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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (9) Slideshow Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read New Mexico sheriff faces possible jail term over eBay sales 21 Jul 2011 Bomb rocks government offices in Oslo, two said dead | 11:35am EDT Explosion rocks central Oslo, Norway PM's office 9:47am EDT Customers angry, staff defiant at China's fake Apple Store 11:07am EDT Casey Anthony gets job offers, taxpayers get legal bill 21 Jul 2011 Discussed 198 Senate group offers $3.75 trillion deficit cuts 141 New plan offers hope for progress in debt talks 78 Debt showdown moving into crunch time Watched Korea's newest singing sensation Thu, Jul 21 2011 Pakistan Taliban releases video of mass execution Mon, Jul 18 2011 Frustration mounts in Chile over tsunami reconstruction Thu, Jul 21 2011 Customers angry, staff defiant at China's fake Apple Store Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Blogger sparks worldwide hunt for fake Apple stores 11:43am EDT China, U.S. play down tensions at Asian security summit 10:03am EDT FEATURE-As UK sells old aircraft carriers, China buyers circle 9:55am EDT Apple joins Hulu bid talks: report 8:18am EDT Dealtalk: BoCom's planned brokerage buy could trigger wave of 7:21am EDT Analysis & Opinion Tech wrap: Amazon plans Android tablet Tech wrap: Apple hits new app download milestone Related Topics Technology » Media » iPad » Steve Jobs » 1 of 13. An employee talks to a customer inside a fake Apple Store in Kunming, Yunnan province July 22, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Aly Song By Melanie Lee KUNMING, China | Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:07am EDT KUNMING, China (Reuters) - Customers at an apparent Apple Store in the Chinese city of Kunming berated staff and demanded refunds on Friday after the shop was revealed to be an elaborate fake, sparking a media and Internet frenzy. Long a target of counterfeiters and unauthorized resellers, Apple Inc was alerted to the near flawless fake shop by an American blogger living in the southwestern city, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest genuine Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai. "When I heard the news I rushed here immediately to get the receipt, I am so upset," a customer surnamed Wang told Reuters, near tears. "With a store this big, it looks so believable who would have thought it was fake?" Wang, a petite, 23-year-old office worker who would not give her first name, spent 14,000 yuan ($2,170) last month buying a Macbook Pro 13-inch and a 3G iPhone from the Kunming store. She wasn't issued a receipt at the time, with staff telling her to come back later. "Where's my receipt, you promised me my receipt last month!" Wang shouted at employees, before being whisked away to an upstairs room. Staff were also angry at the unwanted attention after more than 1,000 media outlets picked up the story and pictures of the store from the BirdAbroad blog. "The media is painting us to be a fake store but we don't sell fakes, all our products are real, you can check it yourself," said one employee, who didn't want to give his name. "There is no Chinese law that says I can't decorate my shop the way I want to decorate it." UNWANTED ATTENTION While upset at the coverage and unwilling to be fully identified, staff were cooperative when Reuters visited the store, answering questions and allowing the shop to be filmed. Another employee, surnamed Yang, said business had been affected, with customers demanding they prove the authenticity of their products. Apple has declined to comment on the fake store or others like it dotted around China. The Cupertino, California-based firm has just four genuine Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai and none in Kunming. With about 3.2 million inhabitants, Kunming, the capital of the mountainous southwestern province of Yunnan, is small by Chinese standards and not well known in the West. Located not far the borders of Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, the city's fast-growing industrial and manufacturing base is emblematic of China's ascent on the world stage. The fake Apple Store is situated along a crowded pedestrian-only shopping street, its black Apple logo gleaming. Inside, with its Apple posters on the walls and iPads and Macbook computers displayed on wooden tables, the store looks every bit like Apple Stores found all over the world but for some slightly shoddy workmanship and one or two errant details. Not all customers were bothered by the revelations that the store was not the genuine article. "As long as their products are real it's okay -- after all, you enter a store not to look at anything except their products," said Hu Junkai, 18. "If the products you buy are real why do you care whether the store is a copy?" Wang was not convinced. "The biggest thing I'm upset about is that I spent so much money at this store and I don't even know whether it is real or not," she said. "What can I do? They aren't going to give me a refund." (Additional reporting by Royston Chan; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Alex Richardson) Technology Media iPad Steve Jobs Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (9) elbertlo wrote: As long as the items (and warranty) are real, who cares if the store is a copy? Jul 22, 2011 8:33am EDT -- Report as abuse mgunn wrote: Feel sorry for the customers, got fooled a little bit like those who bought Madoff products. Jul 22, 2011 9:23am EDT -- Report as abuse compfixer wrote: @mgunn You’re kidding, right? Madoff was a con artist who sold nothing (literally, he charged people and gave them nothing in the end), whereas this store is selling a physical product. As elbertlo said, so long as the products, warranty, etc are all authentic, who cares if the store is a clone? If you walk into a Best Buy, see the Apple display with its grand logo and blonde wood tables, and buy a MacBook Pro, would you be upset that you purchased your new computer from anywhere but an official store? Moreover, there is no analogue to this in the PC world (save for a handful of Microsoft stores). No one cares where you get your Toshiba laptop running Windows 7. Jul 22, 2011 10:00am EDT -- Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment Social Stream (What's this?) © Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Analyst Research Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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