PGL-III-C 473 50mW died...

Bug, did yours get taken care of? Just shipped mine off ; CNI didn't want to pay for the shipping unfortunately. $102... A lot, I'm just hoping they go ahead and repair or replace it.. That kind of shipping and then CNI saying too bad would just be insult to injury.

I don't think they would have requested it back if they weren't seriously considering honoring the warranty. I'm sure they just want to examine it first..

aryntha said:

Bug, did yours get taken care of? Just shipped mine off ; CNI didn't want to pay for the shipping unfortunately. $102... A lot, I'm just hoping they go ahead and repair or replace it.. That kind of shipping and then CNI saying too bad would just be insult to injury.

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I asked for exchange with lab model, first problem was with GLP-473 60mw (sent back to Glenn via regular Post) which was totally underspecified and second problem was PGL-III-C-473 80mw (sent to CNI via their fedex account) dead. CNI did not make me pay directly the shipping back but they ask me to pay difference and shipping for the lab ... I hope they will fix your's but should be ok because warranty is normally 6 months on the PGL-III :yh:

ElektroFreak said:

I don't think they would have requested it back if they weren't seriously considering honoring the warranty. I'm sure they just want to examine it first..

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Good point, ElectroFreak; I'll let everyone know how it goes, Physically the laser is the same as the day I got it, I make sure to treat these things very carefully, so it should be an open and shut case. Though I am hoping they do at least cover shipping back to the US.

thanks, everyone, for your help - and i'll report back here as to the outcome; hopefully it'll at least serve as some more information here as to what happens when a CNI laser does go belly up.

You might have had better luck to go through Glenn, after all you got it from him and he has some pull with CNI, and we all know CNI doesnt like to deal with individuals and single lasers. Im sure all will be well though, back in GB7 glenn informed me of the 6month warranty, so its definitely covered.
Anyway whatever happens next, I wish you luck and a speedy laser return

Unfortunately already sent it off; but I did have Glenn contact them... Hopefully they won't give me a bum deal or send me back one that's way under spec... (which looks like it may have happened with some infividuals getting in the send back-and-forth cycle with CNI.) Wondering if Glenn could have had them cover the shipping... Oh well, at this point it's out of my hands and in CNI's.

Yes, I know they sure don't like dealing with individuals; CNI quoting me $1300 for a 671nm DPSS and quoting Glenn $350. .... Ava always acts annoyed even when I ask for a laser quote. Even for a GB qoute of 10+ on the 671's she'd only go down to $700 for me.

If this doesn't work out, i'll likely have to eat the cost and just wait for CNI GB#11. x_x but for now, i'll wait and see how it goes, the dead 473 should be arriving there on the 7th. Will update this thread so people can know what it's like.

I have confidence that they will take care of this issue, especially with Glen involved.

However i do believe that you will have to carry the burden of to and from shipping.
The are covering the repair or replacement of their product. They dont care weather you ordered it from halfway around the world, or walked in through their front door.
Even most u.s. based companies follow this same standard.
But who knows maybe Glenn can pull some strings?

rpaloalto said:

I have confidence that they will take care of this issue, especially with Glen involved.

However i do believe that you will have to carry the burden of to and from shipping.
The are covering the repair or replacement of their product. They dont care weather you ordered it from halfway around the world, or walked in through their front door.
Even most u.s. based companies follow this same standard.
But who knows maybe Glenn can pull some strings?

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I dealt with my replacement on my own and they are apparently not making me pay shipping back to me.
If they told me I needed to cover the cost, I was prepared to ask for a refund for the product.
It is not my responsibility to deliver a working product. I paid for a working laser and did not receive it. It was not my error to correct. I will not pay shipping twice.
I am sure that it will go fine, though.

I'm inclined to agree with RA_Pierce ... Laserglow, for example, when I had problems with my first Aquarius (hmmm. also 473...)-- I had to pay shipping to them, but they paid shipping on the way back. Same deal for Icom (a communications company, for my ham radio gear) and Canon, with defective cameras in warranty.

