Cigara / MyCigara - FAKE BATTERY WARNING

[beyonder]

So I visited Cigara at Hammersmith couple days ago aaaaaaaaand... they sold me fake batteries.

First pair was Sony VTC5, checked the serials later and boom same on both. That's a 100% sign of fake. Went back in and was handed two Samsung 25Rs. They have a scored bursting disc under positive contact, real ones have a dimple only. So yeah, fakes again.,

DO NOT BUY BATTERIES FROM THIS STORE.

You will get fakes and possibly get injured when, not if, those go pop. Already contacted Citizens Advice about this.

[Darth Vaper]

Local shops seem to be a place where your odds of getting a fake are high.

I bought a Nitecore Intellicharger at a local shop thinking it was genuine only to find out it was a fake. Paid the genuine price for it.

Live and learn... keep your guard up when dealing with local vendors.

[beyonder]

You can identify a fake 25R like this. Red arrows point to two of four lines on the bursting disc, two more are in hard to see spots.

Curious thing is: these are very likely genuine Samsung 22P batteries. Lower capacity and lower max continuous discharge current of just ten amps.



Someone from Trading Standards emailed me asking for photos. A store is about to have a bad day.

[Ian]

I think there's a risk of getting fakes no matter where you buy batteries. Even some of the big American sellers have been hit with fakes. If a shop is knowingly selling fakes, that is a different ball game.

[beyonder]

Twice in a row from same store means there is something stinky going on. Could be the store, could be their supplier behaving badly.

Lets give it a bit of time, asked the TS officer to let me know how it goes.