in order to gain more sales themselves. This is a dirty business strategy and currently were pursuing legal action against this individual. To read more details check out Rick Caylor Forum or worldwidesatellites blog

Interesting... azbox.ca is the official distributor in Canada, Rick Caylor is the official distributor in the United States. You, in Canada, got your units from the US distributor, not the Canadian distributor. Putting aside the cross-border territorial implications, it sounds more to me that there is a failure to communicate between the two official distributors as to who actually is getting official units, and who might be getting clones.

 

[worldwidesatellites]

Interesting... azbox.ca is the official distributor in Canada, Rick Caylor is the official distributor in the United States. You, in Canada, got your units from the US distributor, not the Canadian distributor. Putting aside the cross-border territorial implications, it sounds more to me that there is a failure to communicate between the two official distributors as to who actually is getting official units, and who might be getting clones.

when we contacted azbox.com early 2012 they referred us to Rick Caylor (their Distributor) and no mention of dr.sat or azbox.ca. we stated to azbox.com were located in Canada!

 

[pwrsurge]

when we contacted azbox.com early 2012 they referred us to Rick Caylor (their Distributor) and no mention of dr.sat or azbox.ca. we stated to azbox.com were located in Canada!

This is a lie as we at AzBox Canada have been working with OpenSat Lda. since 2010 as the sole official distributor of AzBox products in the Canadian market. Also, Rick's Satellite is the sole official distributor for the USA market only and NOT North America. As well, when we first noticed that you were selling AzBox products, we verified with the sales manager at OpenSat who assured us that they had never dealt with or even heard about Worldwide Satellites or GTA Electronics. Although AzBox.com is currently under construction as it is being redesigned, proof of this can still be viewed in archived copies of the AzBox.com website from archive.org which is a non-biased source archiving websites around the world.

archive.org AzBox.com snapshot from August 2011

archive.org AzBox.com snapshot from December 2011

archive.org AzBox.com snapshot from February 2012

archive.org AzBox.com snapshot from June 2012

archive.org AzBox.com snapshot from October 2012

In addition to being a distributor, AzBox Canada is also involved with software development in order to adapt these receivers to the unique requirements of the North American market. Our first involvement in AzBox software development with OpenSat started with the 0.9.5308 firmware version where we were responsible in creating a brand new default satellite list separated by C and Ku-band in order to accommodate the C & Ku dual band systems commonly used here in North America.

We then continued our involvement by creating our own special North American edition firmware such as the 0.9.54xx version series for Elite, Ultra, Premium and Premium Plus and AZtrino North American edition for the AzBox Me. In addition, we released our own version of the newest AzBox model, the AzBox miniMe American Edition which features exclusive firmware and features adapted to the North American market.


Best regards,

PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[catamount]