New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

I got my first detector about a year ago from a friend of a friend. It was a Whites GMT only a month old and paid only $850 for it. I was so excited to take it on my next trip down south.
first time out on the river and it was very frustrating trying to GB ,it just kept overloading. Very annoying sound. I thought something was up with it and it may be a fake so I emailed Whites the serial number just to check.
They emailed me back and said it was a genuine Whites detector so I read the manual again front to back and couldn't see where I was going wrong. It must just be me:)
Next trip down south and the detector was terrible so I email Whites and they say its a coil problem and send me a new coil free of charge. epic
Two more trips down south and 150hours under my belt without a spec of gold still trying to master the art of my "Whites GMT"
I emailed Whites to try and work out what was wrong with the detector ,ended up sending it back to US for repairs under warranty. I had to pay for shipping there and back, there anyway .
I got a email a month later from Whites telling me it is a counterfeit, cheaply made fake detector and that I should have known .
Whites have kept the counterfeit GMT and will not be sending anything back. They said it was up to me to track down the counterfeiter and get my money back threw the legal system. I cant even track down the guy I got it off ...
They told me in future to buy new only from a dealer. Not second hand ever.
The worst part was that Whites said it was real and I believed them for 100 more hours . Now they do not want anything to do with it.
The end.

Edited by user Saturday, 15 March 2014 4:31:04 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

best part is I can go and detect all the areas I have been :) I will not be using Whites anymore:( Fisher gold bug will be my next:)

$850 for a fake GMT = That sucks bro -

They only retail for around $300 delivered to your door ..........

That sounds like the USA's answer to everything = Buy from a reputable distributior, however this is somewhat impossible in some cases as the US manufacturers haVE STOPPED their reputable distributors from selling overseas, apparently to combat counterfiet metal detectors - Its actually backfired somewhat as it appears to be easier and cheaper to purchase items from China direct -

Headsup = there are also fake Gold Bug Pros - Teknetics G2's - GMT's - T2's all delivered to your door from the Chinese manufacturers for less than $300 ................. Seems like China have no worries selling internationally - Shame the USA has stopped that practise

What makes this story even sadder is the way Whites have brushed you off & yet YOU had done everything a loyal customer would - SHAME on them IMO -

I was looking at providing First Texas my findings regarding Chinese metal detectors as Mike Scott had requested anyone with a fake to send it to them so they could run tests on them - I was in the process of doing that until I read a message from their head engineer Dave J who stated that he would crush any fakes he recieved - Therefore I declined to send in the unit I had aquired as I didnt want to be out of pocket for doing what I thought was right -

Now by limiting their customers to where they have to buy their items from will most definately have a negative effect on trying to curb counterfiet metal detectors IMO -

How good are the Chinese copies? A lot better than what the Chinese bashers think

Looks = 100%
Performs = 85% (oh and they have the vision to throw in a arm cuff strap)

Dont get me wrong - I do NOT support Chinese copies, however I like to know what I am talking about so its inevitable that I had to at least look at whats on offer from China & how well they seem to emulate other designs - I actually went into this expecting that First Texas was indeed getting their units made in asia, but not telling the public, however this appears to be NOT the case as they state clearly that their units are US assembled except for a couple of the lower end Bounty Hunter models that are indeed made in China -

Finally China cant be all that bad - If anyone knows metal detecting then they would have heard of Dave Johnson
http://www.fisherlab.com...th%20David%20Johnson.pdf

As I am aware Mr Dave J is happily living with his second Chinese girlfriend which clearly proves that everything made in China cant be all that bad

Edited by user Saturday, 15 March 2014 7:39:31 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I use White's detectors they are good machines . Have always brought new from dealer would highly recommend them. Dual field all the way !!!

thanks for the support. It was my first detector and I didn't know about counterfeits back then. I heard GMTs were good detectors. The Chinese made a terrible replica but I wouldn't know because I have never used a real one to compeer.
They did offer me paper work saying that is was a counterfeit and said it was illegal to send back the counterfeit unit.
Its hard when Whites cant tell you if its real or not without looking at it but they wont tell you that.
I just got a new Whites dual field just before all this. Its an epic detector ,run very good first time out with it. Im guessing the GMT would be good also .
I didn't know Whites would tell you it was real when they wouldn't have a clue.
My bad, shouldn't buy things with out checking serial numbers first lol:)

Edited by user Sunday, 16 March 2014 7:35:40 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

thanks Shilo but I have tried. here's what they said

Dear Jamie Pell

We are sorry you were swindled regarding your purchase of a counterfeit of a White’s product.

We as well were swindled as a result of your purchase, both by the Chinese for the product, and by yourself for significant warranty and shipping expenses.

Purchasing from a White’s Authorized Dealer is the best way to assure you are purchasing a genuine White’s products.

Another obvious indicator, used GMT models sell at higher prices than even brand new counterfeits. Unusually cheap price... it is a counterfeit.

Another obvious indicator, counterfeits do not work correctly or perform well.

Any and all compensation due yourself, you must seek from who it was that you purchased the counterfeit product from.

Unless curtailing the specific counterfeiter who sold to you can be achieved, we are not interested in spending additional money on this situation.

sincerely Whites electronics

...I paid a high price and how was I to know how it was suppose to preform. Whites will not help me:(
I hated that detector and didn't care if it came back or not. I was going to sale it when I thought it was real but glad I didn't rip anyone off.

so wheres whites proof that it is infact a counterfeit product? ask for photos and documentation of YOUR unit detailing the signs it is counterfeit. there is also a chance you sent a faulty genuine to be repaired and they've BS you outve a detector/repair.

Would any company do that? If you brought a watch and sent it to Rolex who advised it was a fake - would you expect them to give you a legit replacement? What would stop people deliberately buying fakes then sending them in so they can get a legit one?

This is not exclusively a Whites policy. All companies no matter what they make would do the same when they come across a counterfeit. The problem are the counterfeiters - they are the ones ripping people off.

Great point ...

So how do you check whether something is authentic or not?

I contact the manufacturer direct & usually believe what they tell me - if they tell me lies then I dont use them again - SIMPLE

As for the Chinese they appear to have no problems shipping their products overseas - The USA however do & most of their manufacturers will NOT let their reputable US dealers sell to you or me direct - That then limits us to buying off a local dealer (if we have one) at a price that will not be competitive - Now its not rocket science to work out that its easier to get Chinese copies than the authentic machines from the USA ............

Or you could buy used units from the USA (but Whites dont recommend buying used machines) & still run the risk of getting some cheap copy that Whites have assured you its authentic until you put it in for a service, then they steal it - Great business ethics

Combating counterfiet metal detectors by making it harder to buy the real deal & stating counterfiets are real to their customers is certainly not helping anyone IMO

Edited by user Sunday, 16 March 2014 12:01:21 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified