A Kudos to Surefire's warranty and customer service.

[AZPops]

After investing in, and still own 6 Surefire's (x2 P2X Furys, an E1b, LX2, and x2 T1A's). I finally had the opportunity this morning to witness the legendary Surefire warranty and customer service for myself when I had a problem with the tail cap to one of my Fury's. Surefire and Matt, did NOT disappoint!

This is just an open thank you on CPF (I hope it's OK) to Surefire and Matt for taking care of my Fury! ... :thumbsup:


Lance

 

[cland72]

What was wrong with the tailcap, and how did they make it right? Not skeptical, just curious of the details. I've been taken care of numerous times by Surefire.

 

[Random Dan]

This is why I love Surefire. When I needed to replace the bent up pocket clip on my E1B I emailed them and they sent me a new one. Unfortunately the new pocket clip was slightly wider so when I tried to press it in it wound up damaging the body. The SF rep told me to send it in, so I did, and it came back with a new body and pocket clip!

 

[AZPops]

What was wrong with the tailcap, and how did they make it right? Not skeptical, just curious of the details. I've been taken care of numerous times by Surefire.

I tried expand the spring and it popped off. Couldn't get the switch out so I called to inquire about purchasing a new tail cap. Talked with Matt, explained what happened, a few minutes into our chat, Matt asked for my address, and a new tail cap is in the mail. Don't know if it made a difference but all of my Surefire's were purchased new and (aside from my back up T1A that's still in it's box are) registered to me.


Lance

 

[AZPops]

This is why I love Surefire. When I needed to replace the bent up pocket clip on my E1B I emailed them and they sent me a new one. Unfortunately the new pocket clip was slightly wider so when I tried to press it in it wound up damaging the body. The SF rep told me to send it in, so I did, and it came back with a new body and pocket clip!

:thumbsup:

 

[ABTOMAT]

Last time I sent an M6 and an M3 to Surefire to have the reflectors fixed, they came back with huge gouges in the bezels. Whoever was using the spanner wrench was drunk or something.

 

[AZPops]

Last time I sent an M6 and an M3 to Surefire to have the reflectors fixed, they came back with huge gouges in the bezels. Whoever was using the spanner wrench was drunk or something.

Aw-man sorry to hear about the gouges in the bezel. Did you send your lights back? Did they fix the problem / mistake?

Pops

BTW, got the new tail cap a few days ago. Swapped the other back to my other Fury, and all is back to being A-OK! ... :thumbsup:

 

[sarge1967]

I had a tail cap go out on a E2D years ago. I called Surefire, the rep asked for my address, I gave it to him and asked him where to send the bad cap. He told me not to bother sending it in and I had my new one the next day.
That made me a customer for life.

 

[Etsu]

That warranty service is factored into the price. You're paying 2x or 3x more than a comparable light from other manufacturers. If you're a cop, you don't care since it's the taxpayer that is paying for your lights and batteries. If you're not getting someone else to pay for your light, I don't know why you'd pay so much. Maybe if your life depended on it (if you're into caving or something like that), but otherwise you're just wasting money.

 

[880arm]

That warranty service is factored into the price. You're paying 2x or 3x more than a comparable light from other manufacturers. If you're a cop, you don't care since it's the taxpayer that is paying for your lights and batteries. If you're not getting someone else to pay for your light, I don't know why you'd pay so much. Maybe if your life depended on it (if you're into caving or something like that), but otherwise you're just wasting money.

Of course it's factored into the price as it is with any quality tool. The rest is your opinion, which you are certainly entitled to.

To the OP, I also had a little problem with my P2X Fury tailcap where the metal collar around the spring popped off. The switch still worked fine but I contacted customer service and they sent me a new one right away.

 

[scout24]

Etsu- I work as a mechanic for one of the largest municipal departments in New York state, and there is no taxpayer purchased standard issue light. They all purchase their own. Some good lights, some still carry incan Mag's. No free batteries, either. The closest to standardization they come is a critical incident team who carry H&K MP5's. They are all set up with Malkoff M61 weaponlights in VME heads. Gene had been kind enough to send one as a demo to replace M3 head incan weaponlights, and they wound up buying eight or nine. Other departments mileage may vary...

