eBay seller: safe2star - sells hacked players
 

well guys i was mad with this one. paid for a 16gb mp3 mp4 player. says it can hold 1000 songs etc etc. well i ran the reformatting tool and found its less the 4gb memory in it. also ran a few programs to see what it had. i bought 2 others before and was un aware of it. i gave them out for x-mas presents. so now i have to round them up. the seller says he will give me a refund if i ship it back to hong kong, but no thanks i no where that is going.

here is the sellers account: safe2star

NEW 16GB SLIM MP3 MP4 VIDEO RADIO PLAYER FREE SHIP EB16

BEWARE OF THIS GUY! if u notice ppl leave feedback when they get it not if it works ok 2 weeks down the road.

Sorry to hear that you have a hacked player.

My best suggestion is to ask for a PARTIAL REFUND. That way, you keep the player but at a much cheaper price. Otherwise you will waste money on shipping etc.... The player should still work fine, just not the 16GB storage as advertised.

Hope you leave him negative feedback (after you get the partial refund though ;))

Re: eBay seller: safe2star - sells hacked players
 

Oh no :shock:
I have ordered two 16Gb MP3 players from that seller for about a month ago, but have not recieved them yet.
Probalby they will also be hacked :(

By the way how long took the shipping for you ??

Re: eBay seller: safe2star - sells hacked players
 

took about 35 days to get it. once you get it use "MP3 Player Utlities 4.00" and reformat it. the seller since told me about his 16gb to 4gb and sent me a refund extremely fast. he asked not to leave negative feedback because he has had many complain about it. what a fraud artist huh? so i would try talking to him for a refund.

Re: eBay seller: safe2star - sells hacked players
 

Ok, today I recieved the players, both where 4Gb not 16Gb :(

Did you get any refund or what did you do about this ?

Re: eBay seller: safe2star - sells hacked players
 

Wow what a rip off :shock: !!!
I never buy from outside because I never get refunds

But can't you report him? (I never use ebay so I don't know :( )

Next time buy directly :wink:

mac_gyver,

If you paid via PayPal, I would recommend you file a DISPUTE for the purchase. Say it's a hacked player and isn't what is advertised. A lot of users have been able to get a partial refund for it which is the better solution than to return the player.

Hope that helps.
Good luck.
After you get the refund, leave negative feedback!

Ok thanks

I have done the dispute now, let's see what happens.

still at it
 

Well I ordered one of these (16gb slim) before finding this site, Safe2star is still listing these.
From what I read on other postings I should be thankful that it had as much as 25% of the advertised memory. Audio quality is nothing to get excited about but it works (I'm not guessing for how long).
I paid 14 quid for it, they offered 35% back so, if the refund comes through, just under ten (16 bucks I suppose).
The emails contain "shock and surprise" that the factory could do this and states that they are tested...
I've suggested a couple of utilities he could spot check them with, yeah, I know.
I will let you know if I see the refund.

All told I'd be much happier if the 32gb 2.8" touch-screen player i bought at the same time (elsewhere) had had as much as 4gb actually fitted, it is a better device in all other respects. That "player" is no longer reg'd with ebay so I'm trying the paypal claim route with that one. Given the way that I have seen ebaypal dodge their responsibilities I am not holding my breath.

Best of luck everybody.

Hi I am new here so forgive me if I have missed the point here.

I recently bought 2 x 16Gb players from this seller (ipod classic lookalikes but smaller) and found they contain what is listed as "ACTIONS HS USB Flash Drive" which both DOS and Windows reports as 15.9Gb

I downloaded the "MP3 Player Tools" as suggested above but found no Format option, although the AMV convertor looks useful.

I used Windows Vista to format one (quick format option to FAT32 default unit size etc) and it took a few seconds and the other I did on Win 7 with similar results. They still show 16Gb (15.9Gb formated) and in fact have hologram labels on the reverse stating 16Gb.

I would imagine the ones mentioned above were different models or he has cleared the defective stock now.

Now, what I wanted to ask was how to organise several thousand mp3s onto these beasts so that they can be "seen" in the display and navigated because it seems to use a very wacky version of file system!

Any pointers would be appreciated!

ian

I'd probably start by loading some big video files on them and see if they play or not? and if u start getting file format errors and such the memory might not be 16 gigs. Mine would play a small video clip but not a whole movie of the same file and format so that was my first clue..!! Hope u got a couple of good ones though..

Well out of 4 ordered ( I really am stupid) the score is

2 look like they may be fake chip/hack etc got some interesting info by using some other utils will post a link when I figure how to

1 looks dead on arrival, plug in blank screen and windows says "unrecognised USB device"

1 touch screen one not arrived yet.

