APX ripoff WARNING

[MTS2000des]

Want to make as many folks aware, there have been a round of bogus scams involving high end Motorola radios, especially APX radios- on everyone's favorite auction site, and some forums.

For the record: Motorola never sold APX radios with "legit serial numbers" and "no tags." These are usually ALT (accelerated life testing) radios which are sometimes beat to crap inside and have been subjected to abuse beyond belief. They are DANGEROUS if used by any mission critical user.

Buy a SELLER not the item. If you see a deal that is too good to be true, it most likely is. A properly vetted, with all documentation APX7000 dual band portable radio shouldn't sell for any less than $2500-2800 depending on it's flash options and accessories. Any seller should be able to provide the serial number to you, and you should be able to get a verified history on the radio BEFORE purchase.

The latest Ebay fraudsters involve stealing photos from well respected Ebay and radio community sellers and putting fake ads for high end radios at absurdly low prices. A $400 APX7000....really? If you fall for this, you deserve to get screwed. this particular seller has already taken one sucker. Don't be the next one:

Motorola apx 7000 Two Way Radio UHF 800 P25 APCO TDMA 818382012623 | eBay

Folks, do your research. if you are planning on spending hundreds, or thousands of dollars with a stranger- then spend a couple of hours researching the SELLER. Don't be afraid to ask for a phone number. Any LEGITIMATE seller would be happy to chat on the phone with a potential buyer sending him/her thousands of dollars for a purchase. Anyone who is dodgy or refuses to provide references, has minimal feedback, or is evasive or uses sketchy ads with "Ebay mobile"....well, RUN don't WALK far far away.

If it seems to good to be true, it is. If you're dumb enough to fall for crap like this, well, quite frankly you get what you deserve. you've been warned.

 

[b7spectra]

Well, it went for a great deal at $425! It was probably just the manual anyway!

 

[Skypilot007]

I've been seeing those ads. Some one should put that seller in a tractor tire and roll him down a ski slope!

 

[davo51]

Well, it went for a great deal at $425! It was probably just the manual anyway!

According to the feedback, it was never shipped

 

[SquierStrat]

If it would have shipped, that would have been a pretty good deal. IF the person knew exactly what they were in for. People buy extremely low priced "accelerated life testing" xts2500/xts5000s from Panter88 on ebay all the time. He has 100% feedback on ebay, and great reviews on other ham/radio related sites. this one included. Of course, everyone knows his radios are not mission critical safe.


I couldnt have said that any better though. DEFINITELY research the seller before spending that kind of $$$

 

[FFPM571]

all their auctions have been taken down.. The idiot who got taken for the $425 deals in high tier Motorola radios a lot from his feedback. He should have known there is no such thing as a cheap APX.. The old too good to be true.. It probably is.. adage applies

 

[W8RMH]

all their auctions have been taken down.. The idiot who got taken for the $425 deals in high tier Motorola radios a lot from his feedback. He should have known there is no such thing as a cheap APX.. The old too good to be true.. It probably is.. adage applies

Ebay will refund his money through their Buyer Protection Plan.

 

[FFPM571]

Ebay will refund his money through their Buyer Protection Plan.

yeaaahh.... right.... and that takes how long??

 

[rdale]

Usually about 2-3 days once you file a claim. I've never had a problem with unshipped merchandise refunds.

 

[SCPD]

Usually about 2-3 days once you file a claim. I've never had a problem with unshipped merchandise refunds.

i once had a refund take 2 months.
Anyways i bet its just a photograph the buyer gets LOL

 

[Kdogg150]

Looks like the scammer is buying radios with other people's cash judging by his recent buyer's feedback

 

[SquierStrat]

lol, yeah looks like hes building a nice little shack. Too bad he'll have to pay everyone back, or let his credit go to hell

 

[FFPM571]

these kind of people don't care. It will most likely end up as a write off by paypal and then they can go after him legally. Civil or criminal depending on the amount

 

[MTS2000des]

thanks to the valiant efforts of some on another forum and the radio community, Motorola Solutions IS working hard to get these bogus and counterfeit tagged ALT radios off the market, as well as to put a stop to the sales of stolen radio programming software.

This is a great video showing what those great Ebay gems go through, and will give you a great idea of what you are getting when you think you're getting such a "great deal" on that Ebay APX radio.

