I got a 4GB 4GO R14 player from Ugoole on Ebay.. it took 4 weeks to arrive and within 2 hours it became obvious that it was faulty.. it loaded up to 1 Gb then I got format errors... A google found this site,, and 10 minutes later I knew what the problem was.. Following the simple steps mentioned here I now have a 1GB player... and I love it!
Yesterday I wrote to Ugoole, stating the problem, asked them for either a 75% rebate (4Gb-3GB=1GB or 75% less than offered), or an assurance that they had no knowledge of the 'problem' and were withdrawing all 'fake' 4GB players as a matter of urgency.. I gave them 3 days to answer before I started the 'official' procedures and left them negative (but honest) feedback. Today they got back to me... told me to format the player and if it was still 'faulty' I was to send it back, NOT using UPS or any fast track parcel carrier.. Paying my own postage.. they would investigate the problem upon receipt and return it to me, or replace it but I would have to pay postage and any other costs if the player was not faulty.. They stated quite clearly that this process would take a LONG time, and cost me a great deal of money.. (about $15HK each time or at least $45HK total).. and IF I wanted to just keep the player they would refund me £5GBP... Basically, they have us over a barrel, and we cannot really do much to hurt them,, so I shall probably accept the refund and then fight like hell to both warn others of the Con, and push Ebay to remove these items!.. Legally we are powerless against a Chinese company,, Ugoole has sold over 4000 units this month alone,, and a majority of these will be fraudulant units... So our only recourse is to educate and warn others whilst trying to get Ebay to see that they should be helping the customers, not grabbing money off the suppliers all the time... eventually their behaviour WILL bite them on the Backside.. and I hope that I can have a hand in doing so!

daveislander, you may be better off dealing with Ebay and paypal instead of the supplier. If you accept the sellers £5.00 they will consider the matter closed and ignore you.

I agree that I would be better fighting through Paypal & Ebay,, but have to wonder what the chances of a better refund will be... The supplier is happy to check my player, happy to repair or replace it and asks that I pay the costs... in other words to someone who doesn't want to lose a nice fat cheque each month (EBay & Paypal) I suspect that they will be seen as doing all they can to rectify the siuation. In some ways it would have served my purpose if Ugoole simply ignored me.. but they seem to be getting smarter and are wording their replies to make it 'seem' as if they are really bothered about my complaint. I suspect I will be told to return it and await the outcome, which leaves me £30 out of pocket initially and without my beloved player for weeks... I MAY decide to go through the channels,, but need to think it through some more and see what has been done for others in the same boat. I also have to wonder how come more folk haven't complained about this scam? Ugoole have sold thousands this month, but only have a handful of complaints.. do folk just throw these things away when they stop working (as most of them will)?

Dave

Hi ,
I just bought one of those "faked" memory player (firmware 9.0.48 ) ... The technic to do that is very good now... listen:
Under Linux, fdisk say me this is a 4GB device... then formated it with:
% mke2fs -c -c
(verify read/write) say me that all is OK .. the 4GB of memory has been formatted (and verify!) with success !!! Of course when I mount it the filesystem is well 4G...
Under Window:
Window XP see 4GB , and format it as a 4GB FAT32 filesystem
With HP format no problem to format the 4GB ... even if 4GB is not possible in FAT16 !!!!!
But all files after 1GB are corrupted ...
Chinese people make great job
PS: The seller return me 10£GP ...

javad wrote (View Post): › is there any way to reformat hacked playet to actual capacity only. so that we do not waste time loading data on un usable space and than getting error message. also one more problem is my player has voice recorder also, and it also goes on recording as it assumes lot many space available and finally recording what i get after some time is corrupted!!!

Yes you can... thank to Linux!!!
with fdisk create a partition which has the real size.... then format it in FAT16 (mkdosfs -F16 ) , then you MP4 player with see the real size and Windows will stop to fill it when the real size is reached...
PS: This can depend of technic used to faked the memory...

Something that i cant understand..

