My peak Logan is a lemon.....

[busseguy]

I have only had my peak Logan for about a month.
I got the level 8 version.
It was plenty bright when I first got it.
I use AW rcr123 protected batteries in it.
But lately I noticed it wasn't quite as bright as when it was new, and today the light started to flicker telling me the battery needed to be changed.
The thing is I only got 20 minutes off this battery, and it was freshly charged when I put it in.

I've already spent 70 something dollars from rmsk, now I have to come up with more money to ship it back to peak.
This sucks.
It's my only flashlight right now.
Question is, will peak reimburse my shipping charge?, any other info I need to know before sending it back?

 

[TorchBoy]

I'm a little confused here. Why do you think the light is to blame not the battery?

 

[busseguy]

Because I've tried 4 different ones that were all freshly charged.
I've used the batteries in other things and never had this low of runtime.

 

[bstrickler]

What brand are they? If they're grey-wrapped Trustfires, that right there is your problem. Those die rather quickly, after some use, in my experience.

~Brian

 

[Norm]

I use AW rcr123 protected batteries in it.

What brand are they?

Norm

 

[rider]

busseguy,

What did Peak say when you contacted them?

As the owner of another flashlight company says often on these forums- "If you think you are having a problem, you should contact customer support so they can assist you. They cannot help you unless you contact them."

It never fails to amaze me that people will have a problem with a product (usually a flashlight here on CPF), and regardless of the brand or vendor- Jetbeam, Surefire, Peak; Lighthound, 4-sevens, Brightguy, they'll whine and complain all day on the forums without ever having bothered to actually contact the manufacturer or dealer (in your case, Peak and/or RMSK) to resolve the problem!

:sick2:

 

[busseguy]

I will call them tomorrow.
It sucks that I had to pay bob at rmsk 12 or 14 bucks for shipping the light in the first place. That was a rip but no other place had the Logan so nothing I could do about that.
I'm sure they will take care of the problem but it's gonna be very hard being without a light.
I heard of one guys return taking 2 months to get to him.
I hope that won't be the case for me.

I apologize for making this post, I should have contacted peak first, but I was upset.
Thanks.

 

[rider]

I definitely understand, especially when it comes to shipping costs- nowadays with free automated programs for printing USPS and UPS labels, free USPS boxes available, etc., there's just not much time or labor involved in shipping. A USPS small flat rate box costs under $5.00 to ship- and that includes a free box. A couple of minutes of time to print the label, bubblewrap the flashlight, and ship it is definitely not worth $10.00 of anybody's time.

Not to hijack the thread, but Peak has charged me [a very, very reasonable price] for shipping- so what do I do? Order once a month :huh:

I'm absolutely positive they've made way more money on repeat purchases than they would have by charging out the nose for shipping.

I recently ordered a new charger for small LiIon batteries and purchased it from a retailer that charged me $2.50 for USPS first class mail. Some of their competitors were charging $10.00 or more. I've already sent a few hundred dollars of business the way of the first retailer, and sent them a letter thanking them for figuring out how to make a profit without trying to rip off the customer with insane shipping charges.

Anyway, back to our regular scheduled thread- hopefully Peak gets your poor Logan fixed up in no time.

 

[parnass]

While it is important for an owner of a defective product to pursue a remedy from the dealer or manufacturer, we shouldn't stifle posts about defective lights.

CPF will remain a valuable forum if members can read reports of both successes and failures and make their own judgements.

 

[rider]

While it is important for an owner of a defective product to pursue a remedy from the dealer or manufacturer, we shouldn't stifle posts about defective lights.

CPF will remain a valuable forum if members can read reports of both successes and failures and make their own judgements.

Parnass, I don't think anyone intends to do any stifling here- I was simply making the point that oftentimes people will complain on a forum (and busseguy, this isn't directed at you) without actually contacting any form of customer service- how does a customer expect that venting on a forum is going to get them any satisfaction or resolution of the initial issue? It's usually a convenient steam relief valve, especially when CS isn't reachable on an evening or weekend, but what are other forum members to do other than suggest the customer use appropriate venues to communicate with the manufacturer or dealer?

I suspect that in almost every case, everyone will be better served (the customer, the company, and CPF at large) by the customer contacting CS first, and then reporting the results on the board, whether satisfactory or not. (Was CS responsive to the customer's inquiry; did customer service resolve the issue to the customer's satisfaction; ...)

