XTAR - CES 2014 - VP2 charger

[__philippe]

...Thirdly, there might be more to the housing issue and that's just a 'front story' for something worse, but you'd like to think that if there's a danger of fire and a manufacturer is going to the trouble of issuing a recall anyway, they'd let us know if there's a 'fire hazard' and advise us to stop using the charger, which they haven't done, so maybe it is just a 'plastics' issue?
Chris

Chris,

This last paragraph of yours, (in cauda venenum), is quite the chilling one, and, unfortunately, all too plausible for comfort...

__philippe

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Chris,

This last paragraph of yours, (in cauda venenum), is quite the chilling one, and, unfortunately, all too plausible for comfort...

__philippe

Sorry philippe, I botched your name above!

I had like a five year old $100 KitchenAid coffee maker that was recalled do to potential 'fire' issues and got sent the notice and a 'post paid return envelope' to cut the AC cord and mail that back in for a $50 rebate check, which I did, so KitchenAid wasn't mucking around and blaming it on brittle plastic, or whatnot.

I would think that if there was a hazardous safety issue, Xtar would be letting us know not to use the chargers immediately and there was no notice to that effect.

Chris

 

[Overclocker]

brittle plastic? sounds like a load of BS

there's probably something a lot more serious going on

 

[__philippe]

Sorry philippe, I botched your name above!...Chris

Mmmmm, pondering whether to sue or not...

Kidding aside, really appreciate your pertinent analysis of the ongoing "VP2 charger" saga (post #63).
Makes one queasy about Xtar real motivations behind their current product recall.

__philippe

 

[RI Chevy]

yes plastics can be brittle under certain temperatures... it's not unheard of for these chinese companies to give false reasons for recalls so they don't have to disclose the true reason for the recall which would be more damaging to their reputation

Like their 4000mAh 18650 batteries.

Maybe XTAR should look into using a carbon fiber type of casing for their products? Or a good quality raw material for their products.

 

[18650]

yes plastics can be brittle under certain temperatures...

but the vp2's body isn't subjected to large forces. unless dropped, in which case the warranty is voided anyway. so i find it strange that they're recalling all units for this reason. and it's not like these cases are gonna crack by simply exposing them to the cold

it's not unheard of for these chinese companies to give false reasons for recalls so they don't have to disclose the true reason for the recall which would be more damaging to their reputation

This post sounds legit.

 

[BronzeLincolns]

wow...

maybe i should go with the VP1, since the VP2 is the same as the 1 with some extras i dont actually need.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

wow...

maybe i should go with the VP1, since the VP2 is the same as the 1 with some extras i dont actually need.

I'd stick with the VP2, it's a lot more flexible and one should never say never.

4.35v ICRs are the schnizzle.

My VP2 is working fine and I'm only sending it back because they're expecting it, not because it's broken and/or unsafe.

Chris

 

[BronzeLincolns]

went with the VP1.

tried looking for the VP2 but the places that had them for sale were either back ordered or didnt have the batteries i wanted for sale. got the charger and 2 nitecore 3400mah 18650s with 1 day shipping for a little over $100. the coupon helped out and i wont have to pay for 6 months with BML.

not bad.

 

[banditbanger]

Where did you get it from? I'm searching all over the net but cannot find it anywhere in stock... Anyone know when they will be in stock again?

 

[BronzeLincolns]

i got mine from lightjunction.com.

keep in mind that even with lightjunctions coupon the price for the VP1 will be the same as the price for the VP2 from xtardirect.com where the VP1 is also some $14 less.

 

[cyclesport]

brittle plastic? sounds like a load of BS

there's probably something a lot more serious going on

I can understand your distrust, and I wondered about the potential for electrical shorts as well, but in this case I'm now fairly sure the issue is just the brittle enclosure attachment points. Reason being: my distributer, Tod at IG just sent me and presumably other current owners of the VP2, instructions to give my current VP2 serial number to him and XTAR will send a replacement out sometime in March without even sending the 1st gen unit back. (once the new VP2 is recv'd the old VP2's warranty will cease to be honored). With labiality issues being what they are, I feel relatively confident they would ask for return of the old VP2 if a fire hazard was possible/probable. Also...a BIG thanks to TOD at illuminationgear who was first to point out this problem to XTAR and arranged all the details of this replacement making it extremely easy and transparent for the existing VP2 owners. His personal attention to customer service is exemplary and I've lost count of how many times he has gone out of his way to help me out with and order, specialized tools, older warranty issues, etc...all at no extra cost to me?!! His customer service is simply superb!

 

[RI Chevy]

:thumbsup:

 

[__philippe]

@cyclesport:

Glad to hear 1st batch of defective Xtar VP2 units will be replaced at no cost to the users, (in the US, at least),
without even bothering with swapping old units in return.

That's a fine (and rare) exemple of impeccable after sale service.

Adding my cheers to IG's Tod for taking the initiative in this issue...:twothumbs

Just hoping European dealers will follow suit ?

__philippe

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Here's how it's working for me, in the US, at least.

I sent mine back last Wednesday. My dealer is going to ship them all back to Xtar and then Xtar will ship back the same amount that they receive. My dealer will then ship me an improved model.