If you want a LEGITIMATE radio buy the SELLER and expect to pay accordingly. The only SURE bet is to buy from a Motorola Solutions Authorized Dealer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlaPbv6s8Cg

 

[SCPD]

thanks to the valiant efforts of some on another forum and the radio community, Motorola Solutions IS working hard to get these bogus and counterfeit tagged ALT radios off the market, as well as to put a stop to the sales of stolen radio programming software.

This is a great video showing what those great Ebay gems go through, and will give you a great idea of what you are getting when you think you're getting such a "great deal" on that Ebay APX radio.

If you want a LEGITIMATE radio buy the SELLER and expect to pay accordingly. The only SURE bet is to buy from a Motorola Solutions Authorized Dealer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlaPbv6s8Cg

Scarey...thanks for that video !

 

[MTS2000des]

there is a thread on P25.ca about what the ALT radios go through, and they are not pretty. They may be fine for hobbyist use, but no way they should EVER be in the hands of anyone who's life depends on it. I wouldn't even hand one to a school bookkeeper. They are scrap.
Certainly not worth the thousands people pay for them.

The problem with liquid damage is the failure may not occur the same day of the exposure. It can puddle underneath shields, and electrolysis may set in. Then, one day- poof. A fail code here, a power cycle there. Blank screen. You get the idea. Would you REALLY want your life or the lives of others to rely on this? I think not. Some of them have been zapped with high voltage hundreds of times (to simulate ESD).

And since these radios were never intended to be sold to the general public, Motorola (or any manufacturer) owes an end user who winds up with them nothing. Oh, your Ebay APX bricked during a routine firmware upgrade? Too bad, so sad for you.

I am glad they are taking this seriously. These bogus products can give them a bad name at minimum, and at worst, someone can get hurt or killed.

If you bought one of these and you have not done so already, you should have it looked over by a qualified person. If there are any signs of internal damage or evidence of ALT, you should NOT use it for any life safety use.

Furthermore, no different than a car damaged in a flood, you should always inform any subsequent owner that the unit is a salvage/scrapped radio and is not intended for public safety use of any kind.

Unlike the morons who commented on the video I posted who claim these radios are "nothing wrong" and a "great value", this is NOT a "rental car" type of lightly used product. It is a product pulled off the production line or development lab and subjected to the WORST abuse possible- not the same as some "salesman's demo" or "desk queen". A new housing may hide the scars for those nice shiny Ebay photos, but at the end of the day, you can't polish a turd.

 

[SCPD]

Every time I see a listing for pirated Motorola CPS on Ebay, I report it to them but I don't think they care. Also tried Motorola for some kind of software piracy hotline or address but have not been successful. Pisses me off that people do that and hope they get busted.

 

[SCPD]

Every time I see a listing for pirated Motorola CPS on Ebay, I report it to them but I don't think they care. Also tried Motorola for some kind of software piracy hotline or address but have not been successful. Pisses me off that people do that and hope they get busted.

Narc LOL jk good for you...it is bs and Kenwood doesn't care about pirated software either.

 

[Mars_P25]

Every time I see a listing for pirated Motorola CPS on Ebay, I report it to them but I don't think they care. Also tried Motorola for some kind of software piracy hotline or address but have not been successful. Pisses me off that people do that and hope they get busted.

Hi there. You likely haven't been successful in contacting the right people at Motorola.

Last week, Motorola Solutions reached out to us (at P25.ca Forums) and asked if we would assist them in making our community a safer place by assisting with the Accelerated Life Tested (ALT) APX radio situation (read MTS2000DES' post above) and eliminating pirated software/Depot/Lab sales from eBay. We are more than willing to assist. Some of the scumbags selling the software on eBay are also members of both forums. (RR and P25). We want them gone.

Motorola set up a dedicated email account to handle reports from the community. Emails are routed to the manager of global investigations, and he will respond to you directly. I've had the pleasure of conversing with him and helping organize these efforts, and things are going to start to change for the better. It's not about "ratting", it's about saving people from blowing $2800 on a piece of crap ALT APX, or seeing more "labbed" radios floating around with invalid firmware/features and model numbers, which brick when upgraded by legit CPS.

You may reach Motorola security at: KQVP68@motorolasolutions.com

Additional information/explanation is available in this post:

https://www.p25.ca/threads/4295-Unauthorized-sales-of-Motorola-software-illegitimate-APX-radios

Hopefully Lindsay doesn't mind me posting this here, as the "cleanup" will benefit both of our sites.

 

[WayneH]

Hopefully Lindsay doesn't mind me posting this here, as the "cleanup" will benefit both of our sites.

We're all good.