Good customer service

I had a problem with some Infinity Task Lights from CMG, and I sent them the following e-mail:

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From: Kris L. Cox <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2001 6:02 PM
Subject: Problem with Infinity Task Lights


Folks,
In December, I ordered four (4) factory second white Infinity Task Lights from Uncle Dan's in Chicago. They all arrived in working order, but one quit working completely after two days, and a second one has now developed a nasty little habit of having intermittent (but increasingly frequent and increasingly lengthy) periods of darkness, even with the "lid" fully tightened.

With respect to the first non-working one (let's call it A), I first changed batteries with a working one, and still A didn't work. So I exchanged the barrel of A with the barrel of a working one, and still A didn't work, and the working one still worked. I then replaced the original barrel and battery with A, to address the problem with you later.

With respect to the second non-working one (let's call it B), I'd been using it quite a bit since I first got it, and only within the past two weeks have I been having problems. From time to time, when I tighten
the "lid" to turn it on, the LED won't light. So I shake it, and it works, but sometimes it flickers once it comes on. Within the past couple of days, it's stopped working even after it's been turned on. When I shake it, I actually hear the battery rattle inside it, even with the "lid" tightened as fully as my hands can achieve.

Please tell me how to fix the problem with these lights, or I shall be forced to return them. Although they were factory seconds, they still are covered by the warranty, with respect to functionality.

Also, please update the manuals so that they actually reflect the correct way to insert the battery, and so that the picture of the battery side of the circuit board shows the potted area, and not the spring-clip-like contact. Had it not been for the fact that I read Craig Johnson's review of your product on his LED Museum website ( http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/zone.htm ), I would have followed the directions, and inserted the battery upside down. Craig's review of these lights is highly favorable, which was a main factor in my purchase of them, both for myself and for gifts. Imagine my dismay when fully 50% of them had serious malfunctions.

Kris Cox
(Phone number deleted)
[email protected]
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Their reply also follows.

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Subject: Re: Problem with Infinity Task Lights Fri, 23 Feb 2001 17:44:19 -0800

To: [email protected]
From: "Tony Kaplan" [email protected]
CC: [email protected]


Kris, we apologize for your inconvenience, indeed I would have been ticked off myself if I were in your shoes.

Please send the lights back to us and we will examine and replace, probably with the current runs which our now potted and anodized.

Again, sorry for your troubles and we appreciate your interest.

Regards, Tony
CMG
811 W. Evergreen #400
Chicago, IL 60622
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This is good customer service, in my estimation!

I'll let you all (oops, I'm supposed to say "y'all" now that I live in Dixie) know how fast their turnaround time is, and if they actually send what Tony suggests they might.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cyclops942:
I had a problem with some Infinity Task Lights from CMG, and I sent them the following e-mail:


This is good customer service, in my estimation!

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Actually, I was the one responsible for giving your letter to Tony. I've never heard of CMG using an MSN address (which I noticed in the copy of your letter you sent my way) so I re-sent it to an address I *know* works.

Good luck, and let us know how this turns out.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by telephony:
Actually, I was the one responsible for giving your letter to Tony. I've never heard of CMG using an MSN address (which I noticed in the copy of your letter you sent my way) so I re-sent it to an address I *know* works.

Good luck, and let us know how this turns out.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

See, I KNEW there was a good reason to copy you on that, Craig! And I just thought it was to wave your review site around a little bit(speak softly and carry a mega-watt phaser). It turns out that I needed even more help than that!

I would point out, though, that the [email protected] address is the one on their website. How was I to know?

I expect to mail three of the four lights (I already gave one as a Christmas gift) Monday at lunch. I'll mark the package to Tony's attention, and send him an e-mail so he'll know when to expect it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cyclops942:
I expect to mail three of the four lights (I already gave one as a Christmas gift) Monday at lunch. I'll mark the package to Tony's attention, and send him an e-mail so he'll know when to expect it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Believe it or not, things actually went according to plan. I mailed it yesterday at lunch. Here's what the USPS had to say about it when I checked Delivery Confirmation on the web (USPS Delivery Confirmation ):
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Your item was accepted at 11:52 am on February 26 in LOUISVILLE KY 40270. It is enroute to its delivery destination. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll let you know when something more useful happens.

