Winex is a scam

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by Mag, Jan 31, 2002.

  1. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    I know this has been up before, but I borrowed a Winex MM100 last night from a guy in my club. And well, being a MP100 user, I must say that it finally proved to me that Winex are almost criminals. (That goes for Yonex too, btw, but for different reasons! ;) )
    Firstly, they are CLONEX, they're copycats, and I just got more and more angry when I inspected the racquet. They've even copied the green plastic at the end of the handle!

    Now, what made me REALLY angry was that the Winex model has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Yonex model. The MM100 is super-soft and flexy, light and flimsy, while the MP100 is very stiff, heavy (mine's 2U) and robust... In essence, the MM100 is a beginner's racquet. Why did Winex try to make a beginners racquet pass for a MP100? If they had at least tried to emulate the performance of the MP100 then there would have been some sort of weird honesty to it... but no, they chose to completely fool the customers.

    Winex is a scam, no less.
     
  2. Nanashi

    Nanashi Regular Member

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    well, technically, they aren't. They actually are a legit company. It's just that since "yonex" comes to many players mind (company-wise) when someone says badminton, many companies try to immitate it. Examples are winex, kinex among others. Some of their racquets aren't too bad in actuality, my friend owns a nice kinex racquet. Not the greatest i've used, but still not bad.
     
  3. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Is too!

    Morally, they are. You see, I'm not talking about the quality of their products. That's got nothing to do with it. What upsets me is that they chose to copy the paint scheme of the MP100 and applied it to what in essence is a beginner's racquet. It's a piece of crap.

    That may be technically legit, but it is morally corrupt.

    Winex is a scam.
     
  4. Kelvin

    Kelvin Regular Member

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    Wow Mag, this is the first time I've seen you get this excited about any one particular subject.
     
  5. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    Whoa! Slow down there Mag. You might want to calm down.

    I don't think Winex is out to fool the customers. If they were to have "criminal intents", I would have expected them to produce fake Yonex racquets. Yes, they do copy Yonex racquets but they also have their own models. It is like the Personal Computer years ago when IBM first came out with the desktop PC. Now you get clones galore with a lot of them better than IBM themselves.

    Winex has never intentionally misled consumers in saying that their MM100 is Yonex MP100. Granted that the graphics are very similar (you will note that Winex did not have the Ultinum logo on the side of their MM100 shaft as the material used are not Ultinum at all (whatever Ultinum is) but ultra titanium wiht HM graphite). Their explanations in "copying" Yonex are (a) to show that they can produce a good quality product comparable to the market leader, Yonex (b) easier comparisons to Yonex products. Winex logo has always been modelled after Yonex's so it is not surprising to see similar colors. You have to also note that Yonex has not trademark or patented any of its graphics other the YY logo plus the Ultinum logo so copying the colour scheme is not illegal but probably tacky but necessary to provide easier model comparisons.

    I would say that if Winex or any of the "clonex" manufacturers have violated any of Yonex's trademarks and patents, you can bet that Yonex would be seeking legal and compensational penalties against them.

    As for the performance of the MM100, you have tried it and are free to voice your opinion on the racquet model. In Canada, one of our top junior player is using the Winex MM100 and has no problem with the racquet. The Winex MM200 is a heavier model in blue colour with similar graphics which might provide better comparison to the Yonex MP100.

    My apologies for the long post.
     
  6. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    Playing with that Winex obviously struck a sensitive nerve. Why did it make you so angry?

    From all indications, Winex is a legit company making similar products to an industry leader. They aren't (as far as the surface can tell) making counterfeits, although they produce a product from all outward appearances that is almost identical. However, proof is in the pudding, you were able to discern the difference from using the product. Did the person you borrowed the racquet from actually thought they were playing with an identical Yonex replacement? Is that the issue?

    On the plus side of things, Yonex products definitely have merit in most of their designs or else they would not have so many copy cats. Being the leader, there will always be those that will copy the design. It will always be a fact of business life.
     
  7. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Winex may be legit or not. I really don't care. My point is that by copying the paint scheme of another brand's top model, and applying it to one of their own models which has <b>completely different characteristic</b>s, they automatically disqualify as a serious company. If they claim that it is in order to "provide easier model comparison" to Yonex then they ARE crooks, because the models do NOT compare! I don't care if the world #1 is playing with the MM100 and likes it -- it still is nothing like the actual MP100 so why are they trying to make it pass for one? I mean, if it's like you say Peter, that the MM200 is more similar in performance to the MP100 then that just makes the whole thing worse. Why didn't they paint that model like the MP100 instead?

    Please explaing to me why, if Winex are not out too fool customers, then why would they do this? It's not just the paint scheme, they've even got the same numbering!

    And indeed, Winex have products that are not intended to parasite on other brand's models. But does that in any way rectify the rip-offs?

    Keep in mind that I'm far from a Yonex fan, and I really don't have anything against clones -- if they match up to the originals.

    If you're gonna copy, do it well. Then it even serves a purpose for the market. It might improve for customers by increasing competition and keeping prices down. But a bad copy is just bad for everybody.
     
  8. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    So, your beef is basically that Winex did not do a good job of copying the Yonex MP100. That is, it tried to pass an inferior product as being the equal of a Yonex product.

    That's fair enough.

    Based on your original post, you indicated that you are already upset even before you started playing with the Winex model because the paint scheme is almost exactly like the Yonex model. Why is that?

    So, in comparing the performance with your own MP100, you found it too flimsy, light, super soft, etc. which is very unlike the Yonex model. I have heard other comments too (both positive and negative) regarding the MM100/MM200 as compared to the MP100 but then I also heard positive and negative comments about the MP100 itself too.

    I think everyone here would appreciate a review be submitted to BC on the racquet.
     
  9. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    On the other hand, last night I saw a brand new MP100, strung at 22 lbs, crack at the 2 o'clock position. Not mis-hit, the fellow (old guy) just made a normal clear, and we heard a crack. The fellow said this was the second MP100 to crack similarly in the past few months. Given, these two instances, I wonder if it is a case of MP100 having some defect, or the same stringer making a same error?

    Jason: you mentioned you play at Cameron on Friday nights? I might be there again next Friday.
     
  10. Yogi

    Yogi Regular Member

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    Check the main and cross strings! If they were of equal Tension that would have happ! I do think that there was some Problem with the Mp 100 initially but then yonex was very very quick to mend it!

    I guess that was a lesson learnt form slim 10!

    I am sure it is a Thing with the stringing and are u sure he bought a orginal!
     
  11. Brett

    Brett Regular Member

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    It can't be upsetting Yonex too much or they would have sued Winex years ago. I'm not sure why Yonex tolerates what would seem to be arguable infringements on their patents and trademarks. I know that intellectual property laws in most Asian countries are either poorly enforced or non-existent, so maybe Yonex has such modest total sales in countries that do have strong protections for patents and trademarks, such as the U.S., Canada and the U.K. among others, that it would not be economically feasible to sue the copiers and cloners.
     

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