vanessaFrance

One final word : if you're looking at buying a professional sewing machine in Marseille, beware ! Don't hesitate to send me a PM and I'll tell you if your seller is the one who cheated on me. Cheers !

So... My boyfriend and I went to confront the guy.. He argued for a few minutes, claiming I bought a secondhand machine (so what?), and that he's not responsible if it's a fake. He then tried to question whether it was actually a fake, at which I point I said an expert had seen the machine and confirmed it was a fake (the expert being you guys! ). I showed him the forged plate, mentioned the missing Pfaff engravings, and alluded to the fact we had made screenshots of his online store showing more fake machines. That and the threat of a heavy fine should we go to the police, did the job. He offered a check, which I turned down. We demanded cash, which ended up with my boyfriend escorting the guy to an ATM. We took the cash, gave the machine back, and got away. Piece of cake !!! A BIG thank you to everyone, specially Mike. You have been very helpful. Expect to read a new thread from me soon, the topic being : so now that I got my money back, what machine do I buy ???

My apologies, Mike, but I have been busy like crazy preparing the meeting and gathering all the evidence I could find... We are off to Marseille. Fingers crossed

That would have been a great idea, time-permitting... Unfortunately we won't have time to buy one.

A quick update : I explained my problem on a French-language forum (cuir-creation, for you French speakers out there), and got contacted by a very helpful and knowledegeable gentleman who confirmed my machine is a fake, selling for approximately 30% less under its original brand. I provided him with a link to my seller's online store on "Le Bon Coin" (kind of a French version of Craig's List), and guess what ? It didn't take him long to spot a picture of a fake Durkopp Adler splitter. DA doesn't even make splitters, according to him. Which goes to show the guy is probably a "professional" crook, and will make my case a more compelling one : the police will probably treat the case more diligently if they realize he is a "chain-forger"...

I'm actually French, but use my boyfriend's English command to interact with you guys ! I went to the gendarmerie nearest to my place, and was pleasantly surprised at their willingness to help and give advice. In Marseille I'll have to go to the police, and it will be a whole different story there... Anyway thanks for offering to help. I will PM you.

Thanks to everyone for their help... the parts pictures showing the engravings were particularly helpful !!!! Even though they just serve to confirm my machine is definitely not a genuine Pfaff... I don't know about the countries you live in, but it seems forged professional sewing machines are commonplace on classified ads website... Too bad I had to learn it the hard way. Anyway Friday should bring answers, since this is when we're going to the store and confront the owner. As you can imagine my boyfriend is just as pissed as I am, so we're in for some tense moments... I will keep you posted !

Well, I've frequently had trouble winding the bobbin, to a point that the bobbin winder does not rotate anymore. I discovered the fraud while investigating this problem. Other than that the machine has done an OK job so far...

Here you go... The first picture is actually the plastic cover on the left of the machine. I had trouble finding the right angle, but if you look closely you'll see the letters "ICAL"... The picture doesn't show the other letters, but looking closely at the cover one can easily read "Typical". The second picture is the serial number plate, which I figure is Typical's original plate : part of the model name was erased (probably the letters "PW3"), and "PFAFF" was added in big red letters just above. You can even see that the paint on the machine body was scratched when the plate was removed. It may look plain to see, but I can assure you that unless all those details are pointed out to you, they're hard to spot. Other than that, as you can see from the two remaining pictures, the machine resembles a LOT the actual Pfaff 335. It even came with a user manual which I found out to be for the Typical clone (it's available online), with the pages showing the actual brand name removed. Pretty elaborate, isn't it ? I read somewhere that Pfaff has their sewing machine made in China, but whether they are made in the same factory as the other brands (as assumed by Constabulary) remains uncertain to me. If anyone can substantiate that hypothesis, I'd be interested... We went to the police earlier today : they suggested that we confront the reseller and file a complaint if he refuses to admit and compensate us. I'm in the process of gathering evidence, hoping it will be compelling enough that the guy has no choice but to acknowledge the machine is a fake, and compensate me. Falling victim to such a fraud is definitely not the best way to start your own leatherwork business...

I bought it as as second hand, however the retailer also runs a repair shop, so I think it is safe to assume he's had enough sewing machines in his hands to tell one brand from another... And as you rightly point out, under French law at least, he is responsible. The serial number format does not match Pfaff's for the 335, so I didn't even care to call them. I'll post pictures in a forthcoming message

Hello everyone, I bought what I thought was a used genuine Pfaff 335 from a reseller based in Marseille, France, only to figure out months later that the machine was actually a typical TW3-P335 made to look like a Pfaff : fake serial number plate, fake Pfaff lettering... Looking closely, one can even read the word "Typical" on a plastic cover, which obviously couldn't be completely erased. I am about to confront the seller and try to obtain compensation, but before I do so I'd like to pick the brains of the esteemed members of this forum : 1) is there a way to identify beyond doubt a genuine Pfaff sewing machine ? The serial number plate on mine is a fake one, so it would have to be something that can't be altered, like a marking on the machine's body. Pfaff boasts they put a counterfeit-proof sticker on their machines, but as you could expect there is no such sticker on mine. 2) reciprocally, is there a way to identify beyond doubt a Typical sewing machine ? The plastic cover bearing the erased "Typical" word can be easily removed, so again I was hoping for something more solid, like an engraving on the machine body, or a particular feature that would be Typical's signature 3) How good (or bad) exactly are Typical sewing machines ? At first I thought they were just low quality "copycats", but having searched the forums on this website, it seems they are pretty decent. That won't change anything to the fact I've been cheated on badly, but at least I'll know the extent of the scam... I'm not sure whether there are French members on this site, but if you happen to be in France and looking at buying a professional sewing machine for a reseller in Marseille, feel free to send me a PM. Cheers, Vanessa