Look if you have bought anything from thexenonstore.com [Archive]

cwp_sedan

05-23-2009, 01:45 AM

I am asking any TM3 members who have bought anything from Devin in the past to come forward and tell me if you had any problems with the quality of his products, or service, communication and warranty replacement. A discussion over on mazda3forums.com has been started and locked because some Admins over there are too blind to realize what is actually going on.

The thread over on M3F is below. Please give it a read over if you aren't sure what is going on.

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=145526.0;all

Devin used to be a big, honest seller back when the Mazda 3 community was first getting started. Over the past year or 2, Devin has slowly reduced his commitment to his local community (TM3) and now to the rest. Quality of product and service are both lacking heavily in his corner. Nothing will be done unless there is evidence that he is running a poor business and should not be a sponsor over on M3F. We need to protect us and get rid of any sponsors or sellers who may try to take advantage of our time and most importantly our money.

I'm sure we all had good experiences in the beginning, but how did it end? Please share...

cwp_sedan

05-23-2009, 02:09 AM

I have bought a lot of stuff from Devin but even being a good customer doesn't help to get warranty covered replacement parts for defective parts, especially in a timely fashion. I had a bulb go back in Jan/Feb and had them shipped out to California, instead if Brampton (where Devin lives). This is my first annoyance. It has been there for almost 2 months. I have gone weeks at a time without getting a response from him through email which is also extremely annoying. Still no replacement. How long does it take to replace 1 Prolumen bulb?

3GFX

05-23-2009, 02:26 AM

MajesticBlueNTO

05-23-2009, 03:09 AM

I bought an HID kit from Devin 2 years ago and it was packaged very poorly to the point that it may have been damaged during transit (didn't want to test fire it to find out). I returned it for a refund but, rather than meeting Devin in person to refund it, he had me ship it to California on my own coin.

The return address in California was the same as Umnitza.com

Devin could have possibly decided that he didn't want to deal with thexenonstore.com as much as before and handed over the majority of operations to Umnitza ...

In any case, i wouldn't buy anything from thexenonstore or Umnitza again.

SilentJay

05-23-2009, 07:37 AM

Bought KDW HID kit from him a little over a year ago - the bulbs blew a month later, no replies to txts/pms/emails.

yearoftherat

05-23-2009, 08:33 AM

Good product, and good service to be honest. But I know that now he's been lacking, not from personal experience but from what I've heard from others. He hasn't replied to only 2 out of maybe 8 emails I've sent over the past 2 years so that's not bad. I don't know if he's still in the game or not.

Good products? Look at the dismal 3rd brake light for the hatch he sold. LED's were burning out, never worked to begin with, replacement were just as bad. And he kept selling them.
He may have sold some decent stuff but its the lack of customer service now that is in question. So called "Lifetime warranties" are BS when you have to wait months for parts to be replaced.

Mazda3X2

05-23-2009, 09:12 AM

I ordered 3000k low beam bulbs almost a year ago now. Nothing showed up in the mail and no responses to my e-mails for weeks. Finally about 3 weeks and he replied to my e-mail saying sorry, something about stock issues.

Overall bad experience but at least he refunded my money.

btown-mazda

05-23-2009, 09:17 AM

I've bought a few things from Devin before Angel eyes, HID kit, smoked sidemarkers. He was pretty good in terms of communication with his customers and he even installed my HID kit (I paid him of course) and did a real good job so I was like cool, we have a local vendor who "cares" for his customers so thought highly of him. He even met up with me to replace a burnt angel eye ballast but when the other one burnt and I contacted him several times via email he never bothered getting back to me so that really soured me and now I'll never buy anything from him again. If he's going to continue to be a vendor here or elsewhere he needs to rethink his business strategy.

cwp_sedan

05-23-2009, 09:19 AM

Good products? Look at the dismal 3rd brake light for the hatch he sold. LED's were burning out, never worked to begin with, replacement were just as bad. And he kept selling them.
He may have sold some decent stuff but its the lack of customer service now that is in question. So called "Lifetime warranties" are BS when you have to wait months for parts to be replaced.

