I’m not sure at this point. My FW1A was DOA. He answered the first couple emails. I asked about a replacement. Nothing since. So a $35 paperweight. If something comes along i’ll post it here but for now I wont order from there again if nothing is resolved. 
i have also mixed experiences….i was waiting MONTHS for whatsapp answer to my order question…but iam afraid,there are internet china government prohibitions or how to call it…and then he is helpless….he should explain it here,cos there are many people with the same problem…no iam a bit afraid to order from him….BG no problem…but i wanted to support him…but its in fact christmas time,so now its almost doesnt make a sense to order…
I’m not sure China filters/prohibits emails/pm’s from here complaining about missing/faulty flashlights etc, hardly at the top of their list, but what do I know lol maybe they do! 
yes ok but if you want to order,which is profit for him why he didnt answer…
I wonder what happen to Neal …………………………Anybody know perhaps ?
Hope not he went fetch some wood and not planning to return ?
It seems there are definitely two scenarios with different experiences with Neals gadgets stores and with his communication via his emails. Maybe use “ messenger “ as first priority above email communication and/or using some sifting methods .
I for one have both in favour and disfavour experiences which are quite opposite.
My take on it , he is definitely sometimes a busy man, he is probably a nice guy as all prescribed, he probably don’t have time to answer all emails, probably prioritize emails or whatever reason we not sure of …………………………….But any business succeed or failed with good communication and service or lack with it .
So far over the years I didn’t have any negative experience with Banggood , Aliexpress, FastTech and if there was any hiccups it was sorted with immediate response, no hiding techniques……………
Lately Banggood uses Buffalo as a intermediater for customs to SA , arrival is very fast (two to three weeks), painless with reasonable cheap fees with the same products .
eg: I have a order with Neals stores, order placed 31 October, from his web logging in today still show unfulfilled meaning order not sending out yet. Try to contact him numerous times as I want to add some items on same order, no reply yet …………silence as before , should have ordered from Banggood ………………will give him a another generous week or so before open a dispute through PayPal.
On the other hand I have Emisar products ordered from Hank from Intl Outdoor which been placed on 6 November , I received my order today (two weeks ) …….Very happy 
Having some enquiries to him, he always answer promptly, straight and honest ………………kudos to Hank 
This may be continued depending on if I get my light w/ the same issues others are having. That light is the NI40 SBT90.2 Group buy.There are a lot of the same issues[driver?switch?] along with just not responding to many people.To me that is inexcusable.
I emailed him on 10.23.2019 and another on 10.29.2019. Never responded.Many people have had the same problem. Some have had success on FB others not. Needless to say the guy is inconsistent and lacks efficiency, reliability, consideration and basic communication with his customers.
I am blessed with the dealers in USA. There are a half dozen or so who have superior customer service.
I am not alone, and mine is not an isolated issue. Just read the thread I posted along with other threads.
I am One and done with this Neal guy. I have no patience for irresponsibility
How would I know that, seriously. :person_facepalming: What do you expect me to say?
For some reason, he answers better by facebook messenger.
I ordered a light from him a week ago and the order is still unfulfilled. I’ve emailed without any response. First time I’ve ordered from him so I’m not super impressed but I’ll just be patient and see what happens.
Ordered several times from Neal. Super fast shipping and he took care of issues I had with previous orders at the same time.
Yes, he becomes insanely busy sometimes and/or your order may wait a few days to a week to be shipped with others. Also, don’t forget to check for Chinese holidays.
With that being said, I have always received orders within 2 weeks.
I will always check Neal’s before back-order Banggood.
I have been waiting on my last order about 2 month.
I emailed Neal about 5 weeks ago and have not heard back , communication is poor this time (as hes replied to other emails on previous orders)
Thats a shame, as I expect good customer service, here in the US or abroad, especially if your orders are $50-100.
But it sounds like hes a good guy, so I’ll give him another chance.
Disappointed this time.
Must be coincidental, I received email notification this morning my, order is possibly dispatch with a tracking nr, would be interesting what the dispatch date is.
This is ± 3weeks after order date, I have no problem with the delay if products is out of stock, chinese holidays, personal reasons etc but I still have a huge problem with lack of communication from him or his store . Not the first time. He could have have more items ordered from me if there was some reply or communication from his side.
If products are out of stock, Neil should just updated his web store immediately with possible expected arrival dates. If he(Neil) can not manage orders because of personal reasons, he or someone on his behalf must just post a notification on his web store, nothing strange or offensive to have a sign “back in two weeks on xx date ” or if needed get more personnel what ever the reason would be.
If he (Neil) experience problems receiving emails from customers which maybe are blocked somewhere, or having some other difficulties responding to email, would someone with personal contact with him please refer him to this link please.
I don’t want to believe he(Neil) categorized/discriminate customers in preference. I doubt if location of customers in this instance have any influence.
Customers mostly have empathy when there is some honest sharing and explaining, but it have it’s boundaries.
Please Neil, it is your chance to make it right ……………………
I recently ordered the NS53A from Neal. I started to panick when I saw other people saying theirs had arrived even though I had ordered mine before them. I started to panic. i would say shipping in total took about 6 weeks. For 5 of those weeks it just said in transit from china. Finally the status changed and said it arrived in Los Angeles and from there it took another few days. I’m in Southern California. Also keep in mind we are approaching the holidays and shipping is slowest this time of year as they are busiest.