2 different sellers on ebay

I have filed a claim for the 2 x 16Gb ones so far not performing

ian

My seller was

supernova9106

ian

fao Ians1 re mp3 utilities
 

Dear Ian
My version of the utilities download contained rdiskutility.exe (within a subdir).
So far the most satisfactory method of resetting the reported capacity I have found is the chkflsh method described in recent postings by frozensoda on other threads. This has worked well on some hacked players but you need to know what actual value you are going to go for and it seems to need the device to be in a state where it only reports one drive letter (in one instance running a partition manager allowed me to delete the "second" drive, for another unit it just refuses). The next method I would try is rdisk.

Got a refund of US$20.50 today for one of these

so basically I got a 2GB mp3 player totally free!

just the other one to come but I suppose that will be fake also

paid $33.10 for that one, lets see what he does if I claim that one :cool:

I paid $48 for the other 2 that were from this seller

supernova9106

claim is still in progress

Nice 1 ians, i was gonna buy one of those myself. think they r even trying 2 pass em off as 32 gigs now! What a joke...

Says he gonna refund the whole lot for the touch screen and the other ones half refund

If all the money ends up in paypal safely I will let you know

What a run around for something I trusted was genuine!

ian :cool:

Hey Ian which method did you use 2 reformat your player? do you think it will work with mine? I'll try and attach a pic here....

I used the chkflsh method

http://mympx.org/forum/support-how/4...d-revised.html

but found that I needed to have just one drive showing in windows

it is worth a try, it will not wipe your firmware

if you do not look inside and check the chip you will need to run the H2TESTW.EXE first!

ian

Thanks, my Girlfriend is bringing it down later on and we have already ran the test on it. Damn thing is only about 1.8 gigs. I will use your method and keep an eye on the revisions u made. LoL I also have 3 more on the way and a couple of them r supposed to be 32 gigs. It should be interesting to see the H2TESTW.EXE test results.

Could be the 32GB ones might be 4GB but they might not.

This seems like a deliberate hack at the manufacturing stage as I don't believe even updating the firmware changes anything.

It must be blown into the PROM that is part of the Flash Memory controller chip from what I have read.

When you use the chkflsh util see that value you get if you try to set a small (7MB) partition, I was getting some simply huge figure (obviously as a result of the hacked chip) and thats how I came to discover it was only necessary to make one FAT32 partition.

Just check in Windows My Computer right click the Removable Drive and see what it says as Properties, should be the size you set in chkflsh, eg 1.8GB or 3.8GB or whatever. Seems it will work OK so long as the figure does not exceed the actual available physical memory.

Whoever did this was damn clever, I just wish they would use their brains for good instead of sheer greed which is what drives this.

Of course people will see what they think is a bargain and lap it up, who would not? Its just a pity ebay choose to turn a blind eye.
I wonder what the response from the Hong Kong Trade and Industry Ministry will be after I wrote them pointing out HK traders selling fake goods on ebay? Will they too turn blind eyes?

I wonder.

ian :cool:

I will say this, safe2star IS trying to do the right thing, ie a full refund and no quibble, no return necessary. He's refunded one item already just waiting for the other one.

I will let you know if this works out.

At least I will have saved some face!

Whoever would have thought that items boasting household electronics names like Samsung could possibly have anything fake or illegal about them?

Thats what tripped me up, thinking how could they rig a commercially manufactured part?

Ian

safe2star refunded the $33 paid for the Rockchip touch screen player which is actually quite nice, but a whole lot nicer now as it was totally FREE and its got a proper 1.8GB now instead of the hacked 16GB claimed!

Not sure what to do about his feedback for that item

I will decide later

ian

Took a look at his pages and feedback and he is still ripping folk off

Neg feedback left and also a note that he will refund if asked!

ian

See item 300406286577 and the feedback

He emailed me to offer more money if I would remove the Neg feedback

I left comments saying about this and the fact he still is selling these fake items right now!

I bet ebay will tell ME off not HIM!

ian

This guy really IS a STAR!

Now he has filed an "Unpaid Item"claim against me.

He thinks he can pressure me into agreeing to remove the neg feedback but be is wrong, very wrong!

Paypal shows I paid the item and he refunded it for fear of bad press so any claim he makes I will win on appeal.

He STILL continues to sell these items and ebay does nothing!

I am beginning to think "ebay Safeharbour" refers to Hong Kong as a safe place for criminals to sell fake memory items!

