Complaint Review: Advanced Lamps - Hamden Connecticut

02/10/2011:

Pending <-------------------Date of initial order. Item was advertised as an

upgraded after-market lamp and showed as "In Stock" on the item page.-------------------







02/10/2011: Processing



02/11/2011: Processing vb204476



02/15/2011: Processing ETA: 02/17/2011 or 2 days <------------------By this

time I have spent nearly a week trying to get through to someone on the phone

or return my messages since no one seems to know how to answer a phone there. I

finally get through to someone who tells me that evidently there was something

wrong in the system and my order never actually "processed" and the

whole procedure had to be started all over again.---------------------------------







02/21/2011: Processing VB204476 canceled - PP204645 <---------------This is

the day that sent everything into what would be a long drawn out tailspin. This

day I was told that my lamp was never in stock at the warehouse <BLATENT

ADVERTISING VIOLATION> and that it had been on back order for two weeks.

They then proceeded to have the lamp "drop shipped" to me from their

supplier, effectively restarting my entire order all over again.------------------------







02/22/2011: Shipped - [redacted] UPS Tracking #



02/24/2011: Shipped - Customer called to requesting refund in shipping cost.

customer to receive difference between 3day select and ground shipping $7.04.CG

<-----------This is the day that I finally got the lamp, 14 days after

ordering it on 3-day shipping. I rightly asked to have the shipping costs

refunded since clearly my item did not arrive within 3 days as I had paid for.--------------------------







---------------Fast forward 113 days since the lamps arrival (well within the

claimed 120day warranty on the website warranty policy page), the lamp itself

has had a total of 99 days of actual use and it explodes. I, like anyone else,

immediately started calling (I stop trying quickly, forgot its a waste of time)

and emailing my displeasure about the situation and demand my warranty

replacement.------







06/20/2011: Processing



From: Me [mailto:redacted] Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 9:54 AM



To: Advancedlamps



Subject: Faulty Lamp







Genuine AL D95-LMP / 23311153 / LV-672 RPTV Lamp & Housing for



Toshiba TVs



Order #128338







I ordered this lamp not 4 months ago and it has already exploded. The



unit has had a total of 113 days of use and needs to be replaced free of



charge.



[redacted]



Unsatisfied Customer (now twice as unsatisfied)



-------------Shockingly

I get a speedy reply, obviously canned auto responder.--------------------







06/20/2011: Waiting to hear from customer



Hello, In order to process a return or exchange, Advanced Lamps requires



customers to complete the following questionnaire.



Please be advised that requests for refunds can only be processed within



the first 30 days of warranty period. The warranty period begins upon



receipt of the order. Any requests after this period will be processed as



exchanges and replacement items will be shipped out accordingly.



Please include name, order number, Exchanging or Returning (whichever



applies) in the subject line or in the subject line of the reply email and



please allow at least one business day for a response with return



instructions from the returns department.



Name:



Order #:



Exchange or Return:



What was the immediate result after powering on your projector?



How long did the lamp last?



What projector model was the lamp installed into?



What is the serial number of the lamp you received?



What is the serial number of the projector it was installed into?



Please send answers to [redacted]



Thanks again from Advanced Lamps!!!



Returns Department



Advanced Lamps







My reply with requested information was sent 6/20/11:



From: Me



[mailto:redacted]



Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 8:19 AM



To: Advancedlamps



Subject: Defective D95-DLP <-------------------After this a series of emails

go back and forth between myself and the returns person in regards to how and

what I received, since the lamp came from their "supplier" (PacParts,

Inc. / PacParts.com) all I recieved was a lamp wrapped in bubble wrap and a

"how-to" replacement manual with no warranty information what so

ever. The returns person stated that it would not be a problem. I might add

that I also had to pay for the shipping to return the lamp to them, which is

only adding insult to injury at this point.----------------------------







06/28/2011: Warranty Replacement



Received returned lamp sn 0179109916114. Lamp is visibly blown.



