I-Net Distributors Busted!
Being involved in the speed counter measurement industry for over ten years, I am still amazed on the ever increasing volume of black market/gray market goods that have been invading the radar detector marketplace and how they have been negatively impacting the consumer and the manufactures.
When I managed the RadarBusters website I would be flooded with inquires by shoppers asking why they should pay full retail for a product when they found the same exact item on Ebay or Buy.com for hundreds of dollars less. I would try to explain to these customers that the sellers of those devices were not factory authorized and often sold items that were remanufactured, obtained through illegal channels, stolen or even counterfeit and if they had a problem with the product the manufacturer’s warranty wouldn’t apply.
A few shoppers heeded my advise after I shown them photos of radar detectors that had been purchased from unscrupulous retails with counterfeit serial numbers and provided them with recorded documentation from an Overstock.com employee admitting that the Escort and Beltronics radar detectors that they sold were NOT NEW UNITS and only had a 30 day warranty and that if the customer purchased their “Planinum Protection Plan” for their one year warranty, their total price was $10.00 more for a used unit, then a new factory unit with the same warranty from an authorized dealer!
But a number of the shoppers fell for the scam finding out later that $100.00 they thought they saved only brought them grief finding out that the detector/laser jammer had no warranty and was now worthless as a brick on their dashboard.
During the 2007 SEMA show in Las Vegas I heard rumblings of a joint Escort, Beltronics and FBI investigation targeting perhaps the largest unauthorized dealer on Ebay; I-Net Distributors.
I heard horror stories from many of their past clients that had come to me after purchasing a product finding that the item either had no serial number or the serial number that was on the product was counterfeit. As the matter was still under investigation neither officials from Beltronics or Escort would comment. However I knew that one of my “super sleuth investigators” on RadarDetector.net would do me proud and locate the official documents from the Federal Courts once they were made public.
Today “The Professor” located the United States District Court Complaint 07-2440 JWL filed by Beltronics USA, Inc. against Mr. Steve Web, Mr. Kevin Burke and their associated companies; I-Net Distributors, Midwest Inventory and Audio Video Man all located in Overland Park, KS.
The three part complaint alleges that the accused parties obtained their radar detectors through a false designation of origin, violated the Beltronics Federal Trademark through counterfeiting, and violated Kansas and Ohio State laws by illegally removing the official Beltronics serial number and FCC certification and replacing it with counterfeit serial numbers and FCC certification.
I applaud the Beltronics and Escort staff for their hard work in this investigation that I feel that will ultimately be a win not only for their company but also for the uneducated consumer that have fallen victim to scams by these black marketers.
20 Responses to “I-Net Distributors Busted!”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Great job, Roy.
I trust both Beltronics and Escort will eventually clean up this corruption of the retail distribution market as I believe Whistler is also doing!
Veil Guy
As a consumer, it is hard being torn between lower prices (so low that one could pay for a single service if needed) and the guarantee that their unit will be taken care of for a set amount of time. While its great to have a warranty, paying $60-100 more just for it is hard for some consumers who are on lower incomes. Sometimes the waranties are only for one year(Belscort…), so the money seems like it would be wasted. Whistler on the other hand has a 3 year warranty which makes sense. In no case would I ever buy a a Bel/Escort product through an authorized retailer due to to the short warranty. It just makes no sense to me. A Whistler product on the other hand I would be fine with buying. Also, Unauthorized sellers on ebay have a reputation to keep up. If they scam to many people, it is quite obvious. Sorry Roy, but buying unauthorized is decently safe if you do it with some brains.
I think all of these problems could be fixed if one did not have to price fix as an authorized retailer. It would take the appeal away from buying unauthorized. The fact is that most gadget shoppers would rather take a small risk on ebay than pay $100 more. In no way is this Radarbusters fault, and I think manufacturers like Belscort need to grow up and create some competition in the marketplace, which is always good for the consumer.
Just my five cents, and there are alot of sides of the argument for price fixing.
Now that I think about it, without a waranty on a Bel/Escort product is NOT a good idea. They have a tendacy to not work as expected. I take that back Roy, sorry.
The old saying that you get what you paid for is about as good as the day it was coined. Sometimes quality requires that you pony up some extra cash.
Nice article Radar Roy! Amazingly these guys still have their e-Bay site up (for now). Looks like Cobra is the big winner (loser) for items being sold by these guys.