Unfortunately on M3F they consider this business practice ok. Quoted from the site owner...

"You ship to California because Devin - as with most lighting vendors - is acting as an agent for another company - you ship to that company, not to Devin, for warranty work. It would be the same if I went and bought a $2000 Nikon camera from anyone other than Nikon USA - I have to ship back to Nikon USA, not hte store I bought it from. Heck, depending on the store I bought it from, I might even have to ship it back to Nikon (Japan).

Small stores like Devin's rarely handle warranty work on their own, and this is the same for most vendors like Devin. Now, some might handle the shipping for you, but in most cases there's no reason to do this, since you're as likely to be near the warranty depot as the store - no reason to ship twice.

These are not examples of bad customer service on Devin's part, they're merely how his store is organized (and how many others are, as well). This is what I was talking about when I said that you need to research who you buy from, because this is not something we would take action on."

To be honest, I personally don't care if it takes this long, but if everyone knew this was how Devin was going to run his business for warranty replacements in the future, I'm sure 90% of his customers would have went elsewhere. Especially for most TM3 members as were are somewhat local to him. Why should anyone have to drive around without a functioning headlight or other part for that matter.

This is why I need your responses because certain people on the M3F board need to have their eyes opened to the crappy quality of business that is being run.

MistaChin

05-23-2009, 09:34 AM

Purchased a license plate LED from him. Worked nice!.....for a couple weeks.....then it started flickering like it was a strobe at some rave. His LED's are a POS.

erratic

05-23-2009, 09:45 AM

I have one of his 3rd brake light led's in right now. So far so good... The communication between he and I was fine. Purchased in the fall last year, through a GB on Mazda3forums...

eqlso

05-23-2009, 09:47 AM

Bought 3rd brake light him from. LEDs burnt out quickly. Seeing how many people had to replace theirs, I didn't bother exchanging it and just made my own. Then I got LED foglights. One blew in about 2 weeks. I had to pay shipping to send it back to him, but he sent me the replacement quite fast. Then I got Prolumen HIDs from him. Had the ignitor go a couple months ago, but that was replaced under warranty. It took about 2 months or so, and he never sends emails to tell you the status of it. But he has replied to all the emails I sent to him, to check up on the status, normally within a few days.

Donutz

05-23-2009, 01:51 PM

I was reading that thread last night. It looks like the site owner locked that thread after squeezing in his last comments. I have been watching the build up of discussions around some sponsors on m3f (lord knows there are numerous threads now). I can't say I'm surprised at the site owners position on this topic; I am disapointed with it, but not surprised.

Alan

05-23-2009, 02:08 PM

I bought that LED 3rd Brake Light for the hatch from him when he first released them. Didn't work from the start. After countless emails for a replacement, there was no response, so I decided to eat the $35 or so I paid.

Edit:
Bought my HID prolumens from him when I first got the car around Oct 2005, and service was great back in the day.

chinsterr

05-23-2009, 04:05 PM

Picked up two HID kits from Devin in 2005 ... totalling $600 !

My comments:
-Cheap china bulbs, not prolumen (wires from the bulb were red/blk not ylw/blk)
-Bulbs blew a few months after install
-Bulbs were off colour (one seemed to be a 4300K and the other a 6000K)
-Packaging was horrible, but he referred to it as a "barebone" kit.
-Trying to get this guy to replace a dead bulb is worse than pulling teeth.
-Snail mail sucks, but driving to brampton in the pouring rain only to get stood up is even worse !
-Stuff eventually gets warrantied/exchanged but I drove around with one working headlight and one working foglight for 5 weeks !
- Refuses to give out his cell # and chooses only to communicate via email (not a good business practice imo)

Haven't dealt with Devin in a while , and probably never will. Brandon from THL or SSG are the go to guys for HIDS now

Gizzmo_jr

05-23-2009, 04:06 PM

I voted, "No problems" because I bought a couple things and had things replaced only during his peak sponsor time. Knock on wood that I don't have to warranty things because I've heard nothing but problems with communications with him.

