Bad Luck?

[rwells173]

I don t know if I am just having some bad luck or the longevity products I have received are inferior. I first purchased a lc-520d multipurpose welder/plasma cutter, it worked three times and crapped out. Upon my request Simon replaced it with a 60 amp plasma cutter that worked for about a minute and died on me. I have called and emailed Simon with no response. Everytime I have to ship a unit back it costs $50.00 each way. I would really like to just get my money back but there is a 30% restocking fee which I think is ridiculous for a product I can t even get to work for any length of time. If I take another replacement unit and its doa or it breaks the first time I use it, I will have to pay the $50.00 shipping both ways again. If you keep adding these shipping costs up its not such a good deal anymore. I am not here to bash these products and I know many of you have had good experiences with your units. I wish I had spent a little more money and got a hypertherm(etc,). I am not a happy camper....................Rich...caveat emptor:angry:

[dabar39]

Unfortunately the old addage.... "You get what you pay for"......seems to apply to all of these off brand, all in one units. They seem to be more of a hassle than they are worth.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

[specter]

Hi rwells173, I too had a string of bad luck with three units. In each case I contacted simon and he sent me a "prepaid" DHL return shipping label. I found simon to be an honest guy. He walked me thru checking out each unit to see if it was something minor and if it could not be something as easy as reconnecting a wire he would ask I return the unit and he would send a new unit. Each time this was done it was all prepaid on Longevity's side with nothing out of my pocket. It was a design fault that was causing the problems Eventually after the third uniit failed I asked for a complete refund. Simon refunded 100% and I went on to another company to purchase the product I needed.

You need to speak to Simon directly

[Fat Bastard]

Hi rwells173, I too had a string of bad luck with three units. In each case I contacted simon and he sent me a "prepaid" DHL return shipping label. I found simon to be an honest guy. He walked me thru checking out each unit to see if it was something minor and if it could not be something as easy as reconnecting a wire he would ask I return the unit and he would send a new unit. Each time this was done it was all prepaid on Longevity's side with nothing out of my pocket. It was a design fault that was causing the problems Eventually after the third uniit failed I asked for a complete refund. Simon refunded 100% and I went on to another company to purchase the product I needed.

You need to speak to Simon directly

Good to hear that the seller is standing behind the product... but for my intended use (to make a living ) that is far too much time with a nonfunctional machine. I had similar experiences with another foreign brand (not Asian) and the lws that I was working with gave me a Miller to put an end to the cycle.


For the Hobie welder this scenario might be acceptable, if you plan on making money better keep your money in country.

[rwells173]

Hi rwells173, I too had a string of bad luck with three units. In each case I contacted simon and he sent me a "prepaid" DHL return shipping label. I found simon to be an honest guy. He walked me thru checking out each unit to see if it was something minor and if it could not be something as easy as reconnecting a wire he would ask I return the unit and he would send a new unit. Each time this was done it was all prepaid on Longevity's side with nothing out of my pocket. It was a design fault that was causing the problems Eventually after the third uniit failed I asked for a complete refund. Simon refunded 100% and I went on to another company to purchase the product I needed.

You need to speak to Simon directlyI have tried to call Simon during west coast business hours. I either have to leave a message or someone named Jessie answers and says "Simon is not here, he will call you back, but the best way to contact him is thru an email". So I email him and he will eventually email you back but sometimes it takes almost a week. I emailed him this past Monday when I received the replacement unit and I have not heard anything from him. The first unit I returned to him I had to pay for the shipping to his facility. He paid the return only because I had swapped out the multipurpose welder for a cheaper plasma only unit. I had to talk him into doing this. HE wanted to charge me $79.99 to ship it back to me when it only cost me $50.00 to ship it to him. As far as a restocking fee goes 30% is ludicris. I just want my money back and I will chalk it up as a learning experience.................Rich

[rwells173]

Good to hear that the seller is standing behind the product... but for my intended use (to make a living ) that is far too much time with a nonfunctional machine. I had similar experiences with another foreign brand (not Asian) and the lws that I was working with gave me a Miller to put an end to the cycle.


For the Hobie welder this scenario might be acceptable, if you plan on making money better keep your money in country.I have a total working time of approx. 1/2 hour between the two machines in a 2 month span. I have more time on the computer and phone trying to resolve this problem than I have using the 2 units. If I counted on them to run a business I would be broke. As far as keeping the money in the country I agree. I did not give it alot of thought when I purchased it, I guess thats why I am where I am right now.................Rich

[specter]

Hi Rich all I can do is tell you my experience. Its posted here in the Longevity forum for all to see.