Thanks for the heads up. I always appreciate your helpful information and look forward to more good stuff!
Does Corba know about these guys?
Wow ovencleaner, what company do you work for???? It must be one of the competitors since you obviously are just wanting to slam Beltronics and Escort.
this is a joke, why would people come crying to you Roy? Wouldn’t they go to the manufacturer and not the middle man??
the fact that something actually needs its short 12 month warranty, should speak for its self. if the product is so good, how come there are so many repaired or refurbished units even being sold back to the market or dealers by Beltronics in the first place?? Come on guys, think about it!!! Item goes faulty, it gets repaired and sold out cheap from the factory, where else would it come from? If something works, and is much cheaper, who cares about a warranty, that is the risk you take. Unless off course the item in question is not very reliable and would likely require a warranty service – e.g. just like Beltronics, that has already been serviced oncce and sold again? this is so funny.
I purchased a BelRX65 from I-Net Distributors in 2004it has been perfct and has a label that is identical to the one from Bel. I doubt that mine is a counterfeit detector
“Does it Matter”: Beltronics/Escort does not sell refibished units. The ones that are refibished are already from the black market because Bel/Escort would not repair them under warranty!
I certainly do not agree with the price fixing Escort seems to require from all of their “authorized resellers”. As a consumer it makes it difficult to determine how big of a company you may be dealing with. Clearly a company that sells more buys more and then receive a better wholesale discount on their purchases, allowing them to sell the same product for less than say some small time outfit that may not even be around a year from now because their sales are so low. If I was a reseller I wouldn’t like this either, it makes it impossible for you to have higher sales and gain an edge on your competitors by being able to offer the same product for a lower price. Why buy your product from anywhere if you can just get it directly from the manufacturer for the same price as everywhere else?
I bought my own Escort product on Amazon from an “unauthorized” reseller with many years as a seller there and all high ratings by customers. It was only after the fact that I found out on Escorts web site they were “unauthorized”. I contacted the reseller pretty mad they never tell you that you won’t have any warranty at all if you buy the factory sealed product from them. They resolved the problem for me by registering my serial number with Escort through their “authorized” distributer they purchase through. I’ve since verified with Escort I am under a manufacturers warranty now and the Amazon reseller certainly went above and beyond to take care of me their customer to earn their high rating on Amazon. Its clear they have no intent of defrauding any consumers, just found a way to get around Escorts attempts at price fixing. If Escort didn’t make such a great product I wouldn’t even want to buy their products just because of this price fixing, which the legalities of in itself continues to go back and forth in the courts. Last I checked such price fixing was illegal.
Going after such resellers though that truly are defrauding consumers is admirable even if the motive is self interest. There’s certainly no shortage of these types of people out there trying only to make a quick and easy buck. I’m surprised they actually had the nerve to attempt this while operating directly out of the US. Usually these people will put up a fake business front in another country out of direct US court jurisdiction, which is likely what we will soon be seeing this I-Net company doing under a new name and run by the same exact people. Seems like even under the penalties imposed on them by the legal system they never learn not to do this, just how to be trickier about not getting caught so easy. With the Internet its become a very small world for people to live in, but its still huge and out of reach for a single legal system to operate within.
On the e-bay/Amazon debate, I have actually made a purchase from e-bay. The purchase was for a carbon stem cap for my Trek SSL bicycle. The cap, about the size of a half dollar, was $8.00. The insurance from the seller was $9.00 for the shipping. Yes I was a bit suspicious. But hey, that was a great price for a carbon fiber cap. I decided not to take the insurance and count my savings. It should be safe in the mail. Right? When the envelope arrived it was empty and had a small hole in the bottom right corner of the envelope about the size of a dime. When I contacted the seller about the problem, by email since he had no phone number listed, he replied that same day: “The part must have fallen out of the hole in the envelope.” Actually that response impressed me greatly, since I had not mentioned any hole in the envelope.
And now about price fixing, or as it is called in the real world: The retail price. I hated having to search more than two dozen sites and a dozen stores in the Dallas/Ft. Worth for the best price of a Sony television. Which on the model I was shopping for could range from $1,750 to $3,200. The price variance had nothing to do with the size of the dealer, their service or their honesty. I applaud Beltronics and Escort for setting a fair price and sticking to it. Whether you buy from the manufacture, an authorized dealer or a retailer on the web, it is going to be the same price and you do not have to spend your Sunday afternoon searching the web for the best price.
