# How bad are fake Ergo's?



## Celesse

Ignoring the ethical and moral issues of counter fitting and use of who-know-what labour, how bad/good are the couterfit Ergo's that are sold on Ebay? Are they just a little bit worse or are there serious issues with them?

ETA...not necessarily thinking of buying them (unless lots of people can vouch for them being no different than the real thing) but want an answer for OH on why we would need to spend £70 and not £52.


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## Rachel_C

Seeing as they're fakes, you have no idea who has made each one, so one fake may be fine but another may be dangerous. That's why I wouldn't buy one - one seller may be selling a perfectly safe carrier but because they've put a fake name on them you have no way of knowing. If they'd just call them their own name, people would be able to say which ones were safe. Seeing as they have no issues selling counterfeit goods, I also assume the sellers don't really care about baby safety. That opens up all sorts of possibilities - cheap threads that would break, cheap fabrics that won't bear enough weight, dodgy cheap labour producing unsafe joins... it's just not worth it.


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## lozzy21

Some may be perfectly fine but others may be totaly dangerous, i guess the point it you just dont know. The big thing for me would be it wouldn't have been safety tested.


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## Blah11

I watched something (one show or watchdog possibly) & a woman bought a fake ergo & the strap stitching totally gave away whilst wearing her LO and the baby fell out :shock:


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## Celesse

I suppose another thing that worries me is getting a pre-loved one. I kinda think that if there are lots of unknowing people buying fakes off ebay then re-selling they won't even know they are a fake and put it up as a pre-loved real one. Which would mean new from a proper web seller is the best way to go, but then that's expensive. 

I need some kind of Jedi mind control to use on OH.


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## Rachel_C

Here is a list of sellers suspected of selling fakes https://support.ergobaby.com/entries/21285678-counterfeits-and-suspect-websites. If you want to buy second hand I would check where the seller bought it from, perhaps ask for a copy of their receipt/order history. A genuine seller should be happy to provide this.


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## Celesse

That's a massive list!!


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## Rachel_C

Quite scary isn't it?


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## aliss

My Ergo has been used for 2-6 hours daily for 2.5 years now (Alex is 40lbs and just maxing it out). If you are interested in a real used one, then it's definitely worth it - it is just as well made now, as it was when I bought it back in early 2010.

The preloved one, I actually have a receipt for/bank statement plus the old box. I'd sell it to you but I'm hoping to get another 2 years out of it soon :rofl:


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## aliss

But yah as others have said, not speaking of ethical issues - it's like buying a fake purse in that it might be well made and it might not be, and there's fat chance at getting a return so you might end up being out 2x what you thought you'd save. 

I think I'd rather buy a quality WAHM-made mei tai than a fake Ergo, if I had the opportunity. I would trust it more.


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## lovemyDD

aliss said:


> But yah as others have said, not speaking of ethical issues - it's like buying a fake purse in that it might be well made and it might not be, and there's fat chance at getting a return so you might end up being out 2x what you thought you'd save.
> 
> I think I'd rather buy a quality WAHM-made mei tai than a fake Ergo, if I had the opportunity. I would trust it more.

I agree! Anyway, buying fake purse in a cheap price can be a great deal, but when it cames to carrier.. quality should be prioritize because it's our baby's safety that is at stake here.:flower:


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## tu123

Apparently the buckle clips aren't vert safe and aren't quite the same in appearance as the non fake. They aren't quite as secure.


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## lucy_x

Honestly, For £18 does the question even need asking?...Most of the points have been listed already about possible defects, but i just wouldn't risk it, Second hand genuines come up all the time, i saw one go the other day for £30! x x


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## hanelei

In our case the fake we got as a present (the givers had no idea I'm sure) was so bad that I ended up buying a new one from an accredited dealer. 

The fake was ok when LO was very little but as he got bigger and heavier the waist strap started to loosen sometimes when he was in it and I would have to keep tightening it, which was a pain. The sleeping hood never worked- it was just too big and even on the tightest fitting (which was completely different to real ones and very fiddly) it was useless for keeping LO's head stable when he was sleeping.

And it also left nasty red marks on his legs once we stopped using the infant insert- the real ones are made so they don't cut into their thighs but the fake definitely wasn't- I had to put a folded towel under his bum to try to stop it cutting in so much, but that was a real pain. 

