Genuine or not?

Fri 241008

Yup, a totally different issue today...Genuine or not?

As you already know, whenever we buy something for our PCs, we wonder if we are paying for something original & genuine...esp if we are paying the price asked for it. And, with the rampant counterfeiting of so many consummables in the market, there always is the likelihood ( probably a very high probability) of an immitation item being dumped on trusting & unsuspecting customers, right?

Now, how can we protect ourselves? Or at least know that we are getting genuine items?

Most reputable manufacturers have gone to a great extent to protect their valuable & highly respected brand names. Now do let me bring up an issue that is closest to me just yesterday...that of genuine ink cartridges for our printers.

My Canon Pixma iP3300 has been running low on its Black ink cart for the past week or so...with the colour carts being proportionately affected. Then the day before yesterday, the Black ink cart gave up on me! Phew! Time to get new replacement carts. This would be my second set of carts since I bought the printer.

Canon had implemented a specially-created hologram sticker as a means of identification of its genuine products. This hologram, when viewed with a special "Handy Viewer" that has 2 transparent windows, would give different results when viewed through each window ie through one you can see the whole hologram but when viewed through the 2nd one, the hologram would be completely dark/black!

The "Handy Viewer"...

Do have a look in here for the "Handy Viewer" checking procedures :

http://www.canon.com.my/canon_new/notices/genuine.php

Btw, I was lucky enough to be able to obtain one of those "Handy Viewers"...as such viewers were supposedly only issued to dealers to prove to customers that the carts that they were selling, were genuine items.

Now, the past replacement carts I'd bought fulfilled & passed that test with flying colours. However, this time around, I noticed that the hologram stickers found on this new set looked kinda different. On testing with the "Handy Viewer", the hologram now appeared to be made up of 3 bands...the uppermost & bottomost bands were dark when viewed throught the "dark" window but the middle part was clear with the "Canon" name clearly visible!

This is the hologram sticker on my new Black ink cart. You can clearly make out the 3 bands on the face of the hologram.

I checked the info on the official Malaysian Canon website & there was no change to its method of identifying its genuine ink carts. Neither was there any updates nor any variations of its identification strategy inserted.

Now...are the ink carts that I'd bought GENUINE? Or are they counterfeits?

I called Canon Malaysia HQ in Klang Valley & talked to their Cust Care personnel. I was referred to their website...actually even to the wrong page, displaying the wrong information and not the info that I had asked for...haha! When so informed, I was told that she would call me back after making enquiries from relevant more knowledgeable personnel eg marketing or technical dept ppl. Later in the day, I got 2 calls in sequence.

To cut a long story short, I was finally told that they could not confirm nor deny that the ink carts I'd bought were genuine or otherwise...unless they could view the items personally!! Reason? Canon consummables are manufactured in different countries & there might possibly be different variations of the hologram. Hey! They are in Shah Alam, Selangor...and I'm in Alor Star...way way up North!!!

Maybe if they gave me free return air tickets c/w hotel stay? Meals, too? And then maybe, just maybe...I would consider...consider the idea of bringing the ink carts to them to view personally?

Now, how many variations can there be? Are there so many variations that they could not determine if the hologram pasted on my ink carts is one of those variations? Why can't Canon Malaysia post those variations in their webpages for customers info. Frankly, me just cannot understand all the excuses put up...

Can you?

Customers/users should have a simple way of determining if the Canon product that they have purchased is genuine or not...without having to run to show the said item to their "qualified" personnel to get confirmation! What chaos would ensue if each time we buy a Canon product & we have to do so?
Btw, the nearest Canon branch office to me is in Penang...don't tell me I've to bring my carts all the way (200+km to & fro & pay toll & bridge charges, not forgetting petrol used, time spent, inconveniences, etc...) just to get confirmation if they are genuine? Calculating all those costs put together, it would be a better & more intelligent one to just add a little bit more TO BUY A NEW SET of those ink carts!!

What say you?

ps. I'm sending the part of the box of the Black ink cart ( I had to open that one & use it...) with the hologram to Canon HQ for their "investigations" & hopefully some positive reaction soon...