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Authenticity is Everything
WARNING! Elton John's store selling Autopens as real
FB RACC members who bought these sold as signed by Elton John in his store have compared theirs—they're Autopens, essentially identical.
Infuriating!
Tags: autopen, elton john, store
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bryan RW on
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Actually, no. They were all very different. However. Some of them had the classic 'E' that Elton has signed with for decades, but the majority of them had a different stylised 'E'. I'm not saying that they weren't genuine, just different. They were clearly not stamped or Autopen
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May I add my perspective? I'm waiting for my print to be delivered and I'm obviously disappointed by this revelation. I have checked the email I have from the Elton John store. It states that the print costs £0.01. So it's not exactly 'free'. Anyway... It states 'signed'. And these prints ARE 'signed'. They just aren't individually hand signed by Elton John! See the point? If these had been marketed as 'hand signed' or 'autographed' then I think we'd have a reasonable claim for refunds etc. But the fact is, they were sold as 'signed' prints and they HAVE been signed - by a machine! Yes, it's sneaky. Yes, purchasers do have a reasonable expectation that 'signed' means hand signed, but the fact is, 'hand' isn't mentioned, and neither is 'autographed'. I wonder though what the store will say to customers if we complain? As they said in the store site that the prints would be sent 'in the autumn' (which was more than 28 days after the initial sales), I don't think that they would have a case to say "sorry, too late" because the prints were clearly part of the bundle sales (they weren't 'free' remember) and the fact is, the product has only just been sent out so couldn't be examined until now. They could I guess say "ok, send back the print and we'll refund £0.01" but as it's part of an overall bundle (you couldn't buy the print separately) I think their argument might crumble. In the end, this could all come down to semantics...
Update: I just re-looked at the email again and touched the 'order history' link. I got a 404 error stating "Sorry! We can't find the page you're looking for..."
Hmm....
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From their FAQ
All our Signed products will include hand-written signatures from our Artists to offer exclusive authentic signed products. If a signature is a printed copy, this will be labelled clearly on the product page within the additional information section on the product listing.
Please note, the majority of our signed products do not include a certificate of authenticity unless this is stated otherwise on the product listing page.
No semantics there…
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ABSOLUTELY! I didn't see that. But. The link to my order is now a 404. I received mine 10 minutes ago. Of course it's an obvious autopen, and like most people's, bent! If it WAS real, I'd still be a bit annoyed at how it was received
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Permalink Reply by Jor-El on
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Seeing it's Universal I wouldn't be surprised if they don't accept returns of the music products.
I'm not sure about the UK since Brexit, but EU law states that consumers have a 14 day cooling off period in which they can return the order for any reason. The 14 days only start to count when the complete order has been delivered.
Even if UK law does not have the same provision I don't think this will ever hold up in court, especially in Europe where judges consider the weaker position of the consumer (ie. they don't often let companies get away by playing dumb - the "draw" of the bundle is the signed print, you couldn't buy it separately so it's understood to be an all-or-nothing deal).
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Whether the print is $0.01 or free they marketed the picture disc will come with an Item signed (and their faqs say all items from artists are hand signed) to sell more which is fraud. This was a marketing strategy to sell more items quickly
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It's so clear to see the telltale judders and hard starts/endings where the autopen starts and stops
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Just a quick query to everyone else who has been duped by this - is everyone seeking a return by contacting Universal with a complaint, or are people following the provided link to Royal Mail to print a free returns label and just hoping they’ll accept both the signed print and the picture disc? I’m unsure which to pursue!
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I have sent them an email and returned via the Royal Mail free returns for one order via credit card.
My second order I have not received the print or CD, emailed, told them not to bother and filed a PP claim.
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Thank you! I have done the same. I think that you are right, the best approach is to be as bullish as possible and give them few opportunities to cause further problems. I have received the aforementioned free returns label from Royal Mail and I’m going to ship them the order in its entirety using that. I have then emailed to express my disappointment and inform them that I will be returning, using the 28 day window for “item not as described” for the full order.
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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on
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this practice of selling autopens as authentic has put a cloud of suspicion over these items advertised as authentic. Makes me wonder if the celeb is always aware of this. We know that Dylan was. I just dont understand why it so difficult for someone to sign their name if they are getting paid for it.
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