Buyer Beware: Puzzle Problems with Pretenders!

Scams! Covid-19 has brought up the most incredible scams. We won't get into all of them right now, but we do want to highlight one in particular so you can protect your wallet!

There have been numerous websites that pretend to sell Cobble Hill puzzles, but they are clearly untrustworthy companies.  We wanted to call them predators, but it sounded so scary, so we kept it light and call them "pretenders".  It's quite possible that they'll "sell" you a puzzle, take your money, and you'll never see a copy of the puzzle.  The websites that we're talking about are ones that have just quickly put up a storefront, stolen copyrighted images from either our website, social media accounts, or another retailer's store. We are quite certain that they are not legitimate operations, but rather pretending to have actual inventory. 

I'm sure that many of you reading this blog know exactly what I'm talking about. In fact, some of you wonderful puzzlers have even reported the pretenders to us, for which we are so thankful!  

So, what can be done about these fake websites?  While we have been successful at getting several of them removed, others are trickier. We'll give you an example of one that we're trying to take down now and show you some things to look for when you're determining whether to purchase a puzzle from the company or not.

1. The Logo

First of all, if you're familiar with our Cobble Hill puzzles and you see one of our boxes with a logo missing - euh, that's a pretty BIG clue right there!  Do not buy puzzles where the brand's logo has been altered in any way (see the red circled area) below for The Witching Hour. Big clue! If they're trying to hide that from you, what else are they hiding!

2. The Brand Name

Another good indicator could be the omission of naming the puzzle brand.  Most companies who sell online will give you various specifics about the puzzle including the manufacturer name and/or the artist's name - they're not afraid of giving credit where it's due. Fake websites are often infringing on copyright and "stealing" images, like the puzzle box above and even the image to the right of it with the couple enjoying a puzzle together - that belongs to Cobble Hill. There is no mention of any puzzle brand or artist in the description of this puzzle.

3. The Contact Info

Also, look for the contact information. If it's a reputable company, they'll have an email address with their company name after the "@".  For example: info@legitimatecompany versus info@oiweohvia.abc (looks like someone just randomly typed letters). See below.. really, @dyfgeh.xyz? 

4. The Images

If you see a distinct image or video that you know you saw on social media from a puzzler, then there's a good chance that image or video was ripped off - so question the website. Another key factor - at least for Cobble Hill puzzles specifically, is if you're familiar with our puzzles, then you know we have a signature fun(ky) random cut pattern. Our puzzles are not ribbon cut with every piece lining up in a neat row/column grid.  So the image below is definitely not one of ours as this is a ribbon cut style on our "Marmaduke" puzzle by Geoffrey Tristram.  

5. The WhoIs Lookup

If all of that isn't enough to make you at least question the website, then you can also check the WhoIs Lookup and see when this site was created.  You can gather different pieces of information to see if this instinctively "feels right" to you.  There are several legitimate retailers who have created websites recently, but if you're looking to buy from a US or Canadian company and the website shows a recent "Creation Date" with the server in China or the registrar's name includes "Beijing"... we're going to venture to guess that there are better options for you. Buyer beware! 

You'll have to use your common sense and gut instinct on some of these websites. And if you're a part of a puzzle group/community, it may not hurt to ask around first to see if anyone is familiar with the website. If you know the brand for that image, then you can also contact the company - like some puzzlers have done with us. It gives us a chance to hunt down the pretender and get the site removed or at least cripple it in some way. 

As of posting this blog today, we went to check on a website that we were working to take down and we have an update!!  Last week, we dug further on the "pretender" above and found the actual host for this website. We submitted a DMCA takedown notice on July 17th to the ISP (copyright issues with our images).  It looks like as of July 21st, they have removed our images. Yay! While that's a little win for us, it looks like the website it still up and running with the ability to purchase puzzles - so not a complete win for you, the shopper. However, who would buy from the website if the below image is what you would see?? From all the surveys we have done, we know image is the basic reason why everyone chooses a puzzle! Can you imagine what you would receive, if anything, if you ordered from this website? Why would this website still be up and running?? So weird... so, so, weird... 

Well, thanks for joining us on our adventure today. Enjoy your day all & stay safe! Happy puzzling!

A Day At The Lake - Catching Fish & Naps!

by Elmer Prather, guest blogger

This is the 35th Cobble Hill puzzle that I have had the pleasure of putting together. It is a 500 piece puzzle titled A Day At The Lake by Douglas Laird. This is the second Douglas Laird puzzle I have put together, the first was titled Flat Iron. When I first saw this puzzle I was amazed at how much the rocks and lake in the puzzle looked like a real lake. 

