Are the Phones in MBK (4th Floor) fake or not ?

[easybullet3]

Ok. [regarding the phones in MBK - 4th Floor]

I know its easy for all of to say "Yes, they are fake, keep away".

but: the vendors there have almost EVERY model of phone, by Samsung, HTC, Oppo, iphone etc...

with new phones arriving on the market every few months, is it really possible that the fakers can continuously 'keep up' with all the current models (from every brand of phone) ?

they seem to get the exact details of the phone correct. (colour, materials, screen, clear camera, etc).

is it possible that they are Not fake, but actually 'Grey-Market' Phones ? (off the back of the lorry from the samsung factory)

or do you think they are real ?

i went there looking for a 2nd hand phone today, and it looks identical to the real one.

is there any way I can find out ?

do any of you know anyone that actually owns a shop there (to verify if the phones are real or fake?)

i really appreciate your replies

[ezzra]

Usually the price is a good indicator, if it's too cheap than it is not genuine phone..

Also look here...

http://visihow.com/Determine_Fake_vs._Real_Iphone

[peterjackson]

I was there earlier in the year. Unfortunately it's a mix of real, fake, refurbished and grey/parallel imports. You can usually get factory authorized or company owned service centers to verify the phones IMEI and SN, plus which country the phone was originally released in.

If you want guaranteed genuine, then you would have to pay a bit more and buy from the 'big boys'.

[bill1369]

I subscribe to what an old-time ex pat told me when I asked him years ago about buying an iPhone 4 at MBK.

He said for the amount of money an iPhone cost then (and now) do you want to run the risk of a copy or for some other reason the iPhone isn't quite suitable for Thailand?

On the other hand, I have bought cheap phones for friends of mine kids and they all work (until kid breaks or loses it.

Good luck.

[dddave]

New Android phones with decent specs can be had for less than B3000 at many of the larger mall stores such as J-Mart & Power Buy. I have shopped at MBK for phones in the past and found they always ask a higher price than retailers with posted prices. Even when they bargain down, there lowest price is usually higher. I would be very wary of any used phone, bought there or anywhere else. I understand many people buy used i-phones there but I would be sure to have somebody who really knows how to check then out along with you.

The sellers at MBK don't have the best reputation. Some stuff is real, some phony and a lot in between.

[Foexie]

Hi Easybullet3,

i don't know where you originaly come from but i desited to buy my new smartphone in my homeland.

Reason: my phone here was almost 8000bht cheaper then in Thailand. I compaired the price in Thailand with websites like DTAC and some other Thai shops with shops overhere.

I bought it with a genuine seller so i can be sure my phone isn't fake.

I just checked the price of Samsung S6 and S6 edge on the website of DTAC and checked one shop here. And the prices here are a little cheaper again. And this wasn't the cheapest shop i was looking at.

On the other site is what some here said that if they are really cheap you better keep your hands of.

A friend of my did visited Pattaya 2 years ago and an old friend of him who lived their went shopping with him. He bought 2 Samsung S5's for 6000 Bht. Lucky for my friend his cruiseship stayed 2 days in Pattaya. He charged the phones and 1 Phone had already a broken screen. So he went back to the shop. The replaced it but the phones didn't last for more then 6 months.

Back home he compaired the phones with his sons "real" S5 and couldn't see any difference outside or in the programs and software.

My idea is that those cheap shops ( can) sell genuine mobiles but that these mobiles failed in the factory. Instead of being destroyed they get in shops like that and buyers buy a genuine but scraped phones.

My advice is better check first the rates in your own country and compair with Thailand. And let somebody bring it to you from there or buy it when you go back home.

Regards, Foexie

[SWW]

It's a great place to get grey imports, and to sell second-hand phones

[anfh]

When the iphone 6 came out, a market stall in Patong had them for sale at 4500bht, they looked exactly like the real thing externally, however, when you look at the software, it looks very slightly differant from the IOS platform, it also said it was IOS 7. But the iphone 6 only came with IOS 8.

The software they use for the fakes is actually a " doctored" version of Android software.

The phone appeared to work as a phone etc, but obviosly you could never update it or download correct Apple apps.

According to one store in MBK they get their phones direct from China, some i guess are real, but you take your own chances in Thailand as with everything else you buy.

[phycokiller]

I dont shop there but generally they are pretty honest about weather they are fake or not if you ask them. they mostly arent trying to rip people off, the fakes are for people that want fakes, they are cheap because they have the same specs as a cheap phone.