So basically I would really recommend getting a real one, whether new or second hand- the stitching, construction etc on our fake felt fine, quite sturdy, but just too many issues and when LO's safety and both of our comfort was at stake I thought it was best to just get one from an accredited dealer.


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## Celesse

Now I'm terrified every site is a fake!! Some of those on the list look very convincing.


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## bookreader

Mine arrived yesterday from Amazon. Naively i thought Amazon was safe to buy from. It only cost £50 so i was really happy.

When i opened the very genuine looking box and took it out, i would not have known the difference, only on one of the buckles there was a sharp piece of plastic sticking out that would have harmed my baby had he came into contact with it.

I realised that surely it could not be real having this. After a quick google i realised that there are so many fakes (i didnt know this before and maybe should have researched).

I contacted the seller who offered mr £15 in compensation. I refused and they offered a full refund once i have it shipped back to China and they receive it (i am unsure whether to trust this). I have also contacted Amazon and await their response.

In the meantime i have gone onto ergobaby.eu and bought a genuine one at almost £100 (i read this is the official site for Europe). Yes it is double the price but nothing compared to the piece of mind knowing that my baby will be safe.

Fingers crossed that he actually likes it after all of this!!


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## Rachel_C

Good luck getting a refund bookreader. If they sold it as genuine, under UK law you're entitled to a full refund and they have to pay the return postage so Amazon should support you in it. If they're being arsey, if you paid on a credit or debit card you could look into Chargeback - https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-ri...it-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-debit-cards/ I'm not sure how it works (if it works at all) with foreign banks but if you bought through Amazon it may be that Amazon UK acted as a middleman for the money so your bank would be dealing with a UK bank anyway.


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## bookreader

Thanks. It is going to cost £20 to send back which they want me to pay. I am not. I have emailed Amazon again quite angry so ill see what they say.

Im worried also that i do send it back then its just given to another parent who may not notice the sharp part and it hurts their child. Not only that the other buyers seem to think they are real and maybe dont know their babies could be wearing something that has passed no safety tests.

Im quite concerned.


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## Rachel_C

bookreader said:


> Thanks. It is going to cost £20 to send back which they want me to pay. I am not. I have emailed Amazon again quite angry so ill see what they say.
> 
> Im worried also that i do send it back then its just given to another parent who may not notice the sharp part and it hurts their child. Not only that the other buyers seem to think they are real and maybe dont know their babies could be wearing something that has passed no safety tests.
> 
> Im quite concerned.

Can you contact Trading Standards? I would let Amazon know you're doing this too as they are letting somebody sell something that not only breaks the law by being a fake, it's dangerous too.


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## Celesse

I'm glad I started this thread. When I posted first off I thought it was a case of some Ebay sellers being a bit dodgy, but there being sites out there that where legit. I was thinking £52 from a Ebayer, compared with £70 from a site. I think having looked a bit closer the £70ish sites have a good chance to also be dodgy. 

Example site I thought was legit at first glance: https://www.ergocarriers.co.uk
But it has same design as: https://www.babycarriergo.co.uk/ which has the .com site blacklisted. 

And if you read the reviews, especially the ones on the later pages, from both sites it becomes obvious things are not quite right! There's a lot of people posting from US states for a .co.uk website, And the command of English of a lot of Reviews is questionable. 

For example Helen from the UK says: 


> Ergo Baby Carrier-Organic Black M125 is a new product. My baby love it very much. its safe and comfortable. Hot design and popularity. It is worth to buy.


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## Celesse

https://www.cleverclogstrading.co.uk/ <<legitimate Stockists list.


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## SpringerS

I mentioned on another thread how I bought some of my baby stuff from German sites as certain baby products, like co-sleepers, are a lot cheaper on the continent. Ergo carriers are another thing you can get cheaper there. The cheapest I've found is babyzeiten.de (that doesn't mean they are definitely the cheapest, I have no idea how comprehensive my search was). The prices made me suspicious but I emailed Ergobaby who confirmed that they are an authorised seller.

I haven't bought mine yet, so I'm afraid I can't comment on what the end product is like. But I do plan on buying ours from there when we do buy. For non German speakers I believe they sell through Amazon UK, but you'd probably want to double check that before buying from them.


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