Do not buy hid's from group buy vendor!!

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FOMOCOTOSHO

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I am writing as a concerned consumer regarding the "approved group buy" of the HID's listed below here by "SC & Blazer"

DO NOT BUY THESE-- THEY ARE JUNK!!

I purchased a set almost 9 months ago and have had nothing but problems since. I purchased a set of dual beam 9007's for my Gen 2 and instantly had problems with the high beam not working. After speaking with the vendor & confirming they were installed correctly, they tried sending me out new parts but it still didn't matter. Because they couldn't figure it out, they agreed to crediting me back the difference for what the single to dual beam price was and I had to settle for just low beam only lights (which is a PITA living in rural America on 2-lane roads at night!!)
Then about 2 months ago one of the HID filament bulbs went out and I contacted the company and they said they would send out a new bulb for it. But what I received was a completely new & different kit instead. I called them and asked why , and they told me they did not have that same kit anymore to get the bulbs and since I didn't need the dual filament bulb they are replacing the whole kit. So I then had to completely remove the kit & install this new one and was asked to return the old kit, which I did. I also noticed the new kit was a 10,000K color instead of the 6000K color that I originally had and when I called to ask them why I was told it was a "Chinese 10,000K color" which translates to 6,000K color in the U.S. I know this is bull*hit because I used to sell fluorescent lighting & of course, the coloring was way bluer/purple than my old set (I have pics to prove it)
Now recently as it started to get cold one of my lights won't turn on when it drops below 20 degrees or so. I contacted the company and told them that I had had enough with these junk lights and wanted to return them for a full refund. They told me they not yet received the other returned set yet so they would not issue a refund until then. I emailed them proof of the return from USPS & they will still not refund my money. The owner, James Curry, now laughs at me responding to my emails and refuses to stand by his warranty on his product saying he can't control the lights in "EXTREME CONDITIONS" To those members who live in the northern hemisphere here.. who thinks 20 degrees ABOVE ZERO is EXTREME for winter?

I am contacting the BBB, Visa, & US Bank (whom the purchase was made through) to dispute the charges but I thought I would pass along this information to anyone before they purchased these lights from this untrustworthy scamming vendor.

I advise they be removed from this thread & not be recognized as an approved vendor for SHOFORUM.

If anyone (including administrators) have any q's or would like more details to prove I am not making any of this up, please contact me.
 

nothingtoseehere

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This belongs in the Hall of Fame/Shame.

I'd like to see James' side of it as well. I have purchased form him in the past (not HIDs) and the experience was nothing short of perfect.

James - care to retort .....
 

Racer X

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Besides the fact that this is posted in the wrong forum, I've had dealings with James in the past, and he's always made right any issues that came up.

Hope you guys get this sorted.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong section... I didn't know where to post this type of problem.

I've attempted several times to resolve this issue with James.. he refuses to refund my money because he says the product is not defective & it's not supposed to work in these conditions. I am willing to send the product back for credit since he "claims there's nothing wrong with it" but he refuses to refund my money.
 

Sho Amo

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i feel james is not the issue. its not his product he is just the salesman. this is between you and the parts company. i have an issue with mine but i deal with it. mine dont usualy turn both on. i have to turn them on and off until i get both to come on together.
 

SHOVNST

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i feel james is not the issue. its not his product he is just the salesman. this is between you and the parts company.

I'm not taking sides in this debate and don't have a stake in either party's outcome but from a business standpoint James would be the person to talk to if he is the person selling them. EXAMPLE: if a Sony TV is purchased from Target and needs to be returned it is returned to Target, not Sony.....:)
 

Sho Amo

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when you buy a bmw you dont blame the dealer when it dies. you should bring it to their attention and since dealerships are certified repair theu usually fix the issue. i doubt james is a certified hid technician lol.
 

Bizzy

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I'm not taking sides in this debate and don't have a stake in either party's outcome but from a business standpoint James would be the person to talk to if he is the person selling them. EXAMPLE: if a Sony TV is purchased from Target and needs to be returned it is returned to Target, not Sony.....:)

In my experience, warranties for vehicles are completely different from warranties on electronic items.

Typically warranties for electronics are handled by the manufacturer, unless it's stated or implied by the seller.

ie: You purchase an Xbox 360 from Best Buy and it gets the ring of death. Unless you purchased the extended (Geek squad) warranty from Best Buy, you deal directly with Microsoft in getting the 360 repaired or replaced.

I do think that electronics dealers can be a great asset when making contact with manufacturers because most of the time they have already made contacts within the company, but that is not a general rule.

It seems to me that the company has already been at least making an effort to make the situation right. Hopefully insurance or at least tracking of some sort was purchased for the return shipment. In that case the postal service/UPS or whoever the shipper was would be held responsible for the lost returned item.

In any case, I do hope things are resolved very soon. Do keep the thread updated so we know what's going on. While I don't think James is responsible, manufacturer warranties are important and the end results of this could impact future sales of the same product.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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Thanks for the information everyone. I would think if there's a problem with the product you sell it is your responsibility as a representative & vendor of the product to either resolve the issue under warranty or give you the proper contact information for the manufacturer for the customer to contact. James has done neither or offered to help. I've looked all over the box, owners/install manual, & the product and there is not a brand name or contact info anywhere.. everything is so generic.
All I would want is for the product to work correctly but if/since so far that has been a lost cause I expect my money back if the company/vendor/manfuacturer cannot resolve the issue with their product.


