[rbstern]

In January, I took delivery of a 50W CO2 laser. Purchased from eBay seller digitaltzoneproduct. They still sell this same model laser on eBay, offered with a 2 year warranty.

I've come to find out that the warranty is a fabrication. They have no intention of standing behind their product.

With less than 50 hours of use, the laser tube self-destructed. While cutting a pattern, there was a "pop". The laser continued to trace the pattern, but had stopped cutting. The cooling water feed tube was charred at the inlet fixture, the tube was broken near the water feed end,
and water was leaking from the end of the tube.

I use "50 hours" as a high estimate. It's probably far less than that. The machine has not been worked very hard at all. Water pump is always on and checked for flow when the machine is in use. Water temperature is typically 22C, from a 4 gallon reservoir. The machine has a water flow sensor/cutoff.

I documented everything with pictures, and then contacted the seller. Several days went by. I tried contacting them again. No response. Finally, I got a bit firmer in my request for a response, and on the third try, I got a "My dear friend, so sorry, we'll help you solve the problem..." and a request for a description of the problem (which I had already provided).

I stated the problem again, resent the images of the damage, and asked for warranty replacement of the tube.

Several days go by. No response. I email again, asking for a response.

I get a reply, offering to sell me a replacement laser tube for $250 USD, and an apology that it will take so long coming from China.

That's when I finally got mad and said I would take the story public. It's one thing to not offer a warranty; it's entirely another to clearly advertise a warranty and then not honor it. It's simply dishonest.

So, I'm relaying the story. Don't buy from digitalzoneproduct on eBay.

[rbstern]

Picture of the failed tube:

[rbstern]

And their warranty representation:

[stargeezer]

If you paid with a visa card via paypal (I'm assuming here), you can ask for paypal to step in. I've had a couple minor issues with sellers who don't seem to understand that in this country the consumer DOES have rights and in one case paypal could and did help, getting me a full refund. In another case they recommended that I file a claim with the Credit Card I'd used. Again the problem was solved within two weeks with a full refund to me. Ebay also has a complaint process in place that seems to work as well - after all, these companies know they could never survive with a brick-and-mortar business plan but as a Ebay "seller" they assume Ebay won't pull their account and lock up their funds that are in their paypal account until you ARE satisfied - they are wrong, Ebay will do that and more.

Your friend is your keyboard and your cell phone. Calling Ebay is a surprisingly painless event. and they are very helpfull whenever I've called them. BTW I'm no mega million dollar seller, but the very few times I've called their help desk I've felt that my satisfaction truly was their goal.

Larry

[rbstern]

Larry, thanks for the comment. I think my third-party help options may be limited, since I'm six months out from the purchase. I will explore them if I am completely dead ended.

Meantime, since pulling back the curtain a bit and letting some public light into this situation, the seller is starting to demonstrate some flexibility. They now want me to pay $60 to cover shipping for the part. That's a reasonable request, if the shipping is by air. Trying to verify that now.

The power of the Internet. Unfortunate that it has to be used to hold people to their word.

[Bigbird48]

I think your lucky if they only want you to pay for shipping as most tube only have a 60 day warranty on them and they are considered a consumable item. I had the same problem with a tube on an FSL laser that went dead in less then 100 hours but was over the 60 day so they made me pay.

[rbstern]

I think your lucky if they only want you to pay for shipping as most tube only have a 60 day warranty on them and they are considered a consumable item. I had the same problem with a tube on an FSL laser that went dead in less then 100 hours but was over the 60 day so they made me pay.

If they stated 60 days on the tube in the ad, I would agree with you. It didn't. They offered a two year warranty, without exceptions. If you want to attract customers by offering such things, you have to be prepared to stand behind the words you use, or suffer the consequences of not keeping your word.

Meantime, no follow through on their part to send me an invoice for the shipping cost. The saga continues.

[stargeezer]

Time is on their side buddy. They will stall and put you off, hoping you will give up or the limitations Ebay and Paypal have will run out. I'd be pounding on some door, but that's just me.