Ok you have their toll free phone number but do you have his phone extention which is 201.

Be persistent is my best advice. Post both here and on Longevity's site in their forum. Sellers do not like to see negative feedback of their products especially on a site like this one that has over 15,000 welders who are also members of other welding sites. Word gets around fast.

Problem from what I know is that Simon is the only one at Longevity to authorize returns and exchanges, plus he is the buyer for the company so he travels alot.

So again be persistent use that phone extention, send emails to him, sent private messages thru this site and Longevity's site, and post here and at their site.

Despite what I went thru with Longevity I found their customer service and most of all Simon to be trustworthy.

Hope this helped

Tom

[longevity-inc.com]

Richard,

I apologize for the problems you are having. We test each item prior to shipment for 20-30mins. As far as your item, we can replace it with no cost to you or simply offer a refund minus the shipping and handling charge. You decide. Our products compete with the leading brands and sometimes outperform the leading brands in terms of price, weight, etc... I am sorry you had some issues with your item.

I am currently away from the office and spending time with my family. During my absence, you can request a return label from Jesse by calling 877 566 4462. I will return on the 10th of Jan if you wish to deal with me direct on the issue.

Simon

[lugweld]

In my experience, a reputable company Refunds all expenses including shipping and handling. In court cases, a judge would grant those as well. I have been in sales and have had a few cases where the customer just could not be satisfied, whether due to his own fault or the fault of the piece of equipment. In either case, I made sure as a rep that the customer was completely renumerated for his expenditure. On small equipment, we even occasionally refunded the money or a part of depending on the customer's wishes and let him keep the machine.

It is a moral business issue if your product has a fault that you refund every expense your customer incurs in the business transaction, including any extra consumables he may have purchased with the machine. Its just the right thing to do, plus its just good business.

If I as a weldor/business man perform an unsatisfactory weld, do I charge for the materials I used anyway? No, I don't.

I just had a machine shop MISMACHINE a part I needed for a job. I provided the material. The second time He provided the material, at no charge or added expense. All was redone correctly and I will be back for more because he took care of me.

[rwells173]

Simon, Its funny how I have to read about a solution to my problem on this forum instead of receiving an email from you personally. Thats great PR work. I know every unit that leaves your shop is not going to be perfect when it gets shipped. I don t know why I or anybody else should be responsible for shipping if a unit arrives damaged(internally or external). I prefer to receive a full refund. I think you should pay for the return shipping after all I did receive another defective unit.............................Rich

[rwells173]

In my experience, a reputable company Refunds all expenses including shipping and handling. In court cases, a judge would grant those as well. I have been in sales and have had a few cases where the customer just could not be satisfied, whether due to his own fault or the fault of the piece of equipment. In either case, I made sure as a rep that the customer was completely renumerated for his expenditure. On small equipment, we even occasionally refunded the money or a part of depending on the customer's wishes and let him keep the machine.

It is a moral business issue if your product has a fault that you refund every expense your customer incurs in the business transaction, including any extra consumables he may have purchased with the machine. Its just the right thing to do, plus its just good business.

If I as a weldor/business man perform an unsatisfactory weld, do I charge for the materials I used anyway? No, I don't.

I just had a machine shop MISMACHINE a part I needed for a job. I provided the material. The second time He provided the material, at no charge or added expense. All was redone correctly and I will be back for more because he took care of me.Lugweld I totaly agree with everything you stated. Whatever happened to the customer comes first. I know if I was dealing with a reputable company there would be NO questions asked, a full refund and shipping would not even be an issue. I guess thats how small companys grow and bad companys fail. If your customer base is not happy you will not get any repeat business.......Rich

[longevity-inc.com]

Rich,

I am currently doing my personal emails as well, but I am out of the office and will not be responding as frequently until the 10th (mentioned above). As far as the unit, we will cover the return shipping charges since you received a second problematic unit. By the way, we cover return and replacement shipping within 30days for any sale as stated in our terms and policy for all customers in case a DOA unit does arrive. Hence, we test to avoid these high costs.

For the refund, we will issue it minus the original shipping charge of $40 which is stated in our terms and policy on our website. We have been firm on this rule with every customer who purchased off the website. I have no problem giving you a refund minus what we paid 1 time.

