Authenticate4U.com experiences?

[Gabs007]

I bought a Prada wallet on eBay a few months ago and it came with the Authenticate4U certificate, it wasn't even leather, it was plastic, reeked of plastic, shoddy workmanship, done by the Glasgow department, how they could declare it as authentic is beyond me. The particular wallet is one I had and it was stolen ages ago, not available in their catalogue and hasn't been for ages, so I was checking every resale website. Then had a bit of a song and dance as apparently eBay backs them. The pictures looked perfectly fine. Seller claimed s/he buys from airport auctions, she relies on Authenticate4U and is not responsible for their mistakes... If it would have been something for around 100 I would have been tempted to just let it go...
The annoying thing is, I want that particular wallet for purely sentimental reasons (and of course because I like the design) but I honestly don't want a cheap plastic fake

 

[Love Of My Life]

I bought a Prada wallet on eBay a few months ago and it came with the Authenticate4U certificate, it wasn't even leather, it was plastic, reeked of plastic, shoddy workmanship, done by the Glasgow department, how they could declare it as authentic is beyond me. The particular wallet is one I had and it was stolen ages ago, not available in their catalogue and hasn't been for ages, so I was checking every resale website. Then had a bit of a song and dance as apparently eBay backs them. The pictures looked perfectly fine. Seller claimed s/he buys from airport auctions, she relies on Authenticate4U and is not responsible for their mistakes... If it would have been something for around 100 I would have been tempted to just let it go...
The annoying thing is, I want that particular wallet for purely sentimental reasons (and of course because I like the design) but I honestly don't want a cheap plastic fake

I don't know how long ago (more than 90days?) you made the purchase & if you did with a credit card, you may still be able to file a claim.
Can you reach out to your cc? It might be worth a shot.
Sorry that you made a purchase that didn't turn out to be what you expected.

 

[BeenBurned]

I bought a Prada wallet on eBay a few months ago and it came with the Authenticate4U certificate, it wasn't even leather, it was plastic, reeked of plastic, shoddy workmanship, done by the Glasgow department, how they could declare it as authentic is beyond me. The particular wallet is one I had and it was stolen ages ago, not available in their catalogue and hasn't been for ages, so I was checking every resale website. Then had a bit of a song and dance as apparently eBay backs them. The pictures looked perfectly fine. Seller claimed s/he buys from airport auctions, she relies on Authenticate4U and is not responsible for their mistakes... If it would have been something for around 100 I would have been tempted to just let it go...
The annoying thing is, I want that particular wallet for purely sentimental reasons (and of course because I like the design) but I honestly don't want a cheap plastic fake

Did you verify with A4U that they authenticated the item? I have no idea whether they did authenticate and possibly erred or if their certificate was forged. (It's happened in the past.)

 

[Gabs007]

Did you verify with A4U that they authenticated the item? I have no idea whether they did authenticate and possibly erred or if their certificate was forged. (It's happened in the past.)

They never replied to me when I mailed them and asked how this could slip through. Actually yes, it could have been forged as it was only a print out, the seller has it on all the auctions that the items are authenticated by A4U and really had great reviews and the print out was not really high quality.

 

[Love Of My Life]

They never replied to me when I mailed them and asked how this could slip through. Actually yes, it could have been forged as it was only a print out, the seller has it on all the auctions that the items are authenticated by A4U and really had great reviews and the print out was not really high quality.

If your seller has many auctions of which A4U has authenticated the item(s) you should likely try to reach out
to confirm that indeed your item was authentic. The seller would be taking a big chance having many certificates
that were not authentic..
A4U is not great or timely in responding but nonetheless keep trying & with this worldwide pandemic its probably
even more challenging to get A4U to respond which is unfortunate
Is it too late for a credit card dispute as this may be your best option

 

[Gabs007]

If your seller has many auctions of which A4U has authenticated the item(s) you should likely try to reach out
to confirm that indeed your item was authentic. The seller would be taking a big chance having many certificates
that were not authentic..
A4U is not great or timely in responding but nonetheless keep trying & with this worldwide pandemic its probably
even more challenging to get A4U to respond which is unfortunate
Is it too late for a credit card dispute as this may be your best option

