HelloLights.com Experience

[bustcard]

Yummy Crow:

most recent email to HelloLights:

Disregard my emails.

I am dealing with Hamilton now. They have said that they use different manufactures and will send me a matching light.

There was nothing you did to deserve the tone of my email and for that I apologize.

Maybe a suggestion though; checks to make sure that the lights are actually the same when you send out a pair of these lights.

Lance

Email from Hamilton:

Hi Lance,

I see the pictures. Thank you. We have two different manufacturers for that bulb.

I can do an exchange on the bulb that you would prefer.

Just send me a copy of your receipt and let me know which bulb you prefer.

Then, I can get started on an exchange for you.

Thank you.


Hamilton Technology Corporation


My Reply

Hello,

My purchase information is below. I would like the light stamped as Hamilton as it is much brighter.
I have made a Forum post about my issue and would like to know what advise you have for people who would like to get do identical bulbs when they are making an order so other folks don’t need to go through this run around.

Lance

 

[James77]

That is interesting the difference in perceived out put, how long did they burn in? I wonder if they would equal each other with more run time or if there would be a difference with a PAR meter.

 

[bustcard]

They have been running now for about 4 days. The difference is quite noticeable. I don’t have a PAR meter... I wonder if my digital camera could provide some numbers for scientific comparison... maybe I'll tinker with that tonight.

 

[hilgert]

bustcard, where are you located? It is likely that a local reefer has a light meter, and it's probably a good investment. Here is a link to the one I have (now buried in my post-house-move boxes somewhere!!!):

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14821

-Hilgert

 

[fsn77]

While I can understand your initial disgust, companies do make mistakes from time to time, and it's best to give them the opportunity to correct things before posting anything in a forum. I'm glad you continued to post updates as you received them, instead of just walking away and leaving only a complaint for everyone to read.

Glad to hear this is being resolved for you. I can say that I've not had an issue with an order from Hellolights or Hamilton Technology. I've placed more orders with Hellolights, but the one order I placed directly with Hamilton couldn't have been easier.

I think the message for all to take from this is to try and work through the situation with the vendor and/or manufacturer before posting anything online. Most of the time, these companies will provide some sort of solution that both parties can feel good about. It's in their best interest to do so. You want to buy their products and they want you to buy their products... Them doing anything to outright discourage you from doing so doesn't keep them in business.

 

[Paulairduck]

I have used these bulbs in the past all hamilton bulbs have there name on them

It was probably returned new and some body pulled a fast one by inserting a different bulb and returning that one.

 

[bustcard]

It was probably returned new and some body pulled a fast one by inserting a different bulb and returning that one.

I had this thought too. The guy from Hamilton looked at the photos and never made a comment about it though. Only said that they have two companies that make them for them.

So either he didn't want to fight about it or they are "Hamilton" bulbs.

 

[jeff1225]

I believe you posted this thread way too soon. Both Hellolights and Hamilton treated you very well.

 

[bustcard]

Jeff; Yeah I guess so! Look at it this way now everybody gets to see that HT stands behind their product because of this post. Hell even HelloLights was standup and it wasn't even their fault.

I mean I didn’t get 2 identical lights like I ordered but this is the real world and I shouldn’t have expected that. Sure I ordered the exact same 2 lights from the same store from the same “manufacturer” but I should have known that they wouldn’t be made by the same actual company or be identical.

All I had to do was do some digging and send off like 6 emails to find out what is going on. Now I get to wait for my other bulb and get to take down my fixture and take it apart again. Then I just have to swap out the bulb and put it back together and hang it again. Then all I need to do is pack up the light again and go drop it off at the UPS store.

I mean that’s fair. I don’t know why I was upset!


Yep, great experience with Hamilton Technologies all around. Can't wait to do business again! Maybe next time I’ll actually get 2 crappy, but matching, lights!

