There is nothing worse than being ripped off. Whether it is someone lifting a story from BangShift for their own crummy website or a person making a shady deal, the feeling is the same. In the aftermarket, the way the true rip off artist works is by manufacturing cheap, knock-off parts and then selling something that may look decent at 50 feet but is total crap once you get it in your hands. This is a huge issue and while there are always squabbles between companies about parts that look eerily similar domestically, Chinese knock-off parts are a massive problem and a huge threat to the companies that have spent the time, the money, and the manpower to make good stuff. Yesterday at the SEMA show, eight booths were shut down because the government is alleging that the companies are, in fact, selling knock off versions of existing parts.
Believe it or not, this is far from the first time that a booth has been shut down and people ejected from the show. As best we can tell it is the first time that the Federal Marshals have been actively involved in stopping the activity, gathering evidence, and “assisting” the offending parties from the show.
So what were they selling? Jeep parts. Grills, light mounts, and hood latches to be specific. The maker of the parts that were being ripped off is OMIX-ADA. They are a big outfit and have a wide range of stuff to sell. We suspect that when OMIX-ADA went to court to get the order to shut these idiots down, they had to be specific on the things that investigators were to look for. What we mean is that these guys are probably ripping them off in more ways than just the obvious parts we’re talking about here.
So who were the offending companies?
Changzhou Jiulong Auto Lamps Factory, Guangzhou Vcan Electronic Technology Co., Maxgrand Ltd., Sanmak Lighting Co., Shenzen Unisun Technology Co., and Unity 4wd Accessories Co.
The feds came in, shut down their booths, made them take all of their stuff down and likely helped them out of the building as well. November 10th is the preliminary hearing for the court case against these alleged slugs.
Yes, eight booths is not much in the grand scheme of things but the reality is that doing something is always better than doing nothing at all, right? Hopefully this is not the first time and doubly hopefully, this is a trend that will continue and chase some of these weasels away. No one likes a thief, no one likes getting screwed, and we’re happy to hear that people are standing up for themselves in this field of play.
Awesome. Totally not into government intervention, but freaking awesome. Chinese EGAY parts are the bane of my and my brick and mortar shops existence.
Wow. Copying a patent or a trademark is bad enough. Using another company’s trademark at a trade show that people from that other company will be attending is a pretty massive display of chutzpah.
A certain mopar restoration business was busted by the feds at Carlisle something like a decade ago. They have since cleaned up, and reopened.
When we buy things that are obviously too cheap to have been the genuine brand then we are only creating a market for ripoff products. If we keep buying knock off products in any market, auto parts, socks, or light bulbs we have no one to blame but ourselves.
but if they sponsored the site it be ok, right..
The government didn’t shut them down. Omix went to Court and asked the judge to seize the equipment. The Judge ordered a bond (in case Omix is wrong), then ordered the US Marshall to seize the booth until a hearing could be held. If Omix is wrong, it will cost them a fortune above what they already spent. And there’s the biggest problem and the rub – they knock you off, but then you can’t prove up at the patent case; you may have just done a company-bankrupting case. On top of that, if the Chinese company loses, they only lose the equipment from the show and anything they can seize at a US port…. which is usually not a lot.
steel certification worth nothing , rebar snapping like carrots , counterfeit anti friction bearings , how do we deal with dishonesty ? .