Lumatek's warranty is a fraud!

[jammie]

well- 2 months ago my old 1k digital ballast died mid way through vegging. i didn't have time to do allot of research or price comparisons so i headed off to my local hydro shop and bought the lumatek 1k digital ballast on their recommendation that it had the best warranty in the business.

last saturday i went downstairs to check on my girls and smelled this burnt electrical smell- never a good thing! the room was dark- also not a good thing. after checking the fuse box, surge suppressor and ballast connections (no arcing) and the bulb and pushing the little reset button, i came to the conclusion that it died.

back at the hydro shop they told me that they'd be happy to send it back and i could expect to get it back in oh 3-4 weeks maybe. my reply was WHAT THE FUCK, i want a new one. Oh sorry, thats not how the warranty works mr hydro guy sez. we have to send it back, have them look at it to determine what was wrong, fix it and send it back.

i've never bought a product thats gone bad, where i have the receipt, and not be able to get a new one on the spot, providing its in stock. is this standard practice??? mr hydro guys response was that i really needed a backup anyways just for these occasions. i then drove 1hour further to buy the back up from someone else

 

[joyride]

I had a similar thing happen to my Solis-Tek ballast this week. Not only did I get an email response back from Solis-tek around midnight when I sent a mayday email (even though they're only 1 time zone over) but they gave me a choice of reasonable options. They ended up helping me find a retailer nearby as I bought it online and the retailer exchanged it on the spot, even though I bought it from someone else. Maybe try emailing Lumatek directly? It sounds like your hydro shop lacks in the customer service department.

Solis-tek were also willing to cross-ship if I gave them a CC number or would have shipped me a new one immediately upon receiving the non-working ballast.

Obviously I would have preferred if the ballast never went out in the first place, but I was quite impressed with how Solis-Tek handled the warranty claim.

 

[StoneyK]

No lumatek just works like this....
They did the same to me with a dual 600.
I will never buy lumatek again. My dual 600 has failed twice now and the first time they sent me a refurbished replacement that was still broken :/
Ive had aome global green house balasts for 10 years that have never given me one hiccup.
Lumatek sucks based off my experience.

 

[tjo]

Lumatek sucks based off my experience.

agree..my lumatec failed after a couple months of working!

 

[joyride]

Man, that sucks. Misinformed hydro shop guys recommend Lumatek all the time around here. I can recommend Solis-tek based on my experience. I've also heard good things about Phantom ballasts reliability wise, though I cannot comment on the warranty.

 

[unregistered190]

Thankful, no problems out of my Lumateks so far!

 

[jammie]

hey guys- thanks for all the replys. i did call lumatek. after several tries i got hold of a guy in sales. he said the customer service rep was also the shipping clerk, so if i sent an email they would get back to me "in a couple of days". he also hedged and talked in circles when i ask him if the hydro guy was correct, which tells me he was. my only goal now is to spread as much bad rep on this company on as many sites as i can.

 

[RespectGreen]

sounds like the hydro store or their policy has changed. At the store I was out at they were always swapped out on site. Dual 6s broke the most, we'd have 10-20 broken ones at one point. lol (2011)

 

[nukklehead]

one more vote for mags..( tongue in cheek.. )(sorry guys couldnt resist!)

 

[Hammerhead]

Im sorry to here that you guys had bad results wit the lumatek's. I have used them for almost 10 years now with no pre mature failures. If I did have a failure the owner at my shop would give me a new one or a loaner if I needed it. but shit I have so many extra ballast sitting around I will never need one again. I had 1 400mh die after 5 years. The rest of them I still have. I have since upgraded to Gavita and 1 SolisTek Matrix i use for the center vertical light.. I have had good luck with all my ballast's. I still have a cap Extreme Nano Ballast that works lol..


Keep in mind that lumatek has more ballast's out being used then any other brand. These where very popular at one time.

 

[Noahfecks]

Please forgive my ignorance and very limited knowledge of both electrical machines and ballasts, I am a noob and here to learn. I know from using basic power tools that having the wrong power supply be it an overloaded circuit or to small a wire to carry the correct amperage for the tool that the life of that tool is dramatically reduced. Could that explain the short life of the ballast that some are experiencing? Is there a rule of thumb for how many of a particular wattage of ballast can be successfully operated from a single 20 amp circuit and how will that effect the life of a ballast (regardless of manufacturer)?

 

[DapperDon]

No son. Not even close.