Processing warranty for replacement.







----------------My next contact with the company is around 2 weeks later. I've

gotten no update email or phone call about my RMA status so I sent an email.

This message Advanced lamps decided to leave out of their ticketing process,

probably in the hopes that I didn't save any of my email communications. -------------------------







Email Sent: 7/12/11 7:45am



From: Me



To: Advancedlamps



I've not heard anything in regards to this for nearly two



weeks, is there an ETA on this replacement?







----------------6 days go by, I get no email or phone call in response. At this

point in time I have wasted untold amounts of my time, which is in very short

supply, trying to make sure these people are doing their jobs because just in

ordering the lamp it was evident that fulfilling their obligations was not a

high priority there.----------------------------------







07/28/2011: Warranty Replacement



From: Cubicle101 [mailto:redacted]



Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 3:31 PM



To: 'Advanced Lamps, LLC'



Subject: RE: Order Update



This is now my 2nd reply to this email with no reply or update in return.



I still have not been contacted or updated as to the status of my



replacement lamp. If I am not contacted in the next 48 hours with an



update as to the status of my replacement lamp I will be reporting your



company to the BBB. This IS the last email requesting an update that I will



send you.



[redacted]











---------------I

still get no response or reply in my email. Calling them has proven to be a

complete waste of time and effort as is leaving a message. Let it not be said

that I did not give them the benefit of the doubt and ample time to respond. I

open a BBB complaint on 07/27/2011, 9 days without a

single response and I knew I wasnt about to get one either.----------------



--------------The

very next day I get the below email AND a phone call from a young lady at

advanced lamps. I expressed, very calmly mind you, by displeasure in the

situation and I knew that the only reason I was getting that phone call is

because of the BBB complaint. It gets worked out verbally between us that they

would refund the shipping costs I paid to send the lamp back and she stated

that because the lamp was drop shipped from the supplier it would have to be

sent back to them for replacement.



This is where I

knew things were going to go down hill. She then tells me that they would have

to send the lamp back to me and I would have to send it back to the supplier

and open up another RMA process. I flatly refused and was not going to be moved

from my stance, so she then stated that she would handle the whole process for

me and then send the new lamp to me. I agreed to those terms and updated the

BBB complaint as to such.-----------------------







07/28/2011: Warranty Replacement



Mr.[redacted],



This email is to confirm that you called to inquire about your order and



requested a status update. An Inquiry has been sent for this information



and I will contact you as soon as the information comes available to me.



I appreciate you patience.



Thank You for choosing Advanced Lamps!







Sincerely,



[redacted]



Returns Department



824 Dixwell Ave 2nd FL



------------------A

few hours after our phone call I get a couple of voicemails while Im outside

cooking my dinner. The young lady from Advancedlamps is calling me and telling

me that she spoke to the supplier and said that because its a Toshiba part

that they are going to have to send it back to me and I have to get it replaced

by Toshiba, who mind you has not the first thing to do with any of this, again

meaning they want me to start up another RMA process with someone else only

this time its someone whos so far out of the loop theyre not even on the

same continent.



Before I could

even update my refusal to that blatant buck-passing attempt on the BBB

complaint they had already boxed it up and shipped it via UPS (08/02/2011) without any approval

from myself in any shape or form. The box arrives a couple of days later and

the BBB of course is allowing the company 15 days to reply which theyre

obviously not going to. And just for s**+ts and giggles I called Toshiba to

verify that, no, they were not going to replace the lamp so I could update the

BBB complaint and show that Advancedlamps was just shifting blame to avoid

their legal business obligations.



At this time I

am in the process of opening a complaint with the TN department of consumer

affairs though at this point theres little hope anything is going to get done

about this. Posting here and anywhere else I can find so that maybe others will

hopefully avoid this company as well as their supplier PacParts.com who is

obviously the root of the problem supplying what they know to be faulty lamps.



Personally I

think serious charges should be brought against both companies in court and

both their businesses shutdown and liquidated.---------------------------