At least he's not selling fake GTSpec stuff. I'm watching the drama on M3F too.

condor888000

05-23-2009, 07:54 PM

Haven't dealt with Devin for ~20 months now. Ordered a lot of stuff through him. Angel eyes, H11 bulbs, OEM LED tails, etc. Overall, I had good service from him with one exception. I had to get a warranty replacement for one H11 bulb, and I was told it was shipped 3-4 times before it actually was. After that I stopped dealing with him.

Honestly, M3F is GARBAGE. The owner cares **** all about the boards, and the mods are either powerless, or complete toolbags(see Femgearhead for a perfect example). There are very few people on that board I would trust at all, and thats including vendors. Check out NSN Motorsports, The RPM Store, TWM, Nextmod, Tri-point, and thats about it. The rest are iffy IMO.

Dabears had a VERY shitty rep though, the entire RKM product line just screamed fraud to me, especially the coilovers...I mean, "made by a VERY reputable company who's name we cannot publish." Really? Bullshit.

zedtech

05-23-2009, 08:53 PM

When I first got my Prolumen kit back in 2007, his service was impressive. He even installed the kit for me.

When my first bulb blew last year, I emailed him to get it replaced under warranty. Had to email him a couple times until I got a response - asked me to ship it to California. I figured since I also live in Brampton that it'd be easier for both of us if I just dropped by to exchange the bulb. He kept insisting I send it to California because he's out of stock on bulbs. Fine whatever, I sent it in... noticed it hadn't arrived for a week or two so I emailed him and he kept saying it was mailed the day after they got mine, gave me a non-working tracking # too. Eventually the replacement bulb arrived... close to 6 weeks later.

A couple weeks back, the other bulb finally blew and I figured I'd give him a chance and emailed him last week. No response yet... sorry I'm not chasing you this time - not worth it. Met up w/ THL this afternoon after emailing him a couple days ago. IMO, paying $40 for a pair of H7 6000K bulbs is well worth it vs. waiting 6-8 weeks and getting the run-around for a free replacement.

stealthman12

05-23-2009, 09:03 PM

Got my first Prolumen Kit back 2007 and everything went smoothly with communication and he installed them for me as well.
Bulb blew about a year later he gave me an address in Brampton to send to.
Took about 2 months before I got the replacement bulb back.
I sent emails and they were probably replied to 1-2 weeks of the date I sent them.

KenYork

05-23-2009, 10:25 PM

A Prolumen Kit over two years ago, till this day no problems. Sharkfin antenna, no problems, LED smoked side markers, no problems. Maybe I'm just lucky, but it doesn't mean I'll still do business with him knowing I won't be able to communicate with who I'm purchasing from.

3GFX

05-24-2009, 12:59 AM

Good products?

3 Experiences with Devin.

First one was great, second was good and then it went from there. I had an okay time dealing with him at the time I was dealing with him. This was 2 years ago.

KenYork

05-24-2009, 09:29 AM

3 Experiences with Devin.

First one was great, second was good and then it went from there. I had an okay time dealing with him at the time I was dealing with him. This was 2 years ago.

That's the thing.. even on the forum you can see the change. He used to be a regular here, then he faded from the club as did his overall service.

doughboyr6

05-24-2009, 09:46 AM

i've bought from him 2x only. First time bought rear license plate bulb. No issues so far. I also bought smoked reflectors at the same time, still not installed, but i don't see why there will be issues anyway.

Then last yr this time, I bought the 3rd LED brake light, however i have not installed it yet. Infact i can't find it now...lol. Don't know if it works or not. But I paid and received it within a resonable time.

So no complaints from me, but having read what's happening to others, i probably won't again in the future. There are many other vendors out there that doesn't place consumers in such a position.

FLIPDADY

05-24-2009, 11:20 AM

Bought a Prolumen bare bones kit back in 2005. Lasted a good 2 years until one bulb decided to go south. Contacted Devin about getting a warranty replacement via cell phone, email, and PM on here. He was quick to reply and told me that he would send me a new bulb to replace the burnt out one.