Bizzy, thanks for the input & for moving the thread to the proper location.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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Well I was able to locate the manufacturer of the lights that James sold me and I got a response... thought everyone would want to see this!

------------------
Hello,

Thank you for contacting XenonWorks.

We are sorry to hear you are having issues with a retailer that sold you our product. Unfortunetly, Adrenaline Tuning is not an authorized dealer through us. We have received two other complaints about them within the past two months about similiar issues. We advise you to take the vehicle to one of our authorized dealers so they can look at it. The closest authorized dealer to them is Dynamic Sound...we will include the address below. They will be able to look at it and assist you with the problem. This is what the last two customers did from the other complaints we received. In those situations, Dynamic Sound stated that the kits were not installed properly.

Please advise anyone you know not to purchase our products from Adrenaline Tuning. We have been trying to locate exactly where they are purchasing our kits from, so we can advise the dealer not to sell to them due to the fact that it seems they are unable to install our products properly, their inability to work with the customer, and them not honoring the warranty.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions once you have spoken to Dynamic Sound. Their contact info is below.

Thanks again for contacting XenonWorks. Michelle
 

nothingtoseehere

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You said you could not find manufacturer info on the box, so how do you know you contacted the correct manufacturer.

Also, from the email you received, XenonWorks assumes that the dealer does the install. Not the customer. Seems XenonWorks would void a warranty if the customer installed it as they are not an authorized installer...

Not laying blame on you, but this seems to be a clusterfluck with responsibility on both parties so far (You and James)
 
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Adrenaline Tuning is not an authorized dealer through us. We have received two other complaints about them within the past two months about similiar issues.

Please advise anyone you know not to purchase our products from Adrenaline Tuning.

if indeed this is the manufacturer and if James sold you this kit as an unauthorized dealer thus voiding the warranty,IMO he owes you a refund.

Because at that point the item in question becomes "significantly different" than advertised due to the lack of warranty coverage.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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You said you could not find manufacturer info on the box, so how do you know you contacted the correct manufacturer.

Also, from the email you received, XenonWorks assumes that the dealer does the install. Not the customer. Seems XenonWorks would void a warranty if the customer installed it as they are not an authorized installer...

Not laying blame on you, but this seems to be a clusterfluck with responsibility on both parties so far (You and James)
I found the name of the manufacturer on the actual electronic ballast.. The box & manual had no names of anything anywhere. I found the name afterwards. This IS the manufacturer of the HID kits.
If you look at the letter it says "We are sorry to hear you are having issues with a retailer that sold you our product" .. "SOLD" you our kit, not installed. The wording is Adrenaline Tuning is not a "retailer", they are not saying anything about who installed them.

Currently James has finally responded to me saying he will resolve this matter & find another kid that will meet all the requirements as originally indicated. So the matter is currently pending that decision. All I want is a proper kit that works as it should.. but if it doesn't, I expect my money back.

I will keep everyone afloat on what happens next FYI
 

hawkeye18

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I really wish I had seen this thread two months ago; that's when I ordered a set off said "retailer" and have had nothing but f***ing issues since. I finally got them installed today (they're the wrong color and it took a month to get here) and the high beams on them are a dull yellow color... not at all like the bright freaking blue the low beams are... not sure if they're supposed to be like that but I am also getting incredibly tired of all this rigamarole... I guess this is what I get for trying to f***ing support the SHO community. :madflame:
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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Hawkeye I completely am with you on this. I think it should be the SHOFORUM Admins' responsibility to remove this vendor from the group buy recommended approved list. Regardless of how this turns out, they have clearly lost support from its members.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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**UPDATE**
2 month ago James finally got back to me and said he would honor the warranty (not refund my money but that's ok if I can get a better kit to replace this p.o.s.) but was in the middle of switching to a new vendor & manufacturer. He said he would contact me once his new inventory was in.

*On 1/25 I emailed him because I hadn't heard anything yet. No respone

*In early February I called & left a voice mail on the business voice mail; no response.

*On 2/25 I emailed him again and he replied saying he never heard from me on which kit I wanted. I advised him I called him and forwarded our previous email correspondence.

*He replied on 3/3 and told me he was mailing out the new kid either that day or the next.

*I have since emailed him twice (3/12 & 3/17) and have called & left phone messages every day for the last week and no one answers and no one has responded to any of the emails or phone calls.

I'm becoming very upset and ****** I am out over $100 from this guy. I still can't believe he is an approved vendor for SHOFORUM.com members. If anyone knows James and can get a message to him or let me know how how else I can contact him I would appreciate it.
 

nothingtoseehere

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Thats a shame, to see vendors falter like this. My experience when I bought rims from him was top notch.

Sounds like he should just refund your money at this point since he is unable to get you a replacement product.
 

FOMOCOTOSHO

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Thats a shame, to see vendors falter like this. My experience when I bought rims from him was top notch.

Sounds like he should just refund your money at this point since he is unable to get you a replacement product.
That's what I wanted in the first place but he refused. When he said he would be willing to replace the product with a different one I agreed (even though that's not what I wanted) but I was willing to be flexible since it seemed he was trying to make things right. I guess he lied....
 

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