Battery Junction Fire

[Apollo Cree]

I can just see it now, an insurance adjuster looking at the itemized list and saying, "I can't believe that flashlights can cost so much!":thinking:
🙄

Or "Let's see... Surefire, Ultrafire, Trustfire... Hmmmm....."

Seriously, I think I'll try to figure out what high power flashlight to treat myself to once he opens back up.

 

[brianch]

That is shocking news. I am curious as to the cause of the fire. I hope everything works out and things get up and running again ASAP. The guys over at BatteryJunction have always provided me with the best service!

 

[Robocop]

Firemen are a brave bunch and I have seen first hand what a good crew can do when working together. Water damage can be worse than the fire and it is good to know your insurance is going to get you back up and running.

Maybe there is a way for both Battery Junction and their customers to both benefit from this. Is the insurance buying out your inventory or are they simply replacing it? If you end up with a bunch of water damaged items maybe you could sale them off at discounts with a disclaimer. Maybe if nothing else the modders can buy up the hosts if the internals are damaged.....BJ will have their inventory replaced and can also get a little something for the damaged parts.

Just an idea and again it is nice to hear everyone is ok...good luck and we will all be waiting in line when you return.

 

[MattK]

A few quick answers:

-The C&O (cause and origin) is still undetermined. The town fire marshall as well as C&O specialists from both (mine and my landlords) insurance companies are investigating but still have no clear cause.

-DEP showing up is automatic for any commercial fire because the firemen rarely know what is inside and what they will contend with. We'll be using a DEP licensed contractor to clean up any burned batteries as they have requested; the vast majority of our products were not burned so it's a relatively small area.


Thank you all for your continued support!

 

[BirdofPrey]

A few quick answers:

-The C&O (cause and origin) is still undetermined. The town fire marshall as well as C&O specialists from both (mine and my landlords) insurance companies are investigating but still have no clear cause.

-DEP showing up is automatic for any commercial fire because the firemen rarely know what is inside and what they will contend with. We'll be using a DEP licensed contractor to clean up any burned batteries as they have requested; the vast majority of our products were not burned so it's a relatively small area.


Thank you all for your continued support!

Any idea how long before you can start shipping again? I ordered the new Lumapower light (Signature I think its called with the 500 lumen rating) and you guys cancelled per my request. However, after thinking about it, I'd just as soon order that light and from your company as go elsewhere and get a different light.

However, if its going to be quite some time, I'll have to go ahead and order something different elsewhere.

 

[BMRSEB]

Thanks for the update MattK.. Glad you and your staff were not harmed, materials/products can always be replaced. Heck that's what you pay insurance for!!

Now, about those "smoked-scented" lights, I'll take one! :naughty:

 

[snakebite]

had an order ready to place then heard this.
no problem it can wait till you have recovered.
good to hear noone was hurt/killed.
had a local recycler get wiped out due to a fire in scrap lithium packs.fire dept fought that one for several days.

 

[Illum]

Why would they send me an E-mail, stating that it HAD BEEN SHIPPED, when, in fact, it had NOT BEEN SHIPPED? 😕 :thumbsdow :sick2:

Where you are was somewhere in the order fulfillment process where the entire process haulted, so your getting two bits of information sent from two seperate stages from the order fulfillment server. this is bound to happen when a cyclic process stops abruptly. Along with many others like you, patience is a virtue.

I think we're expecting a little too much from our dealers, you have to remember, zero downtime is an ideal, failure is not just an option, it is a reality
Murphy always gets the last laugh...

 

[Dr. Smoke]

Holding my order until they are back up. :twothumbs

 

[andyw513]

Wow, I was just on that site a couple days ago looking for 123's. I really hate to hear that as well. They have a great team working there that are really helpful.

I wish them well, and that they get back on their feet, hopefully there were no injuries.

 

[Dr. Smoke]

Hail fellow traveller Brother Andy.

