My colleague asked me to test his PICkit2 clone from sure, in case he was doing something wrong.
It programmed one time in three. Gave varying numbers of errors 2 times out of three.
My genuine PICkit2 with exactly the same setup programmed 3 times out of every three.
He binned his "sure" clone.
It is the one that comes with a spare enclosure, for no obvious reason. .... am I right?
I would suggest that the bin may be the best place for your clone.
( I have seen other forum posts claim that the PICkit3 clone from "sure" works fine, but for the sake of a few dollars in the difference, why not buy the real thing and have confidence)
If being sure is important, don't buy "sure"
EDIT: on a more positive note, maybe you will have more luck if you keep the programming leads as short as possible.