BTW, just what does “Banggood” mean? Is it Chinglish for “Good Shopping” or such?

Well more disappointment… A classic bait-and-switch from Banggood.com! In the side-by-side pictures, the advertisement is on the left (first image).

Before we get to that, let’s look at the plastic bag they were sent in. The plastic 18650 sleeves were both smashed because of this. The packaging shows just how much abuse they took on their way.

In the next picture, you see the Banggood advertisement on the left, and the delivery on the right. The arrows show the 18650 sleeves I mentioned before. The markings I circled are clearly different. No idiot would confuse the lights by accident.

Moving on, in the next picture, the red arrows identify some of the sharpest edges! Again, the advertisement on the left shows a rounded rear edge. And the one on the right that I received has very crude machining on every edge of the light. The green arrows show the buttons are different sizes. And the green circles mark lousy knurling on the one I was sent.

Moving on you can see the advertised one on the left has a much nicer lanyard keeper. And the tail cap insides are different.

And finally, the advertisement and the flashlight markings show CREE 1800 lm, but that’s not what’s inside. The board is clearly Latticebright, and according to the counterfeit CREE awareness thread on this forum, the LED itself can be confirmed a Latticebright counterfeit by the square pads the red arrows point to.

So my conclusion is I am a victim of Banggood’s bait-and-switch scam. Should I not be mad? Why do other buyers let them get away with this?

EDIT: The reasons it is inferior compared to the one in their advertising picture I already own from Amazon are 1) cheap/sharp edges hurt my hand 2) counterfeit LED, 3) horrible red tint from counterfeit LED, 4) just plain junky compared to what was advertised. 5) distorted, rainbow lens.

Joshk wrote:

Well more disappointment… A classic bait-and-switch from Banggood.com! In the side-by-side pictures, the advertisement is on the left (first image).

Before we get to that, let’s look at the plastic bag they were sent in. The plastic 18650 sleeves were both smashed because of this. The packaging shows just how much abuse they took on their way.

In the next picture, you see the Banggood advertisement on the left, and the delivery on the right. The arrows show the 18650 sleeves I mentioned before. The markings I circled are clearly different. No idiot would confuse the lights by accident.

Moving on, in the next picture, the red arrows identify some of the sharpest edges! Again, the advertisement on the left shows a rounded rear edge. And the one on the right that I received has very crude machining on every edge of the light. The green arrows show the buttons are different sizes. And the green circles mark lousy knurling on the one I was sent.

Moving on you can see the advertised one on the left has a much nicer lanyard keeper. And the tail cap insides are different.

And finally, the advertisement and the flashlight markings show CREE 1800 lm, but that’s not what’s inside. The board is clearly Latticebright, and according to the counterfeit CREE awareness thread on this forum, the LED itself can be confirmed a Latticebright counterfeit by the square pads the red arrows point to.

So my conclusion is I am a victim of Banggood’s bait-and-switch scam. Should I not be mad? Why do other buyers let them get away with this?

Joshk wrote:

Well more disappointment… A classic bait-and-switch from Banggood.com! In the side-by-side pictures, the advertisement is on the left (first image).

Before we get to that, let’s look at the plastic bag they were sent in. The plastic 18650 sleeves were both smashed because of this. The packaging shows just how much abuse they took on their way.

!https://www.dropbox.com/s/opqa58i07wbjmih/packaging.png?dl=1!

Gee, that packaging looks just like mine! Smashed & torn. Thankfully, my light actually showed up fully-functional and as illustrated, though. But I do doubt mine has a Cree.

I’m very sorry you got Banged Good.

beaconterraone wrote:

BTW, just what does “Banggood” mean? Is it Chinglish for “Good Shopping” or such?

I think it’s more bang for your buck. And hopefully a good deal.

Btw I’ve had good experiences with them so far. Only one item out of the last 5 I’ve ordered took 25 days. Usually it’s 10-14. Hope they keep it up!

dudunphy wrote:

beaconterraone wrote:

BTW, just what does “Banggood” mean? Is it Chinglish for “Good Shopping” or such?

I think it’s more bang for your buck. And hopefully a good deal.

Btw I’ve had good experiences with them so far. Only one item out of the last 5 I’ve ordered took 25 days. Usually it’s 10-14. Hope they keep it up!

Thanks for the opinion on the meaning of the name. You’re probably right!

When I contact BG customer service, they’re very nice, but this latest experience for Joshk is, well, very disturbing.

Alright, I emailed Cservice@banggood.com and linked to this page. Let’s see what happens next.

Neal quickly replied to my PM stating that the snap up item was out of stock, and not long after that I received an email with links offering me the choice of waiting for restock, pick different item or refund. I decided to wait since I wasn’t sure if I would be able to change to a similar item and still only pay $.99.

Hopefully it will ship soon.

