Counterfeit Sawyer® MINI™ Water Filters Sold on Third Party Online Marketplaces
Safety Harbor, FL – October 25, 2018 – For over 30 years, Sawyer Products has been dedicated to offering more effective and reliable products for outdoor protection. Using science and rigorous testing, we’ve developed the most advanced and easy to use solutions in water treatment, insect repellent, sunscreen, and first aid.
Within the last two weeks Sawyer noticed irregularities in some products advertised as Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filters sold by third party sellers on online marketplaces. After reviewing and obtaining numerous suspect units Sawyer confirmed that several third parties are using these online platforms to sell counterfeit Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filters which bear Sawyer’s registered trademark, packaging and UPC.
To the best of Sawyer’s knowledge, the counterfeit units have only been Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filters available for purchase on online platforms through third party sellers, and have not been found in any domestic retail bricks and mortar channels. This information may change as it is impossible to survey all stock on all channels.
If you purchased your Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filter from an authorized bricks and mortar store you should have an authentic Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filter in your hands and you should not have to check for authenticity. Similarly, we have worked with Amazon to contact and proactively refund impacted customers. If you received the email, please throw the item away. If you did not receive the email, no further action is needed. If you purchased your Sawyer® Mini™ online from Ebay, or an unauthorized dealer you MAY have purchased a counterfeit. If you purchased Sawyer® Mini™ Water Filters and you believe your product may be counterfeit, please contact Sawyer at the email provided below.
While counterfeit units may look virtually identical to the authentic product, Sawyer cannot speak to the technical performance aspects or quality of the counterfeit units at this time. To offer some perspective; Sawyer maintains rigorous quality control standards in an EPA regulated facility. Recent independent studies showed Sawyer’s hollow fiber membrane fibers to be 75% stronger than other hollow fiber technologies offered in the marketplace. Due to the Sawyer® Mini™ robust fibers and design, each unit features a capacity of up to 100,000 Gallons. Sawyer works fervently to protects its customers on every adventure. The Sawyer fiber strength study and independent laboratory data can be found at sawyer.com/downloads/.
Sawyer’s legal team is working with the owners of various online marketplaces to remove counterfeit listings and quarantine suspect goods. To track and maintain authentic goods, Sawyer has entered into a partnership with Transparency which will allow retailers, online sellers, and retail customers to authenticate Sawyer goods via the click of a cell phone application in real time (available for iOS/Android).
To assess your Sawyer® Mini™ for authenticity, please see the images below. If you believe you have purchased a counterfeit unit, please contact Sawyer at counterfeit@sawyer.com.
Contact: Sawyer Customer Service
counterfeit@sawyer.com
PO Box #188
Safety Harbor, FL 34695
USA Ph: 800.356.7811
The counterfeit units are very convincing but can easily be identified.
#1. The counterfeit units have only been identified in the skinny clamshell packaging. If your filter arrived in the packaging on the right, your filter is authentic. If you received a filter in the skinny clamshell like the one shown on the left, proceed to #2.
#2. The counterfeit models do not use the correct 28 mm flat cap for the pouches. The counterfeit models use the taller flat cap shown on the left with the pronounced ridges. The flat cap for the authentic filter is shown on the right.
#3. The counterfeit filters do not properly thread onto standard 28 mm pouches and bottles.
If you believe you have purchased a counterfeit unit or would like additional help identifying the authenticity of your filter, please contact Sawyer at counterfeit@sawyer.com. Please be prepared to send a copy of your online order receipt, photos of the filter in question, as well as other photos of the product components and accessories.
Contact: Sawyer Customer Service
counterfeit@sawyer.com
PO Box #188
Safety Harbor, FL 34695
USA Ph: 800.356.7811