I know that some dislike reading user posts of negative experiences with a manufacturer or vendor, but I'm firmly in favor of being able to read about the full spectrum of experiences. Just try to give the company a chance to help you first, then feel free to let the world know how you were treated.

In fact, if you look at my post history, I'm sure you'll find several incidents where I explicitly praised or admonished a particular company for their customer service response.

 

[defloyd77]

Just out of curiousity, was your Logan the stainless steel version?

 

[Chauncey Gardner]

Nice post rider & my thoughts after reading the thread.

Expectations are different on CPF for lights like the one in question.

It's not something that you can go get in the face of a local Wallmart employee about. In this case it seems pretty clear the op would have been better served talking to Peak first.

I waited months, and months and months a couple years back & didn't post a thread on it, so I understand the frustration just think it's a bit overdone.

That said, maybe the op would have been better served with something off the shelf from one of the many respected online sources active here (no offense intended).

 

[MKLight]

Also, out of curiosity, how long were you getting on a charge before it dropped down to 20 minutes? With an AW RCR123, mine barely hit 20 minutes. With a primary, it's about 3.5-4 hours.

Oops...forgot to mention, I have a SS Logan in Level 8 Power.

 

[ElectronGuru]

lately I noticed it wasn't quite as bright as when it was new, and today the light started to flicker

Sounds to me like the power is getting interrupted. Have you tried cleaning the threads?

 

[RAGE CAGE]

SS #7 Logan mated to a Ti CR123 body. I am using either Energizer or (preferably) Surefire primaries- not quite as brigh as RCR's- but longer runtime and it does not get as hot- I think I am on my third cell in 2 months now- I have noticed if there is too much lube on the treads the light will sometimes act up- quick wipe down/thread cleaning corrects that.

 

[busseguy]

Mine is the HA III version.
I get 45 minutes runtime except for the last time which was only 20 minutes.
And yes I've cleaned the contacts.

 

[fyrstormer]

It never fails to amaze me that people will have a problem with a product (usually a flashlight here on CPF), and regardless of the brand or vendor- Jetbeam, Surefire, Peak; Lighthound, 4-sevens, Brightguy, they'll whine and complain all day on the forums without ever having bothered to actually contact the manufacturer or dealer (in your case, Peak and/or RMSK) to resolve the problem!

In fairness, there are a lot of companies (not necessarily flashlight companies, but just companies in general) that cause this problem by having such consistently poor customer service that after a while people don't even bother trying to get help for a malfunctioning product.

However, Peak is not one of those companies. I've never had anything but the best customer service from them -- as long as I called them on the phone.

 

[fyrstormer]

Also, out of curiosity, how long were you getting on a charge before it dropped down to 20 minutes? With an AW RCR123, mine barely hit 20 minutes. With a primary, it's about 3.5-4 hours.

Oops...forgot to mention, I have a SS Logan in Level 8 Power.

Level 8 sucks a lot more current than primaries can output. Chances are your longer runtime on primaries was due mainly to primaries' low current output, basically the battery regulating the flashlight's power consumption. I don't know what the current rating is for Level 8, but 20 minutes on an RCR123 at the highest power setting Peak provides doesn't sound too off-the-mark, especially when there's a protection circuit that will kick in and disconnect the battery when the voltage sags too low.

Maybe try it with an IMR battery?

 

[MKLight]

Thanks for the info! :twothumbs I don't mind using primaries, but it's nice to have the option of rechargeables. I'll eventually get an IMR to test out. Interestingly, there is a moonmode with the primaries...nice option.

 

[busseguy]

Level 8 sucks a lot more current than primaries can output. Chances are your longer runtime on primaries was due mainly to primaries' low current output, basically the battery regulating the flashlight's power consumption. I don't know what the current rating is for Level 8, but 20 minutes on an RCR123 at the highest power setting Peak provides doesn't sound too off-the-mark, especially when there's a protection circuit that will kick in and disconnect the battery when the voltage sags too low.

Maybe try it with an IMR battery?

Like I said before I was getting 45 minutes on my AW rcr123 batteries, the last 2 times I have only gotten 20 minutes.
It is now on it's way back to peak to be fixed.