This there reply when I reported one of his items:-

eBay Australia Customer Support


Thank you for writing eBay's SafeHarbour Department about a listing or
seller you would like us to investigate for fraudulent activity. We are
concerned about this type of activity and want to assure you that we
will review your report as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours.

Due to privacy concerns, we will not keep you informed about the status
of our investigation. While you will only receive this acknowledgement
of the receipt of your report, please be assured that we will thoroughly
review the situation.

IMPORTANT:

The subject line you chose in the Webform is reserved for reporting
current items that may be listed for the purpose of committing fraud.

In order for us to dedicate resources to preventing this type of
situation in a timely manner, reports directed to this area that do not
relate to current listings that may be fraudulent (including reports of
listing violations and reports about items that may be prohibited) will
not be forwarded to another department or answered. Other questions or
concerns should be sent to us from the page below:

eBay: Redirect

We appreciate the time you took to contact us. To promote a safe trading
environment for the eBay community, we prohibit users from engaging in
any type of unlawful activity on the eBay Website, and are dedicated to
investigating such situations.

**Please do not respond to this email as your reply will not be
received.

Best regards,

eBay SafeHarbour Team

Its a joke isn't it?

ian

It also beggars belief how many defend these criminals

eBay Forums: Anyone bought an mp3 player from Hong ...

Just got scammed by the same person last week. Bought 3 players. Need help on "fixing" it. ANY would help alot. I also filed a complaint with ebay, looks like we got the same message...probably automatic, figures. I also filed a dispute with paypal so we'll see if I get any money back.

He is liable to pressure you to not leave Neg Feedback

See here for some tips

go2besthk- Radarman’s Full Refund from Hong Kong Ebay Fake Flash Seller SOSFakeFlash

As to fixing the players it is recommended you do the memory tests first and keep the reports because you will need them later

See the How To guides on this forum

Its basically re-partitioning the drive with a partition of the same size as the Actual memory but you will not know that until you do the tests with the software H2testw v1.4

http://download.heise.de/software/4d...2testw_1.4.zip


ian

SAFE2STAR Dead on arrival
 

I bought a 16GGb touch screen from Safe2Star. Dead on arrival, Posted it back (at my expense) then waited many days. Then was asked to provide proof of posting - which I did. Was stalled and stalled - Lots of "Sorry My Friend, I will refund you" type of stalling messages. Then told to wait 48 hours for refund, then told to wait 72 hours for refund (because SAFE2STAR doesn't work weekends???). Eventually I opened a dispute with Ebay and got a full refund. Don't think I'd have got anything without the dispute being opened. It's time Ebay stopped letting these people rip us off.:mad::mad::mad:

He works weekends when you threaten to send the Hong Kong Customs and Excise around! :):):)

i bought his item below from safe2star a few weeks back, waiting for it to arrive, but was a little bit warey after reading about people buying SDcards that said they where 32gb when they where more like 3.2gb so im a little worried about it arriving now, fingers crossed it actually works, but im already wondering what to say to him because i just KNOW that mines gona be the same obviously, i mean it was cheap, there is bound to be a problem, sold my 4gb ipod for £100 an bought one of these, i got given the ipod you see and have always been a bigger fan of simple mp3 players, and even with the ipod i didnt use itunes because it was annoying. but i was wondering if anyone had bought one of these yet also and recieved it, and if so where there any problems an if so what did you do?
http://i.ebayimg.com/23/%21B9uSPDgBG...%7E%7E0_12.JPG
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/4/8/3...70626620_o.jpg

oh and there is also another person now selling these items
http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/c...BuddyIcon1.gif
Member ID cooltechzone

oh dear, still at it
 

Sorry to hear you got conned like so many others, sorrier to see that ebaypal is still in league with these crooks.
I had one of these a year ago, a fraction of the claimed memory, it worked for about 2 months.

My suggestion:
Immediately post negative feedback, use terms like "fake memory scam".
They will undoubtedly come back pretending that they were unaware of the "problem", they will offer some form of refund and if they do not do so at first and you hold out you will later get offered a full refund.
Accept the refund and agree to pull the feedback as long as they have been truthful.
If they contact you after the refund arrives simply direct them to any of the anti-memory scam sites.

The weird thing is that I have never seen these devices sold at a realistic price (with real memory), the whole design/production effort seems to have been directed at these scams and if the scammers are actually paying cash for these the base hardware can only be a couple of bucks, add 16gb real branded for say 20 bucks and you could actually have something worthwhile.

In between times I have found that older model Sandisk players can be obtained from UK and US sites quite cheaply so, as long as you do not expect camera, games and other crap you ought to be able to find a reasonable capacity music player than is not sold with a fruit logo.