I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Surefire!!!!

Do you remember folks my situation with my E2 bulb? How I can't find a supplier in my area of San Diego? Well...I called up Surefire today like some of you have recomended and guess what? Sandy, the customer support lady, immediately asked my name and address and said, "okay sir, your new bulb is on it's way."

I was like "WOW"!!! I told her how kind she was and how GREAT Surefire was! SHe just told me, "well, just keep buying our lights." No doubt about that!

You just don't know people....i have this huge smile on my face! Talk about customer service...whew.

They did the exact same thing for me when my M3 showed up with a broken MN10 lamp assembly. I am very impressed, and will continue to purchase from them.

Eric

It must be company policy to give out la's.I
too was offered a lamp assembly when my 8ax blew up but i had already taken it back and gotten my money back.

Sure Fire has treated me well too. I'd also like to point out that I recieved a damaged LA in my UKE 2L, and one email to UKE's CS dept. netted me a new assembly as well. Nice to see companies offering real CS, isn't it?

I also had a problem with a lamp unit in an E2 and Surefire replaced it for me, I was especially pleased as I live in the UK and a LOT of other companies would have told me to speak to the UK distributor. I didn't even call CS, I asked a question on the SFBD and Stuart from Surefire posted telling me to e-mail my address and he would get a replacement lamp off to me, sure enough less than a week later there it was!!!

Surefire should have a new slogan for their customer service
"CS without the BS"

Tim

I wouldnt love surefire too much because they give out spare bulbs easily to people who receive a defective bulb. Its just good business. And I doubt they are loosing a terrible amount of money. They have a huge markup so the actual cost to them of replacing a defective bulb is far less than the retail price of the bulb. Also they reamed you on the price of your flashlight to begin with so they are probably still making a decent profit.

As I see it. For the prices they charge you are paying for that customer service. Nothing to applaud them for. You deserve it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EmmetFitzhume:
I wouldnt love surefire too much because they give out spare bulbs easily to people who receive a defective bulb. Its just good business. And I doubt they are loosing a terrible amount of money. They have a huge markup so the actual cost to them of replacing a defective bulb is far less than the retail price of the bulb. Also they reamed you on the price of your flashlight to begin with so they are probably still making a decent profit.

As I see it. For the prices they charge you are paying for that customer service. Nothing to applaud them for. You deserve it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think your signature is a bit ironic: "We mock what we dont understand..."

SureFire provides a high-quality product with a proven history, at a price that the market seems to bear. They answer their phones and offer solutions to problems with efficiency, courtesy, and professionalism. There are many other companies out there that produce only mildly decent products at high prices, and then put the customer on the spot when the customer calls with a complaint.

It's the nature of a lamp assembly to eventually fail. It's usually not a warrantable part. SureFire takes the customer at his word that the lamp failed prematurely, and they act quickly to send a new one. Some companies cover up defects, and try to affix blame on the consumer. With a light bulb it would be pretty easy to do so.

I do not yet own a SureFire, but seeing as they offer outstanding products and back them with top-notch customer service, I will soon be among the ranks of satisfied SureFire owners.

It's obvious every manufacturer has a mark-up on the products they supply.

I have been burdened in life with the "perfectionist" gene and thus forced to seek out the very best equipment I can find, in any endeavor.

The issue with Sure-fire is the superior way they stand behind their superior products . . period.

Just looking at their newest products, calms any anxiousness over their price increases. This is one progressive company !

Over the many years, and the many levels that I have experienced Sure-fire's performance, I can only apply the term "CLASS ACT".

Walt

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DavidW:
I don't think we're only paying for CS when we purchase a Sure Fire light. R&D figures in there somewhere. Streamlight makes a competitive product. Especially with rechargeables. But they seem to be falling behind and trying to play catchup overall.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've mentioned this before but I still don't understand how other companies or industries can maintain very aggressive R&D and still end up charging their customers LESS. The high fidelity audio and video industry is a good example. Over at least the past thirty or forty years, and continuing today, the consumer prices paid for any product or class of products has at least remained the same or, most likely, fallen. Just look at VCR's, or DVD players for example. Prices started in the high hundreds or more, and fell constantly until today you can buy a product superior to the original for 20%-50%
of the price.

Without question Surefire is a fine company with superior products, but why have they passed R&D costs on to the consumer when so many other manufacturers haven't?

