Fitnus’ 50% discount still leaves you paying way more for these earbuds than you would on Amazon.
Trustworthy score: -6
Suspicious address: TRUE (-1):
Contact information for Fitnus seller Bazaar Innovations:
Address: 162 Rancho Santa Fe Road E70, #495 / Encinitas CA 92024
Email: support@fitnusearbuds.com
Phone: 1-800-516-8318
It’s a rented mailbox at a FedEx store. I was looking for a facility in the US dedicated to Bazaar Innovations. One penalty point.
Ridiculous claims: TRUE (-1):
Ad in SmartNews: “Big brands are furious over these new $49 earbuds.” It’s safe to conclude that big brands aren’t even aware of Fitnus earbuds.
Onerous terms: Undetermined (0):
| guarantee days | guarantee starts when? | ok to open the package? | ok to try the product? | ok to use the product? | restocking fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | delivery | ? | ? | ? | ? |
- You can’t sue them, join a class action or a group arbitration. You can only ask for an individual arbitration.
Ads, spam, robocalls: TRUE (-1):
| “do not track” setting | email ads | robo-calls | “do not call” registry | text ads | junk mail | share your data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ignored | yes | yes |
- If they sell their company, your personal data is part of the deal.
Lying and deception: TRUE (-1):
- “Fitnus was developed by a small team of engineers and sound professionals who consider themselves audiophiles.” But here are identical TOZO earbuds for sale on Amazon.
Chicanery: TRUE (-1):
- “Once both warehouses empty, the promotion is over. … <tomorrow’s date> – ALERT: One of two warehouses has sold out.”
- “There is limited availability and this 50% OFF REGULAR PRICE OFFER may be taken down at any moment!”
- On my way to the order form I’m entertained by a little drama as a progress bar creeps past one warehouse after another that’s already sold out. The suspense made my heart miss a beat, but I hung onto my keyboard and rode it out.
- Terms are 18 pages long, 8,349 words of laywerbabble. See “Related” below.
Phony reviews: TRUE (-1):
- Websites labeled “Advertorial” that include reviews automatically fail this test, because they’re admitting they made up the reviews.
- What makes me so sure? Because for the past five years every time I see the combination of advertorial and review and I check the review it’s fake. So, why even bother to check?
- But you still want me to check? <sigh> Here you go. “They had EVERYTHING that I wanted in wireless earbuds,” says verified purchaser T. Farner, who looks just like Art G. in another offer from Fitnus. These Fitnus web designers are such slackers. It looks like, rather than pay for their clip art, they lifted City Editor Kyle Faulkiner’s photo from the British Journal. Fitnus ought to pay him royalties or something.
Crummy Product: Undetermined (0):
- From Amazon: “Turns out there were 4 sizes of plastic ear caps included with the earbuds. On my third try, the second smallest ones, I felt how i imagine Cinderella felt when she tried on the glass slipper. They were perfect and no matter how much I jumped up and down or shook my head, they stayed in place! The quality of sound is impeccable, nice highs and lows, with a decent amount of bass.”
- “Unfortunately, the new pair has the same issues as before, and I would recommend not buying these. The sound quality isn’t bad, but the non stop cutting out of the left earbud is a dealbreaker when it comes to wireless earbuds. … I highly recommend spending more on a better brand.”
- Amazon shows that these earbuds were first available in 2018, so the tech is not all that new.
Overpriced: TRUE (-1):
| Seller | item | Rated | price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitnus | Fitnus earbuds | $50 | |
| Amazon | TOZO earbuds (identical) | ****’ | $30 |
Bad service: False (+1):
I found no complaints.
Unauthorized charges: I found no complaints about this.
Advice: These $35 Bmanl earbuds from Amazon have given me good service for the past three months.
How hard is it, really, to be a lawyer? There’s nothing mysterious about lawyerbabble; it’s just that there’s so much of it. Just for fun, let’s translate a few sentences into plain English.
| Lawyerbabble | Translation |
|---|---|
| The parties to this Agreement (“Agreement”) are You (“You”, sometimes referred to as a “Subscriber” to the Website) and the owner of fitnusearbuds.com (Bazaar Innovations LLC). | This is an agreement between you and Bazaar Innovations LLC, which owns fitnusearbuds.com. |
| As used in this Agreement, the terms “we” and “us” are used interchangeably to refer to Bazaar Innovations LLC and its operators of the Website (sometimes referred to as fitnusearbuds.com). | [Skip this sentence.] |
| By further accessing the Website or materials available at or in association with the Website, and for other good and valuable consideration, the sufficiency of which is acknowledged by You and Bazaar Innovations LLC. You hereby agree to be bound by all the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. | You’re looking at this website and what’s in it. So, admit you’re getting something out of doing that; we certainly think so. And if you go on looking at it you’ll have to follow our rules. |
Scoring: There may be nothing illegal or wrong with the above business practices. But they suggest to me that the seller is not to be trusted. I’m using my Trustworthy scoring system; -1 means true (bad), +1 means false (good), and 0 means undetermined. I penalize the seller for statements made by shills.
Web Scammer Jammer 