I actually handed it over to Prada (dealt with them in the past on a professional basis as a journo), who weren't best pleased, with all the documentation, auction number, etc, since there was the brush off from the seller and basically ZERO response from A4U, as for A4U not being great on timely response, you can say that again, because despite a pandemic, we are talking late January, now it is heading towards the end of June, that is SOME response time, since the seller blamed it on A4U (though I didn't have a deal with A4U but him) and told me to take it up with them, I thought maybe he wants to take it up with the company who owns the copyright and can be quite protective of their intellectual property.... There is always the option that the seller might have submitted pictures of an authentic item, but hey, that is now his problem. I got quite angry when he sort of hinted between the lines that since he got it authenticated and he receives a fake, he will accuse me of a switch and just went "If you want to play hardball, play hardball with the big guys..." From experience, I do know that most of the fashion companies work together when it comes to fakes, as they equally suffer from the devaluation of their products due to fakes, so the let's hope that his other items are all real, or else he might just get a bit of a shock and figure out that he is actually responsible for what he sells!

 

[BeenBurned]

I bought a Prada wallet on eBay a few months ago and it came with the Authenticate4U certificate, it wasn't even leather, it was plastic, reeked of plastic, shoddy workmanship, done by the Glasgow department, how they could declare it as authentic is beyond me. The particular wallet is one I had and it was stolen ages ago, not available in their catalogue and hasn't been for ages, so I was checking every resale website. Then had a bit of a song and dance as apparently eBay backs them. The pictures looked perfectly fine. Seller claimed s/he buys from airport auctions, she relies on Authenticate4U and is not responsible for their mistakes... If it would have been something for around 100 I would have been tempted to just let it go...
The annoying thing is, I want that particular wallet for purely sentimental reasons (and of course because I like the design) but I honestly don't want a cheap plastic fake

Did you verify with A4U that they authenticated the item? I have no idea whether they did authenticate and possibly erred or if their certificate was forged. (It's happened in the past.)

Did you have it looked at on the "authenticate this Prada" subforum?

I'm trying to consider various possibilities.

 

[Love Of My Life]

I actually handed it over to Prada (dealt with them in the past on a professional basis as a journo), who weren't best pleased, with all the documentation, auction number, etc, since there was the brush off from the seller and basically ZERO response from A4U, as for A4U not being great on timely response, you can say that again, because despite a pandemic, we are talking late January, now it is heading towards the end of June, that is SOME response time, since the seller blamed it on A4U (though I didn't have a deal with A4U but him) and told me to take it up with them, I thought maybe he wants to take it up with the company who owns the copyright and can be quite protective of their intellectual property.... There is always the option that the seller might have submitted pictures of an authentic item, but hey, that is now his problem. I got quite angry when he sort of hinted between the lines that since he got it authenticated and he receives a fake, he will accuse me of a switch and just went "If you want to play hardball, play hardball with the big guys..." From experience, I do know that most of the fashion companies work together when it comes to fakes, as they equally suffer from the devaluation of their products due to fakes, so the let's hope that his other items are all real, or else he might just get a bit of a shock and figure out that he is actually responsible for what he sells!

Would hate to see someone else "duped'..The response from the seller may be more revealing that he would care to admit...
And it is most unfortunate that A4U hasn't responded since late January which was way before the pandemic......

 

[Gabs007]

Did you have it looked at on the "authenticate this Prada" subforum?

I'm trying to consider various possibilities.

Nope, no need to, having worked with Prada in the past, the pictures looked absolutely fine a tad overexposed, I was exited to find that particular wallet (one of the few that has a coin purse, credit card slots and departments for paper money without a zipper and fits into a jeans back pocket) but then again I was possibly naive to think that it might just be somebody not being good with a camera and having in bold letters that the items are all checked by A4U. I could have dealt with a "Sorry, sent it back, I relied on the company" as mistakes do happen but the hint that he will hold me responsible for palming off a fake on him and I should take it up with A4U (who really seem to play dead) had me fuming

 

[Gabs007]

Would hate to see someone else "duped'..The response from the seller may be more revealing that he would care to admit...
And it is most unfortunate that A4U hasn't responded since late January which was way before the pandemic......

