What would you do- Vendor not honoring warranty

[CStrickland]

That's good news!
I still wanna know who made it

 

[Reef Ruler]

That's good news!
I still wanna know who made it

I'm also really curious who made it. OP said his next step was to post in their sponsor forum here on RC...which makes me even more curious.

 

[Hitch08]

You have been incredibly patient.

 

[Reef Frog]

Whatever I buy, I like medium to high quality gear almost always. Just my preference. Especially if it has moving parts, a motor or uses electricity. Manufacturing in the PRC is the modern Wild West. You may get a high quality product for a low price, but you probably won't. These on the cheap manufacturers have no reputation to protect. Often no physical address to serve court papers to if that's what you want to do.

But I understand the lure of the deal too. But I never expect a decent warranty from a no name off shore company unless the seller is of high repute and provides me with an unambiguous written "REPAIR or REPLACE" warranty. Usually a retailer is not obligated by law to honor a warranty but that is a state by state thing in the USA. Caveat emptor : buyer beware. When spending my money, I like not only quality but I like the idea my money isn't going into a country that abuses human rights on a gigantic scale and is rototilling enormous patches of Pacific reefs in the illegal pursuit of control of international air & sea navigation. Rant over.

 

[CStrickland]

Idk where people are getting the idea that this was an avoidable, cheap, fly-by-night type of thing. OP said they claim to be made 30 away, are a sponsor, and never mentioned the price. I'm not assuming that OP took every precaution, but I wouldn't assume that they just picked the cheapest light on eBay either.

Ironically, I bought the cheapest light on eBay, and it has run like a champ for a year. So there's that.

 

[shermanator]

Shame on ocean revive. (Sorry, I looked up the op's old posts).

 

[A.Astore]

Idk where people are getting the idea that this was an avoidable, cheap, fly-by-night type of thing. OP said they claim to be made 30 away, are a sponsor, and never mentioned the price. I'm not assuming that OP took every precaution, but I wouldn't assume that they just picked the cheapest light on eBay either.

Ironically, I bought the cheapest light on eBay, and it has run like a champ for a year. So there's that.

+1! Companies have to start somewhere and obviously if he was sent to a home in attempt to fix it the company is a company that is attempting to grow out. I have had a few wonderfully expensive pieces of name brand equip go bad in much shorter timeframes than a year. Once I realized they also were not backed by beneficial customer service then the extra paid meant nothing.

That being said, I still think it fair to provide provider names so that more people on the site can be aware of some of the things to consider when purchasing from both the actual light company and the LFS. I can honestly say there are times even with bad reviews I will at least try a product. It is when I only see perfect reviews that I begin to question the validity (no one is perfect even as much as we try to make them be). You are doing no actual harm to the company by allowing others to be informed of possible issues to look for.

 

[A.Astore]

Shame on ocean revive. (Sorry, I looked up the op's old posts).

^ This was what I had just started to do because I was seriously curious if I should be watching my light's every change

That being said, I am safe... for now

 

[Buzz1329]

Wait - so half of your tank has been dark for 7 months? That's a lot more patient than I would have been, particularly if I already had animals in the tank that depended on the light.

Do what you wish, but in my case, I'd consider it a lost cause and not worth the time and effort to get satisfaction. And I'd buy another light from a company with a good customer service reputation and move on.

Yep.

 

[Reef Frog]

Ooops apparently I got my details mixed up. Didn't read all posts thoroughly I guess. In post #1 I thought it came from a LFS retailing off shore merchandise since they were supplying replacement parts, or an on line source. And assumed it was made in the PRC, which I'm still not sure about.

I'm surprised this involves an RC sponsor. Maybe I'm naïve, but I thought most sponsors were of a higher caliber. I've always received great products and service from RC sponsors. A customer service black eye like this in a small market like reef keepers can be a really bad idea.

I think the OP has been extremely patient, kind & courteous throughout his ordeal. He was promised better and deserves better. The company deserves to be outed IMO. It's a public service.

 

[CStrickland]

Yeah, its weird. Could be someone selling knockoffs too, like a guy in a basement claiming to sell a certain brand when he's just soldering random parts together. Something like that would explain the China boat, waiting for parts. I've heard of a few LFSs doing shady things like that. I'm not sure how it works, something about the manufacturer setting the lowest price you can sell their light for, so they do rotten things to get around it. *shrugs*

The other benefit of naming the seller is that it gives them a chance to defend their product. Especially if it is a sponsor, they likely have a presence on here and can say "hold up yo, we don't have a distributor in OPs neck of the woods, that ain't our light" and perhaps even investigate an lfs that is selling knockoffs, if it's worth their time to do so.

 

[chilli_reef]

So was the fixture a cheap knock off or an actual ocean revive fixture ?

 

[snorvich]

Might sound crazy and illogical but STOP BUYING FROM THEM

ROTFLMAO. You think?

 

[Bent]

But but, you get what you pay for. Right?