 

[nilfire77]

Agreed! SF's warranty and customer service is second to none in the business!

 

[MBentz]

People have weird misconceptions here about local and federal governments handing out expensive SF lights with free batteries. Where is that coming from?

 

[leon2245]

That warranty service is factored into the price. You're paying 2x or 3x more than a comparable light from other manufacturers. If you're a cop, you don't care since it's the taxpayer that is paying for your lights and batteries. If you're not getting someone else to pay for your light, I don't know why you'd pay so much. Maybe if your life depended on it (if you're into caving or something like that), but otherwise you're just wasting money.

I have had enough of them to come to the same conclusion for myself, in that I've found the cost generally not worth it for what I get out of their warranty, features, specs etc. (& have come full circle back to the opposite end of the spectrum since near-disposables have come so far); but I don't think I could ever presume to make that decision for anyone else like that- telling others with different budgets & priorities than my own that they're wasting their money because their preferences are different.

On topic re: warranty, I have had mostly positive experience dealing with the few sf warranty issues I've had, and one really amazing one I can't share here, but the type that makes you feel like the op, wanting to be loyal for life (almost lol).

 

[RobertMM]

My SF lights have gone through quite a lot, I only had a clip broken and the guts of my LX2 tailcap fell out(I glued it back in place and it worked like nothing happened).
I emailed SF about the E1B clip, I wanted to order as I live overseas, and told them about the LX2 tailcap but I specifically stated I did not want or need a new one, I just felt the need to mention it to them.
After a week, email comes in from SF and tells me I get two clips(one for a spare) in the mail inbound, and a LX2 tailcap as well.
I appreciate it, Surefire.

 

[thedoc007]

...but I don't think I could ever presume to make that decision for anyone else like that- telling others with different budgets & priorities than my own that they're wasting their money because their preferences are different.

Very well said. Expressing your own opinion is one thing - and telling others they should conform to your opinion is another.

I do avoid Surefire, for a number of reasons. Not only cost, but also the limited modes, and lack of 18650 support in most of their models, and the generally underwhelming performance compared to other brands. I don't expect anyone else to value the same criteria, though, and what other people choose to do with their own money is none of my business anyway.

I'm glad they do offer an outstanding warranty, though.

 

[AZPops]

I appreciate you'all for taking the time to share your experiences! ... :thumbsup:


Pops

 

[tonkem]

I have had a couple of reasons to use Surefire's lifetime warranty. I purchased an E2L for my niece, and out of the box the light was flickering on low, I contacted customer service and sent the light back. The returned it with a new head, and my niece still has it, and she has been tough on this light. 2nd was I had some older E1L's prior to the current model, and called Surefire to get a E1B clip so I could carry in the pocket better than the small one that it came with. I was asking if I could purchase 2 of them. After telling me that they could not sell me one, they said they would ship out 2 for free.

3rd instance, was one of my older E1L's that I had for a while, started flickering on low, similar to the E2L mentioned above, contacted surefire, shipped the light back and had a new head within about a week.

With regard to the performance of Surefire lights over others, it is hard to beat the current E1L with runtime on high and it is a great amount of light. Perfect glovebox light, and not "too expensive", but to all his/her own.

 

[Etsu]

E1L affordable, really? Okay, it's not going to bankrupt you, but over $200 for a 2-mode light with a max output of 90 lumens? Maybe that was worth it 10 years ago, but today that's a pitiful standard. And then they get to charge you $2 per battery to run it.

It's my opinion that it's a waste of money. Of course others can waste their money on whatever they want, but there's better lights for a lot less on the market. Surefire makes their money selling to police and other government agencies where money is no object. Arguably, the durability is necessary, so maybe it's worth it for the target market. But for anyone else, it's an over-priced and under-performing gadget.

 

[cland72]

I've only had to use Surefire's warranty three times:
once my A2 aviator (incan) wouldn't light up. They sent me a new head and all was well.
The other time was a burnt P60L that came in a light I purchased: chances are the previous owner drive it with too much voltage - they sent me a new drop in less than a week later.
I needed some new combatlight grip rings for an old Z3 I purchased used - had them within a week as well.

I've always been happy.

But, now that I run P/C/G hosts with Malkoff drop ins, I doubt I'll ever have to use their warranty service again