So Are There Really Fake Myas?

[LuxOR541]

So I am really winting my next pipe or two to be a Mya. I am wanting one that looks like this:



But that's another story....

What I'm wondering is I have seen many pipes locally in the portland area that look kinda like mya pipes, but the stems have adornments that I have never seen on a MYA... suck as large clear acrylic beads the length of the stem, etc. I saw a post a while back regarding some of the stems at smoking-hookah.com too wondering whether or not they were a true mya, and some fols didn't think so. Just wondering if anyone has encountered any true fake mya stems and if so what to look out for.

Nick

[Scheetz]

I know Mya has stated there are fake hoses out there. As far as stems I would not doubt that they exist. But I am unsure of how you can tell. I do know that Mya's do not have a nut on the end of the stem like alot of Egyptian styles.

[mushrat]

ive seen everything from fake hoses to fake qt's in coloured metal. Look for a Mya stamp, its not a sure thing because some of the fakes also fake the stamp, but its a good start.

[ASUSEAN1]

if you are really worried about it than buy from mya saray direct or a reputable online business

[LuxOR541]

So the reason for this post is I went to a shop in Portland where I buy a lot of my Layalina and Al Fakher, and they have probably 200 hookahs. A TON of pumpkins and junior moderns, a few syrians, rotators, egyptians, and a good selection of what look to be MYA pipes. Having never seen a mya in person close up, I handled some of these and inspected them. I could not find a MYA sticker or stamp anywhere on them. The stems did not seem to be stainless/brass, but chromed or gold colored aluminum. They were really light weight. they were labeled on the shelf simply as bohemian hookahs, not trying to pass them off as mya pipes.

I asked the guy at the counter if he knew if they were MYA brand pipes and he said he was sure the brand was called "inhale". Anyone ever heard of this brand?

I'm going to buy the pipe i pictured (or a very similar one) from MYA directly. I'm sure the ones i saw were knockoffs and would probably not last a month.

Nick

[Evil_Spork]

So the reason for this post is I went to a shop in Portland where I buy a lot of my Layalina and Al Fakher, and they have probably 200 hookahs. A TON of pumpkins and junior moderns, a few syrians, rotators, egyptians, and a good selection of what look to be MYA pipes. Having never seen a mya in person close up, I handled some of these and inspected them. I could not find a MYA sticker or stamp anywhere on them. The stems did not seem to be stainless/brass, but chromed or gold colored aluminum. They were really light weight. they were labeled on the shelf simply as bohemian hookahs, not trying to pass them off as mya pipes.

I asked the guy at the counter if he knew if they were MYA brand pipes and he said he was sure the brand was called "inhale". Anyone ever heard of this brand?

I'm going to buy the pipe i pictured (or a very similar one) from MYA directly. I'm sure the ones i saw were knockoffs and would probably not last a month.

Nick

oh yeah ive heard of inhale. its a cheap knowoff brand. but theyre pipes dont look to be TOO bad honestly. certainly not mya quality though.

btw for your referance, the QT stem is solid cast metal. its *HEAVY*

[LUXOR HOOKAHS]

I asked the guy at the counter if he knew if they were MYA brand pipes and he said he was sure the brand was called "inhale". Anyone ever heard of this brand?


Nick

I have bought Inhales in the past and the quality is not to bad. Some of the parts are stamped MYA.

Spoke to MYA about this and they confirmed that they sell stems, bases, etc.. in bulk to other mannufacturers. So it would not be that odd to see MYA parts on other hookahs.

[ASUSEAN1]

I asked the guy at the counter if he knew if they were MYA brand pipes and he said he was sure the brand was called "inhale". Anyone ever heard of this brand?


Nick

I have bought Inhales in the past and the quality is not to bad. Some of the parts are stamped MYA.

Spoke to MYA about this and they confirmed that they sell stems, bases, etc.. in bulk to other mannufacturers. So it would not be that odd to see MYA parts on other hookahs.

yeah i have seen mya stems on bases that were not mya.. also mya cases with hookahs that you could tell were fake but were sold as mya with the cases and all

[LuxOR541]

i'm going to buy a mya from mya directly just to avoid the hassle. I would buy from a reputable retailer like MN hookahs or hookah company, the only problem being that no one carries the model that I want. I got an e-mail from MYA Saray a while back and they said they could put together the pipe aI wanted no probelm, so I will just get it from them.

It's going to depend on price but i will probably get the green one that i posted, unless they can hook me up with the same style stem and tray in another color. Would love to have one in an amber color if it can be arranged. I already have a green hookah.

Having gotten two fake mya hoses in the past from local shops i am just wondering what else is fake. Being in the fashion industry I can attest to the cosmetic accuracy of some knockoffs.......... LV bags, Movado watches, etc. So i'm just wanting to be careful about what I buy. The Inhale Pipes that this shop carried were cosmetically similar, but like i said before, very thin metal and extremely lightweight.

[misterbeetz]

i'm going to buy a mya from mya directly just to avoid the hassle. I would buy from a reputable retailer like MN hookahs or hookah company, the only problem being that no one carries the model that I want. I got an e-mail from MYA Saray a while back and they said they could put together the pipe aI wanted no probelm, so I will just get it from them.

