Popular e-commerce site Amazon have often found themselves in hot water for allowing merchants to sell fake and/or counterfeit products on the site.
This is often challenged by various cases, however Amazon has always managed to avoid being prosecuted as they are not the actual merchant, and can only try to police the sellers using the site. However, they do not take responsibility for whether or not third party sellers obey the law.
However, last month Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz), announced that they are taking Amazon to court to prove that it is the direct seller of counterfeit Mercedes wheel caps. Mercedes says that it warned Amazon about the products, and asked for them to be removed, to no avail.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this particular case.
Just in case you were thinking of logging on and purchasing any of these counterfeit products, here’s why you should think twice:
– It’s downright dangerous. Chances are, the independent labourer that you’ve purchased the part from has nowhere near the same safety standards as the genuine manufacturer. This means that the part will probably have not gone through the (often life-saving) safety checks prior to reaching your door.
– You could get ripped off. How do you know that the item you’ve bought from an unknown retailer is even going to get to you? How do you know that they are not just going to take your money and disappear?
– You could end up in a sticky situation with the law. You may argue that just knowingly buying a counterfeit product is not enough to get into trouble, however the police may disagree.
To ensure you’re always getting genuine Mercedes spare parts, choose Dronsfields.