[whoadammit]

Just a quick heads up to anyone thinking of ordering anything electrical from Chain Reaction UK. I ordered two Exposure lighting systems recently and are very happy with them. When they arrived from being shipped from England, they came with UK Charger electrical plug in's which will not work in the US. I contacted Chain Reaction and asked if I could have US chargers sent to me...NO, if you want US chargers you will have to pay extra for them...which they have and will gladly charge you for. I replied that because my order was being shipped to the US, why would they not put US chargers in the shipment? Sorry, too bad for you was basically their answer. They make a big deal on their website about shipping world wide, so why not send the correct Chargers in the first place? Terrible customer service!!! Will never do business with them again!:madman:

 

[Climber25]

So what did you do? Buy an adapter or source a US charger?

 

[whoadammit]

Exposure lights use USB cables, so I ended up using the small charger that works for my iPhone. It gets really hot, which worries me, and Exposure lights come with their own charger that works specifically with their lights. So, I would like to have the original chargers so as not to void any warranty. Good grief, they have US chargers in stock, so why not send the correct ones in the first place? :???:

 

[r29]

Because they are not authorized to sell the us charger with the exposure light.

 

[kwarwick]

You can always buy an inexpensive plug convertor since the UK adapter is 100-240V:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/universal-us-travel-power-adapter-plug-2723

 

[whoadammit]

Right now, it's the point of the whole thing. Chain Reaction has never mentioned in any of their emails that they are not authorized to ship US chargers. They did tell me they have them and are more than willing to sell me one though. I also contacted Exposure Lights directly and the person I spoke to didn't mention it either. In fact he was a little surprised that CR wasn't willing to ship me the ones I need. It would have been nice if CR stated something on their website stating they won't ship non UK chargers overseas BEFORE taking overseas orders. Interestingly, the US distributor, Ibex Sports, has a drop down window on their website letting you choose the charger you need for the country you live in. I only went with CR after reading the light reviews on MTBR and clicking on the link to CR. They made a big deal about shipping world wide, and offered free fast shipping. Seemed like a good choice at the time. Lesson learned.

 

[r29]

on the side note which exposure light did you pick up?

 

[whoadammit]

A Maxx-D that I mounted on the bars, and a Diablo that I mounted on my helmet. It's a very nice and slick system, as both are very easy and quick to take off and put back on their mounts...and both are very stable. Also, it's nice not having cables. I just ordered a 1 cell battery for the Diablo, and a 3 cell battery for the Maxx-D for back ups, or for use on longer rides from Ibex. A car charger as well.

 

[jr711]

I just got the same combo! just finished my first ride with them. I was also looking to order from the UK as the pricing seemed better over there. But after some research I gathered that they wouldn't be shipping me a US plug. So I figured I'd have to buy a US plug for two lights sets, extra shipping, hassle with warranty if necessary, etc... So I went with a US shop. I chose between Ibex Sports and Competitive Cyclist. I was bummed I missed out on the $250 blemished Diablo from Ibex (but i guess they sell them as they get them). I found a 15% off voucher for Competitive Cyclist so I just went with them. Pretty happy so far.

jr

 

[whoadammit]

I used mine the first time at the Kona 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. They work great don't they! I'll be riding A LOT more at night.

 

[menatwork_mn123]

Exposure light has a distributor in the US. Ibexsports.com

I would recommend them. They have the fastest shipping, very good customer service and no question ask on return.

I would not recommend buying anything from the UK due to custom. Your shipment will be subjected to custom and may take a month or more before you get it even though the vendor shipped immediately. I experienced this with ChainReaction. I bought a bar mount from them because it seems cheaper but it ended up sitting in custom for more than a month.

 

[moggy82]

I have used CRC years and never had a problem, always great customer service, being in the UK i should get this, charger wise i have bought stuff from US and China with Us plug and knew what i was getting. Did you not do the research? I just use adaptors for all my US Plugs, or chop the Us plug off and wire in a Uk Plug. Its not difficult and not really worthy of its own thread. People have been doing it for years.

 

[emu26]

+1 Moggy

 

[r29]

I do not why you can not just go out to buy an adaptor for the plug.