“I bought it from an authorized dealer. It doesn’t work!”. The manufacture corrects the problem or replaces it with a new unit. Simple? Yes, actually it is. That is the way this country was founded: Make a good product, sell it for a fair price, stand behind that product and make a living for you and your employees. Any complaints on that, China is more than willing to step up and produce something for you at a much lower cost.
I wear a Tag Heuer watch. It has the serial number on the back of the case. Many of the name brand watches sold in the United States have the serial number removed from the watch and from the owner’s manual. The vendors of these watches will tell you, and only you, many elaborate and exotic tales of why the serial number must be removed so they can sell the watch at such a bargain price! Yes I could have purchased a refurbished or counterfeit watch for perhaps one-quarter the price I paid. They are advertised at many online sites for unbelievable prices and “guaranteed”. The warranty on my watch expired many years ago without a single problem with the watch, except for losing about twenty seconds a year. But hey, it’s mechanical, I’ll give it 30 seconds a year. It’s a Tag. If I had it to do over again would I go for a knock-off or an imitation? Not likely.
I purchased an Escort Passport 9500ix for my Z06 and a Beltronics Vector 995 for my wife’s Camaro Super Sport from Radar Busters. If either has a problem, I will have no reluctance in contacting Radar Busters or the manufacture and I will expect the problem to be resolved in a matter of days. That’s the way we do business here, or at least that’s the way we used to do business here.
But since the Beltronics in my wife’s Super Sport is about twelve years old, has been dropped many more times than I care to mention, exposed to temperatures inside the parked car in excess of 160 degrees and it still works fine and looks great except for the dents, nicks and scratches. So no, I don’t expect too many problems with either unit. If I do experience a problem with either I know I can contact Radar Busters or the manufacture and be completely honest with them and I think they will be very fair with me.
I am a real person. My name is Carlton Cox. I live in Rowlett, Texas. My email address is carlton_cox@msn.com. If you have any questions about this post please feel free to contact me. I will let you know how the two radar detectors perform and if there are any problems with either
.
came around a corner on a rural hwy.in south Al., and bam no warning from my Cobra Radar Detector.I was already abreastof the Officier before and breaking and pulling over. I called Cobra,and was told I needed a newer version because the police now have what was told to me “Pop Up” radar? What the hell is that?I must live to far in the south or I need to keep up on my tech news.
Being a lover of all things gadget, an avid bargain hunter, and a IT professional, I would like to add my two cents. While most people know eBay is loaded with its share of scammers, some manufacturers are scammers as well. Did you ever read the warranty for any electronic item? Warranties are designed to be so much hassle that most peolpe just throw their item away. Mftr.’s want you to pay for shipping and any ‘out of warranty repairs’. While I don’t expect them to drop their prices, I do expect them to sell a well-designed product that should last more then 12 months, especially when the prices of some of these things is upward of 600.00.
If I were to buy one now, I would use American Express – because Amex extends your warranty by 1 year!
While I definitely agree that buying on ebay is a “buyer beware” scenario, I find it extremely hard to believe that Amazon (not sellers on Amazon, but the company itself) is selling stolen or refurbished radar detectors. It’s quite obvious that they are buying the same product at a reduced price, but without any warranty from the manufacturer.
Does anyone honestly think Amazon has huge teams of thieves stalking the streets looking for RDs, and also huge teams of technicians sitting around rebuilding very complex pieces of technology, just so that they can offer it for ~$13 under manufacturer price?
Essentially it’s the same as, for example, MS Windows. Buy it in a store at full price and you get warranty from MS, buy it pre-installed on your new computer at a serious discount, and MS doesn’t warranty it, the computer manufacturer does.
And please don’t take this as me hating, I’ve owned two Beltronics RDs so far and am currently shopping for my 3rd. I just find it somewhat unscrupulous that the manufacturer knows full well they are selling at a discount to resellers minus the warranty, and if someone inquires about warranty support they automatically throw out the “knockoff” card.
Just be honest about your distribution channels and promote the benefits of working directly with the manufacturer.
Esoterica’s March 14th comment made a a strong case for Valentine Research’s decision to stick with direct marketing of it’s merchandise.