Imalent not Trustworthy

Phlogiston · 2018-03-17T04:47:46.000Z

I think moderator007 means that you should push the PayPal case through and get your money back. That’s what I would do. You’ve already been much more patient with Imalent than I would be.

RobertB · 2018-03-17T05:27:11.000Z

Shoot a youtube video of why you shouldn't buy an Imalent. Title it Imalent flashlight EXPLODES so you get a lot of clickbait hits. Explain the whole situation, what it cost you, and what they put you through. Then take it out on the concrete driveway and smash the hell out of it with a sledge hammer.

You'll get satisfaction as you watch the view counter rise

take the battery out first

leaftye · 2018-03-17T05:29:41.000Z

Newlumen:

I even heard they want a video proof of the defective lights…

If they accepted that and didn’t require return shipping, then like other companies that do this, it’d be great customer service. For products that are harder to demonstrate defectiveness, so accept a photo or video of it destroyed. For a mouse that might be a picture of a cord cut off.

I hope some of you are learning from this to value good domestic vendors more. They usually cost more from domestic vendors, but you’re paying for insurance in the form of customer service.

moderator007 · 2018-03-17T06:17:08.000Z

@Phlogiston Not exactly.
Sometimes the trouble you have to go through to win, out ways the reward. Especially if you have to much on your to do list already.
Not that I wouldn’t try to recover something out of this deal, I just wouldn’t put forth to much effort to do so.
I have been in a similar thing before and they ask you to do this and you do. Then they will ask you to do this and that and so you do. Then finally after countless emails and a day or two between email responses they agree to send you another new item. In your mail box 2 weeks later you open it up and Bam! you have the same problem with the new item. Here you go again and most of the time you will end up getting a second or third person responding to your emails that doesn’t even bother to read all the responses to know whats going on. So you have to explain it all over to this new person, listing your order #, date purchased, your video, you uploaded the pics you sent and finally you have received your new order and you have the same problem. For them to say must be something your doing if this problem has happened twice. Could you please upload video showing problem. Here we go again. Then if they finally decide to give back your money they want you to send the product back. Purchase a box or envelope to send back in, go to post office and take the address with you, wait in line pay for the shipping and off it goes. Give them the tracking number and your refund soon follows.
.
I think before now some would have given up, if your one of those people that doesn’t like to lose, you will fight them until the end. Me, it depends on the time I have. If I’m really busy I don’t fight to much, not worth my time. If its pretty laid back at work and home I fight until something gives. So my point of all this is if you wanna dispute something with some of these vendors, ask your self is it worth the trouble to go through all of this. Using paypal dispute has made the process somewhat easier but it still takes time from your life to deal with it.
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One time I ordered from a US vendor a product that had the model number in big numbers right on the box and a description of the product. They sent me a different product made by the same company with the wrong model number in big numbers right on the box and the description of entirely different product. They tried to tell me it was the same product. I told them it was a flat out lie. I filed a claim to paypal. They ask for a pic of the product. I took a pic showing the box I received and a link to the site that showed what I had purchased. In big numbers you could read the product models didn’t match. The vendor tried to tell paypal the same lie, it was the same product when clearly it stated on the box it wasn’t. Paypal sided with me. So they agreed to refund me the purchase price plus shipping but I had to ship the box back to them. It cost me about 3.50 to ship the box back, I had originally paid $8 and some change to buy with shipping. Was it worth it, money wise no. I could have made more at work for the time spent. Making them give my money back after lying to me, worth ever second spent.

Franz · 2018-03-17T06:17:39.000Z

I told in many threads, imalent stinks! :confounded:

klrman · 2018-03-17T06:24:16.000Z

RobertB:

Shoot a youtube video of why you shouldn't buy an Imalent. Title it Imalent flashlight EXPLODES so you get a lot of clickbait hits. Explain the whole situation, what it cost you, and what they put you through. Then take it out on the concrete driveway and smash the hell out of it with a sledge hammer.

You'll get satisfaction as you watch the view counter rise

take the battery out first

haha. I'll bypass the video part but may bring out the ol sledgehammer if more leds start failing. Nothing more satisfying than bringing and early end to failing electronics. The head would make a nice paperweight though and a good conversation piece.

klrman · 2018-03-17T06:27:06.000Z

moderator007, you bring up some really valid points, thanks. I'm at the point where it's not worth my time. I have better more fun things to do everyday and will focus on those instead that make me happy. If I could do it all over again, I would have done things a little differently, but what's done is done.

Winston_Wulf · 2018-03-17T08:18:55.000Z

I do not know if you have official sales points for IMALENT in your country - we have a couple of them here in Germany. Because at the end the problem stated her is just based on one single point:

You get what you pay for. Period.

- Possibility number one: you buy the flashlight for the full price in your country - here in Germany it’s around 400,- US$. In this case you get the a receipt, the full service and everything is fine.

