Shell can be found in virtually every country around the globe and in Malaysia, the brand has had a presence of more than 127 years. It is a trusted brand and a household name for petroleum products, lubricants and other services serving Malaysian consumers and the auto industry. This trust has been gained through ensuring strong product quality and value chain integrity.
However, popular brands will tend to attract ‘copycats’ who try to exploit such success and trust by selling fake products to unsuspecting consumers. These are sold through the black market and for companies like Shell, there has been an impact on the brand.
In 2018, Shell conducted laboratory tests on a random sample of products sold online and in hypermarkets that claimed to be genuine Shell products. The lab test results showed that 4 out of 12 containers sold were counterfeit.
Helping enforcement agencies to identify fakes
As part of its continuous effort to protect Shell’s brand integrity and to ensure that customers receive only genuine Shell products, Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd is driven to strengthen its collaboration with enforcement agencies to combat the presence of lubricants that are being passed off as genuine Shell products to unsuspecting consumers and workshops.
The company recently conducted a special training workshop which was attended by nearly 100 enforcement officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNDHEP) and Royal Malaysian Customs. The aim was to provide the agencies with knowledge on how to differentiate genuine Shell lubricants from counterfeit and illegal products, when conducting raids.
Shell Lubricants Marketing General Manager, May Tan, thanked the enforcement agencies for giving serious attention to this issue that has created confusion in the marketplace, threatened Shell’s reputation, and affected the livelihood of honest workshop owners.
“We would like to commend the authorities for their efforts in combating counterfeit lubricant production and distribution activities that affect major brands including Shell. As the brand owner, we are deeply concerned with the number of consumers who might have inadvertently purchased fake lubricants through unauthorised channels. That is why we always advise consumers to only buy official genuine Shell lubricants with ‘Untuk Pasaran Malaysia’ labels complete with QR codes that can be authenticated via SHARE website (www.shell.com.my/share) and from authorised outlets to avoid potential irreversible damage to their vehicles,” she said.
If you think you have inadvertently purchased counterfeit Shell lubricants, contact Shell Customer Service at 1-300 88 1808 or send email to generalpublicenquiries-my@shell.com.
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