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Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

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211–220 of 255 posts

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I bought my glasses from an astronomical equipment store. I really hope this clusterfuck causes amazon to get their act together in regards to fraudulent listings.

> This is why I bought my glasses from an astronomical equipment store. And where do you think that place got their glasses from?

This is my concern. Regarding the supply chain, perhaps the (re)sellers are not aware of the goods being counterfeit. Chinese manufacturers have been known to adjust product without informing the brand. Brands don't usually have someone spot checking every item that rolls off the assembly line. These glasses are one-off purchases and I'd assume demand is multiple orders of magnitude higher than normal. Corner cutting at the manufacture in China is where I'd start investigating. Again, more often than not, a Chinese manufacturer (boss) would rather deliver unsafe products and save face then to tell the buyer I can't make them. Especially smaller fly-by-night "factories" that are constantly appearing in the countryside or factories facing a giant surge in demand.

I could write a book re: Fake China.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#212
post #30

I ordered the top-rated eclipse glasses on Amazon a few months ago and they were counterfeit. If you put them on during daytime you can see indirect sunlight and even my kitchen light. They were shipped from China despite having "Made in the USA" markings and all the proper ISO certification fine print. I haven't received any communication from Amazon, so people who haven't heard from them should not assume their gla…

I have the exact opposite situation. I got 9 pairs of plastic framed glasses on Amazon. They seem really legit. Only thing I can see through them is the sun unless I hold a light source directly up to the lenses. Amazon gave me a refund and told me not to use them. I'm going to try to research some more research on Monday like getting a hold of the company that gave them the ISO rating. This is apparently the source…

Hey, since I have the same glasses, this is what search lands me.

AAS approved - https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

Someone on this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jmdo5jJIeQ) got this ISO certification - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5zcT8x8808gOE82aks3NUpPSTA...

Another product page - https://www.daylightsky.co.uk/collections/eyeware/products/p...

I think they might be safe enough.

Update: Looks like the seller "Tried and true products" is Joseph Harwood, who works at this company, https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09572536/officers which owns the trademark Daylight sky, https://trademarkalertz.com/owner/DE-BIRD%20LIMITED "Tried and true products" also sells de-bird products. I guess they might just be sister companies or something.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#213
post #9

Does anyone have good recommendations for getting a pair as of today (before next weekend)? I'm in the bay area, if that helps.

I just ordered a set from B&H Camera Store in NYC. These are the Lunt glasses that are mentioned in the article, but are also identified by NASA as "safe" [1]. I'm hoping that B&H does not suffer the same counterfeit problems as Amazon. Shipping from NYC to the Bay Area is still a concern though (I'm a lot closer to NYC and just got the e-mail that they shipped on yesterday's order). [1]. https://eclipse.aas.org/reso…

I specifically ordered from B&H because I was familiar with them and felt I could trust them to have a legit product. The glasses are still in transit, but I should have them in time.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#214
post #112
post #30

I ordered the top-rated eclipse glasses on Amazon a few months ago and they were counterfeit. If you put them on during daytime you can see indirect sunlight and even my kitchen light. They were shipped from China despite having "Made in the USA" markings and all the proper ISO certification fine print. I haven't received any communication from Amazon, so people who haven't heard from them should not assume their gla…

I too made this mistake and can see my kitchen light with these glasses. They didn't send me an email about the recall. Amazon will refund the money if you chat with them, but this in no way absolves them. I blame them fully. This counterfeit problem has been going on for years and they haven't addressed it, other than banning accounts of people who return too many of their shitty, counterfeit products. If people do…

I really hope that some massive lawsuits finally put and end to this. Amazon deserves anything bad that comes their way. The amount of fake items I've received from them is awful.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#215
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it somewhat on the sellers who are willing to blind people for a buck? That's not ok even in China.

For a given SKU, Amazon commingles inventory, so who you bought from may not be the company who stocked the FBA shelf with the product. Surely Amazon can trace it back, but I think Amazon lost the "just a marketplace" defense a long time ago as a result.

Is the process of commingling inventory documented? That policy is slightly alarming. What would stop someone from sending boxes full of rocks to the fulfillment center with the sku of an iPad?

