Exposure Flare Lights - Word of caution

[Mr Haematocrit]

I'm a big fan of exposure lights, especially the flare model as these lights offer great power for such a small unit. I find them to be great little performers and would not have any trouble reccomending them. BUT I am unable to say the same for the company producing these lights, the lack of support for the product is appalling, emails are not responded to, and overall support non existent from my experience.

In conclusion... great lights when they are working, your in trouble if they stop

 

[Norm]

That's strange, I've had a unit replaced without a moments thought, although it was the Flare rather than the Flash, they're very similar.

Why are you dealing direct, though? Is it warranty? And have you tried phoning them?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

I have emailed them on a number of occassions regarding a warentee issue and received no response, calling them got me the promise that someone would call me back, this never happened.
Eventually the issue was resolved but it took for my LBS to get involved.
Im glad you had a better experience than myself, I am a big fan of the lights but will not use this brand again based on the lack of service I have recieved and felt it was appropiate to inform others of my experiences.

 

[Norm]

Was the problem that any warranty claim should always go through the shop that you bought it from? That's the way I went, toolkit to my LBS who gave it to the area rep who sent it back to Petworth (I think) where it was fixed and returned within a week. This was a Joystick which needed new innards as the port stopped powering my redeye micro reliably.

Most manufacturers don't like you going direct as they still have to verify where you sourced the product and check a 'receipt' which could be something youve printed yourself as they don't know the format of the receipts used by every shop that sells their products.

 

[jonny jeez]

Was the problem that any warranty claim should always go through the shop that you bought it from? That's the way I went, toolkit to my LBS who gave it to the area rep who sent it back to Petworth (I think) where it was fixed and returned within a week. This was a Joystick which needed new innards as the port stopped powering my redeye micro reliably.

Most manufacturers don't like you going direct as they still have to verify where you sourced the product and check a 'receipt' which could be something youve printed yourself as they don't know the format of the receipts used by every shop that sells their products.

good lesson there.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

The fault I had was intermittent and the company / site I purchased the lights from is no longer trading so I looked for advise from the makers of these lights.
The FAQ for exposure lights on their own website states that the correct action to take is as follows.

In the unlikely event that you have a problem with an Exposure Lights product, please follow the procedure below -
Step 1 – Check our FAQ's page and technical page of the product in question – there might be an immediate answer available to you.
Step 2 – if the problem can’t be resolved please telephone or email Exposure Lights to discuss the issue and decide on what options are available.
Step 3 – if necessary we will issue you a returns number which must accompany your product.

As such I clearly followed their own instructions and guidelines as stated in step two. I can't state what the warrentee proceedure is like as I never got that far. At this time I wanted to discuss my issue to know what steps I should take.
The fact remains I had a product in warentee and can prove this. I followed the companies instructions to contact them and they failed to respond on a number of occassions via email and when phoned they promised an engineer would call me back and failed to do so. I do not believe this is the way to treat customers.

 

[Norm]

Ah, didn't realise the full circumstances & can defo understand the frustration.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Would like to clarify.. they are amazing lights as well
Customer service is just lacking

 

[GentlyBenevolent]

I've got a flash+flare set, and I've found the same - emails are ignored. I got the set as a christmas present last year, but I've found the threads on the two sections don't match very well. This makes it very easy to cross-thread them, and also I'm assuming that's what is causing the tiny fractures across the threads. I emailed Exposure about it and offered to send photos in a follow up but got nothing in return.

I needed a brighter light for the unlit back lanes and was originally looking at a joystick, but was put off given the non-existent customer service and high prices - £125. I went for a fluxient U2 single LED at £60 and it's amazing on unlit roads - will be posting a review soon.

 

[gaz]

I've also had issues with contacting exposure. Once I did manage to get in touch though it was plain sailing in getting things sorted.

 

[Badcav203]

Another one for a bad service here!
Light sent back as requested during emails, warrenty/returns card completed describing fault.

I also included a more detailed description of the fault I was experiencing, typed up, printed on A4 paper and put in the box [return card only allows for brief description].

10 days later, the light is returned to me, exact same issue as when sent with a card stating 'several tests done, no fault found'!

The service repair people must be blind! It happens within seconds of switching it on.
However, they decided to swap the USB charger for a fixed lead 2.8 amp one when sending back. If nothing was wrong, why bother at all?

See for yourself:
View: http://youtu.be/JWehecmskzs

 

[Badcav203]

For those interested, and for any potential future exposure customers reading through old posts.
Exposure have now resolved my problem.

I don't know specifically what was wrong, only that there was a component failure. I don't believe the battery was changed. Problem was likely due to a failure in the charger damaging something.

I had a call from them before everyhting was sent back to ensure the problem was fixed. From the conversation, I believe that the mistake first time round was that the charger was tested, and the charging curcuits with not alot else. Hence the outcome, 'after tests all seems ok'.

Seems a bit daft to me that you wouldn't fully test it? Maybe thats just me.

So, everything has now been put right FOC along with a new charger, release mount, and a micro red-eye.
I return to being a happy Exposure customer, but can't help but feel a little more care should have been taken the first time round.

 

[totallyfixed]

My partner has had the Flare since it came out, a few weeks ago the screw thread on the led end failed due to corrosion, I rang them, explained the problem and a new unit was sent out immediately , arrived the following day, no charge.