Last week I realized that we should be careful shopping in Lowyat.

I wanted to buy a car charger for Samsung Galaxy S phone, so I just stopped by at Lowyat. I went into to a shop that looked like a Samsung reseller. I've asked if they had original car charger for Galaxy S phone and they said yes and quoted me a price 80RM. I told them I will have a look around and come back to them if needed. The salespeople (there was a guy and a girl) had a discussion among themselves and told me that they can give me a best price of 58RM. As it looked like a good deal and as I was in a hurry I said I would get it. The guy went over to another shop (which he said was a branch of theirs) and got me the charger. I did not care to ask for a receipt.

On my way out I stopped by a shop that sells third party phone accessories and found that the same charger was selling for 35RM. Sales person there told me that it was not original but a counterfeit.

The next day I tried to use the charger and realized it was not working at all. I should bring it back to the shop but with no receipt I cannot prove anything. I had to throw the charger away.

Eventually I bought a non branded multi-charger for RM20 from view net hub and it works like a charm with my phone.

Just thought of posting this story so others can be careful-

When buying things in lowyat
1. Always check in 2 or 3 shops and make sure you are not paying ridiculously high price.
2. Always ask for an official receipt for the items you buy (even if they are little items that you never expect not to work).
3. Sign boards and banners does not prove the authenticity of the shops. Look at the shop with banner "Samsung mobile" below, it looks like a sumsung reseller, but they are selling fake items (BTW, the guy in that photo is not the one who sold the item to me, it was another guy and a girl).

Cheers.

Yes you are right. I made a few purchases (even risky items like a 32GB microSD card) from lowyat forums, so for I did not encounter any issues. As you said, online sellers undergo a lot of scrutiny and are often reliable.