- Possibility number two: you buy it in China - and you just pay about 220,- US$. In this case you know in the beginnnig that there might be trouble - but you saved a whole lot of money

So, based on this, it always places a smile on my face when somebody expects the lowest price with the biggest service…

And if somebody asks: yes, I have a lot of IMALENT - and we really use them, means they not stay on the shelf but they have to work for the energy they consume. Based on this we just had one minor fail with a DN70 (sometimes she gets off when you directly go into Turbo) and one contact with Shellen (wtb a new tube for a DT70, the one with springs, worked flawless).

Based on the discussion here I even tested all three DX80 we actually use, none of them with the described error - my burning eyes can testify…

klrman · 2018-03-20T04:10:03.000Z

I did expect them to be smart and honest enough to test the new head that I willingly paid for like we agreed. Obviously they didn't even do that.

Winston_Wulf · 2018-03-17T11:17:23.000Z

@ klrman:

Sorry, you got me wrong - you obviously know what you are dealing with. And the fact that the second one is also not 100% perfect is not ok. While nobody can judge if the errors occures during the shipment or was already there before and they just did not see it, it’s just sad.

The “smile” was attached to a post on side one stating that there has to be a service point in every country or so…

klrman · 2018-03-17T11:27:36.000Z

Don't worry WInston Wulf, I wrote that in a joking way, no offence taken

hIKARInoob · 2018-03-17T11:40:38.000Z

Just wow… I’d say make a video, show it to Imalent and ask for another head. Let them pay everything.

klrman · 2018-03-17T16:56:09.000Z

hIKARInoob:

Just wow… I’d say make a video, show it to Imalent and ask for another head. Let them pay everything.

You're tempting me, I may just do it for kicks and see what they say!

Winston_Wulf · 2018-03-17T17:06:35.000Z

I would give it a try…

pinkpanda3310 · 2018-03-17T17:23:53.000Z

I had a dn70 that would strobe when in turbo. I made a video and contacted the vendor (can’t remember if it was gearbest or banggood…??) They only gave me a small in-store credit. I wasn’t entirely happy with that so emailed imalent with the video. I they said they had been made aware of the issue by the vendor then sent me a new light minus the battery. I was pretty happy with their service but I understand there are a number of faulty lights from imalent. The faulty one I gave away and have retained the replacement and a dn35.

hIKARInoob · 2018-03-17T18:51:33.000Z

klrman:

hIKARInoob:

Just wow… I’d say make a video, show it to Imalent and ask for another head. Let them pay everything.

You’re tempting me, I may just do it for kicks and see what they say!

Seriously, I’d contact Shellen and make a video of both your DX80 with a defected led. Just ask what next? Eventually the most logical thing is to have a fully functioning head without spending a cent. Of course stay polite and professional.

klrman · 2018-03-17T19:15:36.000Z

hIKARInoob:

klrman:

hIKARInoob:

Just wow… I’d say make a video, show it to Imalent and ask for another head. Let them pay everything.

You're tempting me, I may just do it for kicks and see what they say!

Seriously, I’d contact Shellen and make a video of both your DX80 with a defected led. Just ask what next? Eventually the most logical thing is to have a fully functioning head without spending a cent. Of course stay polite and professional.

First time around I sent Shellen a pic of the defective LED, this time around I could make a video and just give it a try to see what she says, thanks. I did send her a message about the second head so I'm expecting a reply by Monday hopefully. My guess is she's going to ask me to pay to ship it back to them and they will replace it again, but you never know.

Flying_Luminosity · 2018-03-18T01:59:58.000Z

I must admit that - despite its flaws - I have felt quite attached to my DT70 since I bought it last year. Yes, the display is disappointing and pretty much useless, and the premature charge termination makes internal charging more of a gimmick than anything else. But I just can’t help feeling impressed by its output every time I use it, and it’s even one of the few lights where I don’t mind the cool white.

On the other hand, I need to sell a few lights, and it seems that I should be able to get nearly as much for it on ebay as I paid myself. I was a bit undecided at first whether I really want to let go of it, but knowing that Imalent engages in some of the immoral practices that I’ve read about on here, has made that decision easier. It’s actually my most powerful light at the moment (even if they overstate the output - something else that makes them less sympathetic than some of their competitors), but it’s easy to figure out that there will be something twice as powerful for less money soon.

klrman · 2018-03-18T02:18:35.000Z

@flying Luminosity. I know how you feel. I'm still very attached to my DX80 as, even with the defective led, it puts out an overwhelming amount of light. It's pure fun every time I turn it on, but quite a bummer getting two defective heads in a row.

Phlogiston · 2018-03-18T06:04:35.000Z

@moderator007

Point taken - thanks for setting me straight.

When I thought about it again, after reading your post, I realised that I only ever buy things from AliExpress, EBay or sites that let me use PayPal. The one thing they all have in common is access to a reasonable dispute resolution system with real teeth.

I’m fine with contacting a seller once to ask for a problem to be solved, and then starting a formal dispute if they get awkward about it. It only takes a few moments, and if the dispute doesn’t go completely my way (I have to pay return postage, for example), well, I tried and I leave it at that.

I wouldn’t buy from those sellers if I didn’t have those safeguards, because there’s no way I’d let myself in for twelve rounds with a seller who knew that they could just stall until I got fed up. As you say, that’s just not worth it.