If the seller´s are selling fake item´s and fake information (in my case, it said the item was form UK, but it was from Hong Kong, had to pay +50% of customs charges), many people had open an dispute, make a lot of complaints to ebay......but why they´re still selling this fake MP4?

If he commited a FRAUD, this a CRIME, so he should be PUNISHED by the LAW!!! not like virtual emails from ebay/paypal, but realistic punishment by the law..i spoke to my Professor of Law, and he said this has to go more further than a simple compaints trought ebay... people should go to Police or even to the Hong Kong Embassy to report this situation.

Fablept.. I agree with all of your 'should' comments,, but unfortunately I fear that you will find that Ebay and Paypal will not lift a finger to help customers.. Make no mistake,, they have received a great many complaints about this scam but as they make a huge amount of money from chinese companies, and once the market place is opened up they stand to make even more money.. why should they bother about a few upset customers when their bank accounts are soon to be overflowing with Yen?.. Ebay also state that they are not responcible for the goods offered on their webspace.. it is the job of the sellers to advertise correctly.
The Police will not act upon a chinese company that 'states' they are in England when in fact they are in China.. the offence was commited on Chinese soil and they don't usually bother about their own countrymen robbing the likes of you and me.
The Chinese Embassy are almost impossible to tie down with any kind of promise of action,,, I have emailed them twice and not received any response. We can try to shout and moan about these things, and try to warn off others from buying,, but if we became too succesful I suspect that Ebay would suddenly start to block our messages in some way.
It is a fact that we are fighting a new phenomenon with chinese companies ripping us off, but you must also remember that we are fighting EBay and Paypal and a whole raft of folk who are only interested in getting more of our money,, and if they get it on the back of a scam, then so be it! The ONLY real hope for us is if we can get some of our fellow countrymen to sell these items.. at least then we can report them to Police etc.

Bought two of these things from platinumteam01 on eBay.
Pieces of junk the pair of them.

This seller has had his account suspended. He states item location is London when it is Hong Kong and sells the 2gb hacked model.
Paypal is currently dealing with this problem, but for UK buyers, if you paid by Paypal or with a credit card, get in touch with your credit card company and get them on the case.
My cc company advised that as they have his bank details they can take the money back as he is guilty of false advertising and selling goods not fit for purpose. They claim to recover in 9 out of 10 cases. They can also claim the postage costs back

First time to ever mess with these things. I bought an 4gb player and turns out to be only a 1gb player. AMVs were not working on it so I read manual wich was written very badly. It said player may not fuction properly if firmware is not updated. I updated it with firmware that came on cd now it doesn't work. I filed a complaint with ebay and a dispute with paypal. hopefully I get my money back or a new player. For the price I paid even if it was a 1gb player I still would of been happy. Why did they have to scam us. This will hurt them in the long run.

Hi I joined just to let you know that I have a Real 4GB MP4 1.5" nano size player. It has 2 flash chips on it and each flash chip holds 2GB with a total of 4GB. I have done all the test and confirmed that it works. I even opened it up just to make sure there where actuary 2 flash chips. I just thought I would let every one know. By the way I bought this directly from a factory in china.

ouramos, Perhaps you could upload some images for us and some info on the suplier.

removed due to me not looking at the right page... DOH! old age is a terrible thing!

"I have done all the test and confirmed that it works. I even opened it up just to make sure there where actuary 2 flash chips."

"actuary" I think you are full of it.

Ok I have a happy story for you folks and one that you may be able to learn from.

I bought a 4GB MP4 Player and had the same deal happen to me, filled it up, disk corrupted, did the format and it wound up being 2GBs.

I emailed the seller the following -

Hi

I bought this 4GB MP4 player from you and it has turned out to be a 2GB player hacked to appear to hold 4GBs. This is fraud. I have since found out that there is no such thing as a 4GB unbranded MP4 player and that they are all hacked. Please refund my money immediately or I will have no choice than to do the following -
-Report this to EBay
-Start a claim with Paypal
-Leave negative feedback including link to website with information about this scam (I bought 2 players, this means I can leave two lots of negative comments)
-Warn future bidders bidding on your items being fraudulent
-Email other people you have ripped off

I sent this email about 4 times during the day.

