Don't buy Manker -- they don't support their products

[wle]

@iamlucky13

This kind of situation strikes me as one where it is probably worth disputing the charges if this was bought with a credit card.

I get that buying low cost brands direct from China means normal levels of customer support aren’t there, so paying for international return shipping is common, but them sending back a defective flashlight and then trying to get the customer to pay for shipping again is going too far in my book.

I hope they sharpen up. Manker produces some interesting designs from time to time.

i have found though, that aliexpress is almost always on the buyer’s side
if something is wrong, they usually give you a refund and you do not have to send it back to the original vendor
it is also not up to the vendor, ali takes it back from them somehow, after they give you the refund

and since i only order free-shipping things, i don;t lose that part
\
it does help to send them pictures or videos

but if the problem is not photographable (or it never arrived) they understand that too

99% of what i order from them arrives.
10% of it is junk , but that is because i was trying something really cheap, i don;t ‘return’ things unless they are just defective

anyway, i don;t do banggood and fasttech and all those guys any more

wle

[Lightbringer]

What if you’d take a marker, black out “Manker”, write “UTorch” with white-out or something, and see if they’d fix it?

[Pavlo]

I haven’t had any issues with my Manker lights except one that was received defective upon arrival. They took it back and gave me my money back without any issues.

[rngwn]

I do regularly buy from China, and I would always prepare a nicely worded response pointing out how dumb paying postage to return defective product was. Since the postage of both buyers and sellers combined would usually added up to the same amount of the product’s value.

[aginthelaw]

@rngwn

I do regularly buy from China, and I would always prepare a nicely worded response pointing out how dumb paying postage to return defective product was. Since the postage of both buyers and sellers combined would usually added up to the same amount of the product’s value.

Can i get a copy of that in case I have to go through this again? Maybe it’ll work next time

[Lumeniac (Burgerman)]

button at skilhunt s2 pro chipped off. sent it to China, they soldered it, and resent to me. good and quick responce

head at one Fenix burned (non warranty situation - car charger blew up). nevertheless, i sent them pic and they sent replace one.

haikelight sc26 led died out of sudden. it`s been like 3 months i try to get replace from official store. they "yes, i will send it" time after time. and haikelight rep here at BLF doesnt reply at all

[rngwn]

@aginthelaw

@rngwn

I do regularly buy from China, and I would always prepare a nicely worded response pointing out how dumb paying postage to return defective product was. Since the postage of both buyers and sellers combined would usually added up to the same amount of the product’s value.

Can i get a copy of that in case I have to go through this again? Maybe it’ll work next time

Not the exact wording but here’s the conversation that is edited to fit the context.

….

Instead of me asking you for the refund, I would rather ask if you can send us the parts that is broken to us so we can fix it instead. I believe it would be cheaper this way.

….

Please confirm to me with the photos of the new parts you will be sending before actually send them here. I will consider this as a “refund” for this purchase. I believe we can solve this problem without costing us too much or ‘open dispute’ for this.

….

Then the Chinese dude was like screw it, I better send you the whole thing without bothering with the returns.

As always, your mileage may vary.

[Threadneedle]

@varbos

Sounds like typical Chinese aftersales support. It’s not exclusive to Manker unfortunately. Buy from a local store if you want a legit warranty.

Exactly. I had an absolute headache with Lumintop, so much so that it became comedic. Nitecore on the other hand - better than some customer service I’ve had from some native UK companies.

[LumenWop]

My e11 has been going strong for 2 1/2 years. I have noticed, that too much Vaseline on the threads will cause it to not turn on. The damn thing came with ZERO grease on the threads in the first place. When I first unscrewed it, it sounded like there was sand in the threads (all three sections). NOT cool. So I cleaned and then applied. THEN, I started having the switching on problem. Removed some, and was back to normal. Course, using silicone/dialectric grease would solve this.

[wle]

@rngwn

@aginthelaw

@rngwn

I do regularly buy from China, and I would always prepare a nicely worded response pointing out how dumb paying postage to return defective product was. Since the postage of both buyers and sellers combined would usually added up to the same amount of the product’s value.

Can i get a copy of that in case I have to go through this again? Maybe it’ll work next time

Not the exact wording but here’s the conversation that is edited to fit the context.

….

Instead of me asking you for the refund, I would rather ask if you can send us the parts that is broken to us so we can fix it instead. I believe it would be cheaper this way.

