Dear BLF members, I’m Budda and I’m member of the CPFItalia’s staff.
This is the OFFICIAL thread for helping members dealing with their refund from BangGood for the Cometa they bought.
We red that members had trouble getting their money back from paypal: they have been asked to make countless pics, videos, they have received “funny” solutions that don’t work at all from “professional staff” by Banggood, and to return the light in order to get the refund.
This thread is born with the purpose of letting paypal know how things are, and to keep track of each one of your refund requests.
Here is the situation summarized:
Some members came up with an idea for our forum’s flashlight for 2016, named COMETA (comet, in english).
The first prototype made had these specs:
“Jax Z1
XP-L HIGH INTENSITY
Copper MCPCB
Turbo @3,5A with 3’ step-down
Engraving “CPFItalia“”
Neal, BangGood flashlight manager was interested in making the light for us and and this is the sample received
Note the JAX logo on the light.
Then, BangGood sent new driver and bigger cables, so the light could be upgraded with the final driver and cables.
They told us that the light, with these changes, would be the one produced and sold. Our Beautiful Cometa…
Here’s the problem: the light that was sent as a sample is different from the one produced and sold. The Cometa sold are cheaper, dangerous and underperforming.
This is a list of the differences:
- Different sized pill
- Smaller cables
- Wobbly threads
- Cheaper lens
- No JAX logo on the light, ad different construction: the Cometa pieces can’t be mounted on original Jaxman Z1 (and Jaxman wrote this very CLEAR thread saying that they never made a special edition with XP-L Hi)
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This are NOT minor differences.
For example, the Cometa lights bought from the members did short the battery, at the pill (due to changed pill size compared to the Sample) and at the led (due to bad soldering and poorly anodized discs).
This constitutes a very serious danger to the users: reported damaged springs, burnt fingers and broken drivers/emitters when the lights were simply turned on. This problem affects all the cometa lights.
And the members had to sort out these problem by themselves, with no statement from BangGood.
Only after many members complained about their broken cometa and burned springs caused by the batteries shorting, BangGood offered to send insulating discs to the one who required them.
However, many user got the light with other problems:
light that don’t work at all (some DOA, other dead after few minutes of work), have defects in the UI (doesn’t change modes), damaged o-ring (due to incorrect installation), chipped lens and not working switches.
These problem will not be solved by adding insulating disks.
+Also, replacing these light with new ones, won’t fix the BIGGER PROBLEM: members bought lights that are VERY different from the advertising and the original specifications.
+
After many mails from WonWurster, administrator of CPFItalia, BangGood offered to send to members who are interested, a kit with washers and bigger cables:
1 washer battery tube
1 washer for around the led under the poorly anodized disk
1 small roll of heat resisting electical tape
2 wires 20AWG with a lenght of a coupl of centimeters.
However, this solution requires that the members to their own soldering work.
This is not acceptable because members paid for a working light, not a light that has to be built, and not all members are able to do the soldering.
Now, we asked BangGood flashlight manager Neal, responsible for the Cometa, to:
- Refund ALL the money for member that are not happy about their Cometa light. If BangGood requires the user to send the Cometa back, they have to refund the shipping fees.
- If someone is somehow satisfied of the light, and would like to receive the kit that BangGood offered before, the kit will be sent to the user for free. If the members accept the kit “solution”, there will not be any further refunds.
- To remove that light from the store and to remove the CPFITALIA engraving, since this is not the light we came up with.
This is all the update we have for now.
As stated before, we want that each member who bought the cometa and wants to be refund / to have their problem solved.
So, post here (ONLY IF YOU BOUGHT A COMETA), and state:
- What’s the problem with the light (for example: mine works fine but it’s not the one I paid for, or: mine was DOA, or: mine was shorted and now doesn’t work, mine have broken lens…)
- what did you ask to BG or Paypal
- what’s the situation about your claim (got money back, been asked to to this and that but still no money back, been asked to return the light…).
So, post here ONLY if you have bought a Cometa.
We’ll be happy to see that all the members who bought a cometa have a solution for their problems.
If you want you can insert the link to this thread in the paypal claim, to help them now how things are.
We believe this thread can help paypal making the right decision for all the members - customers.
UPDATE 10 June 2016:
Many users contacted me and asked if, where and when the Cometa lights with 100% specs will be available for sale.
The answer are all negative: NO, NOWHERE, NEVER.
The project of the Cometa required to start from a Jaxman Z1 modifyied light with an XP-L hi emitter and other things.
Jaxman has said that they are not interested in producing a XP-L Hi customized version of the Z1.
Also, we had to do a lot of work to get out of BangGood the simple “repair kit”, and at this point we don’t even think they will start making “the right” Cometa now.
Remember: we choosed the Jaxman Z1 for its great construction and great lens.
So, we consider the CPFItalia Light forum 2016, the Cometa, a light that was never produced and will never be produced.