Though I’m affraid the floodgates are already open, I would like to make a small comment.
Neal is just a one-man-shop. Working his a$$ off trying to keep the customer happy and his family alive. Of course it is heartwarming to see you guys give pointers how to reach Neal, but that makes things worse. Do you realise how much time it costs, besides fulfilling his daily tasks in his job, to read: Fakebook, regular email, his PM, and several threads in this forum that are used to vent some frustration. Just reading those wil cost him his day.
It’s true as buyer you have a contract with him as seller, and he is the first to address. But that includes also things he did not cause, like mechanical faillure or slow shipping. As for myself, Neal always came through. In the end.
hm…i try to think of his business…is it good? or not? hes got enough orders?is it parttime job or full? if is it profitable for him?if so,maybe o should working with someone…i dont know his kind of work,but if hes doing everything alone,then its not easy…emails,refunding,pm here on forum,post….cos hes known here as a trustfully person.but his non answering and extremly slow shipping is not good…maybe he need someone for partnership in crime:) i would like to order now from him one torch,but hes not responding…so,i cant…
Neal is by all accounts a great guy. I have bought a few items and they came and worked fine. I never once bothered him with any emails other than the one for his paypal address. After that I tried to forget I ordered it and it always showed up, sometimes quicker than was expected.
That being said,Well, here is the deal;
I have heard that same defense of everyone who decided to call themselves a “Business” and then not have the time resources to fulfill their obligations to their customers and ultimately fail because of it.
No one cares what your personal schedule, dead pets, sick kids, etc. when you call yourself a professional company.
You and your company will be judged by how you deliver and perform, period. No excuses.
This is the stone cold reality of doing something as a professional venture.
Too hot? Get out of the kitchen!
Something that may help would be simply raise prices $2 (or more as needed) on every item and use that increased profit to hire someone to field and sort the insane amount of messages that always come through from people who just want to talk, ask for something unobtainable, etc.
We always hear how cheap labor is in China, so charge more and get help.
Under promise and over deliver. Name of the game.
Muto is dead on. If you’re going to run a business, you have a responsibility to do all of the things that come along with that. You know, like basic customer service.
I don’t know why everyone gives Neal a pass, it’s ridiculous. I’m new to the “flashlight scene” and gave Neal one of my first orders because of the recommendations from the community. It seemed like he was just a dude running a small shop to serve a niche community. This was a mistake.
I placed an order for a flashlight and two batteries then waited for a shipping confirmation…and waited some more. After 7 days with nothing, I e-mailed Neal to ask if it had been shipped. Silence. Two days later I e-mailed again with less patience. He got back to me and supposedly he’s having difficulties shipping the batteries I ordered. I’m not sure how long he was going to wait to tell me that, or if I was just supposed to wait in confidence that he would eventually send my shit, but okay.
He apologized and asked if he could just send me one of my batteries, but upgrade the shipping to fast DHL express. Now my first reaction to his solution of me getting less of the stuff I paid for and paying more for shipping was negative, however at this point I was kinda over it and just wanted the flashlight I ordered, so I accepted the offer.
Another two days later I got a DHL tracking number “information received.” Another day goes by and this morning it’s accepted, now with an estimated arrival date of December 5th. Two full weeks into the future.
So to recap, Neal is not sending my full order, is charging me more for “fast” shipping, and the best case scenario is that I’ll get what’s left of my order just a hair under a month after placing it.
Needless to say, this will be my last order with Nealsgadgets, and I’ll be steering as many folks clear of him as possible.
Welcome to the forum! What you may not know (since you are new) is that a month wait for ANYTHING from China is par for the course. I have ordered from Hank at intl-outdoor, Simon through Aliexpress, other AE sellers, Neal, Jacky at FireFlies, Sofirn through Amazon, and Banggood. With the exception of lights warehoused in the US (speaking of one of my Amazon orders), every one of them took about a month (or much more) to get here. Most of that time I had either no tracking info or worthless tracking info. If you order something from China, it is going to take a while to get to you.
Neal’s issues with communication are a legitimate gripe, and I have had a few issues there myself. I don’t think people here are trying to give Neal a pass so much as provide an explanation. Humans want to know “why”, and people here are trying to to provide that answer.
If you want quick shipping and good customer service (before or after the purchase), stick to lights already in the US and avoid BG, AE, etc. One good option is Illumn. They have some of the stuff Neal sells, and they are fantastic.
If you want something that is uniquely available through Neal (whether that is a deal or a specific product), you have to go into it knowing that you may not get it any time soon and that you may not have much if any communication with him during the process. The good news is that Neal has shown that he will usually make good on anything promised, so if you do end up ordering through him you should eventually get what you ordered.
Although I’m on a complaining side, i risked third order. After 2 disappointments, the third order came ok. A month waiting, but the product was ok. It seems to me Neal has too much tasks and has problems to control all the things. Pity, as it influences negatively his business. Although having understanding for him, I can’t justify not hiring any help.
f0xx,
I order plenty of stuff direct from China. I ordered from Neal with free shipping and was fully prepared to pay the Chinese time tax to get it, however I do expect the order to be shipped in a reasonable amount of time. 1-3 business days. Taking 9 days to even let me know there was an issue with shipping (and even then only after I e-mailed twice) is unacceptable.
The only issue I have with it taking a month to get here is that because of a screw-up on his side, I paid more for express shipping which turned out to not be all that express.