 

[whoadammit]

Time. Hassle. Expense. I live in a small town with with little access to these types of items. After calling around and driving to a couple of places, I was unable to find one so ended up ordering online. Do you all have a lot of free time and spare change on your hands to be okay with this if it happen to you?

Okay, say you order a new car that is manufactured in Japan. You decide to go all out and order one with an expensive navigation system in it. So you take delivery of it and decide to go out for a drive and test out your new nav system. To your surprise all the maps loaded into the system are all maps of Japanese streets. You call the dealership and they tell you that because the car is manufactured in Japan, only maps of Japan are loaded into the system. Now you have to go thru all the time and hassle to take the car into the dealership, pay 100 bucks for a US map DVD, and wait around for a few hours to have it all updated. Wouldn't that piss you off at least a little bit? Would you not have expected that it would have worked in the US in the first place? You ordered something in good faith, paid a lot of money, and it just doesn't work properly without having to do your own upgrades...that is definitely not a good business model.

Chain Reaction makes NO mention that they ship only UK chargers with the orders they send out to the US. And there is no where to pick which type of charger you need. If they had mentioned that non UK countries would need to pay extra for chargers that work in their particular country, at least it gives one the opportunity to pay the extra amount or look elsewhere. They plaster US flags all over their website and make a big deal about shipping to the US. So yes, I expected them to ship me US chargers.

 

[emu26]

I think you're missing the point.

That new car you just bought, you bought in YOUR country, regardless of where it is made it comes with features for YOUR country. You bought these UK designed and built lights online from the UK.

You did your research to find the cheapest price on a product designed and built in the UK. That cheapest price was in the UK, and surprise surprise it comes with a UK plug, regardless of where the retailer is shipping it to.

You complain that they won't give you a free US plug. Why should they? They have to pay for them, why shouldn't you. I presume, and that is a dangerous thing to do, that the lights can be charged from mains power as well as USB so what is the UK retailer expected to do with the UK plugs that are already packed inside the box by the manufacturer?

One of the problems I see is that this interwebby thing has made it easy for us to find small amounts of information very quickly but has also made us all very impatient. We get upset when people don't respond to emails immediately, we post on forums when stuff we have bought at greatly reduced prices from the other side of the world hasn't been packed, shipped, cleared two sets of customs, gone through two sets of postal services and been delivered to our door in what we decide is an appropriate time. Take this experience as a lesson learnt. Next time you research for a cheapest price, take a minute and ask questions of the seller.

Now go and enjoy your great product and don't let this sour your love of mountain biking

 

[whoadammit]

Huh, that's funny. I special ordered a Mini Cooper that was manufactured in the UK. When doing so you are given access to the production process which allows you to see where your car is on the assembly line during it's manufacture. It's pretty cool actually. I did in fact order it with a nav system, and yes it showed up with US maps loaded into it.

There should be no cost difference between UK and US plugs...they only have to switch them out.

I went with Chain Reaction because of the link thru MTBR.

 

[emu26]

You custom order a foreign made car, track its process through assembly and complain about a $5 plug, now that's funny.

Did you order the car online and take delivery from USPostal or did you walk into a US Dealer and order your foreign made car, picking it up from the dealer?

If it's the later then again, I think you are missing the point.

 

[whoadammit]

I ordered it directly from the Mini website. Went through the whole process of picking everything out, made payment arrangements, and had it shipped to the east coast, where I picked it up.

You're right, it is funny...LOL

Really, it just about principle. I just think CR should be upfront and have full disclosure is all. I did try and post a review on their website. I gave the lights a 5 star as they are fantastic, but I did mention, VERY POLITELY, that if ordered for US customers, they would need to pay extra for US chargers or find an adapter, as only UK chargers are included. Interestingly, they didn't publish my review. I was not rude in any way, only stated the truth.

 

[mattthemuppet]

this or similar should do the trick. If you're comfortable ordering a car online, I don't see how this would be any more effort. Compared to the $60+ savings you got by shopping at CRC (depending on which light you bought), it's really not a lot of money either.

Unless specified, if I was buying from overseas, especially from a discount retailer, I would not expect things like country specific things like chargers to be customised for me country. The analogy between a $30000 (or more?) custom ordered car and a $300 bike light is a bit misleading. But, this being the internet, I seriously doubt anything we say will make you change your mind