Of all the people on this forum, beaconterraone is the only one that cares banggood.com scammed me and 675 buyers of the same flashlight I bought? I did business with banggood because the users of this forum recommended them. Nobody seems to care they are criminals. So as long as they are getting you the items a dollar cheaper than made-in-usa, nobody tells the truth?

beaconterraone][quote=dudunphy][quote=beaconterraone wrote:

but this latest experience for Joshk is, well, very disturbing.

I fully agree. I find it very disturbing also,as I purchase flashlights from BG and would be p!ssed off big time if this happened to me.

I think Joshk is owed an explanation, and to be fixed to his satisfaction.

You got scammed, but ... most probably also BG got scammed.

That might sound harsh, but please let me try to explain.. I don't know the full story behind this purchase, but anyways..

1. The light itself

The model you purchased doesn't look like a real Ultrafire. Yes, there is such thing as a real Ultrafire - check ultrafire-shop.net for real ones.

The light may be branded as Ultrafire, but that doesn't tell us anything. Most "no-name" lights are Ultrafire branded, and those are sold "everywhere". See the list here.

You would be better off by either knowing what you are purchasing, or gaining the knowledge by asking questions (here at BLF).

..which brings me to the next topic..

2. Recommendation (or lack of)

That model might be frequently recommended on some other forums, but I don't recall anyone really recommending that light here.

We (= the BLF community) buy and test all kinds of lights, but we won't necessarily write of all the mediocre lights. If the light is good (for the price paid), it gets recommendations => buy those lights and be happy. If a light is plain bad, we might warn you - but please don't count on that!

3. Banggood's position

As I said in #1, the light is not an Ultrafire. But on the other hand, it's a quite popular cheap light => BG wants to sell it.

However, BG buys in those cheap lights based on price (and only price) => the light may on this week come from factory A and on the next week from factory B, both writing "Ultrafire" to the body tube. Any of the factories may change subcontractor or just decide to go for cheaper (fake) emitter without telling BG. Most probably BG didn't even know about the LB emitter before this incident.

[Note: Branded lights are a whole different story]

4. Is Banggood good or bad?

So far, based on my experience, BG has been a good place to shop. Or shall we say "from the better end of the spectrum" of all Chinese shops. But then again, I do a lot of research before making any purchase. [Occasionally I buy something cheap just for fun - but I don't complain if I get burned in those cases..]

A mistake (as described in #3) may happen to any shop. In the end, the reputation of a shop will be defined by the way it handles situations like this.

the wrote:

…

That will probably be the argument of Banggood when they reply to me, claim ignorance and blame the supplier. But that doesn’t fly with me, especially when there are so many differences (including all the markings) that any fool that opened one box would know they are not the same. If banggood tries to claim they are selling hundreds of flashlights they have never laid eyes on, that’s ridiculous.

Joshk wrote:

the wrote:

…

That will probably be the argument of Banggood when they reply to me, claim ignorance and blame the supplier. But that doesn’t fly with me, especially when there are so many differences (including all the markings) that any fool that opened one box would know they are not the same. If banggood tries to claim they are selling hundreds of flashlights they have never laid eyes on, that’s ridiculous.

DanielM wrote:

Joshk wrote:

the wrote:

…

That will probably be the argument of Banggood when they reply to me, claim ignorance and blame the supplier. But that doesn’t fly with me, especially when there are so many differences (including all the markings) that any fool that opened one box would know they are not the same. If banggood tries to claim they are selling hundreds of flashlights they have never laid eyes on, that’s ridiculous.

you were expecting picture perfect products? The light they sent you looks good to me, does it work?

Uh, google for the definition of bait-and-switch scam. This is junk, it makes a horrible red tint, and cuts into my hand.

Joshk wrote:

…….
And finally, the advertisement and the flashlight markings show CREE 1800 lm, but that’s not what’s inside. The board is clearly Latticebright, and according to the counterfeit CREE awareness thread on this forum, the LED itself can be confirmed a Latticebright counterfeit by the square pads the red arrows point to.
……

So my conclusion is I am a victim of Banggood’s bait-and-switch scam. Should I not be mad? Why do other buyers let them get away with this?

twinclouds wrote:

Joshk wrote:

…….
And finally, the advertisement and the flashlight markings show CREE 1800 lm, but that’s not what’s inside. The board is clearly Latticebright, and according to the counterfeit CREE awareness thread on this forum, the LED itself can be confirmed a Latticebright counterfeit by the square pads the red arrows point to.
……

So my conclusion is I am a victim of Banggood’s bait-and-switch scam. Should I not be mad? Why do other buyers let them get away with this?

Regarding 1800lm. This is just not possible. No Cree or any other LED in these flashlights can produce that type of amount of light.
Yes, these are false advertisements but just be realistic to know what’s possible.

I never complained about the brightness because you are correct. It’s everything else that’s the issue.

