Tweet
Recognizing a FAKE Aimpoint 3X Magnifier
Recognizing a FAKE Aimpoint 3X Magnifier.
Here is my story. While I got "Took" from a major supplier, they are NOT a Industry Partner at ARFCOm that I could tell.
I recently went to a large Gun Show at a Casino. I visited a MAJOR supplier of tactical gear, AR parts, Optics etc booth. I have been dealing with this company for about 10 years purchasing tactical products, AR parts, and Optics all purchased from their website and at gunshows. This has been a bad experience since I believe I got "TOOK" by a once reputable company that went to the "dark Side" to make a buck at their consumer's expense.
It was just about closing for the day of the Show and I was accompanied by one of my buddies and fellow gunsmith's who is also a retired officer with whom I worked with for 15 years.
I shopped this companies booth and purchased numerous, numerous parts, AR trigger group parts, magazines, MagPul Mag Plates, Tac Light, Tac AR case +++.
I spotted an AIMPOINT 3X Magnifyer behind the glass next to many other AIMPOINT Optic's (At least 10 optics were displayed). I had just purchased a AIMPOINT 3X from the EE board but had not yet received it. I wanted another 3X for another weapon. I asked to see the clearly marked "AIMPOINT" 3X mag from a salesman standing next to the owner. I checked it out, and purchased that also. I looked through it around the showroom, but I had looked through so many in the past I was not looking for anything other than the glass was not damaged. The price verbally was $500 which, "...included the twistmount".
Everything was packaged into several bags and I walked away as security was escorting show goer's out of the doors since it was closed for the day. I was excited because I had just spent $900 + for many toys just at that booth, and I had picked up many other hard-to-find items since the show was out of Kalifornia. I paid with cash. I bought so much that the owner and salesman threw in some free batteries for the Tac Light.
When I got home I discovered there was not a receipt in the bags, and the AIMPOINT MAG was in a plain cardboard box with no "Aimpoint" writing like all of my other (4) Aimpoint products.
I checked out the MAG and immediately became suspicious. I e-mailed the company requesting a receipt for my purchase of the MAG until I could verify it was a fake.
I searched the companys web site and they did not offer ANY Fake 'AIMPOINT marked' products. They offered one "Aimpoint style" magnifyer but it looked like the Eotech Magnifier in the pic.
I received a Genuine AIMPOINT 3X MAG with Sampson Flip Mount from the EE and compared it to the suspect MAG I had just purchased.
In comparison, I found that the FAKE optics were not bad, but certainly not as clear as the Genuine AIMPOINT. The outer areas of the Optics were shadowed, and the low-light transmission was far below the genuine's crisp optics.
I visited several Airsoft and Paint Ball websites and found my exact FAKE Aimpoint for $99. I e-mailed a rather nasty e-mail to the company which charged me $500 for a FAKE AIMPOINT.
I got a phone call from the owner the next day. He claimed I was told by the salesman that the MAG was a fake made by "West Tech". I explained I DO NOT buy fake, inferior products, and I strongly disagree with any company selling fake label anything particulalry a once reputible company like theirs who is a supplier for the military and Law Enforcement (I purchased some A.R.M.S. products and a AIMPOINT 2C Red Dot for my son on his first tour of Iraq / Afghanistan from this company). My life depends on my products so I buy Quality EVERYTHING! He argued back and forth and claimed he did not witness the entire transaction. Since I did not have a receipt, I could not tell how much I had paid except that the salesman told me $500 for the FAKE POINT Mag.
I quickly realized I was at a HUGE disadvantage (Do to my own fault for not looking for a receipt at the time of purchase, particularly for warranty work in the future), and would be lucky to get any money back if I wasn't careful.
The owner said he could not possibly be selling a REAL AIMPOINT 3X MAG since "Aimpoint Inc. hasn’t shipped a 3x Magnifier to ANY suppliers since the fall of ‘07."
I argued over and over that the salesman did NOT tell me it was a 'fake', or that it was from “West Tech”, because if he did I would not have bought a F’ing thing from their booth if that is how they operated, displaying a FAKE Aimpoint next to real (?) Aimpoint optics. The conversation degraded and the owner said he would accept a return, even without a receipt, BUT for the price of $249 which is what I 'had to have paid for it'. He said he has a return policy and was allowing me to return the product if I was not satisfied with the product, NOT because it was a fake Aimpoint.
I have since sent it back and am awaiting a check for the return. I tried installing two ambidextrous, Select-fire selector switches in some AR’s and they both broke just from installing them. They were very cheap cast and could easily cost a customer their life if they depended on it in a life or death situation.
I have a suspicion that I will never see a refund check, or the 'FAKE POINT' again since they will not acknowledge in writing that I could return the product, and I never had a receipt. It is my opinion that they were intentionally ripping off gunshow customers and not giving them receipts.
I will wait for a refund, then I will contact AIMPOINT and ask if they are interested in an Authorized AIMPOINT dealer selling FAKE Aimpoints side-by-side with the genuine AIMPOINT optics.
Anyway – I have compiled pic’s of side-by-side Genuine Aimpoint 3X Magnifiers next to the Clone’s for easy identification.