[gandalf12]

If I know what phone I want, and I always do know, I go to the manufacturers outlet and buy from there

[schietkop]

I dont think many are copies, however what they do sella lot, besides the grey import stuff, are refurbished (renewwed) phones. These are often sold as new, you cannot see the difference from the outside and they come packed in sealed boxes. The motherboard inside i.e. has been repaired before and then they will add a new housing + display to make it new again. Price is your guideline. Even import phones the prices are not too far off with Thai local phones. If the prices are to good to be true its probably a refurbished phone.

You can do an IMEI check to see if its a real phone or not: http://www.imei.info/

Dial *#06# to see the IMEI number of your mobile

Edited September 20, 2015 by schietkop

[Fairynuff]

If I know what phone I want, and I always do know, I go to the manufacturers outlet and buy from there

So where in Bangkok is Samsung's outlet?

[schietkop]

If I know what phone I want, and I always do know, I go to the manufacturers outlet and buy from there

So where in Bangkok is Samsung's outlet?

There is 1 in MBK

[chiang mai]

If I know what phone I want, and I always do know, I go to the manufacturers outlet and buy from there

So where in Bangkok is Samsung's outlet?

Boonmitr Tower, 138 Silom Road.

[fireplay]

If I know what phone I want, and I always do know, I go to the manufacturers outlet and buy from there

So where in Bangkok is Samsung's outlet?

Fortune on ratchada @ rama 9

[Nemesis7]

Its upto you to believe what ever you want to. But let me give you a real scene and fact that happened to me. I went to buy iPhone 5 last year and almost bought it, while making the payment i decided to check on another piece of the same brand new phone kept on the side, as i checked the IMME num,bers and serial numbers of the phone it was exactly the same number?? so I just took a photo of it and walked away. went to another big store asked for the same intact boxed phone, switched on the brand new set and guess what? same serial and IMMe number. Went to a third shop and no more surprises as it was the same, So I understood what I had to. this year went to MBK and I bought a Iphone 6plus ^$ GB from Singapore and I didn't like the white color so wanted to exchange it at MBK, did exchange came back after a week the display and LCD was coming off, went to a local shop and they confirmed the LCD is a replacement one and wasnt original.. Im shocked but speechless, I cant blame anyone but me, knowing how these shops are I still exchanged the phone.

So its your call now.

[Nice Boyd]

I would Avoid all IT malls in Thailand, especialy Tuk Com in Pattaya,bunch of Con Artist in that place and never let anything out of ur sight,Scammed all of them,swapping parts out ,etc .jmho

Edited September 20, 2015 by Nice Boyd

[stoli]

When the iphone 6 came out, a market stall in Patong had them for sale at 4500bht, they looked exactly like the real thing externally, however, when you look at the software, it looks very slightly differant from the IOS platform, it also said it was IOS 7. But the iphone 6 only came with IOS 8.

The software they use for the fakes is actually a " doctored" version of Android software.

The phone appeared to work as a phone etc, but obviosly you could never update it or download correct Apple apps.

According to one store in MBK they get their phones direct from China, some i guess are real, but you take your own chances in Thailand as with everything else you buy.

There is no such thing as a iPhone copy. They are a Samsung copy inside. You can not cannot connect to any IOS service, such as APPS from Apple.

I have bought 2 copies of the Samsung, 4 & 5. Both worked about 3 months before they died. I, and this is just my opinion, think that Samsung takes their defect phones that have a problem, and sell them on the black market. Cheaper than going back to repair and fix them. Everyone is happy except the buyer. If the buyer is back in the states by then, who cares, except the buyer?

[Nice Boyd]

I was there earlier in the year. Unfortunately it's a mix of real, fake, refurbished and grey/parallel imports. You can usually get factory authorized or company owned service centers to verify the phones IMEI and SN, plus which country the phone was originally released in.

If you want guaranteed genuine, then you would have to pay a bit more and buy from the 'big boys'.

I brought in a USA phone, by the time they got done screwing with it,it was a British Telecom phone,and more expensive to change to Thai from American,Never Again do anything at IT stores in Thailand

[Nice Boyd]

When the iphone 6 came out, a market stall in Patong had them for sale at 4500bht, they looked exactly like the real thing externally, however, when you look at the software, it looks very slightly differant from the IOS platform, it also said it was IOS 7. But the iphone 6 only came with IOS 8.

The software they use for the fakes is actually a " doctored" version of Android software.

The phone appeared to work as a phone etc, but obviosly you could never update it or download correct Apple apps.

According to one store in MBK they get their phones direct from China, some i guess are real, but you take your own chances in Thailand as with everything else you buy.

There is no such thing as a iPhone copy. They are a Samsung copy inside. You can not cannot connect to any IOS service, such as APPS from Apple.

I have bought 2 copies of the Samsung, 4 & 5. Both worked about 3 months before they died. I, and this is just my opinion, think that Samsung takes their defect phones that have a problem, and sell them on the black market. Cheaper than going back to repair and fix them. Everyone is happy except the buyer. If the buyer is back in the states by then, who cares, except the buyer?