 

[krunchbubble]

well- 2 months ago my old 1k digital ballast died mid way through vegging. i didn't have time to do allot of research or price comparisons so i headed off to my local hydro shop and bought the lumatek 1k digital ballast on their recommendation that it had the best warranty in the business.

last saturday i went downstairs to check on my girls and smelled this burnt electrical smell- never a good thing! the room was dark- also not a good thing. after checking the fuse box, surge suppressor and ballast connections (no arcing) and the bulb and pushing the little reset button, i came to the conclusion that it died.

back at the hydro shop they told me that they'd be happy to send it back and i could expect to get it back in oh 3-4 weeks maybe. my reply was WHAT THE FUCK, i want a new one. Oh sorry, thats not how the warranty works mr hydro guy sez. we have to send it back, have them look at it to determine what was wrong, fix it and send it back.

i've never bought a product thats gone bad, where i have the receipt, and not be able to get a new one on the spot, providing its in stock. is this standard practice??? mr hydro guys response was that i really needed a backup anyways just for these occasions. i then drove 1hour further to buy the back up from someone else

I wouldn't say that Lumatech's warranty sucks, its most likely the shop...

Big companies like Lumatech give shops extra ballasts for customers to use, so they wont be without their light for several weeks...

Even at the minimum, every shop has extra old school ballasts for their customers for situations like this...

Blame the shop...

 

[StoneyK]

I wouldn't say that Lumatech's warranty sucks, its most likely the shop...

Big companies like Lumatech give shops extra ballasts for customers to use, so they wont be without their light for several weeks...

Even at the minimum, every shop has extra old school ballasts for their customers for situations like this...

Blame the shop...

Dude I highly respect and follow many of your posts but this is just nonsense.
Why should a local shop be expected to cover for a manufacturer failure?
If your shop does it just makes em that much cooler! Your lucky.
To say this should be EXPECTED is quite a bit of a stretch.
What about guys who buy online?
Come on... the shop isnt the one manufacturing the bad equipment.
How is it any way shape or form their fault if a manufacturer makes you wait weeks for replacement?
Thats not their poor business practice its the manufacturers.
Sad fact is iF you ever had to rely on LUMATEKS WARRANTY alone... it sucks.
Just like the op stated.

 

[StoneyK]

It almost doesn't even matter if the ballasts are great or not. When im thinking warranty its worst case scenario I want it to make me feel better not create a large pit in my stomach wondering what im gonna do for light for 2.5 3 weeks while I wait.

 

[DapperDon]

Because that is the nature of the relationships between merchants and manufacturers. That is Basic Business 101. Shitty businesses like that shop deserve to lose clients. I bought a 70" tv for X-Mas and after a week I noticed the internet feature not working. So back in the truck it went back to Best Buy. No questions, they just gave me a refund and I bought another right on the spot.

 

[Buds Bundy]

I wouldn't say that Lumatech's warranty sucks, its most likely the shop...

Actually it does that's why one of local wholesalers here stooped doing business with Lumatek because they have 10's of thousands $$$$ worth of ballasts (skids and skids) waiting to be warrantied by Lumatek but they are dragging their feet.

Big companies like Lumatech give shops extra ballasts for customers to use, so they wont be without their light for several weeks...

What kind of crack pot shit is this? Lumatek doesn't give the stores anything. A store gets it from a wholesaler and no the wholesaler don't just give out "extra" of anything just in case it breaks down.

Blame the shop...

Riiiight blame the one who has to wait the longest to get their money back for the defect. Some stores can afford to give out loaners and some can't.

As for which ballast is good, they are all the fucking same. You'll get bad bathes from every manufacturer. I have a Lumatek that I've been using fro 7 years with 0 problems. I had Light Energy The Ace catch fires, I've had tons of Bad Ass go on me even the Lightspeed one from Hydrotek which I like have gone on me.

 

[krunchbubble]

Actually it does that's why one of local wholesalers here stooped doing business with Lumatek because they have 10's of thousands $$$$ worth of ballasts (skids and skids) waiting to be warrantied by Lumatek but they are dragging their feet.

What kind of crack pot shit is this? Lumatek doesn't give the stores anything. A store gets it from a wholesaler and no the wholesaler don't just give out "extra" of anything just in case it breaks down.



Riiiight blame the one who has to wait the longest to get their money back for the defect. Some stores can afford to give out loaners and some can't.

As for which ballast is good, they are all the fucking same. You'll get bad bathes from every manufacturer. I have a Lumatek that I've been using fro 7 years with 0 problems. I had Light Energy The Ace catch fires, I've had tons of Bad Ass go on me even the Lightspeed one from Hydrotek which I like have gone on me.

Guess you NEVER worked at a Hydro store before? 4 Years buddy...

Ya, companies give shops extra ballasts for loaners...

 

[Buds Bundy]

4 Years buddy...

Wow!!!!! That must make me elite.

 

[Hammerhead]

I can get loaner ballast anytime I need one. While yours is being repaired they should have some to let you use. Most will have the old CAP COIL to lend you until yours is fixed. I have a great relationship with the owner and that helps in many ways ...I dont know if they do this with all customers. Since im a regular customer and have spent some scratch with them it helps. I had a blue lab combo meter go out. They gave me a new unit on the spot.