1). Packaging ALL Genuine AIMPOINT products come in AIMPOINT Boxes listed in the first 2 photos. If it is a plain box, then it is BOGUS! FAKEPOINT is on the left.
Image of the contents of the plain box showing the twist mount sealed. I could not photo the twist mount since it was sealed in a separate wrapper that was semi-transparent. I did not want to break the seal since it may void returning it. Although the mount did appear to be well made.
2). The AIMPOINT name Font is a dead giveaway and is what I noticed after the packaging. The Chinese got this one wrong, since AIMPOINT obviously uses a proprietary font. You can see the fake on the left has a slightly italisized font. Every AIMPOINT product I own uses the exact same font.
SEE #3 because I was limited in pic's I could post
3). The two screw locations are different from genuine to fake. Once again the FAKE is on the left in the pic. The screw comparison to the genuine was similar, except that the Allen socket size is slightly smaller on the genuine, and larger on the FAKE. You can also see the screw locations. One screw is on the same side as the name font on both, but the second screw on the FAKE is 180 degrees opposite from the genuine MAG second screw.
4). The bottom of the FAKE was of poor quality Along with the rubber cut-away at the Cinese factory on the FAKE to allow the FAKE to twist into the mount. I believe the Genuine Aimpoint must have the rubber cut away by the customer. The bottom of my Genuine AIMPOINT was already mounted on an awesome Sampson flip mount so I didn’t want to take it off. However the FAKE had the rubber carelessly cut away leaving a long slice that shows it’s poor quality control. I could not compare the screw size for bottom mounting but I suspect they are courser threads than the Genuine AIMPOINT Mag. The FAKE is on the left showing the slice.
5). The front lense threads are also a obvious giveaway The FAKE has coarse threads in this pic. While the Genuine AIMPOINT had much finer threads at the exit glass in the next pic.
6). It did not have the genuine “AIMPOINT” style font.
7). Finally, the directions for use literature enclosed was very close to the Genuine AIMPOINT literature. However, upon closer inspection of the grayscale photo of the Mg body, it was obviously a photocopy on the same weight paper. I could tell it was a copy because the areas where there was fine shading in the Genuine literature, the shading was “grainy” in the FAKE literature.
I hope this helps. See here for tips on identifying FAKE AIMPOINT Red Dot Scopes, Courtesey from ARFCOM http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.htm...=367860&page=1
I'll keep you up-do-date on my return and what AIMPOINT has to say. If I do not get a return, I will burn this company here, so our members don't get burned from their dishonesty. I will risk getting my account locked to do it.
DUKE
Here is my story. While I got "Took" from a major supplier, they are NOT a Industry Partner at ARFCOm that I could tell.
I recently went to a large Gun Show at a Casino. I visited a MAJOR supplier of tactical gear, AR parts, Optics etc booth. I have been dealing with this company for about 10 years purchasing tactical products, AR parts, and Optics all purchased from their website and at gunshows. This has been a bad experience since I believe I got "TOOK" by a once reputable company that went to the "dark Side" to make a buck at their consumer's expense.
It was just about closing for the day of the Show and I was accompanied by one of my buddies and fellow gunsmith's who is also a retired officer with whom I worked with for 15 years.
I shopped this companies booth and purchased numerous, numerous parts, AR trigger group parts, magazines, MagPul Mag Plates, Tac Light, Tac AR case +++.
I spotted an AIMPOINT 3X Magnifyer behind the glass next to many other AIMPOINT Optic's (At least 10 optics were displayed). I had just purchased a AIMPOINT 3X from the EE board but had not yet received it. I wanted another 3X for another weapon. I asked to see the clearly marked "AIMPOINT" 3X mag from a salesman standing next to the owner. I checked it out, and purchased that also. I looked through it around the showroom, but I had looked through so many in the past I was not looking for anything other than the glass was not damaged. The price verbally was $500 which, "...included the twistmount".
Everything was packaged into several bags and I walked away as security was escorting show goer's out of the doors since it was closed for the day. I was excited because I had just spent $900 + for many toys just at that booth, and I had picked up many other hard-to-find items since the show was out of Kalifornia. I paid with cash. I bought so much that the owner and salesman threw in some free batteries for the Tac Light.
When I got home I discovered there was not a receipt in the bags, and the AIMPOINT MAG was in a plain cardboard box with no "Aimpoint" writing like all of my other (4) Aimpoint products.
I checked out the MAG and immediately became suspicious. I e-mailed the company requesting a receipt for my purchase of the MAG until I could verify it was a fake.
I searched the companys web site and they did not offer ANY Fake 'AIMPOINT marked' products. They offered one "Aimpoint style" magnifyer but it looked like the Eotech Magnifier in the pic.
I received a Genuine AIMPOINT 3X MAG with Sampson Flip Mount from the EE and compared it to the suspect MAG I had just purchased.
In comparison, I found that the FAKE optics were not bad, but certainly not as clear as the Genuine AIMPOINT. The outer areas of the Optics were shadowed, and the low-light transmission was far below the genuine's crisp optics.
