Since before Xiaomi returned with official operations in Brazil, there were already online stores that pretended to be authorized by the brand and deceived consumers. Now, one more site can confuse Internet users by pretending to be an official and even promising guarantees to customers.
Detective TudoCelular identified and verified information about it, as well as obtaining the positioning of the official Chinese operations in Brazil, to explain all the details to you.
understand the case
The discovered online store consists of the “xiaomibroficial.com”. Right in its URL, it indicates that it would be an official commercialization of the brand in the country, which induces the consumer to credit it with legitimacy.
On her website, the term “official” is not repeated. However, the retailer promises warranty on its products sold. On the help page, it claims to deliver a 90-day deadline, which can be extended to 1 year at the time of purchase. Something that also signals for an authorized operation.
Nowhere on the site does it say that it is an importer or an unofficial retailer of Xiaomi products. Even the contact email – “sac@xiaomidobrasill.com” – conveys this message, even with an indication that it is not legitimate: the repetition of the letter “l” at the end.
Further down, at the bottom of the page, above the CNPJ number, the company name is credited as “Mi do Brasil” – another indication with references to the real company. Not to mention that it is one of the first to appear in search results, with the terms “Xiaomi Brasil” – including paid ads.
What is the store?
When doing a search on the CNPJ of this online store, it is possible to verify that its opening took place on July 28, 2020. That is, almost three years of existence. However, the name has nothing to do with Xiaomi: Atual Midias Digitais e Vendas LTDA, whose fantasy name is “Atual Midias”.
Its main activity is sales promotion, but it also lists some secondary activities, such as book retailing, book editing, direct marketing, among others.
But it is through the email domain that you can find more information about the company: “Atual Imports”. Through this name, it was possible to discover two more sites from the same owner: “mifansbrasil.com” e “mibrasilbr.com”. The first redirects to the URL treated in this column.
Another point of contradiction is the company’s address, placed in the national register as located at Av. Paulista, in Sao Paulo. However, the store’s website indicates an address in Minas Gerais, in the capital Belo Horizonte.
Atual Midias also has a share capital of R$ 10,000 and two managing partners – Higor Vinicius do Carmo Rodrigues and Jesiel Henrique Vaz de Carvalho. As there are no social media accounts for the store, other information is not disclosed to the public.
Users have already been deceived
The effect of having “official” in the URL and promising a guarantee has already resulted in mistaken purchases by consumers. It is possible to check some complaints on the platform Complain herewith reports from users who purchased products and, when the store found out that it did not belong to the authorized operations, they had difficulty canceling.
The result, as reported in these two cases below, was to request a reversal through the Appmax service – used as a payment platform for purchases made on the unofficial store’s website.
In other cases, claims were made directly against the Current Media. Their reasons alternate between defective product, incomplete order delivery and misleading .
A curiosity is that, in each answer, the name with which the service is credited varies. Sometimes they are called “Atual Imports”. In others, from “Mi Fans Brasil” or “Xiaomi Store”.
Bought, now what?
If you have purchased from this store without knowing that it was not something unofficial and there has been a problem with the purchase, Article 35 of the Consumer Protection Code determines that the customer can claim a full refund of amounts paid, including freight, when the offer is not fulfilled.
If the product arrives, but you no longer want to continue with it, Article 49 of the CDC also establishes the so-called “right of repentance”, which allows the return of the product within seven days after delivery is made.
Curiosity
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official answer
Detective TC contacted the advisory of the official operations of Xiaomi Brasil, in order to obtain confirmation about the lack of legitimacy of “Xiaomibroficial”, as well as to know what measures the company will take in relation to the case.
According to the company’s note, the online store in question is not recognized as an official sales channel. The company also reinforced that a number of virtual stores use the brand name illegally, which misleads the consumer, and even sell products that are often not adapted to Brazilian laws.
To complete, Xiaomi Brasil reinforces that the relevant measures will be taken and that the guarantee and technical assistance are only intended for products purchased through official sales channels. See the statement in full:
“The Xiaomi operation in Brazil does not recognize the xiaomibroficial.com website as an official sales channel.
The company draws attention to the fact that several virtual stores misuse the brand, copy the layout and present themselves, irregularly, as official resellers, aiming to mislead consumers. Many of these even trade products that are not fully compliant with Brazilian laws, such as the lack of approval by ANATEL, and do not meet the obligations set forth in the Consumer Defense Code. Relevant measures will be taken.
Finally, the operation of Xiaomi in Brazil emphasizes that the rights to warranty and technical assistance, in the country, are reserved exclusively for Xiaomi products purchased in sales channels recognized as official (online store: and physical stores indicated in the official-store link ) and at resellers validated by the Official National Distributor, which is DL.”
Xiaomi Brasil
So, have you ever been tricked or do you know someone who bought a Xiaomi product in a virtual store that pretended to be an official? Tell us in the space below.