They sell Chinese copies at Tuk Com for around 9,000 baht

[elviajero]

Only the fake ones.

[wump]

Be aware that a lot of the second hand stuff is actually stolen goods.

Also, the real phones are cheap because for whatever reason phones in major retailers don't really get cheaper with time in Thailand. In Europe they would come out at say €600 and then gradually drop to €300 over a span of two years or so. In Thailand they would come out at let's say 21,990 Baht and then stay the same price for 2 years before disappearing from the market. Sure grey imports are cheaper then, often less than half price.

[lvr181]

Samsung shop also at Terminal 21.

[MiKT]

I bought a new Samsung 2 in Malaysia when I was there and it worked fine back here until I did a Samsung upgrade and the GPS stopped working. When I took it to the official Samsung repair in Pattaya they said they would have to replace the entire motherboard as it was not the same as a Thai board.

Cost 5000 Thb. New phone (at the time) 9000 Thb. Same story at the Samsung official dealer in MBK. I went to the 4th floor and a nice dealer who I had used to repair wife/daughters phones before offered to part exchange it for me a for new phone for 5000. It has worked well for 2 years and they downloaded the Sygic GPS for me which is excellent. The problem is not the OS software so much as the firmware as it is cheaper for Samsung to make slightly different motherboards with surface mounted frequency chips (to match the different countries) that are built with robots rather than f.... about loadiing and testing diferent software for each country. Most of the dealers in MBK are ok. But you will always face this problem with Samsung. If you buy it in the UK the official dealers will only repair it in the UK.etc. Good thing about MBK is they can usually repair any phone for a reasonable cost. Dont believe people who say dont buy IT kit in Thailand. I have bough lots of stuff in Pantip over the last 20 years and generally it has been fine. But I suppose you do need to know what you are buying.

Edited September 20, 2015 by MiKT

[HerbalEd]

New Android phones with decent specs can be had for less than B3000 at many of the larger mall stores such as J-Mart & Power Buy. I have shopped at MBK for phones in the past and found they always ask a higher price than retailers with posted prices. Even when they bargain down, there lowest price is usually higher. I would be very wary of any used phone, bought there or anywhere else. I understand many people buy used i-phones there but I would be sure to have somebody who really knows how to check then out along with you.

The sellers at MBK don't have the best reputation. Some stuff is real, some phony and a lot in between.

What, pray tell, is between a real phone and a fake one?

[HerbalEd]

New Android phones with decent specs can be had for less than B3000 at many of the larger mall stores such as J-Mart & Power Buy. I have shopped at MBK for phones in the past and found they always ask a higher price than retailers with posted prices. Even when they bargain down, there lowest price is usually higher. I would be very wary of any used phone, bought there or anywhere else. I understand many people buy used i-phones there but I would be sure to have somebody who really knows how to check then out along with you.

The sellers at MBK don't have the best reputation. Some stuff is real, some phony and a lot in between.

What, pray tell, is between a real phone and a fake one?

[BKKdreaming]

Best of both worlds , fake iPhone 6s which runs Android

maybe even a pink one !

[t8769]

I agree with ddave

Go to BigC or Tesco, get better prices, better service, better warranty and no hasstle return policy.

[easybullet3]

i checked the IMME numbers and serial numbers of the phone it was exactly the same number..

went to another big store.... same serial and IMMe number.

Went to a third shop and no more surprises as it was the same.

interesting...

i can undersatnd the IMEI number can be the same, (because it is something you can do while Flashing an Operating system on the phone with some semi-technical software).

but for a SERIAL num ber to be the same, i can only guess that they produce tonnes of stickers of the SAME serial number and stick them into phones.

I assume that this Serial number is a good one, so they just use it hundreds of times...

so if you call up samsung and ask if the serial number is ok, then Samsung will see it is a good serial number (and not fake).

but samsung has no idea the seial number has been copied on the sticker of hundreds of phones.

- just my guess.

[easybullet3]

Be aware that a lot of the second hand stuff is actually stolen goods.

Also, the real phones are cheap because for whatever reason phones in major retailers don't really get cheaper with time in Thailand. In Europe they would come out at say €600 and then gradually drop to €300 over a span of two years or so. In Thailand they would come out at let's say 21,990 Baht and then stay the same price for 2 years before disappearing from the market. Sure grey imports are cheaper then, often less than half price.

Yes, I imagine a lot of people lose their phones in Taxi's and the drivers go to MBK or somewhere to sell the phone.

if I buy a 2nd hand phone (which was formerly lost), can it be tracked to me and I end up having my phone taken away from me?

does the shop give me back my money in this instance (with the police co-operation) ?