Can Fake Bose Connect To Bose App

Fake Bose QC35 Headphones on eBay - Scam Alert

Hi all, this is a word of warning for a scam that is currently happening on Ebay and is very popular in Australia.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted a pair of Bose QC35 headphones (Noise Cancelling, Bluetooth).

I was browsing OzBargain and keeping an eye out, occasionally a pair would come up for $350 or thereabouts. This is where the Scam is very clever. The Counterfeit headphones are selling for about $50-$70 less than a retail pair (retail $460-$499) which is enough for people to decide that it's a great deal.

When I received my fake pair, i didnt realise they were fake. The retail packaging was correct, the headphones worked, noise cancelling worked, everything worked and they sounded OK. Here's where it gets weird.

There is a Bose Connect app which will only talk to a pair of real Bose Headphones. A friend of mine has the app and a retail pair and it worked right out the box. Mine wouldnt connect…I then found you can plug the headphones into USB and go to a bose website (http://btu.bose.com) and it will update your headphones over USB….mine didnt work either.

I then did some googling and reviewed the ebay store…. The ebay store said "No App Connectivity, Display Unit, OEM Stock"… hmm… I used the serial number on the box and tried to browse the item via the Bose website, invalid serial number. Ok.

I contacted Bose directly… they said there are no such thing as an imported mode, a display model or models without app connectivity.

To be 100% sure, I went to Myer and bought a retail pair of Bose QC35's and the voice prompts when you connect them are TOTALLY different.

On the counterfeit model when you turn it on the voice prompt says "POWER ON" in a female voice, when you pair it with a phone it says "Connected".

On the Retail QC35's the headphones say "Battery 100% (or whatever) and when paired it says "Connected to XXX's iPhone".

I contacted the Ebay store and told them all of this, they disagreed with me but said they would refund me the full amount (I know why they did that, its against the law to sell counterfeit goods on Ebay).

I received the refund in full today hence why now I'm writing this post.

If you are thinking of buying a pair of Bose QC35 headphones from Ozbargain stores or Ebay and you see "No app connectivity, OEM, Display Model" Stay away, they are 100% fake.

My guess is somewhere in china someone has access to the moulds for the shells or second stock then filling them in with 2nd rate electronics and passing it off as retail.

If you know anyone over at Oz Bargain please let them know this, people would be scammed like crazy not knowing this.

PS, for the record the retail Headphones sound amazingly better and the noise cancelling is a lot better as well.