ARCHIVE February LED Light Bar Group Buy

[The Jade Bean]

Well I called and left Troy a message an hour ago and told him if he could overnight my lights I'd pay for the shipping, that's assuming he has the lights. I gave him an hour to call back or I was filing with my credit card company for failure to deliver. Anyway times up! You'll get my business too.

-Daniel Kent

 

[bamabrock]

I'm ordering from the ELS group buy because Nick has been great about answering my annoying questions about all things HID and LED for the last two years and has a track record of delivering and being open about unexpected delays in shipping from the manufacturer.

 

[Taco Jeff]

If it matters to anyone, I received my light at the end of last month, and he included an extra light because of the wait. I don't want to comment because I have my light, but I don't think a lynch mob is not warranted here.

Jeff

 

[beach cruiser]

......

 

[The Jade Bean]

If it matters to anyone, I received my light at the end of last month, and he included an extra light because of the wait. I don't want to comment because I have my light, but I don't think a lynch mob is not warranted here.

Jeff

Hey I'd much rather have my almost $700 worth of lights, but no lights and minimal communication... Makes ya wonder.

-Daniel Kent

 

[Fireguy]

I've been watching this group buy and the one on TacomaWorld for a while. I too have been bringing lights in from China for a long while now, mainly for local customers I deal with at work. I cringed as soon as I saw how many orders he had as I knew this was going to go south. I've had issues with customs with just 10 lights. I've struggled with the same factory he is using whenever I have mixed up the order, for example 6 dual row 20" + 10 single row 10" + 6 30" dual, etc etc. On paper it seems so great that we can get these awesome LED's for such a great price. I hope it works out for everyone.

Group buys always seem like a good idea as it allows the seller to presell a lot of goods, the problem in this case he doesn't have any control on his supplier. If the seller is also the one producing the goods it can work out well. In this case he is at the mercy of the factories. I've actually visited some of the main LED factories in China (my brother in law actually owns a factory there) and they aren't as organized as you would think.

A friend of mine is one of the best 1911 pistolsmiths in the country. The other day I was bugging him about how much my gun was going to cost and how fast he would have it done. His answer was "Good. Cheap. Fast." Pick two. I think that applies here.

 

[onemanarmy]

All it takes is a few emails and forum posts to put the fire out. If he can't do that, then he shouldn't be running any type of business.

 

[82crawler]

Worst case as of right now would mean not having everything shipped until the 20th, which would put us three weeks behind schedule.

I didnt want to but complete lack of communication has forced me to.

PayPal complaint sent.

 

[cruiser100]

I hate it when things go south for people trying to do good for others, they get themselves in even more trouble when they don't communicate.

Frequent communication could have helped a lot with this situation.

 

[natvet]

Ir is past 45 days for me.....Now what sit and wait and hope we aren't toast? Filed a complaint with paypal but that is only symbolic

 

[richietherocket]

Throw my hat into the ring with Paypal also. Since we payed early and we still dont have the lights, it appears that I'm s*** out of luck. Payed in Feb like he requested. Even with the "busted pallett" of lights I dont think any of us would have had any recourse though.

I still want the lights but lesson learned. IF the deal is to good to be true, IT probably is.

Status
This dispute closed because it was opened for more than 45 days after the transaction date or did not meet other filing criteria.

Cmon Troy, man up and just say sorry I'm still boxing up lights and will get them out.

 

[richietherocket]

This appears to be the last message from the Tacoma board. Post on 4/20 Its post #322
Hey all!

I must say, what Tacoma World lacks in patience, is certainly made up for in enthusiasm!

We're getting these orders out as fast as humanly possible.

Here's our shipping process:

Unpack everything
Make sure nothing is broken
Count everything
Separate orders
Package everything
Print shipping label
Drive merchandise to UPS / USPS

If you receive a tracking number, your shipment has either gone out or is on its way out.

I know you're all eager to get your lights! I'm working my behind off getting these orders out the door.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to answer any of the following types of emails while we're in the shipping process:

1. Did you ship my order yet?
2. Can I have a tracking number?
3. Can you expedite my order?

5. Why do your lights look similar to...
6. Why are your lights not as cheap as...

The answers are:

1. Probably.

2. We're sending them as we create them, in real time.

3. All orders are on expedite status right now. I just spent almost $4,000 on air freight and will spend another $2,000 - $3,000 on shipping.

