Negative experience with NealsGadgets

Usually my installed content blocker prevents these pop ups.

This thead, and I myself still have a tritium optic where one of the tritium vials emits no light. Asymmetrical…

But, the lume1 is exclusive to Neal for now. So what am I to do?

That's fine, scalpel_ninja, but what if your browser can't use a proper content blocker? The above screenshots were taken on a smartphone running Opera browser.

Still, if you are running a web store and people has to use a content blocker in it, it certainly says something bad about it.

If you are familiar with script blocking you can disable it all together on pc.

But if your on say a mobile device at home there is a more “advanced” method which you would use a raspberry pi and run Pi-hole and all network activity would go through the “Pi-hole” rather than to a DNS server managing ads and returns an unspecified address so no ads load at all. Mind you this method only works on your own network and wouldn’t apply if you are not at home/where the “Pi-hole” is connected.

I believe I understand what Barkuti is trying to get at. A good shopping experience should not require content blockers or Pi Holes to get rid of pop ups. However, Neal’s site is what it is. There are plenty of people lining up (myself included) to purchase the products he stocks. Rumor has it he’s a one-man operation and has little time or resources to refine the storefront. If his stock is selling well, I don’t think refining the site will be at the top of his priorities. Neal is not Hank of Emisar. I’m fluent in speaking Mandarin and can type pretty detailed (not perfect) messages in Chinese. The thought had crossed my mind to reach out and find out more about him. However, it would only satisfy a curiosity as I don’t have the ability to help him in any practical way.

I’m not inferring that’s “extra” steps are required for a good shopping experience but you already mentioned running some form of adblock so mentioning “A good shopping experience should not require content blockers” seems moot, I mention this as ads are more invasive than ever on any particular site in general compared to days past and was just giving a solution that could solve the dilemma of souring a shopping experience with “ads”.

Its a personal preference of mine to block ALL ads everywhere unless the ads support a business or content creator then exceptions are made on a case by case basis.

I absolutely agree and do implement similar blocking measures in my browsing practices. I too was trying to offer Barkuti a solution by suggesting an ad blocker to make shopping Neal’s site a bit easier. But I think his point was the presence of such pop ups implies it’s a poorly designed site, and it is.

Thing is that the “ad” that is mentioned is and isnt a “pop up” as runs a script and produces its windowed message in the browser rather than opening a new window to avoid the traditional means most common adblockers use, so from just a standpoint of design its quite good since it avoids regular means of removing them.

Ah, I see! Heh, I learn something new every day.

Is that even pulling any different domains for the pihole to block?

I do run a pihole, it’s pretty fun. I also block and reroute all DNS that isn’t going through the pihole on my network.

I ordered it about 3 months ago and it still hasn’t shipped!
I’ve sent a couple of emails inquiring about it, but no reply.
I suspected it was out of stock and when I looked at the page for the item I ordered, it was in stock!
I’ve emailed them to tell them that if they have something out of stock, to cancel it, but they’ve ignored me.

The paypal protection expires in November, so I’m going to apply for it before then

Opera can use just about any Chrome extension.

https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/install-chrome-extensions/

The extension is meant for desktop Opera. Android opera is based on Android Chrome, i.e. no Chrome apps, no extensions, etc. Bugger, and crap. Hope people awakens to the idea of using a mobile device with a much higher level of means and skill, demanding a lot of stuff which for now is “only desktop”. I understand a mobile platform imposes certain limits, but in practice they could be a lot less than what they are now. When I see people spending @#$% in a smartphone and how clumsy is their actual experience I can only huff and puff… :facepalm:

On mobile I can use AdAway. That's no “Pi-hole”, but I can selectively blacklist sites with it. However, I wonder how can I obtain the web addresses to which the @#$% popups or spammy windows point to.

Mmm, wait, I opened nealsgadgets again, clicked over one of the popup windows and obtained this:

https://cdn.shopifycdn.net/s/files/1/0031/0155/6806/files/QQ_20190130142645_480x480.png?v=1593355494

Well, that cdn.shopifycdn.net is candidate for the blacklist.

If I had a dollar for every time I saw a person over age 50 who had major difficulty answering a call, completely unable to figure out to make a call, unable to use recents, unable to figure out how to create and use a contact, unable to receive a text message, unable to figure out how to use visual messages, unable to function in email, unable to use any browser, unable to bookmark a page in a browser, unable to do a google search, completely unable to optimaly manage their home screen, completely unable to avoid clicking on junk and ads so as to severely clutter their browser with dozens of ad pages, I would have enough money to design and market a simple operating system just for them.

I have met dozens of people who have used Windows for years, and have no idea where defrag and disk clean up are. No idea how to drag and drop, no idea how to click and drag. Only proficient at clicking on ads and downloading junkware.

So guys, obviously this vendor has some struggles but I also see good experiences.

I placed my order before I found this thread so it’s a bit late but I can always dispute with PayPal. However, should I be worried?

I ordered my D4SV2 with Hank from intl-outdoor and he ran out of battery so I ordered the battery with Neal. I’m just concerned that Neal’s order will arrive way after the D4SV2 so I’ll order another battery from a local vendor (illumn) but, aside from that, I can wait.

I know this thread is a complaint thread so you’ll tend to see more negative experience posted, but some of what’s being shared here is concerning. Especially the “rob Peter to pay Paul” comment.

Also, I ordered a convoy s2+, a few short tubes for it, and some batteries. Is he not able to ship batteries outside flashlight bodies? I didn’t know that would be a problem.

I believe Neal cannot sell bare batteries due to shipping restrictions. It has to be purchased with a compatible flashlight and he will ship the battery installed in the light with an insulating pad. The disadvantage of ordering from Neal is if there is something out of stock or a problem with the order, you might not get any feedback on it. It’ll just sit unfulfilled for a long time. I usually get a screenshot of my cart and message him to verify everything is in stock. Once he replies and I place the order, I let him know by sending the order number to him.

I bought some 10440 batteries from Mountain Electronics way back in 2016.
They came to me (in their original boxes) tucked in an old fashioned plastic 2D flashlight.
So this is a matter that is not limited to Neal and the present time.
It has to do with regulations concerning the transport of LiION batteries by plane.

I’ve bought several items from Neal. Never had an issue aside from some items taking some time to arrive. That’s par for the course when buying from China.

Update: Neal responded via messenger and helped me cancel the batteries. The promptly shipped the rest.

Thanks Neal!