Douglas Laird's A Day At The Lake (500pc) assembled by Elmer Prather

I have fished during some of my past trips to Canada. It is in the Pas, Manitoba. I have been to the Pas three times to fish with several of my good friends. On these trips to the Pas we would leave Atlanta, Georgia on a Friday in the third week of June. We did this because the temperature in the Pas is quite cold for most of the year.  The Pas is 2000 miles from Atlanta and it usually took us about 40 hours to get there. This is driving nonstop except for bathroom breaks and gas.  Once we got to the Pas we drove to Clearwater Lake and camped in the campground. Clearwater Lake a natural glacier formed lake. It is the clearest lake in Canada and the second clearest in the world. The lake is filled with Great Northern Pike and Lake Trout. We carried enough supplies to allow us to have a fish fry every night we were there.

On our first trip to the Pas we met two other fishermen. They were from Dallas, Texas. They shared with us that they came to Clearwater Lake every year to fish and camped in the same spot in the campground. One of them was a doctor and the other was a builder. On our subsequent trips to the Pas we made it a point to camp in our same spot so we could be close to our new friends from Texas.

The rocks at the edge of the lake in the puzzle remind me of a favorite place we fished near the campground. It is called the jetties. It is called the jetties because the rock formations there extend into the lake for about 100 feet. The jetties allow fishermen to walk across the rocks farther into the lake in order to be able to fish in deeper water and lake trout like deep water. I have posted a picture of me catching a nap on the jetties along with a picture of this puzzle below.

Elmer Prather camouflaged amongst the rocks! What a great nap!

We drove over to the jetties several times on each trip and fished for lake trout. The mosquitoes there were enormous and plentiful. We made a mistake on one of those trips to the jetties by not closing the doors on the VW bus while we were fishing and when we went back to the bus, we found what seemed like a million mosquitoes all throughout the bus. On this trip to the jetties, we had caught a few lake trout when we saw two Game Wardens rush into our fishing area.They asked to see our fishing licensees and we produced them. The wardens noticed that the four of us had a total of five fishing poles in the water and one of my friends advised them that he had two of them. The Game Wardens gave him a ticket, took his rods and reels and told him to be at the Judge's office that afternoon at 4:00pm. We drove into town and let our pal out at the Judge’s office. When our friend returned to the bus, he explained what an experience that had been. He said that the judge was dressed in his full English judge attire and after firmly reprimanding him the judge charged him $25.00 for the infraction and dismissed him.

The next day we were back at the jetties fishing when about mid afternoon we noticed an old Toyota pickup truck with two Inuit Indian ladies inside, pulling a small aluminum fishing boat, drive onto the jetties and park beside our VW bus. They put the boat into the lake, loaded their fishing gear into the boat and took off. Approximately two hours later the ladies came back to the jetties and docked their boat. We watched as they drove the boat onto the trailer and hooked the boat trailer to their truck then we saw them struggling with getting something out of the boat. They finally were able to get it out and to our amazement, it was a huge lake trout. It seemed almost as long as the women were tall. It must have weighed between 30-35 pounds. I was so impressed that I asked them if I could take a picture of it with them holding it. They said yes so I took the picture. I have posted a picture of the two ladies and their prize fish below.

Huge lake trout catch!

On one of the days that we were on this trip, we drove over to the boat rental place which was about 25 miles down mostly dirt roads from where we were camping. When we got there, we rented a boat and motor and did some lake trout fishing. We motored across the lake and found a huge mound of ice about ten feet tall on the edge of the lake. This huge mound of ice was formed by the ice that had covered the lake during the winter months breaking up into ice chunks and being forced off the lake and onto this mound by the strong winds and huge waves on the lake. We climbed the ice mound and posed for pictures. We left the ice mound and headed back to the boat rental place. On the way back we saw several Inuit Indian children swimming in the lake (talk about tough people). We had our insulated underwear and our field jackets on and these children were swimming in that cold lake water.

These trips to the Pas with my friends have been some of the most enjoyable times of my life. The obstacles that we overcame during these trips have caused us to bond and have made us lifelong friends

I am glad that I found this beautiful puzzle because it has caused me to reflect on some of those good times we had.

 

A Day At The Lake 500 piece puzzle by Douglas Laird

Available at your local retailer or favourite online store.

On the USA and Canada Cobble Hill website, search item code: 85074