Steve's LED complaint

[pgrVII]

Send me a PM of what you got.

 

I might be able to use some of it.

 

You can put that money towards NanoBox, Radion G3, or Hydra 52.

I actually got it handled so im not out the money so no complaints. But thank you for the offer for sure.

[mo151]

I can also say i have been disappointed with their customer service. I have had the a BC14 retrofit and have loved it until i had two leds burn out on me. Contacted customer support sent a picture in of my unit and I have had minor salt creep on the fan. They are asking me to send it back and expect it back in approximately three weeks, thats a bit hard to do when you have a few hundred dollars worth of SPS. Looks like i'm upgrading my lighting and taking my business elsewhere

[zooman72]

I can also say i have been disappointed with their customer service. I have had the a BC14 retrofit and have loved it until i had two leds burn out on me. Contacted customer support sent a picture in of my unit and I have had minor salt creep on the fan. They are asking me to send it back and expect it back in approximately three weeks, thats a bit hard to do when you have a few hundred dollars worth of SPS. Looks like i'm upgrading my lighting and taking my business elsewhere

 

OK, I can understand your frustration here, but here is my issue - what would you expect them to do? They are asking you to send it back for repair, and then it will be returned - this is what other companies would do as well. Stuff happens, and yet some aquarists want a new unit overnighted to their home if it fails, no questions asked, but that is not a reasonable response.

 

I always keep a backup of basically all of my equipment in case of this very issue, although I have numerous aquariums so it is a bit easier, and I have had to send something back and wait for the replacement numerous times, even relatively "high end" stuff.

 

If you feel that your animals cannot be without something, such as lighting, flow, temperature, etc., then you have to be prepared to fix it or have it serviced as needed - to expect to have nothing ever fail is unrealistic. I had a relatively new (and still well within warranty) Vortech MP10 fail, and EcoTech was great in fixing it, but I had to send it in and wait for it to return - I was able to carry on because I had other pumps. I have also had lights fail on me (a pair of my own LEDtric full specs), but was able to survive until they were fixed with "backup" lighting (old T5s or even "full spec" daylight compact florescents from Home Depot). Heck, I just had the Rio Hyperflow 6HF return fail on me for my new 15g column, but had a backup to hold me over until the new one came in.

 

Please note that I am not defending any poor business practices here, and must admit that, even though I have had no issues with Steve'sLEDs and found them to be quite responsive to my needs, if they have "dropped the ball" here it is not acceptable.

[andru1313]

Reading through this. Just thought I would add comment., I haven't bought from Steves.. But was close.. I had questions about there prodcuts they did answer. I didn't have a negative experience. But also was working with some other LED online resources I have had quicker responses.

 

I ended up going with a different DIY solution that in itself will create a different set of issue but the fundametal issue remains the same.

 

We all get annoyed when a company makes a mistake or we have issues. The key for me is always how they handle the mistake.. I am so much more likely to be a loyal customer when a company does right by there wrong.

 

Maybe this is unrealistic.. I may not be there only customer but I want to feel like it. Sorry don't mean to get on a soap box... I hope you get your issue sorted and your tank back up and happy..

 

As far as just running blue LEDs I have been for a month and my tank is doing well. Corals are pretty happy. I am waiting for all my new stuff to come in so tank is going to stay blue..

[Tamberav]

Easy corals will be fine under blue light for awhile. I left some mushrooms and zoa's without any sort of light at all for over a month and they were fine. I just wouldn't run blues only permanently and expect great results.

[mo151]

I agree it is unrealistic for them to overnight or even give me a new unit for that matter, but I have a SPS tank with some great frags turning into colonies and I can't risk a 3 week black out. I have heaters, and pumps but not lights. To purchase lighting I mine as well purchase a new lighting system. I don't mean to sound pessimistic about this. Does anyone have advice on how to light a sps tank while i wait the estimated 3 weeks for a repaired light? I love that they will repair it and after a little negotiation for free but that still risks loosing my tank or at the minimum losing a hell of a lot of color. I'm in a pickle and it sucks but thankfully only two LEDs are out so i've just upped the output from my other ones for now but i feel like a new light upgrade is coming…

[KnH]

I would upgrade your lighting, send Steves unit in for repair and keep it as a backup, There are always problems with lighting,

Time vs $$ on the corals you have in your tank. Nothing in this hobby is bullet proof

 

I really don't think steves LEDs are any different than any other lighting company, things break and need to be fixed, send it in for repair = time or spend money on fixing it fast / upgrade, usually I do both.

 

I have in my garage the original fluorescent fixture, and the factory LED fixture for my 28g as backups.

[gonzalez78]

I also was thinking of ordering from Steve's and had sent them an email to ask for lighting suggestions for my Spec V (3 months has gone by with no response). Sent an email to RapidLED and had a response within less than an hour. Ordered and received in less than a week. Blew out a few while hooking them up, sent an email to order replacements and they delivered to our club meeting (they are our sponsors). When hooking them up they would not fire up so I sent another email and got an immediate response. Basically I have nothing but good things to say about RapidLED but I'll stay away from Steve's.

