Has Nordost forgotton who pays the bills?

Mark1961,
Thank you for the sentiment, I actually never considered that point. You get what I am saying. Another thing for us to to consider is that we are all responding to a post on a website that sells primarily "USED" equipment. This should be food for thought for anyone that shops the pages of Audiogon. Let me be crystal clear, its's not about expectations or that the company owes me something, because they don't. I know that. It's also not about "snarky" remarks as builder3 suggests. Lets be honest, as much as we may  love Nordost cables, they are and can be expensive as heck! Does the term "Odin Supreme" mean anything. 50k for audio cables? Well that's another post all together. But seriously, thank you all for responding to my post it has been a blast. Just remember this post the next time you contact a private seller on Agon, perhaps you will hear a  little voice inside your head telling you to ask more of the seller to verify the authenticity of what they are selling. 
Until next time. 

I don't know what went into the original offer/policy in the first place and whether it has much utility.  If all they are doing is confirming that a particular serial number is a real number (one given to a particular type of cable) how valuable is that information?  It would not take much for a counterfeiter to use a "real" number.  If, Nordost made any effort to actually trace the number--associate that number with a particular buyer, determine if that number has come up with a frequency that raises suspicion, et.--that would be a much more expensive service to provide and that expense has to come out of someone's hide, such as buyers of their new product.  

They recognize the gullibility of their customer. They know they won't lose anyone.

Caveat emptor +1

NORDOST authenticated my FREY ICs 3 months ago when I requested a proposed factory OEM retermination of XLRs to RCAs
i had to supply detailed pics, pics of the OEM packaging, close-up pics of the branded serial number, and disclose the dealer I bought them from …. No problem … fast and courteous.

I suspect they want to discourage the tsunami of POS fakes in the markets coming out of primarily China and also some from Eastern Europe.

which leads me to the corroborating comment provided to me directly by CARDAS. Guarantees of authenticity by them requires an actually hands-on OEM examination with a removal of the connectors and detailed fine inspection of the actual cable and dialectic, sheathing etc.

I was interested in a pre-owned CARDAS CLEAR BEYOND power cable listed on REVERB by a an alleged dealer with no COA available. . CARDAS looked at the ad for me and unequivocally verified from the pics that the connectors were clear cheap aftermarket fakes ( but good looking fakes …) and that the cable was an unknown without the detailed steps highlighted above. But who the hell would put replace OEM connectors with cheap fakes on a bona fide cable? ‘Nuff said . I informed the seller of the CARDAS review who went radio silent on me … and to best of my knowledge, still did nothing to change or revoke the ad. CARDAS informed me that the alleged “commercial dealer” was not on their current approved list and was operating on his own .

BUT Wait for it …. the next comment to me was very telling …

CARDAS informed me that their recent experiences dictated that 25% - 35% of all of CARDAS high-end cables offered for sale on the major audio forums and aftermarket forums are nothing more than clever and arguably impressive looking but clearly inferior cheap POS FAKES.

YOUR TAKEAWAY: …. pushing 1 in 3 (rounded up) are potential cheap crap build quality and inferior crap performance POS fakes … hmmmm ….
Do we still feel lucky and feel rewarded today trying to save a few scheckels on a whimsical, fleeting, or potential illusory hope? Or will we now only buy from ,
(a) a registered dealer, ( for both new or pre-owned models), or,
(b) at a minimum, deal only with a forum member listing with a lot of positive reviews that also cheerfully provides the listed cables with their OEM packaging and the OEM Certificate of Authenticity ( COA) ?

I wouldn’t touch a listing anymore that wouldn’t meet these standards .

This may be a little off the subject, but i think it ties in.  I always buy used equipment and have had great success dealing with companies even when I didn't purchase from them.  Two examples are as follows....I bought a Quad 405 amp several years ago and the transformer went bad. I called Quad and they offered to replace it free if i paid for shipping.  I still use the amp as a backup today.  I recently purchased an Ayres V-3 and stupidly crossed speaker cables while the amp was on.   I thought i blew a channel so I called the company in Colorado.  They took the time to give me a history of service and modification done in 2008.  They  talked me through troubleshooting the problem, and even sent me free parts so i could fix it myself.  I have to say I'll probably never buy new products from Quad or Ayres, but I really respect their customer service even if I was not a first time buyer of their products.