Zebralight has sent me two more batteries.

I am the last person you would expect to say anything bad about Zebralight, as I have been a big fan of their H series lights for a long time. Recently, I bought 4 14500 batteries from them, but received only two batteries. The box that the batteries came in were neither damaged nor opened. The only conclusion was they only sent two batteries instead of the four I paid for. I contacted them and asked to have the missing two batteries sent to me. Their response was that if the label on the box says 4oz, then 4 batteries were sent -- end of discussion. I paid with Paypal. Should I contact Paypal and have them assist me in this matter? $20 isn't a lot of money, but it's the way Zebralight handled this that pissed me off.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

I would if I did not receive what I ordered. I would try to resolve it with the company/dealer first though. Maybe you'll get a different customer service rep the second time.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Interesting - their address is about 3 miles from where I work...

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

davidt1 said:

The box that the batteries came in were neither damaged nor opened.

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Is there anything special about ZL packaging that makes you so sure about this? :thinking: If not, respected vendor (ZL) vs. random low-paid persons handling a package in transit, I'd have little doubt whom to suspect when something is missing. It's really easy to open a box & tape it back together, you know...

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Cerealand said:

I would if I did not receive what I ordered. I would try to resolve it with the company/dealer first though. Maybe you'll get a different customer service rep the second time.

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The second picture shows I tried to resolve it with Zebralight. They stopped responding to me.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

If a company rips me off, then I stop doing business with them.
I don't know how other people think, but that's what I think.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

RetroTechie said:

Is there anything special about ZL packaging that makes you so sure about this? :thinking: If not, respected vendor (ZL) vs. random low-paid persons handling a package in transit, I'd have little doubt whom to suspect when something is missing. It's really easy to open a box & tape it back together, you know...

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If something happened during transit, it is Zebralight's responsibility to ensure safe delivery of their products. It is not the responsibility of the customers. I can only look at the evidence in front of me: an undamaged box that is not opened with only half of what I ordered inside.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

I think $20 is a lot of money, at least in this context.

FWIW, a single 14500 LiIon battery weighs around 19gm. Two are 38gm, or 1.3 oz., and 4 would weigh 2.6 oz. That only leaves 1.4 oz for packaging, which I think is low.

If you could weigh the packaging, you could determine what was actually shipped, assuming that 4 oz. shipping weight is accurate. Weigh the two batteries you have, just to be sure.

I'm hoping that there's more to the communication than this. Otherwise, that's pretty poor customer service IMHO.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

When I have ordered direct from Zebralight (and it has been a while), they have always shipped in their standard box that is held closed by the shipping label. I've never had any problems with this and it has seemed secure. To be fair, this has been when buying lights from them and I have yet to purchase batteries directly in the same manner. I am not sure if Zebralight's method of packaging has changed or not. Looking at the box, it seems odd to see packaging tape on it and, to me, appears to have been opened from the side.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

davidt1 said:

If something happened during transit, it is Zebralight's responsibility to ensure safe delivery of their products. It is not the responsibility of the customers.

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Actually, it is the responsibility of the carrier, in this case the United States Postal Service. Many companies will take care of you anyway, and submit the claim to the USPS themselves to recover the money. But they are under no obligation to do so.

RetroTechie said:

Is there anything special about ZL packaging that makes you so sure about this? :thinking: If not, respected vendor (ZL) vs. random low-paid persons handling a package in transit, I'd have little doubt whom to suspect when something is missing. It's really easy to open a box & tape it back together, you know...

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Actually, USPS workers are paid fairly well (public union jobs), and they have excellent benefits. I'd wager $20 the average USPS worker gets paid more than the guys who package boxes at Zebralight. I find it unlikely that someone would take the risk of opening a package, steal two cells, CAREFULLY repackage it so that is not noticeable, and leave two cells in it. That scenario is FAR less believable than an error on the part of Zebralight.

dss_777 said:

I'm hoping that there's more to the communication than this. Otherwise, that's pretty poor customer service IMHO.

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I agree 100% with this. Zebralight should recognize that the damage they are doing with poor customer service will cost them far more than sending a couple extra cells out. Most companies even have official procedures for this - they can write off a certain amount of products/dollars for "customer satisfaction." And even if they couldn't do that, (assuming we are getting the whole story) Zebralight could have handled it better. If you start accusing customers of stealing, which is what it seems like they are doing, you're sending a very clear message, and not a good one.

Zebralight stole $20 from me.

File a paypal claim, you paid, they need to deliver.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

"Open your eyes, idiot. If we say we shipped 4 then we shipped 4"
That's how I take the response from them. As tiny as that box is it would have been hard to miss the other 2.

Hopefully this works out for you

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

thedoc007 said:

Actually, it is the responsibility of the carrier, in this case the United States Postal Service.

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In most cases, when you buy something online, that object becomes buyer's property. And responsibility, too. All a postal service like USPS does, is bring your property from A (vendor's place) to B (your place). Of course it is shipper's responsibility to handle packages in a decent manner & make sure they don't get lost - that's what they get paid for.

Beyond that, it depends on vendor's policies what they may or may not do to help you if mishaps occur. So it's buyer's responsibility to take out extra insurance if desired, and vendor may offer that as part of their normal services. Or replace lost items even when the shipping was at buyer's risk (which I'd think is pretty common: assume buyer handles in good faith unless you have evidence to the contrary). Like in this case if I were ZL, I'd just ship out those 2 missing cells, apologize for the inconvenience, and be done with it.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Sounds like company employee theft to me. I ordered a $200 camera one time that included lithium batteries . Got the sealed package and opened it up. Guess what, there was a little box with "picture" of batteries on it but NO BATTERIES inside !

A quick call to the company and they quizzed me on the package label, serial number of camera , etc. I think then and there they realized an employee most likely ripped them off. They sent me the batteries right out.

Just sayin, It's possible it happened to you...but hope I'm wrong

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Zebralight has just informed me that they are sending me the missing batteries. I changed the thread title to reflect this.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Skimo said:

File a paypal claim, you paid, they need to deliver.

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I second that! If Zebralight does not reply to you no more regarding this, then you should contact Paypal a make a claim.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

In my mind, getting "results" by twisting their arm via public internet threads does not ease my concerns about their very poor initial reaction to the customer service problem.
It's pretty clear from the emails they sent, that if this hadn't hit the internet, they were going to stiff you.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

davidt1 said:

Zebralight has just informed me that they are sending me the missing batteries. I changed the thread title to reflect this.

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ZL PR disaster averted! :lolsign: (and good customer service)

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

twl said:

In my mind, getting "results" by twisting their arm via public internet threads does not ease my concerns about their very poor initial reaction to the customer service problem.
It's pretty clear from the emails they sent, that if this hadn't hit the internet, they were going to stiff you.

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+1 to this ^
I no longer own my sc52 due to my tint snobbery and hating ZL's current green/yellow tints. However, their initial reaction to your situation pushes me even farther away from the table with ever dealing with the likes of them any time soon. Talk about Ugly American.

Re: Zebralight stole $20 from me.

Another great ZL customer service success story!