Until they replied with -

hello,
I'm sorry to make you so trouble.
You can return item to us .
and we will refund you the full paypal payment or send another 4gb player to u.
any problem,contect us.
THX
greedings,


This made my blood boil.

I replied

I am not wasting more money returning it. It is not faulty, it is fraudulently hacked.

I demand a FULL refund immediately. You have 2 hrs or your 100% rating is going down, I will leave feedback warning people about you and I am contacting Ebay, Paypal, your other ripped off customers and the Federal Police.

It is your choice.

I sent this same email every 30 mins, changing the time left every 30 mins. I figure my only chance to get my money back is to be annoying and demanding.

At the 30 mins left mark I sent this

You have 30 mins left to refund my 30.99GBP.

This is the feedback I will leave if you dont.

Feedback 1 - HACKED FAKE PLAYERS - READ MORE http://xbox0.co.uk/

Feedback 2 - Lies about storage size, will blame technical faults. DONT BUY.

I have a list of all your past 4gb buyers, I will msg them also and any current bidders.

I am about to process a claim with Paypal and contact Ebay.

I don't have time for people ripping me off.

Then I am emailing and phoning the Chinese Embassy here - E-mail: chinaemb_au@mfa.gov.cn

and reporting you to the ACCC - http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/393952

Then when the deadline was reached I sent this


Time's up.

It would have been much smarter to refund me.

I will do everything in my power to shut you down.

I then went and left 2 lots of negative feedback (I bought a 2GB player at same time, it was fine).

Feedback 1 - ALL HACKED. Lies about storage size, will blame technical faults. DONT BUY! LIAR

Feedback 2 - HACKED FAKE PLAYERS - FIRMWARE HACKED TO SHOW 4GB. READ MORE xbox0.co.uk

I then opened a Paypal dispute and immediately escalated it to a Claim. This got there attention.

They emailed me again

Dear friend
I can understand your feeling.
Would you pls kindly have your patience to wait for a little longer?
This is my faulty,I shall partial refund to you as promised soon.
Would you pls kindly do not leave the negative feedback to me ?It wil be harm for my ebay account.

You said the item was 2GB player,normally we sale a 2GB player for 25GBP.
Since this is my faulty,I shall refund 12GBP to you for my sincere apologies.
Do you think is it OK for you?
Wating for your early response.

I replied -

No, that is not ok. You are further trying to rip me off.

I have left you negative feedback and I am contacting Ebay. Paypal will sort you out.

Then they tried the poor peasant girl line on me

Dear friend
Hope you can understand my situation.
The item you received haven't broken,only for my carelessness to shipped the wrong item.

I'm only a staff deal with the after-service in this company,I have no right to make the decision to full refund to you.
If you real need full refund,I only can credit the extra 18GBP from my little salary.I'm only a new graduated girl ,I need to live from han to mouth by meself,If you leave the negative for me ,my manager will be balme me and must be fire ne.Hope you can understand my situation.

Refund 20GBP to you is it OK?The extra 8GBP is credit by my salary.
Hope you can close the dispute in Paypal?

and then this

My friend
Kindly give me a hand,please?
20GBP, I have try my best.

And if you cannot accept this,would you pls kindly shipe the item back to me ,after I received the item I shall full refund to you.
Is it OK for you?
Sincerely

I replied

No I won't ship it back.

Refund me the 20GBP right now and I will go away. I have had enough of this.

I figured 20 back was something, so took it.

Them.

Dear friend
I have refund 20GBP to you already.
This is the transaction ID : -------------------
Kindly check it please.
And would you pls keep your promise to close the dipute at the moment?
Thank you in advance for your kindness.
Sincerely

I then replied.

Done.

You are not my f**king friend.

I will do the rest, me in bold, them not.

