What is eurotest?

At the same time, they tell you that the repair lasts forty-five days, they give you some paper confirming the repair, and that's it. An item that you return to a retail store is sent to the manufacturer's authorized service center. In fact, the store does your own work for you, since you must return the goods to the ASC for repair. But in order to keep the client and improve the service, many stores do it themselves, for which, of course, they are a plus.

When buying goods through an online store, you buy a pig in a poke for several reasons:

you cannot check the goods before buying, this applies to stores that require an advance payment for their goods, of which more than half in our country. you can get a fake. Unfortunately, this is very common when online stores sell “leftist”, but today this is not about a product that is not certified for sale on the territory of the Russian Federation, but simply “Eurotest”.

In short, Eurotest is a smartphone or other device that does not have a manufacturer's warranty, therefore you cannot return the device to an authorized service center, and the store where you purchased it will carry out repairs.

Such a device was imported into the Russian Federation illegally, bypassing official suppliers. Very often, as is the case with iPhones - from eBay through third parties.

Usually, Rostest and Eurotest are no different in quality, but many sellers selling their goods in online stores that do not have official certification like to say the following myths:

• the eurotest was made for another country, therefore the quality of the goods is higher, since poor quality components are used for Russia
• such a smartphone can be repaired at any service center
• eurotest smartphones have a European quality standard (just read it)

On the first point, I think everything is clear. This is insanity, no one makes different components for different countries, at least in electronics.

On the second point, the sellers, saying that you can be repaired in any service center, are silent about the main thing: in any service center of an online store, if there are several of them, of course.

The third point is without comment. I hope there are no such "feeble-minded" among our readers.

How to distinguish Eurotest?

The most important difference is the absence of the PCT icon on the packaging or on the smartphone itself. And here are some other differences:

External signs:

• Lack of instructions in Russian. If it is not there and the packaging is completely in English - know that you have a "gray" product.
• Charging for the American "plug". Usually sellers change it for an adapter or for another charge, which, by the way, may differ in color - be more careful.
• Special "scammers" do not even pay attention to it.
• No warranty card or coupon in any other language than Russian.
• On the packaging, in addition to the country of assembly, they usually write the country for which the smartphone was intended, for example, this information is available on the packaging from the HTC smartphone.
• Accordingly, such a smartphone will have the language of that country, firmware and instructions.

Firmware:

If we are talking about a smartphone or tablet, then very often the device simply does not contain the Russian language - this is a sure sign that you have a gadget without Russian certification.

Your smartphone may have the More Locale app, More Locale 2, or languages ​​installed. This application is not installed by any manufacturer at the factory. If you see this application, you have a gray device in front of you.

Who sells these devices

It is important to understand one rule: for large players in our market, selling "gray" devices is more expensive for themselves, this is a blow to the company's image as a whole and problems with the law, since I have already said that such devices cannot be sold in retail.

Also, the store gets huge problems with the repair of the goods, since the ASC will not take the goods for repairs, and if the volumes are large, then the store simply will not cope with the repair of the goods.

Gray smartphones are mainly traded by small and medium-sized online stores, whose turnover does not allow establishing contact with official suppliers and knocking out a “normal” purchase price in order to wind up their percentage on top.

Let me explain with an example:

Let's say a Disconnect store sells only certified products. It has dozens of points of sale and cares about its reputation. The store buys a Nokia Lumia 530 for 5,500 rubles from an official supplier, and sells it for 5,990 rubles, that is, it remains in the black by 490 rubles.

If something happened to the buyer, then he himself or through the store sends the smartphone to an authorized service center, and this is where the store's warranty obligations end. The buyer remains in the black because he purchased the device completely in Russian, can repair it in the ASC and has no problems updating.

The store remains in the black because he does not need to spend his strength and nerves on repairing a broken device, the manufacturer will do everything for him. Minus - the store will receive less profit than the store selling Eurotest at the price of Rostest.

And there is a second store "cheap and cheerful." This store does not particularly care about its customers, the main thing for it is to sell and stay in the black. He buys through a supplier in China/Vietnam/USA or even on Ebay the same Nokia Lumia 530, but not for 5,500 rubles, but for 4,000 rubles, and sells here at a retail price like in other stores - 5,990 rubles. Is it good for the store? Certainly! After all, the cheat is 1990 rubles, the seller remains in a huge plus, having found such a buyer "loha". What about the buyer?

In addition to a smartphone for 5,990 rubles, the buyer also receives “hemorrhoids on his butt” and the “loch of the year” label, since he has just been sold a device at the price of growth, but without Russian certification and an official guarantee.

The buyer will no longer be able to contact the technical support of the manufacturer, will not be able to be repaired in authorized service centers. They simply will not accept this device from him, saying that where you bought it (meaning a country, for example China), you are taking it there.

The buyer, upset, returns the smartphone back to the store. And here the store receives the full program. Since he needs to repair a technically complex product, and not all online stores have their own service centers, especially small sharashkas, who just have something to sell. Therefore, the client begins to "shave".

At first, he is told that this is "not a marriage at all and you are to blame." Dear buyer, know that you will face this sooner or later, I guarantee you. And if you still managed to hand over the device for repair, then the repair takes place as follows: the smartphone lies for 45 days in a warehouse near the store, and when the deadline is up, they say that we will refund the money and throw it with money, or they constantly feed breakfast. But first, the store will try to give you goods, not money, with any excuses, it’s profitable for him! Or give 5990 rubles or give the goods for the same 4,000 rubles, the second option is much more profitable.

But there are shops that sell Eurotest honestly. These are fairly large online stores, while they underestimate the cost of gray goods, so that it would be beneficial for the buyer not to overpay for PCT goods, but to buy gray goods from them. Too bad there aren't many stores like this.

Warranty obligations and consequences for the consumer

Above, I already wrote about the guarantee for "gray" devices. Devices illegally imported into the Russian Federation are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. The authorized service center of the manufacturer will refuse to repair you, even if you contact Rospotrebnadzor or a consumer protection organization, they will not be able to do anything, because according to the law the manufacturer is right, but you are not.

All warranty obligations for the gray device are assumed by the store. But since large players do not sell gray devices, but sell only small offices, you may encounter problems during repairs, when they will deceive you in every possible way and say that you yourself are to blame for the breakdown of the device. And many online stores simply do not have service centers or ask to send the device back by mail, and then the package may randomly “miss”.

You cannot get technical support from the manufacturer, and new updates may either arrive earlier or not at all. For example, when buying a smartphone that should be sold in the USA, you will receive an update earlier, since updates are first received for Western countries, and when buying a device made for Vietnam, you may not receive an update. Be careful.

After the update, everything can become in English or in the language of the country for which the update was intended. You can return the Russian language, in particular on Android devices, this can be done using the More Locale 2 application, but it only works with Root rights, and if you set yourself Root, you will lose your warranty. Here is such a vicious circle.

Who are these devices for?

Eurotest smartphones and other devices are primarily intended for people who understand firmware, updates and are technically savvy. Those who are not afraid that the phone may fail and solve simple malfunctions themselves.

If you want everything to always work stably, do not buy eurotest. You will get a lot of problems, and if something happens to the device, you will get problems with the repair.

Outcome

• no official guarantee
• problem with updates
• lack of original charger and accessories
• in some cases, the lack of Russian

Advantages of Eurotest:

• lower cost at some stores

Most gray devices on our market are among mobile phones. In particular, all stores that do not have authorization from Apple sell gray devices. Most HTC, Sony, Samsung devices have a “gray” past, and devices such as Explay, Ritmix, 3Q, Alcatel have only Russian certification, no matter what store you buy them from.