Negative experience with NealsGadgets

I have gotten I think 4 orders from neal.
All were shipped promptly and arrived quickly.

During the last days/week, Neal was busy as he was taking Martin (M4D M4X) to the flashlight manufacturers!
I got a reply from him about an order I did by using the BLF private message system.
I suppose Martin only returned from China today (25th) so Neal may be resting or catching up with orders and mails/messages.

Ordered twice from Neal, both lights arrived without bigger issues. Second time there was a delay because his wife got his child got born. Though hearing about Neal not reacting to mails etc. is not new to me. To me he seems like an honest dude, but communicationwise somewhat chaotic.

I regret to inform the group that I was never able to work out the problems, with my last order from NealsGadgets, with Neal. I asked help from PayPal. They found in my favor.

After more than a dozen orders with Neals Gadgets I have had several problems all of which have been resolved, most of the time, with Neal never replying to me directly but simply taking care of the issue in a way more generous than what I requested.

Did order a Lumintop FW1A Flashlight but I did receive the FW3A Version.
I emailed him several times, but he never replied. :frowning:

Mine as well. It is arduous to deal with Neal. The first time he sent me a Mateminco with wrong tint, I demonstrated that with a video. Got some refund, but only after intercalating PayPal. Next time he nerved me with asking for some phone number for address again and again and again, even after I explained that no parcel service in Europe ever is calling the receiverā€¦

Iā€™m not ā€˜sticking up for Nealā€™ but, this all seems a bit odd to me.
I donā€™t know about Germany, but almost all (if not all) parcel services in the UK require a phone number for both sender and receiver, so your explanation is incorrect since the UK is in Europe, I canā€™t imagine DHL/TNT/FEDEX/DPD etc operate differently in Europe to the UK, it wouldnā€™t make sense?
The ones Iā€™ve used to send/receive items wonā€™t even allow you to progress without giving a number (sender and receiver)
I wonder why wouldnā€™t you give him your phone number? it makes total sense, and seems to me like heā€™s trying to help, and you (inadvertently) are causing the problem.

Those phone numbers enable updates for both parties, I usually get a text or call to tell me,

  1. When roughly it will be here (maybe a day or so before)
  2. When exactly it will be here (1 - 5 hour slot) depending on the quality of the service.

I never had any problems with Neal. In my perception, heā€™s communicative and reliable. Now donā€™t switch me on on DHL! I could write a 10 pages post just summing up their fuck-ups.

Communication is weakest side of Nealā€™s. I had a hard time when I did my first deal with him and it made it my last deal.
Mike

FW3A from Nealsgadgets just received. Three weeks exactly to US. At no point in the process was the tracking info correct in either 17track or DHL. It just showed up out of the blue. Tracking status has still not changed since day 0. This more or less met my expectations of a Chinese reseller.

Iā€™m not sure at this point. My FW1A was DOA. He answered the first couple emails. I asked about a replacement. Nothing since. So a $35 paperweight. If something comes along iā€™ll post it here but for now I wont order from there again if nothing is resolved. :frowning:

i have also mixed experiencesā€¦.i was waiting MONTHS for whatsapp answer to my order questionā€¦but iam afraid,there are internet china government prohibitions or how to call itā€¦and then he is helplessā€¦.he should explain it here,cos there are many people with the same problemā€¦no iam a bit afraid to order from himā€¦.BG no problemā€¦but i wanted to support himā€¦but its in fact christmas time,so now its almost doesnt make a sense to orderā€¦

Iā€™m not sure China filters/prohibits emails/pmā€™s from here complaining about missing/faulty flashlights etc, hardly at the top of their list, but what do I know lol maybe they do! :stuck_out_tongue:

yes ok but if you want to order,which is profit for him why he didnt answerā€¦

I wonder what happen to Neal ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦Anybody know perhaps ?
Hope not he went fetch some wood and not planning to return ? :frowning:

It seems there are definitely two scenarios with different experiences with Neals gadgets stores and with his communication via his emails. Maybe use ā€œ messenger ā€œ as first priority above email communication and/or using some sifting methods .
I for one have both in favour and disfavour experiences which are quite opposite.

My take on it , he is definitely sometimes a busy man, he is probably a nice guy as all prescribed, he probably donā€™t have time to answer all emails, probably prioritize emails or whatever reason we not sure of ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦.But any business succeed or failed with good communication and service or lack with it .

So far over the years I didnā€™t have any negative experience with Banggood , Aliexpress, FastTech and if there was any hiccups it was sorted with immediate response, no hiding techniquesā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦
Lately Banggood uses Buffalo as a intermediater for customs to SA , arrival is very fast (two to three weeks), painless with reasonable cheap fees with the same products .

eg: I have a order with Neals stores, order placed 31 October, from his web logging in today still show unfulfilled meaning order not sending out yet. Try to contact him numerous times as I want to add some items on same order, no reply yet ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦silence as before , should have ordered from Banggood ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦will give him a another generous week or so before open a dispute through PayPal.

On the other hand I have Emisar products ordered from Hank from Intl Outdoor which been placed on 6 November , I received my order today (two weeks ) ā€¦ā€¦.Very happy :smiley:
Having some enquiries to him, he always answer promptly, straight and honest ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦kudos to Hank :+1:

This may be continued depending on if I get my light w/ the same issues others are having. That light is the NI40 SBT90.2 Group buy.There are a lot of the same issues[driver?switch?] along with just not responding to many people.To me that is inexcusable.

I emailed him on 10.23.2019 and another on 10.29.2019. Never responded.Many people have had the same problem. Some have had success on FB others not. Needless to say the guy is inconsistent and lacks efficiency, reliability, consideration and basic communication with his customers.

I am blessed with the dealers in USA. There are a half dozen or so who have superior customer service.

I am not alone, and mine is not an isolated issue. Just read the thread I posted along with other threads.

I am One and done with this Neal guy. I have no patience for irresponsibility

How would I know that, seriously. :person_facepalming: What do you expect me to say?

For some reason, he answers better by facebook messenger.

I ordered a light from him a week ago and the order is still unfulfilled. Iā€™ve emailed without any response. First time Iā€™ve ordered from him so Iā€™m not super impressed but Iā€™ll just be patient and see what happens.