So as far as I know it's pretty common for the manufacturer to pay for shipping back to you; they may not send it the fastest way, but, honestly if something has to be sent back (and forth) twice, it could easily approach the cost of the item.

While I agree technically 'thats not their problem', it shouldn't be yours, either, and for most companies the "customer pays to send, company pays to return" seems to be equitable.

That's my feeling at leaast; CNI may indeed do it another way; we'll see what they say. If they do give me any static about repair/replacement, I likely will have to get Glenn involved; but that hasn't happened yet, so i'm waiting for now.

My last communication with Ava was that I wished to pay the difference to upgrade to an >80mW. Hopefully they'd charge the previous price on that and not ask for $500 to do so, or something crazy. Also if they don't wish to allow me to do that, I'm fine with it; and I let CNI know that primarily I just want a working laser. Ava's response so far was

"Thanks for your letter, when i get the laser and after testing i will tell you."

So i'll report back as this evolves.

Well lets just hope I'm wrong.
urbanscoters.com charged me like $20 for inspection and return fees. Only after they charged my CC did they give me a return address and RMA.

My PGL-III-C 473 50mW arrived back on Friday from CNI for the second time. Unbelievably it is still dead. The LED light comes on but there is no beam.

They clearly have a very serious QC problem with their 473s. Mine will probably be going back for a third time ......

davidgdg said:

My PGL-III-C 473 50mW arrived back on Friday from CNI for the second time. Unbelievably it is still dead. The LED light comes on but there is no beam.

They clearly have a very serious QC problem with their 473s. Mine will probably be going back for a third time ......

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Wow... What did CNI say in response to this? Are they going to make you pay shipping for this one?

... this is getting kind of nuts with the 473s, and i'm concerned to say the least.

davidgdg said:

My PGL-III-C 473 50mW arrived back on Friday from CNI for the second time. Unbelievably it is still dead. The LED light comes on but there is no beam.

They clearly have a very serious QC problem with their 473s. Mine will probably be going back for a third time ......

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It seems to be hit or miss with these, some work great and are very much overspec, others just dont work right or at all. I would have expected more trouble with the yellows, blue has been around for a while, you'd think they would have figured it out by now.....
IDK, Im just happy mine is working so good....

kingdave2357 said:

It seems to be hit or miss with these, some work great and are very much overspec, others just dont work right or at all. I would have expected more trouble with the yellows, blue has been around for a while, you'd think they would have figured it out by now.....
IDK, Im just happy mine is working so good....

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Yeah; at this point it looks like, strangely enough, CNI may want to repair mine (replace driver) instead of replace it or let me upgrade to an 80mW. We'll see what happens when they actually get it, but they seem to be talking to Glenn more about it than they'll let on to me.

Though I'm glad Glenn's in the mix, they'll at least probably take it more seriously. I don't think my diode died. The way the driver was acting, with the dim LED whenever I turn the key on, makes me think it was the driver and not the diode. Also with it dropping rather quickly after turn-on, sometimes, that may be a driver thing too.

Though the QC does worry me-- davidgdg; did they send you a new one, or did they repair the existing one? (is the serial number different?)

Well, looks like I'm not getting it repaired.. After $100 for shipping,

Fedex's tracking just said this:

"Jul 5, 2010 2:06 PMShipment exception
BEIJING CN
Unacceptable pkg or incomplete paperwork"

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.. God dammit... I followed all of the instructions exactly... Now who knows what the hell is going to happen.

The thing may not even be sent back, it may just "go away" now. And because CNI told me to declare it for $20, I'm pretty much SOL for its value.

This is ridiculous; I had a FedEx office who was supposedly well versed in this do all of the paperwork... Didn't mind paying the $106 or so because I figured it'd get there. I don't know if FedEx can or will refund me or what.

As far as them sending it back to me, who knows, I'm sure they won't do -that- in a fast manner.

Does anyone know if FedEx will even say what Beijing said was 'missing' or 'unacceptable'?

This is nuts... CNI should do something here, but with Ava's attitude lately, I doubt they will. (And, they're in China. Really, they don't have to.)