In all seriousness, I am glad that HT is standing behind their light. I know you are saying "*** with this guy? What do they need to do to make him happy?" That ship has sailed. What they could have done was maybe have different SKUs for these lights so they could be tracked as different or they could have the 2 manufacture companies make identical lights if they are going to sell them as the same SKU. Or maybe don’t portray yourself as the bulb manufacturer if you are just a reseller.

I mean what’s the point of having 2 lights made by 2 companies that are not the same but sold as the same? And don't say I should have known. I think everybody here would be disappointed with that and I don't think it’s good practice.

 

[luv951]

I think everybody here would be disappointed with that and I don't think it's good practice.

You are right, but I don't think most of us would have handled it the way you have.

Have you really never made a mistake? Are you that perfect?

What is important, and what you seem to be glossing past with your rant, is that BOTH companies stood up and offered to fix the problem for you. If you really expect to never have a problem with a single purchase, then you should not be ordering things online.

The point isn't that a problem happened. It will from time to time. Its what was done to fix it, and in this case you were treated well, and the problem was resolved correctly.

IMO you have nothing to be upset about.

 

[luther1200]

IMO the OP didn't do anything wrong by starting this thread, and I would say since the mods didn't lock it they feel the same way. But I could be wrong. If I ordered 2 Pheonix or Radium bulbs and got 1 that said Radium and 1 that just said 150w or 250w I would think the same thing and I think a lot of you would as well. I have ordered quite a few bulbs and have never seen anything like this before. I would be interested as to how many of you touting the OP have ever received 2 bulbs that were supposed to be identical and they weren't? And if so I'd really like to know what you did about it? Is the OP so wrong to come here to RC to see if this is a common occurrence?

 

[Pike614]

having ordered from Hellolights about a dozen times, and spending thousands with them, I have never had any issue at all. Again, best put in the feedback forum....especially with only 17 posts...slightly suspicious IMO.

 

[bustcard]

Hey Pike,

I knew that would come up and you are right. With only 17 posts and by far most of them in this thread, it looks suspicious.

Like 10 years ago I was quite active on this board under the user name 'Saltnut'. It looks quite a bit different here these days than it did back then!

Recently I got back in the hobby but I am not a beginner so I don't have a lot of startup Q's. I'm also not doing anything too complicated, not pushing the envelope of the hobby by any means so I don't post much.

Why not just use 'saltnut' again? I started dealing blackjack and like the handle 'Bustcard', it's what I use for everything I do online now and since the user was deleted years ago, I just decided to keep my online stuff uniform.

So no, I'm not a scammer out to trash anybody's name with my made up story.

luv951: If you really expect to never have a problem with a single purchase, then you should not be ordering things online.

That is a good point. "Let the buyer beware" is always a good quote to keep in mind and no place is that more true that online. That having been said, part of being 'ware' is doing research (I didn't do as much as I could have obviously) but maybe somebody will stumble across this thread and maybe learn something about these companies and products (not all bad, especially when referring to HelloLight.com).

To everybody saying they have had good business with HelloLight.com and Hamilton in the past and they don't see this are representative of them (again this is 100% on Hamilton, HelloLights came out of this smelling like a rose to me) I agree. That's why I picked them to do business with. I always used Hamilton lights in my first tank and wanted to keep using their quality product.

You know what, let me tell you something else about this order with HelloLights; I was sent an email offering returning customers a sale discount. I placed the order but the discount did not reduce the price of the order. I emailed HelloLights about it and got a reply that same day that the code was not valid until a date in the future (it said that in the email but I didn’t see it). They went ahead and gave me the sale price. Again, HelloLights is an awesome online store, they simply were awesome in all of this and as I said in my email in them. I'm truly sorry I was rude with my email to them.

 

[sirjohn]

Are some of you even reading the thread before posting? He's already admitted that in retrospect, he posted this too song and even admitted to "eating crow".

The irony is not lost on me how some of you jump on this guy for posting too soon about hellolights.com and Hamilton when you yourselves are clearly also posting too soon to jump on him without taking the time to read the entire thread...