Hear!, Hear!, O Dark One
Mine is a story of which you spoke. When I first started gaming with my PSX, I figured a memory card is a memory card, so I went the cheap route.
Big Mistake! after loading the card, I was unable to use what had been put on it, the PSX didn't recognize the card, or some such crap, and my gamesaves were wasted. To boot, the cheap-ass card fell apart after extracting it from the slot and fell in three pieces onto the floor.
Although they cost more, Sony cards are "the only way to fly."