(I am referring only peripherally to the recent very controversial price hikes)

Brightnorm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DavidW:
I don't think we're only paying for CS when we purchase a Sure Fire light. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, of course we aren't. We're paying for the actual product in there somewhere too

I'm simply saying that the amount you pay covers MANY things (R&D, CS, production, distribution, raw material... etc). CS is not an insignificant part of the equation. And for that CS percentage we pay, it is nice that companies like SF actually give you something in return.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brightnorm:
don't understand how other companies or industries can maintain very aggressive R&D and still end up charging their customers LESS. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

VOLUME I think is the biggest part of the answer. How many Americans have a pretty good sound system? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Tens of millions? How many have high-end flashlights? Hundreds? Maybe thousands?

The falling cost of technology has to figure in there prominently too. There isn't much high-tech in a SF light. But audio components (and hey, even computers!) are jam-packed with silicone wafers.

Brightnorm,

I hear the point you are making. But the audio industry is actually not a good example of this... There are many "high-end" manufacturers with products that are made with painstaking details to fit and finish which cost a small fortune. High end amps and preamps commonly cost in the $5 to 10 thousand range. And there are a LOT of these companies. Surefire is knd of like that. Low volume, high attention to detail, and I've gotten far better customer service from surefire than middle level electronics companies like Sony, JVC, Panasonic etc.
I still think that on average you get what you pay for.

B-norm,
you always end up paying for R+D, however it's accounted for.

SureFire are a special case with their Customer Service. It's a generous policy, which is generously applied.

Not all companies will happily accept the responsibility that SF take pride in - their idea of what is good business is closer to the customer's interests than most businesses even pretend to aspire to.
It's just everyday practice, not fine words or promises not kept.

All products have a failure rate, but the SF failure rate is very low. Sometimes when reading CPF and SFDB I think that any problem that anyone has ever had with an SF is mentioned and commented on, mostly with a sense of outrage ! You just don't expect a SF to misbehave, and when they do, you seem to always read about it.

Most people's complaints about SureFires are really and truly criticisms about the cost of buying one. But for that extra money, you do get a product of finesse and value. In some ways, SF's can't be beat.

I don't actually believe that the company makes that much of a profit. It's obvious that designing and making a SureFire is not cheap. Yes, they are expensive, but it's not a fanciful price. (Not quite ... )

They are special, and I love the combination of a touchable quality of substance and a purity of light that only a SureFire seems to deliver.

lightlover

Thanks, darell, JoeyL and lightlover.

All good points

Brightnorm

[No message]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EmmetFitzhume:
For the prices they charge you are paying for that customer service. Nothing to applaud them for. You deserve it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The purchase price almost always pays for the customer service. No matter what you buy, or how much you spend. More often than not, you don't get the CS that you pay for though. Surefire (and some others noted here) offers it up in spades though, and there is no harm in mentioning it.

Heck, I always *deserve* it. I just rarely recieve it. Good customer service is NOT cheap, and I for one don't mind paying for it. It is one of the top two reasons that I buy Arc products, Surefire products and some others.

If all expensive products offered this level of CS, there wouldn't be anything to talk about. But excellent CS simply isn't that common, in my experience.

I don't think we're only paying for CS when we purchase a Sure Fire light. R&D figures in there somewhere. Streamlight makes a competitive product. Especially with rechargeables. But they seem to be falling behind and trying to play catchup overall.

I never expected to generate so much discussion - though I should have expected that any post with the word reamed would spark some resentment from surefire followers Debate is good for the blood though. Nice points everybody.

For the record Im not terribly against surefire though I do think the product is expensive. I still stand by my comment that they should have good customer service if they charge a premium for their goods. If simply giving you what you pay for makes people want to sing and praise surefire I suppose thats a sad testament to the morals of the rest of corporate America.

As far as the comment "We mock what we dont understand". Its a quote from the movie spies like us, as is the moniker "Emmet Fitzhume". I chose the quote because it came from a humorous scene not out of any particular vehemence for the meaning. Though in retrospect the statement seems true enough.

I think SureFires cost a lot more to make then we think.

I also think that the R&D costs at SureFire are considerably higher then the others. Consider the advances in Digital Regulation, [instant-strike]-HID & "Super"-LED that SureFire is making.

Remember that SureFire supports it's users with more then customer service. The Institue provides vital training and development.

Al

[No message]