Hank, this comes from several good people here Dashcamtalk spread over several posts, threads, and times so I can’t easily provide a direct link. Members “Jokin”, “Sunny”, and JooVuu are in on the manufacturing end and more came from enthusiast members in that ‘hobby’ who have been deeply involved for years. Fakes, counterfeit parts, poorly made cams and accessories have long been a problem with dashcams and SD cards at least as much as here and maybe moreso. And like here, you will find representatives from Gearbest and other sellers who are happy to show up to promote themself but somehow are much less available when you have a problem and need help. In their uncommon ‘public’ responses the language discrepancies are very evident with a lot of misunderstanding (intentional or otherwise) happening on the far end. There are a few folks from here who are also on that forum; if you wish I can put you in touch with them privately to verify the authenticity what I’ve said here.
By now most of us are at least aware of the book “Poorly Made In China” which indeed shows that the US was in a similar situation once, and in that I hold hope that China can also go beyond it’s past into a better future. It is just that until that point has been reached we must know who we are doing business with, what to expect of them, and how to best handle our interactions so that we get what we want and they achieve more and better for trying to more align with the rest of the world’s expectations of them. I am neither xenophobic or a basher of persons or companies save for simply being honest and realistic when sharing my thoughts with others about those persons or companies.
That better can be achieved has been shown and it will benefit all for others to follow that path while realizing that nothing and nobody is going to be perfect, though perfection is a goal worthy of striving for.
A few decades ago no-one sane would buy British, now companies like Dyson are respected. Japan was known for cheap junk, now Made In Japan means desirable. Chinese lights are improving, from what I have seen. As wages go up, so they will have to compete on quality, not just price.
Where did the new lights come from? When were all 3 purchased? (Forget the used one, that is an unknown.)
This is odd as some dealers have stated that SWM, along with Fenix and others, do have good reliability. Perhaps there has been a temporary or ongoing blip. My D80A did have some chips on the tailcap which is the first time I have ever received a light with chips, though they did replace it.
I have bought a new driver for that M30A, ( the only one time Sunwayman replied to me and sent a part, but i had to pay $ 20 for the driver plus shipping) it worked fine on all modes for a couple months then it died. (only has a low mode and won’t turn off, have to remove the batteries) i sent them an email about the failed second driver then, but never heard back from them. ( along with consecutive emails for my failing F40 and both the P02A lights they ignored all my requests since. (and the F40 was even under warranty at the time.
Wow DBSAR, from all you've said with the emails and all I think I too would have to draw the same conclusion as you. The fact that they ignore you like that really erks me too. Who in the hell wants to do business with a Company like that? And the Fact that you were trying to deal direct with them too. Shame.
I only have the D40A and so far so good. But I won't forget what you had to say about them.
I tried to register my D40A for warranty right after I got it. Never could get it done online. Kept telling me the site was being upgraded. This went on for six months... Contacted them and they put me off over and over. Got tired of it and never registered it. Doesn't really matter I guess. I've had the D40A for 13 months. We shall see.
Oh boy... Just bought a swm C20C from Illumn - easy to take apart and mod, for an e-switch light that is. So I just ordered 2 more. The C20C though is an obsolete model, discounted now. Similar to the Roche F6 design, but little smaller, lightweight version.
I do have a C22C, bought on discount/GB deal here on BLF, and it died now - hardly any use out of it. Want to mod it, when I get to it though...
I'll be staying away from them in the future for sure - definite "not recommended" for all those reasons you pointed out.
If you haven't, I'd try reaching out to Calvin (or Craig?) at Illumn. They are still carrying swm, but looks like not much there - maybe they are phasing them out.
I was a fan of SWM when they released M11R and V11R, they are great flashlights. I don’t own them but I have several friends who bought and happy with their purchases.
My recent SWM flashlights are C22C and P02A, both of them are out of my expectation. They worked, but the quality is somehow degraded, compared to prior products.
At present, I think I will avoid SWM until they fix their quality.
I doubt Illumn could help me here as i bought the lights from different/other sellers, and that Swm has completely ignore my warranty and service requests.
I always hankered after a SWM light since they came into the market. But somehow, I never got ’round to buying one.
Now after reading various comments (negative) about their quality of late - I’m glad I never actually bought one
Thanks for the heads up, DBSAR
