Issues with O-like and their poor reliability and service

I purchased a 100mw 532nm Power Rock laser, opting towards the 100mw vs the 50mw that was half price, as I intended it for burning and other fun but sensible stuff, with glasses of course. I communicated extensively to make sure the items were packaged well, and Susie guaranteed everything would be ship shake, and I asked if they offered a power certificate, but Susie's words " we can guarantee it will be on spec". I took my word for it. After a few weeks it arrives and I notice it is no where near as bright as other pictures of the exact same laser on the internet, and also it could not burn at all. I have had a 50mw green before, and it was practically the same brightness as that. I also noticed when shining beam outside that after 5 seconds the brightness would drop down to about a third the brightness as normal. I told this to Susie, and she accepted to replace for another item, and she also promised that she would pay for return shipping, as she guaranteed the laser was going to be on spec. This was about a month ago when I sent the module back, and have written back about a week ago asking whether the module had arrived, and tell me if they aren't willing to pay for shipping, they can at least be honest and tell me, rather than just turning their back and not talking again. Am I missing something? Are they on a holiday break or is O-like really that poor and misleading. It is very disappointing for me that they just won't even talk any more.

Any tips?

There have been quite a few threads recently about Olike and they're slowly but surely damaging their reputation and sales...

Have a look at these threads:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f41/do-not-buy-o-like-75607.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/olike-1w-tactical-445nm-laser-shipping-time-75913.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f50/help-my-o-like-150mw-red-laser-76127.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f41/o-like-74937.html

Good luck :beer:

Yea, it is truly evident that proper customer service is needed to keep a good reputation. What they don't understand is if they pay an extra 10 dollars for a good reputation and generate perhaps dozens of sales per year from a positive review on them. Shameful Shameful O-like if you could only see.

O-like is also responsible for gathering customer information and spamming on this website and others. They have at least 3 different company names registered in Shenzen, and Singapore.
They spam through skype as well. Be warned.

A few thoughts, in no particular order;

I'm not a fan of o-like, the service leaves a lot to be desired, and I have had issues with them.

O-like has a nasty habit of only saying, well, your laser will be on spec, except as I found out to my surprise, on spec to them means within 20% +/- of stated output. For a green, 100mW laser, that means they only guarantee 80mW. Which may also have quite a bit of IR... which means when you buy a 100mW green laser, you may well end up looking at only ~50mW of green. If there are any kind of additional lenses, like a waterproofing lens, they will claim up to another 10% power loss (which is just wrong).

If you send anything back to them, without tracking, you can forget about it.

If you are out of your dispute period for paypal, or credit card... you can also forget about it.

Go with laserglow, optotronics, jetlasers, lazerer, skylasers, lasever, and maybe even rayfoss, before venturing to o-like again.

Thanks for the tips infinitus. They did send another module in the mail and did satisfy my expectations, and did perform as other identical laser pointers. The first module was tested without the waterproofing, and surely was a 50mw module. Like you say, to get a decent unit with good service, you can't use cheap chinese companies like O-like. What just bugs be is that they don't offer a power cirtificate, when similairly priced competitors such as Lazerer do, and they they guarantee on spec modules, but in reality you probably have a similair chance of recieving an on spec module from ebay

It is disappointing. Susie (AKA Standstone11) of O-like, in many way started out from LPF, selling lasers directly in the BST section and building rapport with members on the board. I myself answered a lot of question from Susie in PM about how to structure their business to become successful when selling to LPF members. They were really quite good for a while.

Unfortunately, O-like is undermining the good faith they built early on. They forget that the only thing that separates most online laser stores out of Hong Kong is word of mouth and reputation. Such stores are literally a dime a dozen and in such a climate, sales are usually the product of referrals.

On another note, this is why I still buy from DealExtreme, and tolerate their awful shipping times. Their customer service is exceptional, and they've never tried to worm their way out of replacing or exchanging products, even at their own expense. Interestingly, I was also surprised by Dino Direct's customer service. They actually came through and rectified a problem with a misdescribed product. They did, however, try their best to avoid paying return shipping, but still compensated with substantial store credit in return. That kind of customer service earns loyalty, and that is worth a lot more than replacing a laser that the customer found was underspec.

Yea I have bought a couple of modules from Deal extreme and they both seemed reliable and on spec. They might not specialise with selling laser products but at least they do follow up problems like how you said with your experience. I told susie that I would buy from them again, and also promote with friends, plus writing a positive review here on LPF. She must have taken it with a grain of salt. It would be more honourable just to state that they won't compensate, rather than just have a 'stuff you' attitude and neglect customers. I wonder what they are thinking.

I let you know if susie replies, but until then, I will not be a happy chappy regarding their service

I'd take that with a grain of salt too. You shouldn't bribe sellers with promises, good reviews, promotions, whatever. Instead, if the quality does indeed shine through you should feel compelled to write a good review.

ok, I'll take that advice. I suppose promotions and reviews could be seen as bribery, but it was only in my good will to want to promote O-like for their good service I was expecting to receive, and did receive for a little while. If they told me that they weren't willing to pay for return postage, I would have just accepted it, but considering they promised something that they aren't willing to do, or even tell me that; that is what gets me. In the end, If they were honest, I indeed would right a positive review on the laser they replaced, as I was impressed with it's performance.

The reason I started this thread was the principle and honesty that is lacking from this company.

Just my experience and what I've read lately.

About 4 years ago I bought a bunch of things from them including a 150mw green module. It consistently outputs 200mw, which is phenomenal. At that time, they would go through their pieces for some of the LPF members and hand pick one of the best if you asked.

Anymore all I've read is bad PR, it seems like you don't even get spec on it!

Too bad, it used to be one of my go to places.

Pchri12: at least they sent you something that did eventually work.

Myself, and others, lately have gotten the shaft from No-like!
I, for one will never give them my business again.

lowell389:

yea that is true. I have read your posts on your no-like experiences, and yes it is disappointing. Yes I did praise susie when she did sent it free of charge, and thanked her for her wonderful service, which I was pleased with, but its like a fly in the ointment when they pull the plug on their communication and support. Even though I am left with a working laser, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you had to pay almost $10 for return shipping when the had promised it would be on spec (the first one) and that they would pay for return shipping.

I definitely won't be going back unless they fix things up and be honest, which I really think pigs will fly before that happens.