O-kay! Here's the scoop on the resolution. Yesterday (Wednesday, March 21) I received the package from CMG Equipment. Inside the package was a note from Tony ([email protected]), a CMG Equipment catalog, some packing paper, and three lights to replace the defective ones I returned. All this is good enough, and what I expected.

Here's the better part... the three lights were all brand-new, anodized, current-generation lights, complete with retail packaging, each including a battery, the clip and the lanyard. (As factory seconds, none of that was included when I got my original lights.) All three lights were the bright white LEDs, which matched what I'd sent in. As an extra-special surprise, Tony sent me one black case, one blue case, and one smoke case!

Now, can you beat that? This is what I call excellent customer service, in contrast to certain reports we've heard on this board about certain dealers.

I would have been happy if they'd simply repaired and returned the lights I sent them, but they sent me new ones. I'd have been content with getting three black ones like I sent in, but they gave me some of their cool new colors, too. All this service came at no charge as promised in the warranty, plus the company kept in contact with me; whenever I sent an e-mail, Tony was quick to respond with a useful answer.

CMG Equipment gets high marks from me for customer service!

Yep, CMG has five star customer service. The best. Well, tell us...is the smoke really silver and does it give more of a reflector? Is it brighter? Are they improved? Info please!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenB:
Yep, CMG has five star customer service. The best. Well, tell us...is the smoke really silver and does it give more of a reflector? Is it brighter? Are they improved? Info please!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The smoke is really silver (kind of a matte or flat finish, not a highly-polished one), or perhaps "brushed pewter" might be a better way to describe it. Very classy.

The blue case is very similar in appearance to the bright-blue MAG finish, and, of the three I have, this actually appears to be the brightest, by a smidgen.

On my own personal ratings of these three finishes, I would classify the blue as the prettiest, the smoke/silver/brushed pewter as the classiest, and the black as the most rugged-looking. Basically, give the blue one to your girlfriend (unless you're married, in which case you'd better give it to your wife, and you'd better not have a girlfriend ), the silver one to your boss, and the black one to your caving friends.

I don't how they used to be packaged, but they now come with a clip (suitable for clipping your Infinity Task Light to the brim of your ball cap, according to the picture on the cardboard insert) and a lanyard. It appears that the lanyard still contains the thin strip of glow-in-the-dark material that it used to. The lanyards that came with all three of my lights are black, but the one a friend gave to me from a 1st-generation ITL was bright neon green.

They are now anodized instead of "painted," and they've improved the way they situate the guts within the head of the light. Tony wrote me a nice note detailing these improvements, but I don't have it with me right now. I'll have to transcribe his note later, and include it on this thread.

The hoped-for "reflector effect" of the smoke vs. the black seems to be somewhat over-rated, unfortunately. This could be due to variances in the individual LEDs, but I think it's pretty much a standard characteristic of the basic shape and materials choices. The cone that houses the LED doesn't seem to be nearly as good a reflector as a parabolic shape would be. The flat finish of the surface doesn't help lots, either. I don't know enough about optics and other ways of describing the behavior of light to venture much more than a SWAG.


My $.02 worth.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cyclops942:
Tony wrote me a nice note detailing these improvements, but I don't have it with me right now. I'll have to transcribe his note later, and include it on this thread.
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Okay, now I'm in the same place as that note, and here it comes.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Kris,

Your lights had circuit problems. In particular, the inductor had come loose from its solder connecor. We have since started "potting" the PCB (w/epoxy) to prevent this from happening. We also eliminated the metal contact on the board, which also had occasionally proved to lose its connection to the board.

Let me know what you think of 2001 Infinity -- so far feedback (especially with the anodized bodies) has been terrific.

Regards,
Tony
[email protected]
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Tony, I sure hope you're "listening," because I'd have to agree with the rest of your customers... I like the changes. The anodized finish is really nice, because of its improved durability. I also like the clip being included. It enhances the versatility quite a bit. The back end of the body is almost big enough to grip between your teeth, but that gets tiring really soon, so being able to clip the light to your hat brim is a big improvement.

Thanks again to CMG Equipment and Tony Kaplan for a job well done, and service well rendered!

Thanks for the reveiw Kris. The only problem I have is with your recomendations. Which one do I get to keep?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenB:
Thanks for the reveiw Kris. The only problem I have is with your recomendations. Which one do I get to keep?

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Why, Ken, that one's easy! You get to keep all of the ones in your second order!