About 3 weeks later I got a package from Umnitza containing 2 new 6000K bulbs. I never bugged him during the whole process and I certainly didn't expect to get a second new HID bulb. He never asked for the originals back.

skunk2

05-24-2009, 10:25 PM

dealt with him a few times way back.....bought the same barebones prolumen kit in 2005. after 2 yrs 1 ballast died....emailed him and met up in brampton a few days later, no problems.
bought some led bars and they lasted about a year....i never bothered getting them replaced. never really dealt with him after that, not because the LEDS bars went, there's been other vendors closer to me and had better pricing.

Iceman_F1

05-25-2009, 01:19 PM

Dealt with him 3 times. All within the past year or less.

First was for blue internal LED's (2 Maps & 1 Dome) as well as 4 LED strips. Shipping took longer than I expected but the maps & dome lights still working (about 1 year ago) but the LED strips could have had better tape for them. Only kept 2 in use...the other 2 replaced already with something better...

Second was getting LED side markers a couple months after first order. Still work but other than the longer than expected ship date, no real issues.

Third and last was not too long ago. Ordered LED tails (non-OEM style) and chrome rear turns. Again, long time to ship but I did have decent comminication with him. Real gripe is that the tails were sent seperate than the bulbs despite being ordered at the same time. And the fact that the tails were shipped to me from a different location to which I had to pay an extra on customs. Didn't really like a hidden fee like...specially since he has a "local" area...

So not BAD experience...but I don't like the wait time and would rather deal with someone else if I need anything like what he's selling...

ziegs2020

05-27-2009, 09:19 PM

Honestly, M3F is GARBAGE. The owner cares **** all about the boards, and the mods are either powerless, or complete toolbags(see Femgearhead for a perfect example).

You hit it right on the head. The owner is never around, and the rest of the management just deflects responsibility around.

Doing a google search for thexenonstore or devin98 doesn't even bring up all the complaints within the first results page. No wonder people are still buying from that twat. Most of the other m3f vendors are no better then ebay resellers.

I try to stay away from the smaller car forum communities, and try my luck with the larger forum communities. On that note, I own several BMWs, a coupe of Chrysler products, a few Hondas, and a couple of other domestics.

wtom

05-28-2009, 12:40 AM

Similar stories here. Bought a Prolumen kit from him years ago. About a year later one of the bulbs died. This was maybe 2006? Met up with him in BTown no probs, straight swap of bulbs. I tested on-site and all was good.

Around the same time, I referred a buddy of mine to him for a Prolumen HID kit. Also about a year later for him, one bulb died. Met up in BTown, straight swap and test, all was well.

Buddy's bulbs have been good up to now, knock on wood.

About a year ago one of my bulbs died. I don't remember now if it was the "older" bulb tho. That time was I guess when Devin changed service levels and requested I send the defective bulb to Cali.

Had already read the non-sense surround that process so I dealt with SuperShyGuy and got myself a set of brand new bulbs instead to avoid any more problems.

Thanks again, Peter. :)

COMPANION3

05-28-2009, 02:05 PM

I wish I saw this earlier today. I just baught 1 dome LED, 2 Map LEDs, and 2 LED strips. I'll let you know how it goes.

-RJ3-

05-29-2009, 10:17 PM

I've bought sidemarkers from him , no problem HIDS for 2 years... i had an issue emailed him sent me a form and got replacement in a matter of weeks... he also sent me a whole kit, minus hIDs.. A year later, I decided to buy another set of bulbs from my friend. But no issues with flickering or igniting again.

Ive heard rumours he relocated, but haven't heard from him nor spoke with him... I sometimes chit chat with him through email, but I think he is out of the game. He hasnt responded ever since he came back from Japan.

