BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

I bought a SanDisk 1Gb RS-MMC card from Amazon for my 770 just over a year ago and it recently went corrupt. As SanDisk offer a 5 year warranty I have been trying to get it replaced. However, after much correspondence including photographs they have informed me that the card is a fake because:

"...There is no blue sticker on the card, no serial numbers and the gold contacts are totaly different from the regular 1GB card."

Does anyone else have a SanDisk RS-MMC card that confirm whether this is true or if they are just trying to fob me off. The packaging the card came in is very convincing as it includes a SanDisk flyer and two RFID tags. If I'd bought it from Amazon Marketplace I'd be inclined to believe them, but it was bought from Amazon itself.

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

You may be able to resurrect the card. I also had a 1 G MMC go bad on me several months ago. I tried to reformat it several ways, but it just wouldn't work. Just a few days ago a friend of mine gave me his old TREO600, which takes MMC cards. It was able to reformat it no problem. I haven't tried to use it again with the n800 or 770, but at least there is hope?

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

Well you should report it to Amazon.

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

I did. Their long and very gracious reply basically said sort it out with SanDisk. When I get a moment I'll have another correspondence session with the two companies.

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

I do have several 1gig Sandisk RS-MMC cards bought from CDW about the same time as yours. All mine are black, the side opposite the contacts has the logo, 1.0GB, RS-MMC and a small solid triangle printed on it. All in white. The other side has the contacts, the word "TAIWAN" and a nine place serial number. The contacts are yellow/gold. Hope it helps.

Best Regards,

Peter

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

Dishonest people that make fake cards suck. Pictureline has a news article that tells you how to distinguish a fake.

http://www.pictureline.com/newslette...cle.php?id=401

Here are some more too...

http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-SanDisk...t-Flash-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001456539?ssPageName=BUYG D:CAT:-1:SEARCH:3

http://search.reviews.ebay.com.au/Compact-Flash-Card

http://martybugs.net/articles/fakesandisk.cgi

http://www.usrbingeek.com/a/000795.php

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

The key indicator at this time appears to be the holographic sticker on the authentic packaging. Sellers should be asked to provide a picture showing it-- of course, nothing stops them from providing a boilerplate photo...

This sucks. It's gonna impact my SNDK shares... :mad:

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

Just for the record. It turns out, that as I suspected from the quality of the packaging, the memory was not fake after all. After getting a response from Amazon (who said "talk to SanDisk"), I found that SanDisk had added a response along the lines of: "We have been reviewing the design of older cards and they appear to match yours. Can you send us some higher resolution photographs of your card...".

I couldn't get a good photo of the card because I couldn't focus close enough to get a full frame, so I scanned it instead. When I reviewed the scan and the the card a serial number had appeared. I checked the original photos and no serial number was visible, so I can only assume that the heat or UV light from the scanning head had affected the ink making it more reflective and therefore visible against the matt black card.

So I sent this number to SanDisk and the card has now been replaced.

I guess the moral of the story is: if you are sure you are right and it's not costing you anything, stick with it!

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

Glad you had a positive resolution, gowen, and nice work on the scanner tip!

Re: BEWARE: Counterfeit SanDisk Memory
 

Great tip and glad to know they replaced the memory!