The fact that A4U didn't respond, at all, not even a "Sorry, we have no record of this" to several attempts made me think that I am not really too keen on them, for the seller, the 160 he got from me (170 with sending) will not make much of a dent in what the company will demand in damages and violation of trade mark, etc. I tried to trawl through my eBay items and it seems too far back to show up in purchases, I have to search my emails

 

[Love Of My Life]

Nope, no need to, having worked with Prada in the past, the pictures looked absolutely fine a tad overexposed, I was exited to find that particular wallet (one of the few that has a coin purse, credit card slots and departments for paper money without a zipper and fits into a jeans back pocket) but then again I was possibly naive to think that it might just be somebody not being good with a camera and having in bold letters that the items are all checked by A4U. I could have dealt with a "Sorry, sent it back, I relied on the company" as mistakes do happen but the hint that he will hold me responsible for palming off a fake on him and I should take it up with A4U (who really seem to play dead) had me fuming

There are many issues with A4U that have been shared here on tPF with regard to lack of responding in a timely manner
& figuring out which is the best way to contact them which can be quite frustrating when time is of the essence
Again unfortunate that you didn't get a response which reeks of lack of professionalism..

 

[BeenBurned]

@Gabs007
Another followup PM!

 

[Gabs007]

@Gabs007
Another followup PM!

I replied, but I have been trawling through it, while I usually only bought the odd thing, due to the lockdown and having had Covid I was ordering tons of stuff for the pets, from cat litter to catnip, to dog beds, dried pigs ears, even regular stuff like sponges, dish cloths, socks. bed linens, bit of a shock how much I spent, stuff you usually don't even notice, there are thousands of transactions and the filtering for time on PP brings up an error. I totally agree with you, there seems to be something odd with the seller, as I said, partially possibly my fault for believing in a reasonable price (I tend to be more careful if it is too good to be true) and thinking that a relatively new seller (I think the account was only a few weeks old but had an almost 99% positive rating with over 300 transactions), I recall when I got rid of a few things, it was 15 per month first and then increased, so I assumed because of the status and the "buy from airline luggage auctions" and "all items authenticated by Authenticate4you and come with certificate" that it was kosher. It is really not the end of the world or a big hit financially, it was really more the way it was handled. I totally get it that mistakes happen but the adult and gown up way is to sort them, not to threaten, I really dislike being threatened

 

[Love Of My Life]

I replied, but I have been trawling through it, while I usually only bought the odd thing, due to the lockdown and having had Covid I was ordering tons of stuff for the pets, from cat litter to catnip, to dog beds, dried pigs ears, even regular stuff like sponges, dish cloths, socks. bed linens, bit of a shock how much I spent, stuff you usually don't even notice, there are thousands of transactions and the filtering for time on PP brings up an error. I totally agree with you, there seems to be something odd with the seller, as I said, partially possibly my fault for believing in a reasonable price (I tend to be more careful if it is too good to be true) and thinking that a relatively new seller (I think the account was only a few weeks old but had an almost 99% positive rating with over 300 transactions), I recall when I got rid of a few things, it was 15 per month first and then increased, so I assumed because of the status and the "buy from airline luggage auctions" and "all items authenticated by Authenticate4you and come with certificate" that it was kosher. It is really not the end of the world or a big hit financially, it was really more the way it was handled. I totally get it that mistakes happen but the adult and gown up way is to sort them, not to threaten, I really dislike being threatened

There are many items that are authentic that are priced reasonably on eBay. Don't think this is your fault at all
You trusted the seller based on their history/feedback & caliber of designer items & with a certificate from
A4U that you had no reason to question or doubt
At times it doesn't always come to down to what a buyer spent but rather the principle & in this case
a threatening message from the seller & not handling himself better is just inappropriate...

 

[BeenBurned]

so I assumed because of the status and the "buy from airline luggage auctions" and "all items authenticated by Authenticate4you and come with certificate" that it was kosher. It is really not the end of the world or a big hit financially, it was really more the way it was handled. I totally get it that mistakes happen but the adult and gown up way is to sort them, not to threaten, I really dislike being threatened

Can you send a copy of the certificate privately? I can compare to my own PDFs for items I've had authenticated.