Several troubles with Manafont, what do You suggest?

Buy / Sell Budget Dealer Experiences
1

Hi!

I have now sorted things out with Manafont.

Cases are:

One DOA Trustfire 5000mAh

R5 Headlamp, which was falsely advertised as XM-L

No refund possible.
Only when I ship them back and “they inspect them for faults” ( who knows, do they even know the difference between R5 or XM-L!!)

Why I´m not happy?
Well, these add up to me some 60$ when I add shipping back.
I have a chance to get refund when stuff gets there.

I think it will be far over 45 days, before I can get ANY response from there.

Should I raise a claim before date closes, that way I would at least have some leverage if they start acting like idiots?

Your input would be highly appreciated.

2

I would definitely say yes, although I’ve never made a claim before. Put pressure on them to resolve your issue.

3

Manafont is great until there is a problem, then they will stonewall and eventually CS will just shut down. I no longer purchase from them unless I have to. If it were me and it was within 45 days, go through a PayPal dispute. I would ship nothing back unless they pay for the shipping (Of course you have to clear that with PayPal too). Good vendors like IOS, HKE and CNQG/FF will work with you on problems, Manafont will not.

4

Quite disturbingly this place still has the [RECOMMENDED] label on them.
I quess most of the transactions are OK though…

BetweenRides:
Would you trust them first sending stuff out and wait for shipping refund or just sit still, send nothing and Dispute?

5

Manafont was my favorite seller until I had a problem with them. I would never hesitate to file a dispute again.

6

I best get off my high horse.As it Seems they can all be as bad as one another,Good,bad or indiferant.Luck,thats the diffrence,pure luck.Some do seem world class at being ivasive and some are only little league atm.Sad state of affairs realy.

DON…

7

They play hardball - really passive aggressive with no room for negotiation. They know the cost to return exceeds most purchases and are counting on you to just give up. If it were me I would start with a PayPal dispute. Manafont will probably contact you and tell you they can't deal with you unless you cancel the dispute (DD likes to play this little game too). Don't do it. If you are told you must return the item for credit, call PayPal and explain the cost factor to them. I would insist on a prepaid shipping envelope or a promise in escrow to cover shipping.

Really, I would push them as far as you can until you can get some satisfaction.

8

I dont know about what you are talking, but any such webshop cant be flawless.

There has to be, without exceptions, certain percent of mistakes. Thats reality.

So I naturally dont see nothing so disturbing in it.

9

OK until there’s a problem says it all. I received a TR 1200 with a split head and M/F said it still functions get over it or pay to send it back.

10

I also have had a problem with them…

One of my orders never arrived.

I tried chat and email and this is the response given:

.

“Hello xxxxxxx,

Thank you very much for your inquiry.

I understand your concern about the deliver status of your order. According to our local record, your order # xxxxxxxxx has been dispatched on xx-xxx-2012.

Delivery to xxxxx from Hong Kong typically require no more than 5 weeks. If you can not receiving the parcel soon, it might be in the process of returning to Manafont because of undelivered/uncollected condition. As soon as the order is returned, you will be contacted by email for arrangement of second delivery attempt.

Unfortunately, we are unable to trace this order at this moment. Allow me to take this opportunity to recommend Registered Air Mail service, for only $2 per order, you can enjoy extra security and insurance, as well as ability to trace your order online on official website of Hong Kong Post and Post of your country.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Audrey
Senior - Customer Services Team
Manafont.com ”

Ok, now I wonder: and what happens if the parcel is lost/stolen? then if so, the parcel will never return to manafont.

Other sellers, as DinoDirect or DealExtreme, always resend a not received order if the value is small, and (in the case of Dino) if the value is high, they give you a giftcard for the total value of your not received order.

I will not place any order more at Manafont, and the “recommended” label should be changed to “partiatlly recommended” or something.

11

Just my 2 cents: With one of my first Manafont orders, I received an UltraFire C1 body that looked used and beat up, and the lens rattled around in the head. I contacted customer service via email, and began corresponding with Ella. She was great. Seemed to be a bit of a language barrier, obviously, but she asked for some photos and I supplied them. Since I had ordered that first C1, the SKU# had changed. In fact, because of this, the order had been delayed and back-ordered, and that came back to haunt us when MF was trying to decide whether to replace, refund, or offer credit. So they asked me what I wanted. I told them I’d prefer to get the flashlight body I had originally ordered, and I supplied them with the new SKU. After going back and forth for about a week, trying to determine the best option, Ella decided to honor my request. She sent me a brand new C1 in perfect condition, and never asked for me to return the defective piece.

In fact, every time I’ve emailed with a question, I have been replied to by Ella, who seems to be very friendly and focused on ensuring a positive customer experience.

Now, if MF CS can be that dedicated for this guy - why is it they would fail so badly with others?

12

I agree Ecig, a certain percentage of errors is unavoidable. What is disturbing is repeated stories of how Manafont refuses to deal with errors. Their customer service is non-existent if you experience a problem. Read through the Manafont thread and you will see dozens upon dozens of examples.

If if were my rating, I would change it to [Use at own Risk]. Undecided

13

In the begining, when manafont still didn´t had the “recommended” label, they were good with us, remember those good deals they gave to us…

But now, since they are recommended and they have a lot of customers… not necesary to……

14

I dont know why customers even try to work it out with HK sellers. They will never succeed!

Sellers will try to stall them with endless meaningless mails until the 45 days PP limit has past.
Then it is all over for the customer. The money is lost.

Make a dispute at once!!! Raise it to a claim later if necessary. PayPal is your friend here, not the seller.
It goes for Manafont too.

15

That’s pretty much what I’ve said since the beginning. All these resellers are more similar than different irrespective of the various fanboi claims.

16

I might add, that I have little or no complaining about sellers, who take action after sending something faulty.
It happens, even with the best.

Thing that makes me spit, is those ones, who try to slip when troubles appear…

17

“All these resellers are more similar than different irrespective of the various fanboi claims.”

Or, maybe some of us appreciate the positive experiences we HAVE had and aren’t so incessantly cynical and quick to give negative review. And yes, I think many of the sellers are similar, some obviously worse than others, however. The point is, what do you expect?

We enjoy our budget lights produced in China, and should expect some hits and misses. Bottom line.

Some of my orders have been so cheap, and the lights show up in less than satisfactory condition or as crappy performers, and I just chalk it away as part of the experience and not worth contacting the seller over. But I have been happy with the majority of my experience with all of the sellers I’ve dealt with.

I relayed a positive experience with Manafont that sharply contrasts with the others here, because I felt it important to note. They certainly are capable of dedicated customer service, because they did so with me. Maybe they just don’t like the rest of you. :slight_smile:

18

Since I´m a foreigner, I would prefer dealing through mail with Paypal but I guess that is also possible?
Possible language barrier with spoken word but mostly the call fees…

I´ll first wait for their reply for a day or two. If it starts to take time, I will dispute, then do a claim.
After all, specs are wrong on one and one dead item. Pretty clear reasons to raise a dispute….

Yeah. might as well just do it the long way. See how it ends up.

19

Well, you're not a foreigner where you live are you? ;-)

I believe you can use email with PayPal, you don't have to call..

Good luck!

20

What I’m saying is that people are often quick to judge based on limited anecdotal experience, and a forum mob is prone to groupthink when in actually reality the vendors tend to be more similar than different. You just have to know what you’re buying instead of blindly trusting the description, and expect to fight for refunds which is to be expected since margins are thin.