If you did not agree to these terms or our warranty, then you should not have considered purchasing from us.

We provide units sell over 10000 units annually and have satisfied many customers. If a problem like this arises, I assure you we take the blame and will refund you minus what we paid to get it to you or replace it with a brand new working unit.

Thank You

Simon

[rwells173]

Simon, I will eat your $40.00 original shipping charge but why should I pay to have the defective unit shipped back to you? I am sure there are alot of people on the fence about buying one of your products. I know they would feel better knowing that your company would pay for a return that worked for a minute out of the box.................Rich

[longevity-inc.com]

Richard,

We are covering the return shipment and rep should be contacting you with a return label. The original shipment charge of $40 will not be refunded per the terms and policy all the customers who purchase online oblige by.

Like I said, no one is a winner in this situation and believe me all the shipping costs we incurred not mention repair and replacement costs are extremely high. The $40 is not profit for us but something we paid to another company to carry out a service.

I purchase from Amazon recently and had trouble with a camera, after escalation, I was forced to return the product with my own shipping label for a full refund. I lost $$30 on that transaction, but it was in their rules that a customer is responsible to return the good.

In this case, we are taking the return back and refunding you everything minus the $40 which we originally paid to the shipping company.

Simon

[rwells173]

Fair enough Simon, I applaud your fairness..............I guarantee you never deal with that company from Amazon again will you?

[lugweld]

What reputable company makes a customer pay any expense if their products are defective, regardless of policy? It is an unfair practice that will not hold any legal ground. I am not a lawyer, but have seen many judges make a company pay all costs.

What kind of company makes that kind of statement up front? To say a customer shouldn't have bought from a company if they didn't agree with the terms of sale and warranty is a moot issue, and quite frankly a very telling revelation about the nature of a company. Apparently said policy is there because, there ARE high numbers of returns. I have seen a lot posted about this company. I have no ill feelings and was favoring looking into buying from Longevity an new TIG based machine. Yet the more I see, the more it concerns me about doing business.

I would challenge Longevity to post their actual rate of DOA's when they test their machines. And the actual rate of returned units from their customers, including DOA's and short life warranty machines. It would go a long way to shore up customer confidence.

If there is nothing to hide that is...

But don't expect customers to keep accepting the same " Just trust us. Our machines are very good with a OVERALL low problem rate." routine answer without hard details and facts.

[longevity-inc.com]

Rich,

I will buy from amazon again as they offer numerous items I may need or wish to buy and I also understand the J&R cameras or whatever their name is on Amazon is a supplier for numerous different products. Dealing with the manufacturing aspect of products I am also a bit more fair with knowing that sometimes there are many problems and many aspects that affect the manufacturing process.

I cannot blame amazon or j&r, but I can say that the experience did not work out for me personally. I lost out on that transaction based on their policy. But that is the cost of buying or selling. I got a bad apple that was produced by Sony, but i do not feel sony produces junk cameras. The situation did not work out for me and I moved on just like you are doing.

If i lost you as a customer, I am sorry. If you ever decide to give us a try in the future, you can deal with me direct and I will save you whatever I can on a product that Longevity provides.

For lugweld, we provide now a 5 year warranty (soon to be advertised on our new site) for all customers with both parts and labor, which is better than a warranty Miller provides (whether you say you have to use their warranty or not they still provide you with 3 years legal coverage). In the future, we will provide statistics that back our claims for cuts, warranty, etc...

Thank You

[rwells173]

I guess I feel the same way lugweld feels. If a company sells a defective product the consumer should not have to pay ANYTHING. They should stand behind what they sell. If something is shipped to me that is defective why should I, you or anyone else for that matter have to incur a cost to make things right. I know I would never give repeat business to a company that handles things this way neither should you. You can buy a sony camera from about a thousand different vendors. good luck to you Simon

[longevity-inc.com]

Richard,

I offered two solutions to you and tried to make things right based to the fairness of every other customer i had and our company rules.

I offered to return and replace your unit with a working unit at no cost. I understand why you may not want another unit so I must go by the refund policy we have set in place. I am locking this thread based on our situation resolved. You will receive a return tracking label and a refund as we discussed.

I also had time to reply to your email. Please check it and correspond with me through email if there are any questions or concerns.

Thank you and best of luck to you as well for all your future purchases.

Simon