Great guy to deal with, but business could have improved.

bubba1983

06-03-2009, 10:27 AM

as i have to deal with sponsors on this board on an ongoing basis...heres my share...

during his peak, he would respond to my emails for payment renewal of his sponsorship status...and he would be pretty bang on time....once his decline...it was very hard pressed to get a return email back from him for sponsorship status renewal/money transferr...that said he was very promp and eager to deliver goods for the 2007 bubba-q to me

personally....like everyone, i bought the led 3rd breaklight for the sedan....im on my 3rd or 4th one now....everone went for shit....ive beeen lookn for a new one since....led fogs are garbage and i wont bother lookn for replacements....sidemarkers, flawless, had them for a few years now...angeleyes, after i converted to the newer chromiums...this is my 2nd summer with em, no problems....even with the ballasts....guess i got lucky lol

cwp_sedan

06-08-2009, 11:11 PM

Update:

I'm still not impressed. I received my warranty replacements today, finally. 2+ months later but they did get here. One problem though. THE BULBS AREN'T PROLUMEN!! WTF!? I can't tell if the ignitor is or not as I haven't compared it to the one that's on my car.

No where does it say that warranty replacements will be other brands, etc. These bulbs are of cheaper quality and I'm not impressed with that at all.

This picture is from xenonstore.com. This is what the components used to look like. Notice the bulbs and their wiring.
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb106/cwp_sedan/prolumenslim1.jpg

These are the warranty replacements
Ignitor (looks to be the same)
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb106/cwp_sedan/warrantied_ignitor.jpg

Bulbs...NOT EVEN EFFING CLOSE. They also didn't come with the proper H7 spacers like the Prolumens did when I bought them.
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb106/cwp_sedan/warranty_bulbs.jpg

Packaging
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb106/cwp_sedan/warranty_packaging.jpg

If you notice it came from Umnitza, a terrible, scamming company. Not a good start, though I already had an idea that this was Devin's supplier. I probably wouldn't have even thought about them being the supplier if the components that I got was actually Prolumen. Since some weren't, that went right out of the window.

The fact that I also had to wait 2+ months for them to process this was ridiculous. They sent this package out on May 29th and I got it today. Brutal processing times if you ask me.

If I buy Sony and it needs to be replaced under warranty, I expect to get Sony back, not Panasonic. If I buy Apple and it needs to be replaced under warranty, I don't want a damn Dell, I want Apple. If I buy Prolumen and need warranty replacements, I WANT AND SHOULD GET PROLUMEN!

yearoftherat

06-08-2009, 11:14 PM

WTF..those look like the same bulbs that Illumination Technik sells in their HID kits. :whoa
No prolumen sticker and serial number either...

cwp_sedan

06-08-2009, 11:14 PM

Just found another thread where John had the same problem...

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=25453 (some pictures have gone though)

cwp_sedan

06-08-2009, 11:16 PM

WTF..those look like the same bulbs that Illumination Technik sells in their HID kits. :whoa
No prolumen sticker and serial number either...

Yeah, but I'm ok with Illumination Technik selling them. I haven't had any trouble so far with my bulbs from them.

I'm just extremely annoyed that Devin is passing them off as Prolumen replacements. :flaming

Ex-Rolla

06-17-2009, 10:26 AM

Truthfully i haven't had a problem with Devin besides one warranty replacement issue (which was rectified). I may have posted about not being able to get a hold of him, but in the end it worked out.

The most recent kit i purchased was about 2 weeks ago. I have bought a total of 12 to 15 kits from him and had to contact him for warranty issues 2 or 3 times. Only once i had a problem with the warranty issue.

chinsterr

06-17-2009, 12:07 PM

I am sure Devin reads this thread and is aware of these problems, but I can't understand how he can just watch his reputation go down the drain (something that took years to build). This company has always been a side business for devin (a quite profitable one at that). Maybe he has moved on to bigger and better things?

It's funny that his service went down at the same time as the price of these kits. Selling HID kits is no longer as profitable as it once was, and simply just doesn't warrant the time required dealing with warranty exchanges etc.

COMPANION3

06-18-2009, 10:28 AM

I wish I saw this earlier today. I just baught 1 dome LED, 2 Map LEDs, and 2 LED strips. I'll let you know how it goes.

Update:

It's been 3 weeks and I have yet to receive the bulbs I orderd. Not impressed. Can someone please PM me this Devin guys #?

JonsMazda

06-18-2009, 10:49 AM

He doesn't pickup calls..

