figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
I’m not sure how to categorise my recent experience with Hope. I guess in an all’s-well-that-ends-well context I am very happy with the outcome, but the route to that outcome was less than ideal.
I have a Hope Vision R4+ LED light and battery, about 3 years old. I love this light and have sung its praises often across various media. I was greatly dismayed when I went to use it one night and it failed - totally dead. The battery was fully-charged but no amount of button-pushing would illuminate the light. I contacted Hope to see if they had any advice, letting them know it was way out of warranty; they suggested I return it to them for repair. I was perfectly ready to pay for this, so packaged it up and sent it off (what a ball-ache that was - I tried to do it correctly, with the appropriate label for shipping a lithium battery, packaged properly and declared to the Post Office - I may as well have been trying to ship enriched plutonium) with the form filled in that Hope had sent me.
Ten days pass and no contact from Hope. I knew they had it as I had sent it signed-for, so I called them. They confirmed it was with them but the person who does light repairs only comes in once a week - they said they’d give them a push. More time passes, no further contact. Then a mail pops into my junk mail which I nearly deleted as phishing - an unexpected message from FedEx about my delivery. On looking closer I saw it was from Hope Technology so followed the tracking info and, sure enough, it looked like it was my light coming back. I still had no idea if it had been repaired, replaced, written off or what.
The parcel arrived and it was my light and battery, with an invoice stating they had replaced the leads. It all worked as it should and, to Hope’s credit, was done “under warranty”, even though it was beyond that.
So, top marks for the outcome, could do better on the customer comms. But I have my favourite cycling accessory back.
I have a Hope Vision R4+ LED light and battery, about 3 years old. I love this light and have sung its praises often across various media. I was greatly dismayed when I went to use it one night and it failed - totally dead. The battery was fully-charged but no amount of button-pushing would illuminate the light. I contacted Hope to see if they had any advice, letting them know it was way out of warranty; they suggested I return it to them for repair. I was perfectly ready to pay for this, so packaged it up and sent it off (what a ball-ache that was - I tried to do it correctly, with the appropriate label for shipping a lithium battery, packaged properly and declared to the Post Office - I may as well have been trying to ship enriched plutonium) with the form filled in that Hope had sent me.
Ten days pass and no contact from Hope. I knew they had it as I had sent it signed-for, so I called them. They confirmed it was with them but the person who does light repairs only comes in once a week - they said they’d give them a push. More time passes, no further contact. Then a mail pops into my junk mail which I nearly deleted as phishing - an unexpected message from FedEx about my delivery. On looking closer I saw it was from Hope Technology so followed the tracking info and, sure enough, it looked like it was my light coming back. I still had no idea if it had been repaired, replaced, written off or what.
The parcel arrived and it was my light and battery, with an invoice stating they had replaced the leads. It all worked as it should and, to Hope’s credit, was done “under warranty”, even though it was beyond that.
So, top marks for the outcome, could do better on the customer comms. But I have my favourite cycling accessory back.