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#216

I posted 32 days ago asking how to tell if they are real [1]. Amazon informed me that they are fake. Unfortunately I have no way to buy glasses now and will use the pin whole method, but its pretty dissapointing. I hope no one gets hurt [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14755020

I've got some extras that I'm willing to share. E-mail me your address and I'll mail you a pair. I'm in SoCal so they should arrive in SF in time for the eclipse. I got mine directly from one of the NASA-approved suppliers, precisely because I don't trust Amazon anymore. Had to order a small batch, even though I only needed a few: I figured not going blind is worth ~$30.

I'm not the person you're replying to, but I'd love to grab a pair from you too if you have extra :) ; and to pay for its cost / shipping to SF of course.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#217

> "Customers may have purchased counterfeit versions of legitimate products," an Amazon spokesperson said when asked about the issue. Does this have to do with Amazon's practice of commingling goods from various sources together? I imagine in some warehouse, a big box of Panjwani's legit goods all mixed together with some not-so-good-goods.

Yes, commingling can be, and often is, a source of fake goods hiding in a legit ASIN. I have never and would never commingle. Remember Amazon workers checking in goods are not checking for authenticity.

I purchased my glasses off the website in the comments directly below bc this is one thing I did not trust Amazon on.

Also, I'll play devil's advocate, but this is one area where eBay actually wins over Amazon as each listing is tied to 1 particular seller and viewing seller history on eBay is rather easy compared to Amazon.

It would be nice to know from a listing if a product is eligible for commingling and whether the item I'm buying is commingled or stickered. I would pay more to not purchase commingled items from Amazon.

I do feel sorry for the legit sellers bc they are going to lose ALOT of money, many through no fault of their own. I haven't been on my private groups in a while but I'm sure I "know" a few of the sellers.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#218

Reading the comments here, I wonder if folks have read the article? The problem seems to be not that Amazon has recalled counterfeit items but rather they have recalled legitimate product, blaming the legitimate seller for the fact that Amazon can't keep straight where their safety-critical inventory came from. It is as if they have a bin for "Viagra" in the warehouse into which they put shipments from Pfizer, along…

Amazon wanted the savings of commingling without the expense and investment in proper systems for it. For accurate accounting of the source of a piece of commingled inventory, you need sku-level inventories with unit-level accounting. This is expensive, because it means each unit needs to be individually marked (e.g. a sticker with a unique ID number) upon receipt, which is more labor intensive than just counting them and sticking them on a shelf.

Amazon's sku and bin level accounting works perfectly fine for items that have a single origin. Shoehorning commingled inventory into that same system doesn't work. It was reckless, and they should bear the punative cost for its results.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#219
post #30

I ordered the top-rated eclipse glasses on Amazon a few months ago and they were counterfeit. If you put them on during daytime you can see indirect sunlight and even my kitchen light. They were shipped from China despite having "Made in the USA" markings and all the proper ISO certification fine print. I haven't received any communication from Amazon, so people who haven't heard from them should not assume their gla…

I can get why Chinese would manufacture items and then slap on a logo and resell it for much higher price, but what kind of person ships something that could blind a user for s couple bucks? Insane.

Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses

#220

Reading the comments here, I wonder if folks have read the article? The problem seems to be not that Amazon has recalled counterfeit items but rather they have recalled legitimate product, blaming the legitimate seller for the fact that Amazon can't keep straight where their safety-critical inventory came from. It is as if they have a bin for "Viagra" in the warehouse into which they put shipments from Pfizer, along…

Amazon wanted the savings of commingling without the expense and investment in proper systems for it. For accurate accounting of the source of a piece of commingled inventory, you need sku-level inventories with unit-level accounting. This is expensive, because it means each unit needs to be individually marked (e.g. a sticker with a unique ID number) upon receipt, which is more labor intensive than just counting the…

Well, what amazes me is that it seems to have be done this way for a long time, no?

If so, it has a very low amount of problems and complains, since they could grow so big. If bad suppliers were a constant, they would be bad-mouthed enough and wouldn't have grown that big.

Or their inner working is better than this article implies...

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