We’ve brought legal action against the clown on Audiogon and he’s pulled his ads. Anyone having purchased can contact us and if you want, send us the cable and box. We can now easily tell the fakes from the real one (aside from the misspelled words on the back of the box) and if it is fake we’ll help you get into a new cable for a lot less money. We can’t get you refund but we can help make it right.
Thanks Paul,
I don’t usually get taken in by scams, but this one completely bamboozled me, which is embarrassing.
What a classy response from you. I will call and arrange the details.
i really appreciate it!
Well, despite my cringing embarrassment, here is a picture of the back of the box. Quod erat demonstratum. 
- OFC High Purity Copper Conductiors
- Connector Prongs machined from solid billet materials.
Yes, totally fake. If you want to send us the cable we’ll replace it with a real one at a very low cost.
Hi Paul,
I’m in the process of building my new system and have four AC 12 Cables. After reading this post, it turns out that only one is real. The weight of the real one and the cable diameter gave it away. The fakes use a smaller diameter and it’s more rigid. Interestingly the barrels are all long on the fakes. I bought two from what appeared to be a legit seller in Pennsylvania. One came from a reseller/dealer in Montreal. I have the emails and the respective chains if your people need them? Can someone contact me about returning and replacing them?
Thanks,
Bob
Paul McGowan said… we’ll replace it with a real one at a very low cost.
I called and spoke to Jeremy. I won’t reveal the cost I was offered, but it’s still a pretty big dent in my budget.
I’ve gone ahead and opened disputes with Audiogon, PayPal, and my credit card issuer, but realistically, I doubt I have much recourse.
Not a happy camper today - but accept it’s my own damn fault.
You succumbed because you are a decent person; you do not go around cheating others and expecting others to be frauds. It is easy to fall victim.
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Agreed. It’s the crooked seller’s “damn fault”.
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Hi AC-12 lovers, thank you for this topic and we’d like to take a moment for a quick word from your Sales Director. For those of you who do not know me, hello, I am Scott McGowan, one of Paul’s four sons, and I manage the Sales Department here at PS Audio.
Firstly I must point out that we know almost nothing about these cables except that they are counterfeit. We know nothing about the care that was or was not taken in their construction nor how they may be expected to perform in one’s system.
It is the case that we are working on a robust solution for all customers with an AC-12 cable presumed to be counterfeit. Indeed, the height of legal action is being taken wherever possible. In addition to solving the issue in the manufacturing realm and prohibiting any further counterfeit cables to reach the marketplace, we are also launching a campaign to reach out to and help recover each individual who was victimized by the actions of this counterfeiter.
For any customer who is concerned, please call in and we will give you any updates and all the help we can offer right away. @austinpop for example, with thanks for your patience, we will be reaching back out to you directly to find a solution that does work for you. Please stand by and thank you again for your continued patience as we navigate this unprecedented issue.
For everyone who is wondering and reading, if you have a counterfeit cable, we know who you are. I am coordinating our efforts in the realms of supply, legal, and of course customer service, and for sure by February 1st, 2018 we will have reached out to each and every customer individually with our proposed solution.
Will this be OK for the community?
Call 1-866-406-8946 with your urgent AC-12 question, and either way we will be reaching out directly to you in the next six weeks.
We take the issue of counterfeit products very seriously, and we thank our loyal customers for sticking with us while we work to fix each and every issue.
More info from PS Audio soon!
Best,
Scott
Wow!
I want to publicly acknowledge, and thank you for, your excellent customer service. it is actions like these that distinguish great businesses from the pack. I am sure the customer goodwill and loyalty this garners will more than compensate you for the cost you are bearing to make us (defrauded AC-12 buyers) whole.
I did receive a very satisfactory resolution from you privately. Rest assured you have salvaged my day and made me a very happy camper after all!
Long time listener, first time caller.
I believe I have a fake one as well and I wanted to warn everyone because I purchased it from usedcable.com back in September. I have several real AC-12’s from Music Direct. I knew about the fakes popping up on Audiogon and Ebay, but I would not have guessed I’d get one from The Cable Company. It looks just like my others, however the rear of the box is just like the one austinpop posted. Now that I compare them the real one seems a bit more flexible. I’m hoping they right this because the 30 day return window closed a while ago.
Welcome!
The Cable Company is reputable. I would give them a call.
After reading this post, I raced to the garage for the boxes only to find out all the 3 AC-12 cables that I have been using for couple of months are “fake” - one is used for DS, the other one used for BHK Preamp and another one for my computer power supply.
I initially bought one and posted a picture in this forum and Paul replied that it “looked” original from the long barrel since the fakes come with a short one. Having that relief, I bought two more and now I am burned (not at the fault of PSA though). What a bummer!
The Audiogon seller seemed to have sold quiet some AC-12 power cords. I have sent him a email and will report back if he replies.
PSA, please let me know if I can be of any other help.
My friend bought two AC-12 from the dealer (as he is very paranoid of even thinking there are fakes floating around) couple of weeks back. I asked him to provide a shot of the box. Here is it.
@austinpop 2nd point “Connector Prongs machined from solid billet materials.” doesn’t seem to apply.
This one looks right.
Dev said@austinpop 2nd point “Connector Prongs machined from solid billet materials.” doesn’t seem to apply.
Who knew “solid billet materials” meant something!
Indeed. Marketing speak at its best. My fault. The prongs are machined from a chunk of metal as opposed to stamped out from sheets as is common. “Billet” sounded cooler than “chunk” so…
Billet is the correct word, according to Wikipedia the term “billet” is primarily used for temporary soldier housing (it’s an old term). One of the secondary uses is “a small bar of metal for further processing”, which is exactly what the marketeers were trying to say. Why the two uses of the word are so different is a mystery, but it’s the joy of the English language!
I agree that PSA does always offer excellent customer service, but to what extend should PSA trying to assist those “victims” financially?
Those “victims” did not buy from the authorised dealers but rather bought from internet sites at dirt cheap price. Tones of those “NEW” 2M AC-12 is selling for around US$450 and around US$300 when those were used. Are you “victims” really think that you are getting a good deal for a legit product at such a crazy price? Why asking PSA for compensation to cover your lost? Shouldn’t they paid the price and learn how to support the dealers?
If PSA open the door for compensation like this, who know how many thousands of “victims” will follow the foot steps and put a big ding in PSA’s accounting book?
I always bought legit power cords from authorised dealers but still suffered when I try to sell some spare AC-12 because people just low ball me based on the price of all those fake power cords out there.