Dear friend
I also have try my best.
You can not make me as friend.
However,every customer is my friend and God.
Sincerely

At this point I thought it was over, they hadn't realised I left the filthy feedback.

then I get this

Dear friend
I have refund to you already.
And the misapprehend also clear up.Why did you left the negative feedback for me ?

Would you pls kindly withdraw the negative feedback please?
You're real broken my heart.I have try my best to service you.And I think you must be a honest and kindness person.
However...Would you pls let me know what you need me do next?
I always try my best to make my customer satisfied.Also hope you can udnersatnd my situation.I have not only credited my money and also might be fired since your little action.

Wating for your early reply.
Sincerely

I made the negative feedback BEFORE you refunded me. May it serve as a warning for others you try to rob.

10GBP in my paypal, The remainder of the amount you ripped me off and I will remove the feedback. Nothing less.

Dear friend
Would you pls kindly withdraw it???
I have clarified that this is only made by my carelessness.There will be no the second time happened on my other customers.
Thank you for your warning.
However,if your negative feedback is there ,it will be harm for my ebay account.Maybe I cannot do business again.
As a business man,Honest is the important thing.
Why didn't you give me a little trust?
Kindly give me a hand ,okay?

Would you pls kindly remove the negative first?Then I shall refund 10GBP to you.
You see,the right is on your hand.I have no choice but agree with you.
Sincerely

Refund me first and I will remove it. You have scammed me once, not a second time.

You can drop the carelessness story. ALL 4gb unbranded mp4 players are fake. You are ripping people off, refund me, my feedback vanishes and so do I.

"business man"?

You were a poor girl a minute ago.


Dear friend
If I refund you the 10GBP,you really will remive the two negative feedback?
You can keep your promise?

I actually a poor girl.I'm only a satff in this company.We deal with the account for many satff.
Sincerely

Yep, I am not the liar.

Dear friend
I have refund 10GBP to you already.
This is the transaction ID: ------------------
Pls check it.

Now I'm real a poor girl.This month I only can eat conjee.
Hope you can keep your promise to withdraw both of the negative at the moment.
Sincerely

At this point I was refunded 30 GBP. 0.99 less than I spent, not bad I think.

Then I decided to really push them.

Thank you. One more thing and I will keep my word, please leave me positive feedback since I have done nothing wrong in this transaction

After you withdraw the negative,I shall leave positive feedback to you.
Kindly keep your promise at the moment.
Please!Please!

This went back and forwards for about 12 emails.

In the end I caved and withdrew the negs, I had gotten my money back, no point continuing. Things is they got their rating back, BUT the negative comments have stayed. lol

They actually kept their word and left me 2 positive feedbacks...

Then they sent this

Dear friend
Thank you for your kindness.
I have left two positive to you already.

Now,I have a requst,If convenience would you pls kindly ship the faulty item back to me ?
I shall pay the shipping cost after you shipped.
Because I need take the faulty item to the manufacturer to check where the problem is ,Then we can improve the quality of the item.

Kindly let me know your minds.
Sincerely

I will tell you where the problem is. They are 2GB chips/disk. They are badged as 4GB and the firmware is hacked to show it as 4gb under windows. Read this site - http://xbox0.co.uk it says it all. It is a scam, but I think you already know that.

I am looking at around $42 Australian to send it back. I am not going to do that unless you give me the money upfront.

I am done dealing with you.

Thank you for you told me this.
It no need to return it to me now.
Hope you can have a nice day!
Sincerely

So folks the moral is, go hard, you have nothing to lose and a few tools to seriously damage their scam. You have already been ripped off, so why not try get something back.

I wonder if they realise I messaged a load of their recent customers telling them they have been ripped yet?

Good sites I have found during this experience -

This one.

http://xbox0.co.uk - stick this in the bastards feedback!

and

this one on Ebay itself lol

http://reviews.ebay.com/THE-OFFICIAL-4GB-MP4-PLAYER-SCANDAL-ON-eBAY_W0QQugidZ10000000002547758