5. The housings and retail packaging are generally the same for all of these Chinese manufacturers. They buy the housings and fit their own optics/diodes/writing/reflectors. The internals are what differentiates one supplier from the other. My supplier had been in business for over 10 years and uses better internal components than most other manufacturers of these lights.

6. I spent lots of time testing lights from different manufacturers before I chose my current supplier. I believe I found the best quality Chinese manufacturer of these lights. I have a guy in China who works for me sourcing parts. Some people are trying to spread nasty rumors about Trek Lights, but they don't realize the amount of time and work that has gone into launching this company. We may be small, we may have grown too large too quickly, but we will not rest until you all have your merchandise and are satisfied. So, just because it looks the same, doesn't mean it is the same.

I hope you understand about us not answering emails of the above nature, but we're more concerned with getting everything out the door and into your hands.

Thanks for staying with us through the good and the bad, everyone! We appreciate each and every one of you!

 

[The Jade Bean]

Ok so WHY can't he post that here too, where as he puts it, "the most patient group"???

-Daniel Kent

 

[titanpat57]

Troy needs to address this. At this point he has seen this (on here last night at 1:39 am) and has decided not to respond...

 

[richietherocket]

Here is the info from the Tacoma board
Here is his domain registration:

Troy Balakhan
6701 Mallards Cove Apt 16a
Jupiter FL 33458
561-306-4933

and his linkedin profile - http://www.linkedin.com/in/troybalakhan

Somebody over at Tacoma said that he was out of the country on business last week.

I dont know what to believe anymore. But for your reading pleasure.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/gr...-group-buy-part-2-free-light-giveaway-17.html

 

[richietherocket]

Here is the info from the Tacoma board
Here is his domain registration:

Troy Balakhan
6701 Mallards Cove Apt 16a
Jupiter FL 33458
561-306-4933

and his linkedin profile - http://www.linkedin.com/in/troybalakhan

Somebody over at Tacoma said that he was out of the country on business last week.

I dont know what to believe anymore. But for your reading pleasure.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/gr...-group-buy-part-2-free-light-giveaway-17.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/genera...ml#post1364250

 

[titanpat57]

Filed dispute with Visa....anybody have any "real" LED's they want to sell?



and an fyi...


I paid for my lights on 2/19...over two months ago...knowing full well the expected wait.

When the first crate "got dropped" and someone asked the question "will this affect shipping times?"...and there was no direct answer...I felt we were in trouble then.


I honestly don't want to hear about being "patient or understanding"....many people here have been extremely gracious with putting up with little to no communication, from a guy that allegedly works in the business...must be some business they have.....I certainly hope he treats his customers there, a bit better than he has treated his customers here.

 

[beach cruiser]

Filed dispute with Visa....anybody have any "real" LED's they want to sell?



and an fyi...


I paid for my lights on 2/19...over two months ago...knowing full well the expected wait.

When the first crate "got dropped" and someone asked the question "will this affect shipping times?"...and there was no direct answer...I felt we were in trouble then.


I honestly don't want to hear about being "patient or understanding"....many people here have been extremely gracious with putting up with little to no communication, from a guy that allegedly works in the business...must be some business they have.....I certainly hope he treats his customers there, a bit better than he has treated his customers here.

Integrity of this seller is confirmed: https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandise-storefront/726747-expedition-lighting-group-buy.html

 

[The Jade Bean]

Integrity of this seller is confirmed: https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandise-storefront/726747-expedition-lighting-group-buy.html

Wanted to buy from him originally but I missed the group buy. Now it looks like we won't get our money back in time to jump on this one! Grrrrr... Guess I should have been patient and waited.

-Daniel Kent

 

[bamabrock]

Integrity of this seller is confirmed: https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandise-storefront/726747-expedition-lighting-group-buy.html

I bought one today from him because the guy is an active member on ih8mud and was upfront when there was a slight shipping delay of 10 days on the last GB he did. Things happen when importing stuff and most people are reasonable if a seller is upfront.