Grohe Rotaflex Metallic Hose - Brushed Nickel Finish | Flexible Stainless Steel Shower Hose for Bathroom & Kitchen Faucet Replacement | Durable & Corrosion-Resistant

I would never in my life thought that someone is making fake Grohe shower hoses, but I got 2 hoses, one from a third-party seller, and another sold by Amazon directly and costs 70% more, and the third party one is clearly a counterfeit. I suspect many of the bad reviews are because the reviewers received counterfeits, especially if they purchased from third-party sellers.Like other reviewers, I got a replacement for my broken Grohe shower hose from a third party seller. The broken one had been in use for 9 years, with multiple showers a day. When it arrived, I was sorely disappointed by the flimsiness. Upon closer examination, I found a typo on the back of the packaging, that says "shpwer" instead of "shower". This tips me off that I may have a counterfeit, but I have no other point of reference. So I took my chance and order another one, sold directly by Amazon and is a lot more expensive. With 2 hoses in hand, I can clearly tell that one is fake, and that the genuine one is of MUCH higher quality.I posted some photos with both side-by-side, and also weighed both, so you can see the differences (and also check yours) There is also a photo with the typo. Here are the differences from what I can tell* Packaging - As I said, the fake one has a typo on the back. On the front, the genuine has much clearer graphics. I am guessing the fake one probably is a scanned image of the real thing, and used a lower quality printer. The sharpness of print is obvious when they are compared side by side. The fake one also has screw-on plastic caps on both ends to prevent the hose's screw cap from falling out - more on this later.* Weight and length - the real one is almost 25% heavier than the fake one (388g vs 311g minus the plastic shell, which is probably a couple grams). The contrast is stark when I held them. Also if you look at the photo that has two ends with different length, yup, the real one is a bit longer too.* Construction and function - As mentioned before, the fake one has screw-on caps on both ends, because there is nothing to hold the hose's screw caps in place and it will just fall off from the ends. The real one has rubber gaskets on both ends, not only to hold the caps in place but more importantly, to seal the connection. When I connected the fake one, one end just leaks no matter how much teflon tape I used and how much I tightened. With the real one, just a little bit of tightening and voila, it's sealed. No tape needed. Also, if you look carefully at the stamped logo at the end of the hoses, the fake one is light, uneven, and of the wrong aspect ratio.I wouldn't be so angry about the situation had I not just gotten another shower hose for $7 (for a soon-to-be renovated shower) and feel that the quality is pretty much the same with the fake one, but the fake one is costing 5 times more. Grohe is still a good quality product, and there may be some good sellers out there trying to unload their stock at a low price. I hope the photos help if you need to differentiate that from other unscrupulous sellers trying to fool people.As for the fake shower hose, it went back - thanks Amazon for free returns.