COMPANION3

07-14-2009, 02:05 PM

Update:

It's been 3 weeks and I have yet to receive the bulbs I orderd. Not impressed. Can someone please PM me this Devin guys #?

6 Weeks and 5 days. Still have not received my lights!!!! :flaming

Not I need to file a complaint to paypal....

cwp_sedan

07-14-2009, 02:16 PM

6 Weeks and 5 days. Still have not received my lights!!!! :flaming

Not I need to file a complaint to paypal....

If you're going to do it I would get on it. I don't know how long you have to file a complaint.

COMPANION3

07-16-2009, 01:38 PM

kid_icarus

07-16-2009, 01:50 PM

i might be a wise thing to put his sponsorship on hold to protect the interests of TM3 members until Devin can respond and attest to his service standards......

edit: wait i can't find him as a sponsor anymore lol

Cardinal Fang

07-16-2009, 02:00 PM

Devin decided not to renew his sponsorship here a while ago. Before much of the bad reviews started coming in.

cwp_sedan

07-16-2009, 02:02 PM

Can someone give me this guys contact information?

He took $73.94 from me (via PayPal) and provided no product..:flaming

Canada Post says he printed a shipping label on June 2nd but never deliverd it.

I've tried emailing him and no responses!

Email is pretty much the only way to contact him. If he doesn't email you back, you are pretty much out of luck. :(

i might be a wise thing to put his sponsorship on hold to protect the interests of TM3 members until Devin can respond and attest to his service standards......

edit: wait i can't find him as a sponsor anymore lol

He hasn't been a sponsor for quite a while. Maybe almost a year?

kid_icarus

07-16-2009, 02:04 PM

i didn't even realize
good thing i bought my reflectors from him before he stopped being a sponsor.....

cwp_sedan

07-16-2009, 03:50 PM

i didn't even realize
good thing i bought my reflectors from him before he stopped being a sponsor.....

Yep. Better off anyway.

He is still a sponsor over on M3F and they won't get rid of him even though the stories of warranty work and communication is worse than poor.

Devin used to be great but then went downhill very fast.

MajesticBlueNTO

07-16-2009, 04:03 PM

Can someone give me this guys contact information?

He took $73.94 from me (via PayPal) and provided no product..:flaming

Canada Post says he printed a shipping label on June 2nd but never deliverd it.

I've tried emailing him and no responses!

you can try hounding Umnitza (http://www.umnitza.com) as that's who fulfilled the orders through thexenonstore.com

# Email (info@umnitza.com) or Web Form (below): Always (well, we do sleep occasionally, but it is rare)

# Phone (925•521•0577): Hours: 10am-5pm Pacific Standard Time (California) M-F, Saturday 10am-2pm STORE: APPT ONLY

Nextmod

07-17-2009, 11:12 AM

you can try hounding Umnitza (http://www.umnitza.com) as that's who fulfilled the orders through thexenonstore.com

but that order has nothing to do with them lol

MajesticBlueNTO

07-17-2009, 11:36 AM

but that order has nothing to do with them lol

how so? all requests through thexenonstore.com seem to be handled through umnitza now. all product is shipped from there, and all returns are sent there.

at some point in the order process, umnitza is involved.

cwp_sedan

07-17-2009, 12:25 PM

how so? all requests through thexenonstore.com seem to be handled through umnitza now. all product is shipped from there, and all returns are sent there.

at some point in the order process, umnitza is involved.

Yes and no.

Yes they do deal with the warranty process as they were the ones who sent me my replacements.

Umnitza probably wouldn't have any idea regarding the order or warranty as it was purchased though a reseller (Devin). That would be kind of like calling up Prolumen directly and inquiring about warranty work from stuff you bough from Peter. They would have no idea what you were talking about or the details about when the kit was bought, etc as they did not deal with that order directly. Know what I mean?

I would try to contact Umnitza though as a last resort though. You never know.

MajesticBlueNTO

07-17-2009, 02:12 PM

Yes and no.

Yes they do deal with the warranty process as they were the ones who sent me my replacements.