….

Please confirm to me with the photos of the new parts you will be sending before actually send them here. I will consider this as a “refund” for this purchase. I believe we can solve this problem without costing us too much or ‘open dispute’ for this.

….

Then the Chinese dude was like screw it, I better send you the whole thing without bothering with the returns.

As always, your mileage may vary.

if you can order from aliexpress, they have a pretty good refund return policy
usually you just take a picture of something related to the problem
file their report
and ali refunds your money==usually no actual return necessary
they deal with the vendor

wle

[AbnInfantry]

@wle

ali refunds your money==usually no actual return necessary
they deal with the vendor

Every time an Aliexpress vendor sent me the wrong merchandise, in order to get a refund, Aliexpress required me to return the item at my expense using a shipping method with a tracking number. Return shipping often cost nearly as much, or more, than the purchase price. Plus, when sent by First Class or Priority Mail, USPS tracking numbers don’t work inside China so good luck proving the package was delivered to the merchant. When an Aliexpress vendor sent me a very different (and lower quality) type of coat than what they advertised, the cheapest return shipping method I could find with a tracking number cost over $55.

[Witterings]

And there was me thinking about ordering my 4th Manker when I found this thread.

I have 2 E11’s, one I gave to my daughter for when she was working late, the other I ordered a nchia emitter and fitted it and with the warmer colour combined with the runtime / lumens is one of may favourite torches.

I was going to buy another E11 as I like it so much as a spare in case the other ever broke but maybe this thread has put me off, shame as I like my T01 ii as a great little pocket thrower as well.

[Kevin_Z]

I had a bit of a problem with manker (oops nearly put a W ) when I ordered a light with a warm led & they sent me cool white , I had a bit of a job trying to persuade them to take it back & resend what I ordered ,in the end I sent it back & got a refund through PayPal & got Paypal to cover the shipping , I won’t buy from them again.

[aginthelaw]

@wle

@rngwn

@aginthelaw

@rngwn

I do regularly buy from China, and I would always prepare a nicely worded response pointing out how dumb paying postage to return defective product was. Since the postage of both buyers and sellers combined would usually added up to the same amount of the product’s value.

Can i get a copy of that in case I have to go through this again? Maybe it’ll work next time

Not the exact wording but here’s the conversation that is edited to fit the context.

….

Instead of me asking you for the refund, I would rather ask if you can send us the parts that is broken to us so we can fix it instead. I believe it would be cheaper this way.

….

Please confirm to me with the photos of the new parts you will be sending before actually send them here. I will consider this as a “refund” for this purchase. I believe we can solve this problem without costing us too much or ‘open dispute’ for this.

….

Then the Chinese dude was like screw it, I better send you the whole thing without bothering with the returns.

As always, your mileage may vary.

if you can order from aliexpress, they have a pretty good refund return policy
usually you just take a picture of something related to the problem
file their report
and ali refunds your money==usually no actual return necessary
they deal with the vendor

wle

Well, here’s the follow up: 7 months later they sent the parts and none of them work

[Nicolicous]

well not as bad as Haikelite.

Been waiting for driver replacement well over a year now hahah.

never again.

[LumenWop]

Anybody happen to know of a red filter, that will fit the Manker e11?

[Witterings]

Such a shame as they have some decent lights … didn’t they used to make the BLF A6 and then they stopped when Bangood tried to knock them down on price and they felt they couldn’t retain the level of quality at what they were prepared to pay them so declined.

[LumenWop]

I still can’t log into Mankerlight.com Anybody else have this problem?

[beggindog]

Don’t use vaseline. Try Super Lube

[Chatika_vas_Paus]

Another disappointment with EDC Muscle Combo. I received an E14 III without glass and with a poorly finished bezel. Manker assured that he would send a new one along with the glass. I got a message that they will send in a few days because they have to make a new bezel with my number.

When the first impressions of the group purchase waned. Manker hasn’t been here for about two months. During this time, I sent several messages here and by email. No response. Then they suddenly appeared to announce the release of a new flashlight. Still no answer.

Say what you want, but to me it looks like they came here for our money doing group buy and then disappeared. They only came back for more mentioning a new product.

Even if I would like to get rid of and sell this combo, no one will buy a poorly finished and incomplete flashlight.

Now I am wondering whether to open a dispute on PP (I have Buyer Protection until March 9), because this is probably the only thing I can do.