“Make sure return postage is less than 60 % of the item(s) value to get a refund!” So to be on the safe side buying stuff from China aim for light in weight and not to cheap!
My latest replies from Fasttech:
#3. (ME)
Yes the flashlight works.
And no, one can’t (usually) judge what type of emitter it is just by the light itself.
But you CAN judge what type of emitter it is by inspecting the emitters directly.
And the emitters in this light is NOT Cree XP-L emitters as advertised.
The emitters in this light differ from real XP-L’s:
-XP-L’s have domes that completely cover the die size.
-XP-L domes are also vertically cut on all four sides, making them not completely round.
#4. (justina Staff)
As the item can still work normal, how about we give you $5 gift certificate as discount to keep?
Not sure what answer to give them. Don’t really feel 5$ cut it. And not a |( gift certificate.
Any thoughts?
If you like the light as it is and think it is worth the $25, take the 5 dollar and be done with it. If you intend to change things about the flashlight, like increasing the current (very easy mod), then these leds might not be able to withstand it (but who knows??). Swapping 9 leds to anything decent will cost you more than the whole light.
EDIT: correction: actually I think that $5 discount for this major issue is an insult.
It has been quite awhile since I have bought a light from anyone. It’s just too risky and I am fed up with all the crap.
A simple solution to the XP-L rip offs is stay away from any “XP-L” light.
I can see the trend, the sellers are increasingly getting lights with FAKE emitters.
IMHO, NOTHING short of a full refund should be demanded in these situations. Make it hurt. Even if it hurts on both sides, buyer and seller. Pain can be a good thing, it teaches us NOT to do that which causes the pain.
I think I should add here, that in my experience with DX, FT, that they have been honorable. They probably do not realize what is actually going on with these fake emitters, yet. How they handle the future will determine how honorable they really are.
looks like the only good beercan lights left are the noname ones at mountain and maybe the securitying.
anyone see a crappy securitying yet?as in one with no thermal path to the body?
Well, look here: https://www.fasttech.com/products/2418100
As you can read, it says “7*CREE XP-L V5 […]” in the title.
So, I didn’t look on the pictures that much - I know, what a king looks like (I own already 3 of them… not enough :D).
What here? It’s clearly a scam from FTs supplyer and FT didn’t cross-check (which is understandable if you look at the sheer amount of products and the prices).
I will try to get my money back via PayPal - how about the chances here?
I think chances are good if you’re persistent.
First contact the seller (paypal likes to see that you tried to work it out) provide pictures of your light, closeup of the led and a real cree for comparison. Tell them what you expect as a resolution. Write simply and stick to the main points. When they insist it’s real or offer anything short of a full refund just repeat that the LEDs are “counterfeit” and that you will only accept a full refund.
Presuming they don’t give you a full refund, open a paypal dispute and forward them the messages you’ve had with the seller.
I see. Yes, I might have fallen for that as well.
In your shoes I would not be content with the insulting $5 refund.
Full refund only.
Good luck and keep us posted please!
Nico
I’m itchin’ to see what my version i ordered with ” CREE XM-L” emitters instead of the XP-L fakes come with, maybe 9 birthday cake candles stuck in the reflector.
Just told FT that I do not accept their offer of $5 gift card. (Thats not even a partial refund, really).
Also told them I would take this case through Paypal if i have to.
Awaiting answer from them…
How does it work with PayPal and item not as described from China? Need to return item? Need to pay return shipping? Refund covers return shipping?
If your submission is approved by PP, you get a full refund, then, I believe, PP will try to recover funds from the vendor. I think it's been reported here in the past that PP will only do this a limited amount of times for you, maybe so many per month or year, etc. The vendor can be at risk for losing their PP account if PP gets a lot of these disputes coming in from the same vendor.
GOt my 7*“XP-L” Version today.
Built quality seems fine.
The LEDs sit on a alu-plate,2mm thick with a thread on the outside - but the host doesn’t have a thread.
So the whole screwed-together Reflector, LEDs and Plate come out, if you unscrew the bezel.
Then you can see the worlds thinest wires - seriouyls, I never saw anything thin like that.
The light output is a joke - but the host is rather nice. Because of the missing threads inside, it’s easy to make a fitting pill and mod the sh*t out of it.
Quick&Dirty pics:
I too, bought a fake XP-L SRK style light from DX. I opened a tcket with PowerPoint jpeg slides showing differences. I also made a small reveiw, which to my surpirse, was accepted…“Your recent review ”Not very bright-not CREE XPL LEDs”, which contains SKU 388196 has been approved by our staff.
When things seem too good to be true, they usually aren’t….
I’ve seen plenty of really bad reviews on DX, which is actually good for of them because that’s what gave me confidence in buying from vendors like that for the first time. By not censoring bad reviews I felt more confident in the products with mostly good ones. If I hadn’t felt that confidence I wouldn’t have bought any lights, and therefore would have had no lights to mod, and wouldn’t be here today…
I just bought 6 of these:
http://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-3xp-mcpcb-cree-xpg2-s2-1d-leds-p-839.html
One of the two lights will be a beast.
Maybe, in the bigger “New King” fit 5 or even 6 of them?
But 4 will be enough, I think.
I already have a King with 12 Nichias, so this one will be a very nice supplement, and I have a even bigger reason to buy the 46mm Drivers from RMM.
11.2Amps for the Nichias (on aluminum), FET for the Crees…
And two nice handwarmers just after a few seconds for me 
Now I just have to buy some aluminum for the pill…
I just returned the light for a refund, but I would not have minded doing some testing on these mystery leds.
I created a ticket with this:
Only 50%, because I like the host very much.
I just received a fake XP-L light from DX. Started the complaint process. It's hard for me to trust a vendor that lies so blatantly to be truthful and say the that light was received back unharmed. I also don't like taking the risk that the light will ship back without incident. I also don't like having to repackage, label, and ship something because someone else lied.
In my case, the name Cree is not mentioned, but the product name XP-L and this picture are clearly intended to make the customer feel it contains Cree XP-L's.
Tmart has the XM-L version for $35.40 shipped. I wonder if they are fake XM-L?
Skyray King 9 x CREE XM-L T6 15000 Lumens LED Aluminum 3-Mode Flashlight Black