Umnitza probably wouldn't have any idea regarding the order or warranty as it was purchased though a reseller (Devin). That would be kind of like calling up Prolumen directly and inquiring about warranty work from stuff you bough from Peter. They would have no idea what you were talking about or the details about when the kit was bought, etc as they did not deal with that order directly. Know what I mean?

I would try to contact Umnitza though as a last resort though. You never know.

in your example, the person would be picking up their stuff from Peter himself so, yes, calling Prolumen directly would be fruitless.

in the case of thexenonstore, they are a reseller but in some cases, stock is not on hand so order fulfillment is done directly from the supplier to the customer. when i ordered some stuff from thexenonstore in the past, it was shipped from cali and the shipper's address on the customs declaration form was the same as umnitza's. so they would have some idea of who the customer was, the order that was placed, and when/if it was shipped. might not be the case all the time, but you never know.

in any case, COMPANION3's issue may be resolved.

1flycdnM3

07-23-2009, 06:38 PM

zedtech

07-23-2009, 06:58 PM

...alot of his customer service is directly related to how well you treat him (albeit, all salesmen in my opinion should be biased).
Just wanted to touch on this point from my personal perspective and POV. I wasn't rude or anything of that sort the last time I dealt with Devin. I sent a polite email explaining what was happening and after getting the run around with NO explanation, I understandably got upset and thought I was being taken for a ride. I didn't reply to any of his emails in a threatening manner but I did start to become more blunt and direct w/ my replies. Didn't seem to matter as I got the same passive treatment that I received before.

Middleman or not - he did not explain any of that to me nor did he offer any explanations why my replacement bulb took a really long time to arrive. IMO, frustrated or not - he checked out professionally and lost my future business and any referrals as a result. Customer service to me is no different whether or not you are a middleman, big box store or mom & pop shop. I've done my fair share of cust. svc. jobs (banks, retail, food service) and while I loathe the whole "customer is always right" mentality, every customer should be treated respectfully.

cwp_sedan

07-23-2009, 07:17 PM

Well I gotta say it and from what i read here some things have been mentioned already but not ALL bad things said about Devin are his fault. As mentioned, he is an "agent" or "middle man" if-you-will and alot of his customer service is directly related to how well you treat him (albeit, all salesmen in my opinion should be biased). That being said, ANY warranty claim has to be sent out. I had one of my HID bulbs literally EXPLODE and i showed him and he immediately got me a new one within weeks. I got the Prolumen Kit, sidemarkers, jdm tails (which i love, but took a few months) and few other little things from him. Really no "issues" other than taking a while for the tails, but i will agree that lately he is SO BUSY that he just seems to not care anymore when people complain and are really impatient (which sucks for everyone). I know as a supplier and as a customer that this can become extremely annoying for both parties. We want our parts FAST and suppliers have to make it happen, never easy.

Scott, unfortunately it IS 100% Devin's fault for anything people complain about. What he isn't responsible for is the quality of product as he has no control over that. He is responsible for holding up his end of the warranty agreement and communication.

I had always been nice to Devin but even with my attitude being in check and requesting my warranty very very nicely, it still took 2+ months. Also, can you explain how it's not his fault that I didn't get Prolumen replacements? That isn't his fault either? That was the final blow for me. At least if I had gotten actual Prolumen replacements it would have been worth the wait.

No matter how busy he is, it's no excuse. He should have openly come on this forum and M3F and told everyone about his "busy" situation and how he is no longer available to provide products to the community. At least then we would know first hand about what is going on.

EDIT: On a side not. I had a hard drive shipped from Cali to Niagara Falls, NY in 3 days. Why would it take over 2 months for a couple of bulbs or a ballast?

Just wanted to touch on this point from my personal perspective and POV. I wasn't rude or anything of that sort the last time I dealt with Devin. I sent a polite email explaining what was happening and after getting the run around with NO explanation, I understandably got upset and thought I was being taken for a ride. I didn't reply to any of his emails in a threatening manner but I did start to become more blunt and direct w/ my replies. Didn't seem to matter as I got the same passive treatment that I received before.

