Issue with Manafont order

On 11/29 I ordered the UniqueFire 3900 3*XM-L, order was received on 12/19. Love this light, real looker and very solid feel to it.

First thing I did was pop in 2 brand new Callie's Kustoms 3100's and turned it on... nothing. So I started taking it apart to see if something was loose. No problems with the tail cap, then I removed the head and found that the negative coil from the drop in was twisted up in the threads:

I have been in contact with Audrey @ Manafont, sent her pictures and asked that a replacement drop-in be sent out. She told me a claim was filed but I have had several emails and nothing in two weeks and no response to last email sent a week ago. I told her if I didn't hear something I was considering a paypal dispute. By my reckoning, 45 days is tomorrow, 1/13/12. I also told her I would settle for partial credit or Manpoints, as I prefer not to go through the hassle of shipping back to China. Anyway, this weekend I started tinkering with the light. Took me about an hour, but I think I did a passable job of straightening out the negative coil using a couple of needle nose pliers and a lot of patience.

As the heatsinking on this light is not so good by all accounts, I also applied some thermal paste to the bezel threads and did my first aluminum and copper tape wrap:

Oh, and now the light works just fine. Huge flood on high and the medium setting is brighter than most of my other flashlights. It still gets hot (mostly the SS bezel) after 10 minutes, but the rest of the head is now getting warm too, so I think the tape treatment is helping. I don't plan on running it on high except in short bursts anyway.

I am still very unhappy with the poor customer service from Manafont and will probably avoid using them in the future, or they will be my last choice. Since I have the light working, I'll probably just let it drop and who knows, they may come back to me on the claim at some time in the future, but not getting my hopes up.

Nearly every company will ask you to send it back, that includes American sellers, just ask ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS. That's the problems when you buy from HK/China you must takes into account return shipping costs. It's not poor customer service that you got, it's industry standard customer services that you got.

You have only one option that is to send it back. Paypal will say the same thing. You have to learn to live with it.

I understand about having to ship it back, that's why I'm probably going to drop it since I've manage to fix the light. The lack of response to any emails and no status update for 3-1/2 weeks is the poor customer service I'm referring to.

Thanks for the reply, though, How2.

manafont take their time in replying to emails, don't got to the website.

Check your emails, I had to wait a couple of weeks , then each email took a week wait for a response. Maybe they are under staffed.

They used to be fast but now they are slow in replying don't forget it was Christmas and Chinese new year holidays which only finished on the 7th.

Quote;Edit: What Am I doing wrong inserting pictures? I used the tree button, inserted the url of the picture from flickr. I get a small gray box in edit mode, but when I save the post, no pictures...quote;

Betweenrides,

Try using direct link rather than url, worked for me using photobucket after getting similar result to yourself with url malarky..

Every time I get a new light I pull it apart and check it out.

Every time I get a new light I pull it apart and check it out.

In early December, I ordered a drop-in from MF for a friend's flashlight. I received the order in late December, just after Christmas. Upon receiving the order, I noted that the wrong drop-in had been shipped. I immediately contacted MF CS, provided a description of the issue, and the required photos showing the discrepancy. Yesterday, March 05, following many emails sent to CS and Jim, I finally received the correct item I had ordered.

My issue still unresolved. S'ok though. Fixed it myself, last email from MF was over 3 weeks ago. MF will be place of last resort in the future, plenty of other sellers to choose from.

I'm a month out on an order from Manafont. They never used to take this long. IO order arrived in 2 weeks (some of it) and my last Solarforce order took exactly 9 days.

waitingFoy

After my experience with Manafont I would rate them as an AVOID! I purchased a few give=away flashlights from them back in early January. Short version is one was defective and I contacted Manafont several times with no response. Then tried Chat and they did nothing but tell me someone would contact me. Finally said to send photos, I did, then nothing. Well after waiting for several weeks I contacted them again via Chat and got the same routine...someone would contact me....yesterday I got this message via email.

"Sorry for the trouble, but I have found that this claim is still not yet reviewed by management."

It is apparent their chat personnel have no ability to resolve an issue and neither does the customer service rep that eventually sends you a response.

I have one order pending that is 3 weeks out and still has not left HKP. I have emptied my shopping cart and will spend my $ somewhere else.

AVOID MANAFONT!!!!

\.

Ahhh. Dont tell me that! Im waiting on my order from 2/20. I know it takes awhile, but im not so optimistic it will even show after reading this...

I just checked and my order says "dispatched" Is that good or bad?

I have ordered a couple dozen items (torches, knives, several p60 drop-in's) from Manafont and they were the fastest compared to DX and other places but my last order from them was last September.

So has their shipping really dropped off that much in just a few months?

If so that is very sad. They used to be the best IMO.

I've still had good luck with new orders:

Order Date - Receipt Date

  • 2/17 - 3/6
  • 2/16 - 3/6
  • 2/12 - 3/8
  • 2/09 - 3/6

I'm still waiting on a final order from 2/16 but it shipped the same day (with tracking) but looks like it was delayed due to the weekend. HK shows it received on 2/20, but it was 'processed through sort facility' on 3/3. It looks like it sat in a box for a couple of weeks at the HK post office. Frown

I have never had an order delayed due to MF; they have always shipped out quickly, typically within the next day.

My last 16 orders have been all good with fast shipping only one problem was they sent me a 5 mode driver instead of a 3 mode driver, but it was like $1 with free shipping so it's no big deal to me.

Only three orders with MF, all of them shipped within 12hrs, and received in around 14 days. Excellent record. This beats all other competitor to the ground, including ebay sellers with their ratings concern.

Which makes me wonder why other sellers shipment always arrived near or exceed a month. How did MF shipment always consistently got to me in 14days? All my other orders normally ship from HK as well.

I think, when MF say dispatched, they have actually shipped it. Other sellers (ebay, DX etc) might just mark it as shipped, and then ship in... whenever. That's probably the only logical explanation in my case.

In any case, MF is top seller on my list as of now.