So far my experiences with BG were fine. Their products were as good or bad as others but their customer service were pretty good.
Just remember to set your expectation right. The products are probably not as advertised but you have to know what you should expect to get. Then you will not too disappointed.

Joshk wrote:

DanielM wrote:

Joshk wrote:

the wrote:

…

That will probably be the argument of Banggood when they reply to me, claim ignorance and blame the supplier. But that doesn’t fly with me, especially when there are so many differences (including all the markings) that any fool that opened one box would know they are not the same. If banggood tries to claim they are selling hundreds of flashlights they have never laid eyes on, that’s ridiculous.

you were expecting picture perfect products? The light they sent you looks good to me, does it work?

Uh, google for the definition of bait-and-switch scam. This is junk, it makes a horrible red tint, and cuts into my hand.

I added this to my earlier post:
EDIT: The reasons it is inferior are 1) cheap/sharp edges hurt my hand 2) counterfeit LED, 3) horrible red tint from counterfeit LED, 4) just plain junky compared to what was advertised. 5) distorted, rainbow lens.

It’s an $8 light. You have to spend a little more to get out of the crap zone. Over $12 that’s Convoy territory. A whole different product.

DanielM wrote:

It’s an $8 light. You have to spend a little more to get out of the crap zone. Over $12 that’s Convoy territory. A whole different product.

DanielM, you are completely missing the point that this is not a situation that is the buyer’s fault on any level. It’s a bait-and-switch scam.

DanielM wrote:

But how do you know that the light in the picture is not junk?

Because I own the light in the picture! I bought it from Amazon for $17 with battery and charger. It’s an awesome light!
I identified it by picture. Then I was sent something inferior.

Are you sure the one you bought from Ebay does not have a counterfeit LED? I am pretty convinced all of this type of flashlights do. Can you share a picture if it has genuine Cree? I am interested.

Joshk wrote:

DanielM wrote:

But how do you know that the light in the picture is not junk?

Because I own the light in the picture! I bought it from Amazon for $17 with battery and charger. It’s an awesome light!
I identified it by picture. Then I was sent something inferior.

twinclouds wrote:

Are you sure the one you bought from Ebay does not have a counterfeit LED? I am pretty convinced all of this type of flashlights do. Can you share a picture if it has genuine Cree? I am interested.

Joshk wrote:

DanielM wrote:

But how do you know that the light in the picture is not junk?

Because I own the light in the picture! I bought it from Amazon for $17 with battery and charger. It’s an awesome light!
I identified it by picture. Then I was sent something inferior.

You are correct, the Amazon one has a counterfeit LED too. But the real reason I went searching for a supplier other than Amazon was because I wanted it without the bad battery and charger. I bought good ones from mtnElectronics. I just wanted the bare flashlight to put a better battery in and add a good charger. I am on a quest to stock my life with good flashlights, so I needed 4 more.

Edit: added one more beef.
The reasons it is inferior compared to the one in their advertising picture I already own from Amazon are 1) cheap/sharp edges hurt my hand 2) counterfeit LED, 3) horrible red tint from counterfeit LED, 4) just plain junky compared to what was advertised. 5) distorted, rainbow lens.

Then, I would say just go to Ebay. I bought one for $6.50. Some of them are even cost less (around ~$6). I don’t know if they meet your standard or not but I think they are acceptable. However, don’t believe the number of Lumens that they claimed. I also believe they all have Lattice Bright instead Cree. I compared the one that I have with RB with a Genuine Cree T6 LED in another flashlight and they are pretty close.

You’re right, I have already went back to Amazon and purchased another 6 of them. Now I have a banggood nightmare to live though…

Joshk wrote:

Of all the people on this forum, beaconterraone is the only one that cares banggood.com scammed me and 675 buyers of the same flashlight I bought? I did business with banggood because the users of this forum recommended them. Nobody seems to care they are criminals. So as long as they are getting you the items a dollar cheaper than made-in-usa, nobody tells the truth?

What a great troll post! So to summarize this… You ordered shit, got shit, but not the same shit that you expected. And now you are upset that not everybody else on the forum also are upset.

I’ll go easy on you based on your profile picture. I have 2 great flashlights I bought from Amazon, I wanted more without the bad battery and charger, and banggood advertised the exact same. However they shipped me junk that doesn’t compare to what was advertised. And that irritated me. Now you are posting here blaming me for being a victim. If you check my join date you will see I am new to flashlights but I sure as hell know when I have been scammed.

If something is illustrated, that which is illustrated should be delivered.

If something is described, that which is described should be delivered.

It doesn’t matter if one pays 25 cents or 25 dollars, what is advertised in image or text should be delivered.

Turn the tables: what if one agrees to pay $13.50 for a product, and then, upon delivery, the buyer says, I’m going to only pay $11.35.

“Close enough,” right?