[icecool217]

Lesson of the day is to get a credit card with purchase protection. Even if it is a small purchase, they will cover you up to 90 days. So if you fried your LEDs or dropped your light into the tank accidentally, you will be completely covered.

 

Back to the main topic. If it is purchased as a DIY and 90% built, you should make sure that you have full capability to piece the remaining parts together. It sounded like you got it working for 3 weeks so unless you've accidentally loosen a connection, most likely it is a parts failure (and in your case, the driver). What surprises me the most is the lack of customer service. According to the website, defective drivers are covered for 30 days while for their own brand, covered for 2 years. Not sure when you purchased it but if it is within the warranted timeframe, it should have been an easy RMA process at their end. Not only did they try to pass off the blame onto you, the delayed response made things even worse. It's hilarious that they required that you send in all the parts but they only shipped the driver and not the knob and other stuff. Although overnight shipping would have been great, I'd be okay with regular shipping but delaying things over a couple of weeks is definitely not acceptable.

 

I hope you finally got your unit set up and the thread you made got the message across as Steve's LEDs lost out on potential sales by not conducting themselves with a proper manner. Hopefully your next build is a much smoother one.

 

RapidLed and LedGroupBuy are definitely more reputable around here!

[Gr8_Outdoorsman]

Wow.... I was literally about to click the order button on the Steve's kit, but this thread has me a little concerned with proceeding.

 

Did the OP finally get their system back up and functioning?

[Formula462]

what? I'm usually super careful about chiming in on dealers I don't well, deal with. Buuuut if that's true what you just said...#### those guys lol

 

And also, why would anyone have hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of coral, but own ONE light fixture capable of supporting them. Call me paranoid but I have three or four fixtures in storage just in case.

[arm0211]

Update: After dozens of emails back and forth I finally convinced them to send me a replacement at no cost. however with all of the headache finger pointing and unprofessional responses. My lights are now flickering again.. not all the time just randomly and for a few seconds.

what? I'm usually super careful about chiming in on dealers I don't well, deal with. Buuuut if that's true what you just said...#### those guys lol

And also, why would anyone have hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of coral, but own ONE light fixture capable of supporting them. Call me paranoid but I have three or four fixtures in storage just in case.

 

First tank and luckily lol I don't have thousands in corals.. hundreds though ha

[DaveFason]

Hit me up!

 

-Dave

[CrazyEyes]

I've ordered a few things from Steves, actually just got a package from them today. And while I will say I've never had an issue with their product or shipping, I can imagine trying to deal with them for any issue would be a nightmare because their support is somewhat of a joke.

[Horerczy]

I like getting certain pieces from Steve but i couldn't begin to fathom dealing with his homebrew bits.

[MOJOEJOEJOE]

so do any of these dealers do any sort of compliance testing or are they guys set up in there basements? I hear so many stories about fixtures failing and led`s burning out. I dont know this guy Dave at Nanobox but so far his fixtures seem to be the best. I only hear great reviews on his fixtures.

Its just blows my mind when I hear of purchased fixtures that die after a few months. Id say go with nanobox and customer support. Ive seen him respond to peoples questions. Remember this, part of a competitive advantage is responsiveness to customers.

[Giga]

Most my LEDs on my arc are from steves, no issue, running almost year and a half. In term of rebels there hard to beat and work great. Not sure there fixture stuff but I'd order there again

[DaveFason]

Steve mounts a good amount of my LEDs. You are not getting faulty LEDs, but I would think the drivers or power supplies are failing.

 

I think Evil has said it, our LEDs will outlast the other electronics to our builds.

 

-Dave

[arm0211]

Dave I sent you a PM.

[Beer]

Sounds like a horrible experience.

 

My lights are now flickering again.. not all the time just randomly and for a few seconds.

I'd check your connections. Sounds like it could be a loose wire or connection somewhere.

Take each of your components and wiggle them slightly. Hold the components and wiggle the wires. See if you can isolate it and correct it. At least figure out if it is the string or controller.

[bamby]

Hi i ordered some leds on April 10 from steve. they haven't send me any tracking or shipping information.Is this normal?

[Horerczy]

Sounds about normal for steve.

[bamby]

Thanks.

[leveil22]

Wish I saw this thread before I ordered bought two RSM kits install the first with their half baked instructions and soon I plugged them in I only got the the blues even the fan is not on. Also noticed that there's a gang of wires going to the harness yet only the driver end only connects to the center ports puzzles me how that will work only connecting to center wires. Will contact them first thing in the morning

[Reefkid88]

Don't worry,it took him over a month to finally write not even a full sentence to me about my faulty typhon... Boostled is on my sh*t list too. I've left them a handful or voicemails and emails ( same with Steves ) and still no response.

 

I don't see how hard it is to return a email or phone call. Especially if you want to have a thriving and successful business. I mean it's not like this hobby isn't exploding and doesn't have a huge scene or anything lol.