 

[timbo114]

Hi folks. ...
The news reports are, unsurprisingly, a bit exaggerated - here's what happened.
...
The news video is a bit silly. I guess I should have talked to the lady but I was, as you can imagine, very busy and there were 3 news crews there and it just wasn't my priority.
She spoke to our marketing manager and 'spun' their conversation to make it 'sensational' -

Matt,
TV news media folk are all too often vultures who would sensationalize someone breaking a cracker into a bowl of chili.
My local Pittsburgh media channels are very adept at it.

I feel for your situation -your replies here speak to your confidence in your team to emerge from this unfortunate loss.
I support you and your business - thanks for what you folks bring to CPF.

And thank you for my D10 Tribute.

Godspeed and best wishes for your repairs and keep up your confident spirit.

Tim

 

[MattK]

HI Tim,

Thanks - we're hard at work cleaning up and our goal is to reopen in 4 weeks. 🙂

 

[Pellidon]

Good Luck and speedy recovery.

 

[KD5XB]

Hey Matt -- what time of day are you all working to clean up the place? Standard day shift hours?

 

[Morelite]

Carp! I had a flashlight packed and ready to ship on Wednesday, but it got damaged in the fire, Tuesday night.

To add insult to injury, I received an E-mail late on TUESDAY AFTERNOON, which said that the light HAD BEEN SHIPPED, and it gave me the USPS DC number, which BJ called the 'tracking information':

A shipment has been made on your order #1661XX. Tracking information is below. Thank you for your order!

The following item/s have been shipped.
Quantity: 1 Nitecore D10 TRIBUTE EDITION LED Flashlight Smart PD Piston Drive, R2 , 145 Lumens 1 X AA
Date Shipped: 2/16/2010
Service Used: USPS
Tracking Link: 91018052139072654561XX

Why would they send me an E-mail, stating that it HAD BEEN SHIPPED, when, in fact, it had NOT BEEN SHIPPED? 😕 :thumbsdow :sick2:

I certainly don't consider this kind of 'disinformation', (to be polite....) to be GOOD customer service AT ALL!!!

If the light HAD indeed been SHIPPED WHEN THE E-MAIL SAID IT WAS, IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN DAMAGED IN THE FIRE:scowl:

I wonder if I'll EVER get it, now. :shrug: :shakehead

You get an email stating the item has been shipped because a worker there had printed out the shipping label and placed the package for Postal service pickup, but that doesn't mean that the package has left the building yet.

 

[Unforgiven]

Carp! I had a flashlight packed and ready to ship on Wednesday, but it got damaged in the fire, Tuesday night...


...I wonder if I'll EVER get it, now. :shrug: :shakehead

This is a courtesy status thread to allow members to communicate with another that is having some difficulties due to a fire.


This thread will not become an order issue/dealer bashing thread.

The quote above was selected because it is the most recent example. Nothing more. Nothing less.

 

[Monocrom]

. . . we're hard at work cleaning up and our goal is to reopen in 4 weeks. 🙂

Just saw this thread.

Glad to hear that you and your employees were not injured.

 

[MattK]

You get an email stating the item has been shipped because a worker there had printed out the shipping label and placed the package for Postal service pickup, but that doesn't mean that the package has left the building yet.

Exactly - the emails are generated after the order is packed when the label is printed - basically the order would be on our dock awaiting pickup. Because the fire was in the middle of the night hundreds of orders were waiting on our dock - fortunateoly very few were damaged and we were able to get almost all of them out.

Hey Matt -- what time of day are you all working to clean up the place? Standard day shift hours?

Yes, regular hours - this is exhausting enough.

This is a courtesy status thread to allow members to communicate with another that is having some difficulties due to a fire.

This thread will not become an order issue/dealer bashing thread.

Thank you.

If anyone has a specific order issue that requires immediate attention simply email customer service via our website. We're currently a few days behind on email so please be patient as we're working hard to catch up as quickly as possible.

 

[Databyter]

I'm saving up a Battery Junction wish list.

See you in a month.