Middleman or not - he did not explain any of that to me nor did he offer any explanations why my replacement bulb took a really long time to arrive. IMO, frustrated or not - he checked out professionally and lost my future business and any referrals as a result. Customer service to me is no different whether or not you are a middleman, big box store or mom & pop shop. I've done my fair share of cust. svc. jobs (banks, retail, food service) and while I loathe the whole "customer is always right" mentality, every customer should be treated respectfully.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb106/cwp_sedan/smilies/smiley-vault-signs-015.gif

blankets3

08-13-2009, 07:38 PM

woo hoo... i just bought angel eyes from him, i think i might just refuse the package and open up a dispute on paypal

cwp_sedan

08-14-2009, 12:50 PM

woo hoo... i just bought angel eyes from him, i think i might just refuse the package and open up a dispute on paypal

If you get your order don't worry about it. But don't expect the warranty to be covered. Also who knows what the products are like lately...

KOKKINO

08-14-2009, 09:59 PM

If you think all of your experiences with DEVIN are bad, read this...

My brother ordered a 6000K PROLUMEN hi/low kit with a load distributor kit from DEVIN and paid just under $600 and here is what happened.

1.) The kit took almost 2 months to arrive in the mail and DEVIN could not explain to him where the kit was and why it was taking so long to arrive...

2.) After finally receiving the kit my brother opened the unmarked and terribly packaged box to find a "NO NAME" (unmarked) HID kit. My brother had the kit installed by the ever so awesome MCGUYVER and MCGUYVER wasn't even sure if it was a PROLUMEN kit, however, they went ahead and installed the kit...

3.) The one bulb was, what appeared to be, a 5000 K bulb and the other a 6000K. The lights would ofter "flicker" on and off and then completely shut off during the winter months.

4.) My brother then sent pictures to DEVIN of the kit and even DEVIN confirmed that this kit was not a PROLUMEN kit and resembled a cheap EBAY kit which sell for $100 on average.

5.) At this point my brother had had enough and told DEVIN that he wants the PROLUMEN kit sent to him in exchange for the old kit. DEVIN told my brother to send the kit out to CALIFORNIA (my brother would have to pay for shipping) and then wait until the kit was reviewed by UMNITZA (to confirm that the kit wasn't the kit that he received) and then they would send him the PROLUMEN kit. MY brother felt that this was ridiculous and told DEVIN to refund him his money and DEVIN said that he would have to send the kit out to CALIFORNIA first, then he would get his money back. My brother then told DEVIN that he would meet him some where to give DEVIN the kit and get his money back from him in person..... AND THIS IS WHERE GOOD OLD DEVIN DISAPPEARED LIKE A FART IN THE WIND!...

6.) My brother e-mailed Devin over 100 times and on the 101st e-mail DEVIN replied to my brother and now claimed that the refund time had expired and that he could not get his full refund back! My brother then said (because he is a lover, not a hater and just wanted to get this nightmare over with) OK, re-reimburse me the difference on the PROLUMEN kit to the CRAP EBAY kit.... DEVIN said OK, and offered my brother $45.00!

7.) My brother than said NO, exchange me the kit then and then again, THE FART DISAPPEARED!....

My rating on DEVIN? well.... Well, would you buy a HID kit from a FART???

(written on behalf of my brother - literally word for word... including the fart references lol)

cwp_sedan

08-14-2009, 10:05 PM

That sucks! :(

Hopefully this thread will help others from getting burned by Devin like we have.

1flycdnM3

09-26-2009, 02:39 PM

ok so it appears the experiences from Devin have been very negative and I can't say I support anything he does in regards to customer service now, but at least I had good experiences with him (which really isn't saying much as I had some really long waits too). Not that it really matters, but when my prolumen bulb burnt out (went pink), I brought it to him within weeks of it happening and he gave me a new one free of charge under warranty. not sure if it helped that i brought the bulb, but he said "cool, now i can show them what happened" so it must have helped matters. Oh well, not buying anything else from him now anyways because we have enough reputable sponsors on here not to deal with Devin anymore.