FAKE KLARUS FLASHLIGHTS WITHOUT WARRANTY

Products from China, low cost products, yes, I agree, I wont apply for warranty and accept my loss.
But not for a rather expensive product. This flashlight was $75 which isn’t rather cheap or low cost, at least for me it isn’t.

The cells, 5 of them, are half a year old, 4 new ones, one in the Klarus. They are unprotected, and can deliver 20 amps or more

Vappower IMR26650 is one of the best cells available.

Well, they offered to send you the ram. Chances are high the rama lama ding-dong will function again.
(who says only Jay Z can write great lyrics)

“If you’re having flashlight problems I feel bad for you son
I got ninety nine problems but a light ain’t one.“

Classic.

Hahaha, yes :slight_smile:

Maybe you should apply for songwriter? :slight_smile:

Somebody beat me to it, that song is called: “Who put the bomp…”

What did she mean by this? I couldn’t find a list of ‘authorized distributors’ on their website.

And why don’t they allow us to check the flashlight serial code on their website.

And so it goes.

Service and support is worth paying for. If I can’t find it on amazon I buy direct from the manufacturer, or from a factory authorized vendor. Whatever I purchase is going to cost me more than rock-bottom, and I m fine with that. Every now and then (although it’s been years) I have a warranty (or whatever) issue, the resolution of which has never been a problem.

Paying a rock-bottom price and then complaining about lack of manufacturer support seems wrong. We’re all vigilant about the batteries we buy, why shouldn’t that same vigilance apply to everything else we buy?

For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry you got shafted.

Cheers

It’s no discussion anymore since I wil get a replacement part. But, I got it only because I posted my findings on this forum, which shouldn’t be necessary to do to claim warranty.

I always promote good reliable sellers, reading revieuws and so on. And no, I am not the person who buys at the most expensive store, only if there’s a substantial difference between them. I suppose if you want to buy a pair of Nikes, and you have the option to buy the same shoes for half the price, you buy the full monty?

Gor as far as I know, manufacturer warranty is worldwide, only thing is that you can’t claim at a local dealer if you bought abrought.

Until now I hadn’t troubles claiming warranty if needed in my 52 years. And yes, sometimes it takes a little more effort to claim, this case is an example of very bad aftersales. They could have avoid this since I wasn’t aware of their policies. Hope Klarus will clarify this soon on their website.

Cheers,
Alex

@agent80

I pointed to the fact that there’s no list of authorized dealers on their website, and no MAP pricing, and no warning for fakes etc. I hope they learn feom this case because I am sure many of you now would hesitate to buy their goods.

Hope they learn from this case.

Cheers,
Alex

My first thought too. They see this thread and decide it's better to do some damage control.

Yes, that is how it is

Interesting thread and good warning for everyone to always look for a retailer with authorized status whenever possible.

I got my Klarus P20 a few days ago, and before ordering I went looking for a list of dealers. I found this distributor for the UK & Ireland:

That website says they’re the authorized distributor, and the retailer I purchased from was Tactical-Kit.

Photos and comments on the P20 vs the Olight HCRI will be coming (not sure exactly when as I’ve been ill and have to catch up on other things first) but simple first impression of the P20 is that the spill is really very nice, least perceptible hotspot of any flashlight I’ve used.

I did also notice the whole body of the P20 gets really warm very fast on the high setting, this happened just while spending a few minutes testing the modes worked. I assume I have a genuine copy of the P20, so I wonder if Klarus designs might be prone to generating a lot of heat?

I’m pretty sure your klarus light is genuine and comes from the same factory as other klarus lights…

-Serial number is not something chinese brands normally take into account, yes they have individual serial # but probably they don’t have records of it.
-MAP on a klarus light… cheap excuse. Just like jetbeam and many other brands, there’s a MSRP, but no MAP policy.
-The seller from AE did not buy directly from klarus so they insisted you to contact the manufacturer for warranty. Klarus having no record of its own lights, they denied the authenticity.

The problem here is not what you bought but where you bought it, had it been a larger shop such as GB or BG klarus would’ve handled your warranty nice and easy.

To me it would seem that the fault lies much more with Aliexpress for doing business with a dealer selling counterfeit products. Which, as many have experienced with the Liitokala Factory store and the Liitokala Official store that counterfeits seem rampant on Aliexpress.
Further, Aliexpress does not side with the buyer when a counterfeit product is proven fake with pictures and video.
I see little or no fault here by Klarus. They can not help the fact that some disreputable vendor is selling clones of their products.

I am pretty sure if Klarus gives some pressure on Aliexpress they can get fakes deleted
There are also a few ways to get products safer from being easily copied or at least make it possible to get a fake revealed

also a working serial number check on their website would help tracking down faked products

as well certificate of authenticity stickers with not so easy to copy safety signs like other manufactories have

I suppose I’m just like you when it comes to general principles, and what the right thing is.

Cheers

This might be a contrary opinion but if the light is indeed a fake then Klarus is under no obligation to fix or replace the light. In my mind it doesn’t matter if it says Klarus on it or not. Also the light was way cheaper than it normal is if I’m reading things correctly. That should have been a warning right there. One shouldn’t expect companies to make good on things they don’t make.

Caveat emptor when dealing with most Chinese sellers.

I was just reading the thread and was gonna say the same thing.

Eg, if you buy a Bolex watch on the street, but it’s got “Rolex” instead, if it busts after you bought it, the real Rolex isn’t obligated to fix it, certainly not to meet their spex.

Most flashlight mfrs I’d dare say do NOT make their own lights, but contract out to mfring houses to produce the head, tube, tail, etc., and then someone stuffs ’em with the LEDs, switches, drivers, etc.

So the mfr contracts with them to make 10,000 lights, but the sneaky guy makes 20,000 instead. The mechanicals are easy to get, but they probably stuff them with clone LEDs, cheap switches, etc., and then sell them at even 80% of the MSRP. They work well enough to fool the user who doesn’t want to take apart and dissect a pricey light, and isn’t about to question the “great deal” he got.

But now, there’s a glut of nice “cheap” fakes floating around on Ali/Ebay/etc. They make enough bux fast, then fold up shop if they get caught. Likely no one moves out of the same building, but just slaps a new sign on top of the doorway. And then it’s business as usual under a different name.

So yeah, the original mfr (eg, Klarus) doesn’t want to and shouldn’t have to support the army of fake lights. They’d prefer (or insist) you go through them or their authorised dealers, but if you go out on your own to save a few bux, expect to get a fake.

Frankly, and I say this as someone who doesn’t have even a single Klarus light (yet?), they went well above and beyond to accommodate the OP.

And this is generally why I only get lights cheap enough to try fixing them on my own if I have to, or trash them if I can’t. :laughing:

Have OP tried to clean the contact? Bad contact can cause high resistance, somemore unprotected 26650 can be shorter and less pressure on contact.

I have the same problem with my klarus g20. Never bothered to deal with it because I always had a super headache when dealing with gear best and bang good for defects. But mine wouldn’t shut off. It would just do the step down from turbo.