Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Purchased this item. First thing we noticed was that the arrows, that direct which direction the bands are to be placed, were not red as in the photo and in the instruction manual. Also, the clear arrows were in the opposite direction entirely. The edges for bands to loop onto were rough and somewhat sharp. But it was the orientation that caused me to look at the Rainbow Loom website. I thought that maybe there had been updates since the instruction sheet was produced. Thats when I saw the notice to be on the lookout for Counterfeit items. (RainbowLoom.com home page) What I have is a counterfeit. Argh! The package came unsealed, which I thought was odd, but dismissed it. I have left feedback on the seller and will follow up with them and Amazon so that hopefully this won't continue to be sold. I do believe that the true product will be a 5 star product, but do be very, very aware that there really are counterfeits out there. Updated after contact from vendor: Vendor contacted me in email very promptly. There may be an issue with like products, quoted from their response: "The product we sent in is authentic, the problem is Amazon Co-mingles inventory that is fulfilled by Amazon. I have informed Amazon that one of the sellers is sending in counterfeit looms." I can't rate the product appropriately until I get a replacement, but I do appreciate the way the vendor and Amazon are responding to this issue. Updated again on Dec 22, 2013: Received 2nd counterfeit Rainbow Loom from Amazon and immediately returned it. Then purchased an authentic one at the local Michael's store (opened in store just to be sure). The Fake has arrows pointing the wrong direction, and not red (as the real one are). The edges are sharp, and the instruction sheet isn't neatly folded. Also found when comparing the boxes, when I had both a counterfeit and authentic, the fake was not sealed, while the real was sealed. The real one showed the WWW.RainbowLoom.com website name in many places on the box, where the fake did not. The website alerts people as to how to recognize the counterfeits. Amazon has A BIG SUPPLY ISSUE. Please be very aware of this. I am hoping my messages, calls, and reviews will help alert them to this problem enough to help resolve it.