I bought a Nitecore HC30W on May6 of this year as part of a group buy on another forum. The rubber flashlight holder that attaches to the head band broke on one of the two rings that hold the flashlight. I wrote to Nitecore for a replacement under their warranty. They first asked me for the model number, date of purchase, place of purchase and a copy of the receipt. I promptly sent them this information. Then they wrote back asking for the s/n of the flashlight. Again, I provided this to them. They told me the s/n was not in their database and asked me to send the s/n to service@nitecore.com in order to locate the proper service center for me. They sent me the following message;
We can mail you a rubber part of the headband from China for free, but it will cost $4 for shipping, payment can be made to our PayPal account sales@nitecore.cn. After payment is made, please notify us (send us the screenshot of payment) and provide your shipping address, full name of recipient and contact number.
I own several Nitecore products and have never had a problem with any of them nor have I ever requested warranty service. IMO, the fact that Nitecore had me jump through so many hoops and then wanted to charge me shipping for what amounts to a .50cent item tells me Nitecore’s warranty isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. With so many great companies out there, I have no need to do business with these people again. Be forewarned, when purchasing anything from Nitecore you will be charged for replacement parts under their so-called warranty. Just my 2 cents.
Although the best service would be to send the replacement part for free, what you got is better than the alternative that most companies make you do. Normally, you have to mail your whole item back to a service center, at your own expense, and they keep it for months. That’s a lot more expensive than $4. Consider yourself lucky.
Wow! I just have to say you all are a great bunch of folks. Thank you for all the suggestions and links you provided.
Let me also say that I realize it may seem like a trivial thing because it is. I don’t want anyone to think I’m being cheap or unreasonable. The point I’m really trying to make is if Nitecore is going to make such a big deal about such a small inexpensive item, then think about how they would act if it was something serious or expensive. They clearly have a problem honoring their advertised warranty. Just want everyone to know this before they do business with them. I would also like to say that Nitecore has changed for the better in the last few years and is putting out some amazing innovative products lately. Just very disappointed in their customer service.
I guess it depends on how their warranty is worded, might wanna read it word for word. They technically are replacing the part at their expense. Just not shipping at their expense. If it was a serious issue they would have you send the light back to them. And probably take a couple months. But unless the warranty explicitly says they cover shipping charges they are actually following it. Most warranty claims make you pay shipping sometimes both ways. And after a certain time I think it’s 5 years with nitecore. You have to purchase the replacement part and pay shipping but they will do the labor part for free or it might be the other way around you have to pau a labor fee. Its in their terms I read before just been so long now.
I’m sure light most companies nitecore had a lawyer draw out the terms of the warranty. I’m almost willing to bet dollars to donuts. They they have worded in their that customer is responsible for shipping charges
There was a thread about fake chargers from Nitecore and Nitecores signs of genuine product were shown there.
One of these was “sliding rail non magnetic because it is pure copper”
This came from Nitecore
I had a D4 failing on me and well checked it and it was genuine
But since it was broken I checked the rails by breaking some
All silver colored metal no copper to be seen. For me no Nitecore since they could just have said “non magnetic” and leave the 100% copper and still have sign of genuine but they choose to go ahead and write up copper.
Show me where you can get Nitecore head band for $0.50, ill buy 10 and send you 1 for free.
Standard warranty in 90% of cases only covers parts and work but not the shipping.
The rubber flashlight holder that attaches to the head band broke on one of the two rings that hold the flashlight. I wrote to Nitecore for a replacement under their warranty.
I’m not asking for a complete headband, just the rubber part that attaches the flashlight to the headband. Nitecore sells the complete headband for $9.95.
Seems like you’re doing this wrong. You should find out if you have a warranty, first. Care to tell us what the “other forum” is so we can look into that group buy and try to figure out what you ought to be doing? It’s possible they found an unauthorized dealer or distributor, to get a price break.
That kind of stuff happens.
I’m wasting time on this, speculating that you’re brand new here and the other forum isn’t helpful, so you may appreciate getting help from folks here who’ve been around.
Consider what your time is worth — look at the US $1.55 replacement I suggested from Simon’s site at Ali — and ask yourself if trying to pursue this is worth your time.
If so, ask the “other forum” people to find out where they sourced their group buy, and verify whether you actually have a warranty from an authorized dealer or distributor to claim — or not.
As hank sensibly points out, you probably bought a grey-market item and Nitecore has no responsibility for the warranty. And really, it’s a $10 item. Is it really worth getting worked up about it because it didn’t last a lifetime?
Although you came here to bash Nitecore, I see that they offered you an option for a free part (except shipping, which is almost never part of warranties). IMO, Nitecore service sounds pretty good.
I don’t own any Nitecore lights, because they don’t really make the kind of stuff I like, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy their stuff if I liked something and it was a good price.
I have to agree with a lot in this post other manufactures will make you jump through hoops to me nitecore held up the warranty even if his is a grey market item. Take my 50 in TV for example. Was $300 Walmart.com it comes with a 1 year warranty I purchased a extended two year warranty. The one year manufacter warranty runs its course first. If the TV breaks or malfunctions in the first year. I have to pack up a 50 inch TV and mail it to California they will repair for free but shipping is on me. So it would cost $200 to do a warranty on a $300 TV. After the 1 year is up. The Walmart care plan kicks in and will send a tech to my house to repair. Your very lucky if a warranty covers shipping I’ve never seen it
Uh, no I came here because I originally intended to participate in a group buy for the Nitecore Tip from Illumn.com which I heard about on CPF. The group buy on that forum was for the HC30W from GearBest. As a matter of fact I am holding the warranty card for the HC30W right now. It says,“This is the certificate of authenticity of this item and we confirm that it has been subjected to the most exacting quality controls by SYSMAX Industry Co.,Ltd. Please ensure this warranty card is completed by the dealer or distributor.”
The warranty states in part that all Nitecore products can be repaired free of charge for a period of 5 years. Beyond 5 years, a limited warranty applies, covering the cost of labor and maintenance, but not the cost of accessories or replacement parts. Implying there is a full warranty for the first five years. (I bought it less than 4 months ago). It then goes on to say the warranty is nullified in certain situations, none of which apply to me. It also states that Sysmax reserves the right to interpret and amend the content of this document at any time without prior notice. And I agree, all of this is a waste of time. As I said myself, in the original post,it is a trivial matter. The reason I posted this in the first place was to give anyone interested a heads up on Nitecore’s lack of warranty support. Thank you for the suggestion of a $1.55 replacement, I will definitely look into that.
Take my 48” Samsung Smart TV for example. Think I paid $500.00 for it. I never purchase an extended warranty for any product. 3 months outside of the one year warranty the main board burned out. A $400.00 repair. I called and complained to Samsung and they actually agreed to have it repaired in my home by one of their local techs. Now that’s service!
