Hello Fellow Laserists,
I hope you are all well. I *never* write to this list. In fact, over the years- maybe 3 or 4 times. But I had the VERY unfortunate dealings with “Elmer” and Shenzen Opt-Laser recently that I felt I had to inform my colleagues about.
I will try to condense a VERY long story down to as simple and as fact driven as possible. Before I proceed, I want to inform any and all readers that I have pictures, statements, emails and communications to support *ALL* of the claims written below. If *ANY* of you would desire to see proof of any of these claims, please feel free to contact me and I will provide any and all proof. I, like I said, am trying to keep *this* particular email as short and to the point as I can to still allow for the point to be made.
Here goes-
1) Approximately 3 months ago I needed to place an order for: (2) 671nm 1.5W Lasers. These were not to be used for light shows. They were to be used for an industrial application. It was a “proof of concept” order. This was (hopefully) going to turn into a *MUCH* larger continuous order of approx. 100+ per year. His was a contractual sale. Elmer at Shenzen OptLaser sent me pricing and gave me a good price. So I ordered them.
2) I also needed and wanted to “try” a 5 Watt RGB All in one all diode Laser module. This was supposed to be for a client build on a VERY tight budget. And this client was just one of those people that has such drive and “love” for this profession that I wanted to do as much as I could to help him out. Elmer at Shenzen OptLaser said they make a very good (lol- that should have been my first clue) unit and gave me a pretty good price. So I ordered it.
3) I expressed my concern to Elmer VERY early on and throughout the pre-delivery process that I have dealt with MANY Chinese companies and that my experience with *ALL* of them has been very poor. (As most of you can relate to). I expressed my concern that diodes were NOT to be overdriven. Lasers were NOT to have silly errors made with them (screws forgotten, broken optics, scratched optics, misaligned optics, poor wiring…etc). He ASSURED me that their products and attention to quality and manufacturing would be guaranteed.
4) I made it VERY CLEAR that upon delivery- please, I beg of you- PLEASE do not forget parts. Do not pack poorly. Do not overlook ANY important shipping details.
LOL- This is what I got…
1) I received the order. The (2) 671nm 1.5W Lasers were ordered by Shenzen from ANOTHER company. CNI. (I could have done this myself). Shenzen ordered the (2) Lasers and either A) ordered a lower powered laser and cranked the current up themselves or B) Ordered lower powered Lasers in hopes that dumb Marc from CT. Lasers won’t know how to measure output power on a Laser. BOTH Lasers BARELY STRUGGLED to hit ~900mW. (supposed to be 1.5W). These were measured by a Coherent Field Max CALIBRATED and NIST Traceable meter. So, lets all, just for the sake of argument, assume that Coherent makes semi-decent Laser power meters. (Sense my sarcasm??)
2) BOTH 671nm lasers have a faint (approx.. 11-14mW) beam radiating even at ZERO input signal and with current knob completely off.
3) RGB Laser Module: Supposed to be 5W. 637nm/520nm/445nm. Upon initial power up: power reading was struggling to hit 3.4 Watts. But this is where it gets REALLY fun- About 35 seconds in, the fu*king Laser module LITERALLY went up in flames. LITERALLY. 1 of the Red diodes was (from what I can tell through the charred remains) soldered so poorly that 1 of the legs of the diode with the “Lasorb” soldered on was actually either soldered to the brass mount or the bare wire was touching the brass diode. This caused the short and POOF- all of that magic smoke and awesome, pretty little fire escaped.
4) ALL cords (power and input modulation) cords were “forgotten” in the delivery.
5) So, in summary- dishonest about 671nm lasers. RGB module WELL underpowered. POOF- fun little fire show. Cords (after I BEGGED Elmer to NOT make all of these silly mistakes) were all forgotten.
Elmer’s and Shenzen’s replies to these problems-
1) Sorry. We do not sell 671nm lasers. We ordered theses from a “different company” just as a favor for you. We can not get refund form this “other company” therefore we can not refund you.
2) Please ship 671 lasers back to us. We will repair. Mind you this order was ALREADY approximately 1.5 months late. Mind you *MY* client was ALREADY furious with me for such a delay. Mind you- to ship products to China WITH insurance costs about $300.
3) RGB Laser module- You must have hooked up driver to module incorrectly. (I didn’t hook drivers up. They came pre-wired. Lol). 3.4 Watts is typical. We correct beams. Therefore there is a power loss. LOL- oh really? 5 watts down to 3.4 Watts? REALLLY??? Then A) Why was I charged for 5 watts? And B) What optics are you using to drop about 25% of your rated power? Are these plastic optics with scratches in them??
4) Marc- please pay shipping to ship product back to us. We will not pay for shipping. Why the HELL would I pay to ship YOUR piece of crap product back to you when it arrived defective. Arrived NOT as advertised. Arrived with a COMPLETE ORDER of defective, not as promised components. Shipping would cost ME about $400-$500 with insurance. And after ALL OF THIS- I am supposed to trust you to refund my money? Minus the shipping costs of course.
Maybe its me…I guess I expected too much from a Chinese company. I expected A) honesty. B) Products in which I paid for. C) WORKING products. D) Delivery within a reasonable amount of time. E)
Support AFTER the sale.
I would *STRONGLY* suggest any Laserists out there looking to source from a Chinese company to stay VERY VERY far away from Elmer and ShenZen OptLaser. I have had a HORRENDOUS experience. And I have also learned from MANY other people, including even other Chinese companies- that Shenzen is known for this very poor quality and this horrendous lack of ethics and service.
Regards,
-Marc
-CT. Lasers