It's a big ole COUNTERFEIT!!
So here's the deal. John bought a huge backpack from some seller on ebay to take to Europe. The North Face gear is supposed to be really high quality, I guess.
It was new with tags still on it and he paid $135ish for it....which would have been a great deal if it had been real. Well it broke as soon as he got home from his trip.
So he packed it up and sent it to The North Face to repair. They repair/replace all of their equipment - no questions asked.
Then today the Penske truck (lol) brought the backpack back. When John opened it, there was a polite letter from North France stating that it was a counterfeit pack!
They also requested the seller info. SOMEONE'S IN TRUBBBBLE!!
So John has already sent North France the seller info as well as Ebay. And he contacted the seller and requested a full refund.
One way or another John shouldn't get screwed because Paypal will cover the losses if the seller doesn't.
Exciting stuff, I tell you.