It's going to depend on price but i will probably get the green one that i posted, unless they can hook me up with the same style stem and tray in another color. Would love to have one in an amber color if it can be arranged. I already have a green hookah.

Having gotten two fake mya hoses in the past from local shops i am just wondering what else is fake. Being in the fashion industry I can attest to the cosmetic accuracy of some knockoffs.......... LV bags, Movado watches, etc. So i'm just wanting to be careful about what I buy. The Inhale Pipes that this shop carried were cosmetically similar, but like i said before, very thin metal and extremely lightweight.

I got my Large Mya from SouthSmoke for a really good price and with the forum discount. Perhaps you might be able to make a custom order through them?

- misterbeetz

[LuxOR541]

I won't order from southsmoke.

I used to get all my Al Fakher from them. Not anymore. They held two orders for 3 weeks because they were out of ONE flavor out of the 6 I ordered. Instead of shipping the rest and sending me the backordered one in another shipment.

Also, they have a habit of making substitutions without asking, and do not respond in a timely manner to e-mails regarding customer service issues.

No more southsmoke for me.

I would rather give an extra buck a box for tobacco to someone who cares about their customers.

[misterbeetz]

I won't order from southsmoke.

I used to get all my Al Fakher from them. Not anymore. They held two orders for 3 weeks because they were out of ONE flavor out of the 6 I ordered. Instead of shipping the rest and sending me the backordered one in another shipment.

Also, they have a habit of making substitutions without asking, and do not respond in a timely manner to e-mails regarding customer service issues.

No more southsmoke for me.

I would rather give an extra buck a box for tobacco to someone who cares about their customers.

Ah thats right. I remember seeing that tobacco issue in the review section. Im sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them. My experience with their customer service has been very positive though, espeically when resolving issues through e-mail. I havent ordered tobacco through them yet however.

- misterbeetz

[ghostofdavid]

I also had a very frustrating experience with SouthSmoke.com . I swear I am a reasonable man.

But as for the Mya copy, I would suggest that you pass on it. Why pay someone for a knockoff of someone else's idea, especially when it is lower quality? My Mya stems are very sturdy and if it were aluminum, I couldn't use it for self-defense.

Spend the extra couple of bucks and get a Mya from a reputable online/local retailer. Call Mya directly and they might even be able to offer you something special apart from what is online. They are pretty pleasant to deal with on the customer end of things.

[Oggie505]

Spend the extra couple of bucks and get a Mya from a reputable online/local retailer. Call Mya directly and they might even be able to offer you something special apart from what is online. They are pretty pleasant to deal with on the customer end of things.

+1 to that, mya's are def worht sleeing a few bucks for, I own 2 of them and I love them

[Hexagon]

I saw a mya qt's fake

[KillZedKill]

They have some fake ones on thehookah, they look neat though.

[manntis]

I won't order from southsmoke.

I used to get all my Al Fakher from them. Not anymore. They held two orders for 3 weeks because they were out of ONE flavor out of the 6 I ordered. Instead of shipping the rest and sending me the backordered one in another shipment.

Also, they have a habit of making substitutions without asking, and do not respond in a timely manner to e-mails regarding customer service issues.

No more southsmoke for me.

I would rather give an extra buck a box for tobacco to someone who cares about their customers.

Nor would I.

I tried to order from them, they double-billed my credit card. I emailed them about it and they got pissy
and said they wouldn't sell to me. A week later they phoned me to 'confirm' my order then, when they heard my address, the woman got bitchy all of a sudden and hung up on me. 3 months of filing VISA claims later B of A recovered the funds from their merchant account.

To this day - 2 years later - they email me 'specials' but when I tell them to quit spamming me they claim I'm not even on their email list.

In other words, their customer service consists of what works for them, in the mood they're in, and everyone else in the universe is wrong.

edit: I should mention, I order from hookah-shisha.com and while they don't have the bowls, hoses, etc. I want their shisha selection and customer service are frikkin' awesome. Edited April 24, 2007 by manntis

[mubeen]

Do you know if Mya manafacture hookah parts in China?
I recently bought a Mya QT from a reputable hookah site (given very good reviews on these forums) and on the Mya sealable bags there was the dreaded 'Made in China' statement. I've got nothing against Chinese manufacturing, in fact, the product looks fine and has functioned well so far (only had it for a week). Its justs that most reviews on these forums regarding Chinese manufactured hookas gets a thumbs down.

Also the base of the Mya QT has a light feel to it, i was expecting a much heavier glass. Can anyone who ownes a Mya QT confirm the thickness of the glass base.

[LuxOR541]

mya makes most of their stuff in a very quality controlled factory in china. The glass is usually made in Czech republic or Romania. MYAs are probably the only hookahs i would buy that are made in china, hence my desire to weed out the fakes.

MYA's seem to be fairly popular in the middle east as well, as I have seen planty of pictures of my products in shops in lebanon, UAE, etc. I don't think you'll see many pumpkin hookahs or hookahs made of cheaply cast post metal in such places.

Your QT is certainly legit.

[manntis]

"Made in China" can mean a lot of things. AutoArt models of cars, so detailed they have real carpeting and cloth seatbelts, are made in China in the same factories as Hotwheels crap. China also makes a lot of precision parts for aircraft manufacturers, car companies, etc. If MYA bits are made in China, they're still MYA bits.