I visited several Airsoft and Paint Ball websites and found my exact FAKE Aimpoint for $99. I e-mailed a rather nasty e-mail to the company which charged me $500 for a FAKE AIMPOINT.
I got a phone call from the owner the next day. He claimed I was told by the salesman that the MAG was a fake made by "West Tech". I explained I DO NOT buy fake, inferior products, and I strongly disagree with any company selling fake label anything particulalry a once reputible company like theirs who is a supplier for the military and Law Enforcement (I purchased some A.R.M.S. products and a AIMPOINT 2C Red Dot for my son on his first tour of Iraq / Afghanistan from this company). My life depends on my products so I buy Quality EVERYTHING! He argued back and forth and claimed he did not witness the entire transaction. Since I did not have a receipt, I could not tell how much I had paid except that the salesman told me $500 for the FAKE POINT Mag.
I quickly realized I was at a HUGE disadvantage (Do to my own fault for not looking for a receipt at the time of purchase, particularly for warranty work in the future), and would be lucky to get any money back if I wasn't careful.
The owner said he could not possibly be selling a REAL AIMPOINT 3X MAG since "Aimpoint Inc. hasn’t shipped a 3x Magnifier to ANY suppliers since the fall of ‘07."
I argued over and over that the salesman did NOT tell me it was a 'fake', or that it was from “West Tech”, because if he did I would not have bought a F’ing thing from their booth if that is how they operated, displaying a FAKE Aimpoint next to real (?) Aimpoint optics. The conversation degraded and the owner said he would accept a return, even without a receipt, BUT for the price of $249 which is what I 'had to have paid for it'. He said he has a return policy and was allowing me to return the product if I was not satisfied with the product, NOT because it was a fake Aimpoint.
I have since sent it back and am awaiting a check for the return. I tried installing two ambidextrous, Select-fire selector switches in some AR’s and they both broke just from installing them. They were very cheap cast and could easily cost a customer their life if they depended on it in a life or death situation.
I have a suspicion that I will never see a refund check, or the 'FAKE POINT' again since they will not acknowledge in writing that I could return the product, and I never had a receipt. It is my opinion that they were intentionally ripping off gunshow customers and not giving them receipts.
I will wait for a refund, then I will contact AIMPOINT and ask if they are interested in an Authorized AIMPOINT dealer selling FAKE Aimpoints side-by-side with the genuine AIMPOINT optics.
Anyway – I have compiled pic’s of side-by-side Genuine Aimpoint 3X Magnifiers next to the Clone’s for easy identification.
1). Packaging ALL Genuine AIMPOINT products come in AIMPOINT Boxes listed in the first 2 photos. If it is a plain box, then it is BOGUS! FAKEPOINT is on the left.
Image of the contents of the plain box showing the twist mount sealed. I could not photo the twist mount since it was sealed in a separate wrapper that was semi-transparent. I did not want to break the seal since it may void returning it. Although the mount did appear to be well made.
2). The AIMPOINT name Font is a dead giveaway and is what I noticed after the packaging. The Chinese got this one wrong, since AIMPOINT obviously uses a proprietary font. You can see the fake on the left has a slightly italisized font. Every AIMPOINT product I own uses the exact same font.
SEE #3 because I was limited in pic's I could post
3). The two screw locations are different from genuine to fake. Once again the FAKE is on the left in the pic. The screw comparison to the genuine was similar, except that the Allen socket size is slightly smaller on the genuine, and larger on the FAKE. You can also see the screw locations. One screw is on the same side as the name font on both, but the second screw on the FAKE is 180 degrees opposite from the genuine MAG second screw.
4). The bottom of the FAKE was of poor quality Along with the rubber cut-away at the Cinese factory on the FAKE to allow the FAKE to twist into the mount. I believe the Genuine Aimpoint must have the rubber cut away by the customer. The bottom of my Genuine AIMPOINT was already mounted on an awesome Sampson flip mount so I didn’t want to take it off. However the FAKE had the rubber carelessly cut away leaving a long slice that shows it’s poor quality control. I could not compare the screw size for bottom mounting but I suspect they are courser threads than the Genuine AIMPOINT Mag. The FAKE is on the left showing the slice.
5). The front lense threads are also a obvious giveaway The FAKE has coarse threads in this pic. While the Genuine AIMPOINT had much finer threads at the exit glass in the next pic.
6). It did not have the genuine “AIMPOINT” style font.
7). Finally, the directions for use literature enclosed was very close to the Genuine AIMPOINT literature. However, upon closer inspection of the grayscale photo of the Mg body, it was obviously a photocopy on the same weight paper. I could tell it was a copy because the areas where there was fine shading in the Genuine literature, the shading was “grainy” in the FAKE literature.
I hope this helps. See here for tips on identifying FAKE AIMPOINT Red Dot Scopes, Courtesey from ARFCOM http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.htm...=367860&page=1
I'll keep you up-do-date on my return and what AIMPOINT has to say. If I do not get a return, I will burn this company here, so our members don't get burned from their dishonesty. I will risk getting my account locked to do it.
DUKE
Comment