My dealer failed to tell me this, so I delayed shipping my VP2 back, thinking that I'd just use it until the newer model arrived and then ship mine back.

Unfortunately, the dealer wants to ship all of them back today, Monday 3-3-14, so I hope mine arrives today, otherwise I expect that they'll delay shipping the batch out and that will delay getting a new one in.

I don't know if Xtar needs to have those defective units in hand, before shipping out the newer ones out, or not, or whether a shipping manifest is enough to trigger the return units?

Chris

 

[cyclesport]

Here's how it's working for me, in the US, at least.

I sent mine back last Wednesday. My dealer is going to ship them all back to Xtar and then Xtar will ship back the same amount that they receive. My dealer will then ship me an improved model.

My dealer failed to tell me this, so I delayed shipping my VP2 back, thinking that I'd just use it until the newer model arrived and then ship mine back.

Unfortunately, the dealer wants to ship all of them back today, Monday 3-3-14, so I hope mine arrives today, otherwise I expect that they'll delay shipping the batch out and that will delay getting a new one in.

I don't know if Xtar needs to have those defective units in hand, before shipping out the newer ones out, or not, or whether a shipping manifest is enough to trigger the return units?

Chris

Odd that your dealer(?) ask you to send yours back? I know IG is the US distributer and I would guess that IG's procedure of simply hanging on to the VP2 until you get an updated version (then discontinue using if existing VP2 breaks, or dispose of 1st gen unit at the end users discretion) would trickle down to the dealers as well. Obviously not everyone selling XTAR in the US is on the same page...

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Odd that your dealer(?) ask you to send yours back? I know IG is the US distributer and I would guess that IG's procedure of simply hanging on to the VP2 until you get an updated version (then discontinue using if existing VP2 breaks, or dispose of 1st gen unit at the end users discretion) would trickle down to the dealers as well. Obviously not everyone selling XTAR in the US is on the same page...

Your post isn't making too much sense.

I don't know who IG is, but I was specifically told by my dealer, that my dealer is sending the defective units back to Xtar in Hong Kong, or China (can't recall) and not some US Distributor and they're going to do it, evidently, in one big batch, which makes sense from a customs/paperwork POV.

I was instructed that I could keep my unit and live happily ever after. This tells me that from their perspective, there isn't a danger of fire, or meltdown, otherwise there would have been a more firmly worded request to get the unit returned to them.

What I don't know is whether people are buying the new improved units at this point, or if they're in a waiting period until people like me get their undated units back?

I don't know when the mistake was discovered and when the mistake was rectified. For all I know, they discovered the problem in mid January and fixed it, but a small initial batch got sold. As of last week, my dealer was showing 'sold out' on his VP2, so that makes me think that the updated chargers aren't for sale yet, but I haven't checked out other dealers to confirm this.

Anyhow, I sent mine back. Dealer will ship defective batch back to Hong Kong/China. Xtar will ship dealer back same the number of updated chargers that they received in the defective batch. Dealer receives updated chargers. Dealer ships me back updated charger.

Chris

 

[__philippe]

...I don't know who IG is...Chris

Chris,

It's a matter of public knowledge(*) that IlluminationGear.com (IG) and Xtar-store.com
(whose name alone seems to imply a direct relationship with the mfr Xtarlight.com) are both operated by Tod from IG.

(*) Check Xtar-store "About us" section.


__philippe

 

[cyclesport]

Chris: I was simply pointing out that generally a US distributer, in this case illuminationgear, is above the dealer level and usually works with the OEM in establishing policy which usually is adopted by the dealers. Sometimes the dealers even purchase their products from a main US distributer (or distributers) for resale to the end user. As a retired industrial/consumer electronics representative I'm making this assumption but certainly have no inside knowledge if this mechanism is the same in this particular case...I'm just guessing it is. I'm just a little surprised all US resellers of XTAR products aren't abiding by the same return policies...

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Chris: I was simply pointing out that generally a US distributer, in this case illuminationgear, is above the dealer level and usually works with the OEM in establishing policy which usually is adopted by the dealers. Sometimes the dealers even purchase their products from a main US distributer (or distributers) for resale to the end user. As a retired industrial/consumer electronics representative I'm making this assumption but certainly have no inside knowledge if this mechanism is the same in this particular case...I'm just guessing it is. I'm just a little surprised all US resellers of XTAR products aren't abiding by the same return policies...

IG doesn't seem to be the only US Distributor that I've Googled. I see one in California and two in Florida, who claim to be Distributors for Xtar products here in the US.

Why did my dealer have VP2s in stock before any of the three so-called distributors? Because none of them had them in stock and I was checking since CES/mid-January. Heck, none of the so-called distributors even mentioned the VP2 on their websites. In fact, my dealer and an Ebay seller, 18650Flashlight (or something like that) were the only two entities that I could find selling the VP2, to the point that I thought that I had bought a fake.

Kind of odd, don't you think? In fact, IG shows a back order on their website, so it's possible that no new and improved VP2s are presently in country?

My security number never did register on the Xtar main site, but I was told that with CES wrapping up, Xtar might just be behind in inputting that data into their security check system.

Chris