This review is of Extreme Lasers, the good, the bad, the ugly
The product review for the item in question is located at this thread
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ead.php?t=3267
If anyone has a CPF account please feel free to post this over there
This review is of Extreme Lasers, the good, the bad, the ugly.
Please note: Extreme Lasers if/when you read this review. None of it is slander, libel or another other kind of false derogatory statements. I have the e-mails and the one phone call recorded to prove it. Per Texas Penal Code § 16.02 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-287 so long as one of the recorded parties gives permission (myself in this case) I have the right to post the recorded phone conversation if I so please.
I bought an analog modulated GXP-1000 (CNI 1 watt re-labeled) from them in Early November. When I first got it the laser was shipped ground so the head was extremely cold. It did not turn on for the first 20mins of warm up. I e-mailed extreme lasers and they promptly returned my call. After I got the call the laser magically came on I am guessing due to warm up. None the less, I was satisfied with the customer service and rapid return phone call.
I ended up leaving positive feedback for extreme lasers December 13th 2006 as I felt satisfied that I would be ok in the event of needing warranty service on the laser.
On a show I had November 10th 2006 after a couple hours of use of the laser. The laser quite fully blanking. The idle state was about 50mw. I chose not to care about this as for the next couple months it stayed at the 50mw and having 50mw of output was rather nice as it made in my opinion better colors with my red and blue lasers since the DAC I use (Full auto) only does TTL triggering.
Finally in September 2007 I noticed the idle output with 0 volts was around 300mw. I sent Extreme Lasers an e-mail September 28th 2007 using e-bays messaging system to ensure that it got to them. For one month I got no response so I forwarded the e-mail to myself from eBay to my e-mail box and then forwarded that e-mail to their contact us aol e-mail address listed on their website using my aol account which also happens to be my registered e-mail account with eBay. I sent forwarded e-mail out October 24th 12:15am EST and it was read October 24th 02:05am EST. Once again, no response. At around 4:45pm EST on October 25th I decided to make a phone call to Extreme Lasers phone number listed on their website. I got a hold or Jure and upon speaking to him I notified him of my problems and asked about warranty. I was told that "usually it's one year on those" but to drop him an e-mail with my name etc and he would look up my invoice to make sure.
I sent the e-mail and got the return response the main thing that was said was the following: "We have two different models of GXP-1000s out there and for some reason in your invoice does not mention which one it is. We had a transition period there for a while. Anyhow, we have a very simple greyish/blue designed PSU and we also have an all black PSU with an emergency stop button and some other added features. They come with 6 and 12 month warranties respectively".
Knowing good and well that there was only one model available during that time period from CNI he knew what response he was going to get from me. And it doesnt matter. Old model new model they all had an advertised one year warranty. Per Extreme Lasers recent auctions. The transition period did not occur last year, it occurred this year between July 2007 and September 2007
Here is an auction with the old model
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250145219631
Here is an auction with the new model
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250165360099
I did get an e-mail from Extreme Lasers stating that they would help me out with repair cost so I e-mailed them one final time. I let them know that I felt swindled and felt like I was not getting the warranty I should be getting. I let them know that I felt I was taking the hit for this. I said the following "I do realize you stock the lasers and this might be the reason for the lack of warranty but the client should not suffer. Please offer me a better explanation to this because I have a copy of the sale of the old laser design that says 1 year warranty and no mention of the new design like the current auctions.". I also told them that it would be more acceptable having a rough estimate of repair cost rather than simply being told they would help me. The response I got back from the two statements (warranty and repair cost) was as follows.
"Dear George, there is no way of giving an estimate when the actual cause is uknown. We will certainly do our best regarding the repairs and have part of the repair fee waived. We won't charge you for an estimate, but I'm reluctant to give an estimate when the cause is unknown. If it is a PSU issue than you are very fortunate because those are the least expensive repairs."
Ignored completely on me calling him out on the recent auctions.
Make your own mind up but this situation is a really horrible one. The only good that comes out of it is that if Extreme Does nothing for me then one of our local PL members has a scematic of the power supply I have and will be able to repair it if it comes down to that.
Stay tuned, I might very well post the phone call and copys of every e-mail.
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buffo
Originally Posted by Dr Laser
