Reading the posts at BLF, it is apparent that DOAs and initial defects are somewhat inevitable in flashlights. My recent purchase of a flashlight from goinggear.com had a defect. I am writing this post to express how much I appreciate GG’s handling of the situation.
In less than 24 hours of me contacting them with the issue, Andy@GG arranged for the return and refund of my defective light (including return shipping charges) and is about to ship out a new replacement. It is nice that their shipments reach the US left coast in just 2-3 days.
Yes, things sometimes go wrong with products we buy from retailers. But what separates the good resellers from the not-so-good ones is how they handle such exceptions. Outstanding exception handling while still maintaining competitive pricing is what makes me buy from retailers like amazon.com and Costco. Although my purchase history with GG is just two orders, I am very pleased with how they have handled this situation. They may have just won a loyal customer.
I ordered a Zebralight H600F the other day from Andy at goinggear and gave him my 10% discount code. He said he could do better and gave me 12% off. Hows that?? I'm totally impressed!. I'll be making future purchases from them, that's for sure. BTW, I received my order today!
Shipping international can sometimes be a PITA, especially at a busy post office. I imagine they charge a lot as a means of compensation for having to fill out the form, and time spent. It’s never a picnic when I have to stop by the local post office.
Yes, Andy at Goinggear.com is very accomodating. Marshall runs a tight ship over there in Georgia - definitely consumer oriented. I’ve had good service from lightjunction, too, when some problems arose with a SWM light.
They’re the antithesis of such disreputable merchants like dinodirect, etc.
These stories are the reason to buy from a reseller with a rep, rather than undercutting them for a dollar or two with a "bargain" offer from dino/Supbeam/aliexpress.
When something does go wrong, you are assured a timely, positive outcome.
For me it's supporting American businesses over the Chinese ones. Plus, customer support is extremely important. You're not going to get the same level from someone on the other side of the world, if any at all...
I would love to support them and do not mind a bit of extra cost, but they haven’t been very accommodating to me. Beside the fact that many of their lights are about 5-10% more expensive than some other shops I buy from, their shipping rates to East Europe where I am on vacation presently are twice more expensive. $47.50 to ship an $80 flashlight to Europe! C’mon. Illumn sent me two lights for half that. So no, unless one lives in the US, I wouldn’t recommend GoingGear.
