This is a tentative warning for those wishing to purchase from FF. They appear to be run by Ric, the same person running CNQG which is MIA. I am not certain that you should stay away from FF, but there have been a few headaches over CNQG lately. I’ve just ordered something from FF and sent an email to their customer service but it’s not getting through which is a bad sign. I have a feeling I may not receive my goods and that FF will likely go the same route as CNQG, but we’ll see how it turns out.
Use caution.
June 23 —
My item has shipped and Ric responded to my PM with my tracking number.
July 7
My order arrived.
So I was wrong in my original post. But there was still reason to feel a bit apprehensive with the site problems and emails bouncing. Came through in the end though!
Has twitter destroyed everyone's long-term memory? Can't remember stuff that happened only a few months ago? Like the overhaul to FancyFlashlights site predicted to take a week or so over the New Year's holiday, but ended up taking much longer? And eventually did come back?
Would it be crazy to see a parallel with what's happening to CQG?
If you paid by Paypal or credit card and something does go wrong with your purchase I am sure you can get your money back. I wouldn’t buy anything whilst the site is being updated.
I was starting to feel like an idiot, because I’ve been trying to indicate the same thing without sounding like a total jerk to both parties: A. those who are concerned and B. Ric.
This seems 100% like business as usual for him. I assume that eventually he’ll get the site back working again and I assume that he won’t talk to most people as long as there is a problem of some kind. But there are an endless supply of people who haven’t thought of that for whatever reason.
Ive said it before, I have no proof but common sense suggests Ric has a real job, these websites are his on the side thing to make an extra buck. Life in China is tough and hard work is the normal practice. My guess is when things are going wrong theres not much he can do until its fixed. He spends the little time he has free doing that, not dealing with the same question 90 times. I say that because its happened before, he came back. Ive dealt with him, and found him to be honest and easy to deal with and seasoned vets say the same thing.
Smart business practice? probably not. But he isnt out to shaft you.
I trust Ric more than any other dealer in China. For those of you who were around, back in December 2013, we raised over $600 USD for another BLF member going through some tough times. Sent the money to Ric in small amounts from 40 or 50 BLF members and Ric handled the transaction wonderfully. Threw in some extras also. I wouldn’t worry about any orders coming from Ric.
I was quite conservative in my OP. I haven’t dealt with him before and wasn’t aware of his long-term reputation. It seemed over the past few weeks his absence has not been encouraging. For an online retailer to have a site be down for length and little to no response is discouraging. I had no idea it’s pretty much him running the show.
+1 JM, agree, but sometimes he gets me sooo frustrated. If there's a problem, that's when comm. breaks down. Overall though, he's been great - gotta take the bad with the good with him. Definitely wish he'd be more responsive when you need him, but I've gotten some good deals, recommended him a whole bunch. When he started offering great deals on Shocker hosts - that was real cool and he gave the same pricing to guys I referred. Shipping has sure been fun - once I tracked my Shocker to delivery, accept it was in Florida. Sure enuf, a guy in Florida posted he just got his Shocker. That was more a laugher than complaint - I knew I'd get my Shocker and it came in a couple days...
Funny, at one point he contacted me to a production run of Super Shockers, like qty 200. Umm, I can't pay bills on Long Island making $2.50/hr, so don't see how that would work... We didn't talk $$$, never got that far, but I simply can't work that fast... I'm wayy too detail oriented - must be my German blood .
