FOCALPRICE BUYERS - Please Read B4 Ordering

[BrewCityMusic]

My order was placed on 12/21, with an extra fee for EMS shipping on "In Stock" items. I finally recieved confirmation of shipping last friday (01/02/09) along with a tracking number.

In the interim period between the order and "ship confirm" date, I Emailed regarding the lack of tracking info and was told "we no long have in stock, but we have buyer get for us soon". No biggie, mistakes happen. I decided on 1/6 to order from LED Shoppe to ensure I at least had SOMETHING to offer my customers this weekend, and guess what - here come the lasers from LED at 11AM today, in the middle of 12" of snow here in the upper Midwest.

To make a long story short, FINALLY about 10 minutes ago I was actually able to use the tracking ID from Focalprice on the EMS website, seems the shipment was actually posted at 20:40pm last night in China, and was only dispatched from their sorting center about an hour ago.

I'm assuming I'll have my "In Stock" order that I paid a considerable EMS shipping upgrade for somewhere between 2-3 weeks from the time of ordering, but I pretty much figure it's not worth holding my breath over.

Bottom line, there had better NOT be anything more than a 10% variation in actual tested power from their advertised outputs on ANY of the lasers I purchased, or they'll be going back. In the event (let's all guess how likely) that all 4 types of lasers I ordered are spot-on as to rated power, they still will never recieve another order from me.

Potatorage waited 2 weeks for his 500mW laser that ended up being a 100mW model with a huge mode-hopping problem from Focalprice - I wonder what I have to look forward to now! PLEASE - In the event that you can wait to order from these guys, please do until the quality of their product can be compared against their shipping procedures and then you can decide for yourself.

Just my 2 cents, caught in the middle of an "in stock" issue I can understand, and a "lied to" issue I can't forgive.

 

[john_lawson]

its one of those you get what you pay for thingies i remember the first timeiordered from dx I was very upset with ship time -unlike you I used the free shipping option I know how you feel but after your on your fourth or fith order you'll be used to it ;D ;D

 

[Razako]

Never use the EMS option when dealing with these Chinese companies. You pay more and I've found that the actual shipping time is only a few days faster. Also the upgraded shipping doesn't do much good when it takes them 2 weeks just to ship the product. Additionally EMS packages are checked more carefully by customs. Whenever I order for DX or similar sites I just use the free shipping and accept the fact that I'll eventually get the item after 3-4 weeks.

 

[L@z3r]

I just got the 100mw green model from Focalprice, And its very underpowered, and the website lied about what type of battery it takes. I ordered CR123 since that's it called for, Now i have the laser and it take's "CR2" So end of story, I wasted money on something i have no use for.

 

[Razako]

I just got the 100mw green model from Focalprice, And its very underpowered, and the website lied about what type of battery it takes. I ordered CR123 since that's it called for, Now i have the laser and it take's "CR2" So end of story, I wasted money on something i have no use for.

It's not a complete waste. CR123's are typically used in a lot of other things like flashlights/DIY lasers/cameras etc.

 

[BrewCityMusic]

I agree, John - EXCEPT in the case of the LED Shoppe - DAMN those 50's for $20.40 (after 18% holiday discount) are a STEAL!

Well I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope to have some new toys to test next week!

 

[BrewCityMusic]

PS: I smell something...Hey Coherent, is your bed on fire? (Just Kidding, Amigo!)
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

[WackBag]

Did you get your order???

 

[potatorage]

I agree completely. Time and time again have I received shit from focalprice, and to be honest,it is not worth saving that $1 buying something at focalprice. The quality control is horrible. I have spent over $1000 and about 10% of the time I have received either a defective or a not-as-described item. It would be best to stay away from them...

 

[BrewCityMusic]

Well, the order arrived, only partially complete and a SERIOUS rip-off on the stuff that actually came! The 300mW green and the 150mW pointers were not in the shipment, and the "200mW" geen pointer hit 54mW on the 'ol LPM with brand new LiIon batteries (I'll post THAT review once I calm down and get some pix, etc). On the upside, the 50mW pointers at $19.75 seem pretty nice, on a par with the LED Shoppe stuff I've bought - Just when balanced against the sheer BS of everything else I wish I wouldn't have ordered at ALL!

The best part is I've been trying to reach FP Customer Service all day, their message system constantly reads "Data Error, Please to Try Later" whenever I try and contact them.

Good thing I'm a light sleeper - I'm going to try them every hour or so until I get a live person on the chat or get a message to go through, and we'll see what happens then. The LEAST I feel I need is a total refund on the non-shipped stuff and a price adjustment on the "200mW" pointer to the price of the 50mW it actually IS .... Now I'm stuck with a set of 18650's and a charger too, oh well, live and learn!

 

[Razako]

I say it time and time again. Rather than buying a bunch of cheap crappy lasers you're better off just saving the money for one good laser from nova/laserglow/optotronics.

 

[L@z3r]

Yeah. My 100mw From FP just died. Looks like the Crystals were too crappy for the power of the diode.
They wont even respond to me !!

 

[jander6442]

Just a observation not to offend but in the pics submitted by Wes the laser in the photo  looks like 100 years old ;D

 

[jander6442]

Hi all! Listen out of  pure compulsiveness I ordered the following from focalpoint a 50mW silver pointer greenie  and 100mW fat
beam you know  the one. I expected that I would be dissapointed and atlast I was. The laser module for the 50mw was identical to similar
30mW I own and the 100mw unit I suspect is around 60mW as measuring the true watt. would be impossible without the proper equipment. Oh well! more spare parts. I expect that the same would happen to others [highlight]as this is there buss. model [/highlight]I have learded that the hard way and was also expecting it.  At least I"m not dissapointed as thru reading post on the forum I knew this was going to come to be. Now time to save for some Dr. lava drivers and souce some diodes. Thanks for reading and more to come in the future :. PS the silver greenie came black go figure  

 

[potatorage]

It's best not to deal with them... when contacting c. support you get thrown around... and around... and around...

 

[BrewCityMusic]

Just a note, I found how to get around that, Potatorage - instead of screwing around with their "message system" BS, use the "Live Help" - noone is ever online but at least Mary responds to those Emails rather quickly, within a day or so at least.

Not that I would ever wish a FocalPrice order on my worst enemy, hopefully though it will help you get a resolution on that 500mW scam I feel bad you're stuck in the middle of! I reviewed the 200mW in the "Reviews" thread, btw, not near 200mW AT ALL but actually a pretty OK crappy Chinese laser for $75, I had them refund my 300mW and the 150, though.