Just a FYI to everyone, be very careful what and where you buy something anymore. I bought a Streamlight TLR-1 HL from amazon for the normal retail price. The ad had a link directly to Streamlight’s website and when the product arrived the packaging and product looked identical to the real Streamlight, so everything really looked legit. My light broke after about 500 rounds and I sent it in to Streamlight for warranty only to find it was counterfeit but luckily they are rectifying the situation and sending me a real replacement. I thanked them and said if they wouldn’t have warrantied it i was going to ask for the light back and go fight amazon about false advertising. In hindsight I’d consider order weapon lights from PSA or other reputable gun store websites even if its a few more dollars at least you won’t get scammed like I did with Amazon. Unfortunately I think Amazon has a real problem with counterfeit and it goes across all items not just weapon lights.
Same thing happened to me with Magpul and a couple other brands. I got refunds every time though luckily.
Lucky for amazon, Streamlight is helping me out because this situation really pissed me off. I still requested amazon pay me back the 12 dollars I spent to ship the faulty counterfeit light they sold me to streamlight, I figured that was the least they could do for false advertising. They obligued.
I’m not sure how that works behind the scenes. I’d like to think streamlight is getting compensation or credit from amazon on the back end of this since amazon is selling counterfeit product under their name.
Totally ridiculous in my opinion, especially when you pay the retail price and not like half or quarter price or something.
Moral of the story -
Don’t buy from Scamazon
Cant stress this enough. Even if it looks like a legit vendor. Ebay is the same. Chinese fakes are really, REALLY good.
If the price is too good to be true, then its a fake.
well in this case he bought it at the same retail price as a normal one so idk… this i the first time i’ve seen one sold as a real one at the actual real one price and it fail… they must be mmaking some real good fakes these days, or fakes that arent fakes, lol.
I believe at the time I spent $150 give or take. I think at the time PSA had a sale going on for the same price but I ordered it on Amazon for the free and fast shipping. I won’t be making that mistake again. If it would have been on amazon for half the price it would have thrown some major red flags. So I thought I was getting what I was paying for. Also it appeared to me that it was sold by streamlight but it turns out it was from amazon inc.
It was odd to go through. Streamlight called and asked to me call back which I thought was odd and basically they almost were interrogating me and thats when I caught on something was up. Ultimately though kudos to them as they said they would honor the warranty anyways and send me a new one. In the end it makes sense because I was shocked a $150 light would break under such light use.
It almost crossed my mind that streamlight was yanking my chain and claiming that it was a dupe just to cover their reputation, that’s how good of a fake this light was. There were signs though. I remember the supplied allen wrench not fitting the supplied screw for the recoil lug or whatever those plastic inserts are. Besides that everything was pretty spot on.
Watch the seller. I buy Magpul on Amazon and have not had an issue. I go to the Magpul store and order from there. No issues. Makes no sense to order from billy bob outfitters when the same sling can come from Magpul. Same for the flip up sights.
I got nailed on flip ups. Didn’t use their portal.
Heres an idea dont buy gun stuff on Amazon its airsoft trash
perhaps, it’s just a shame you cant trust a major seller like Amazon to not sell knock off stuff.
I have been avoiding Amazon because they blocked me from leaving reviews, claiming I was connected to a merchant. No proof, merchant unnamed, not allowed to refute.
Unfortunately you cannot buy directly from Streamlight, at least that I am aware of they only sell through distributors. I am assuming they have a deal with amazon since they honored my warranty. Otherwise I don’t understand why streamlight doesn’t hsve Amazon pull the ad and stop selling if Amazon is selling counterfeit and streamlight ends up being on the hook to replace crappy fake lights.
My wife was telling me she saw a story of people that were buying high end makeup on amazon and it ended up being counterfeit and people were having serious allergic reactions. Who the hell knows where this stuff comes from anymore.
Like I’ve been saying for a while. I even got banned from posting or reviewing on scamazon for calling out counterfeiters in reviews and answers to questions. I like the “genuine” magpul front and rear sight sets for under $50, and the shill reviewer who say they are genuine. The photos give it away.
Also I bought a fake Bissell vacuum part from scamazon after visiting what I thought was the official Bissell scamazon store. If legit businesses want to help stop scamazon counterfeiting, they need to CLOSE their scamazon webstores; it is hard nowadays to tell the real from fake.
Here is a tip that can help: check the seller and shipper names. If they are both Amazon, it’s probably okay. If the shipper is xplgplx company, it’s probably a scam.
Also gotta watch that “free” shipping that is built into the price. I’ve been getting items like computer hard drives from the manufacturer for same price as scamazon and even with free shipping.
For cheap crap, like my rechargeable flashlight that came with rifle mount and cost $35, I don’t expect top quality. Sometimes the cheap stuff is good for initial forays until you know what you really want.
Since Amazon now charges the same price as everyone else for genuine merchandise, there is no longer any reason to buy from scamazon, it seems.
Sorry to read that ya’ll are getting swindled.
Except Amazon is not a major seller; they simply provide the venue, a haven for crooks, and gladly take their share of the profits. Amazon, as an accomplice to the Chinese government, is just in business to weaken the US economy any way it can, such as by hurting US businesses by condoning sale of counterfeit merchandise.
Like feebay, scamazon has evolved way past its original core business and has become infested with thieves. Craigslist is another casualty of modern liberalism with its athiest agenda and nihilist worldview. (Wanna have some fun? Chime in on some discussion and point out that atheism is a religion. Sit back and watch people really go nuts. Then further bait them by pointing out that science is a religion also. It’s hilarious.)
If you register the product on Streamlight on their warranty site that should tell you right there whether it is legit or not!
Thats a really good point. I honestly cant remember if I did that. I thought I did but perhaps I forgot. It was back in August i bought the light. Good tip for the future anyways.