Beware of fake Mahe Kings cigarettes |18 November 2009

John Hip-Waye, general manager of the local Amalgamated Tobacco company, told Nation yesterday that for five months they have been getting complaints from customers about the taste of their cigarettes.

“We went to check out the product in some shops on Mahe and noticed that they are fake,” he said.
He explained in the presence of the company’s accounts manager Steve Khambatta – who also keeps a record of the stock – that consumers can easily tell a genuine packet from a fake one.

“The smoking warning at the back of a genuine packet of Mahe Kings cigarettes is in capital letters, whereas the counterfeit one is in small letters,” he said.

The fake packet is yellowish in colour and less shiny, and the inside packaging has not been done in a neat manner, he added.
He said both packets are being sold at the same price and he called on shopkeepers to buy all their Mahe Kings cigarettes from the company’s distributors such as GS Pillay and from their van.

Mr Hip-Waye is also asking shopkeepers to watch out for these illegal cigarettes as they could be sued by the company for selling counterfeit products under their brand.

He said it is good to have competition, but not from smugglers and people who are not paying taxes.
In the meantime, the National Consumers Forum (Natcof) said counterfeit products continue to flood our market and it is calling on members of the public to pay more attention.

Natcof’s executive director Jules Hoareau said misleading consumers is a violation of their rights. Most of the time counterfeit products are not traceable, and if consumers are affected it will be difficult for them to get redress.