Hey Guys,
I know that there have been at least a couple of people that have been considering the ESHINE 4G systems, and I figured I'd give you a rundown of my experience with them. First I'll give a quick summary of the timeline for my order, since the items ship from China, and then I'll tell you about my experience (which includes some delivery damage).
2/2 "“ I e-mailed Robin from Eshine about getting the pricing catalog, and got a reply that day with all the prices.
2/3 "“ After a lot of questions and answers I decided to get the 48X3w system with the controller. Once I notified Robin of this, he sent me the invoice and asked me to transfer the money. There are 2 methods to pay. 1) paypal (they add an 3% surcharge for conversion from US dollar to HKD) 2) direct wire through your bank to their bank(no surcharge, but your bank probably has some fee for wire transfers) One other thing is wire transfers take some time to go through, where as with paypal they can see the transfer immediately, and your order will be processed earlier.
2/8 "“ I was told that the fixture has shipped out, but the tracking number wasn't available yet.
2/10 "“ I was given the tracking number, and I found out that the delay was due to their shipping method. What they do is ship the item from China to Hong Kong through some local delivery service, and then use DHL to ship the item from HK to the US. I was told there was a delay due to inspection of the shipment from China to Hong Kong.
2/14 "“ I receive both the controller and light (2 separate packages). The boxes look a little dented here and there. (nothing I wouldn't expect from international shipping) I open up the box, and find that the controller has a scuff mark on the front (I'll survive). The lighting fixture has a bigger problem. The glass panel that protects the lights is cracked and broken. I send an e-mail to Robin(with pictures), and he responds at night (morning for him) and is very helpful. He has already put a claim into DHL for the Item.
2/15 "“ I get a call from DHL about the issue, and have provided them the information they needed. Now waiting to see what's next, and when I can expect to receive the glass panel.
Overall experience/light opinion:
First off there are some more general things that you will have to deal with when buying from ESHINE. They are all located in China, so responses will only happen later at night, or earlier in the morning. It's a bit annoying that I wasn't able to get responses during the day, but they do respond right away at night and morning. If you want to talk to them via their messaging system on their website I suggest mornings. They seem to response faster.
The quality of the lights seems to be pretty good. For half the price of similar LED systems from American brands, the lights seem to do exactly what is advertised. The controller I received has a bit of a scuff mark on the front panel, which I'm ok with (expected the quality control to not be as strict as in the US). There were also some scuff marks on the side of the light fixture, which I think may have come from the packing material glue not being completely dry before they put the light into the box. The controller that can simulate sunrise and sunset works as advertised. Only complaint I have for that is that instead of "œdimming" the lights kind of just jump from 20% to 10%, so it's still a bit of a instant drop off, instead of a dimming quality you'd probably get with a pot.
The 3 year warranty that is advertised comes with a bit of a catch. The first year, they will pay for shipping and such for replacement parts, but there is an expectation for you to do any of the fixes. (I'm not sure if they expect you to solder the led's and such if one of them breaks) For the second and third year, they will provide the parts, but you will have to pay for shipping. This is what I've read from the warranty card, but I have not confirmed this with Robin. There are also stickers on both the controller and light fixture that say "œVoid if removed", but I was told by Robin that they would honor the warranty even if I removed it. (I'd ask them and save the e-mail yourself, if you plan on removing them)
Overall, i'm psyched that i was able to get a fixture like this with cree LED's for 1/2 the price that i would've paid otherwise, but i guess i just have bad luck and had a terrible shipping experience. Hope this helps you guys in your decision making. I will try to post some pictures of the boxes and the condition the lights arrived in later on. I might start another thread for how the lights look and such, but I don't plan to have the lights up for at least another week. (depending on when the glass arrives)
I know that there have been at least a couple of people that have been considering the ESHINE 4G systems, and I figured I'd give you a rundown of my experience with them. First I'll give a quick summary of the timeline for my order, since the items ship from China, and then I'll tell you about my experience (which includes some delivery damage).
2/2 "“ I e-mailed Robin from Eshine about getting the pricing catalog, and got a reply that day with all the prices.
2/3 "“ After a lot of questions and answers I decided to get the 48X3w system with the controller. Once I notified Robin of this, he sent me the invoice and asked me to transfer the money. There are 2 methods to pay. 1) paypal (they add an 3% surcharge for conversion from US dollar to HKD) 2) direct wire through your bank to their bank(no surcharge, but your bank probably has some fee for wire transfers) One other thing is wire transfers take some time to go through, where as with paypal they can see the transfer immediately, and your order will be processed earlier.
2/8 "“ I was told that the fixture has shipped out, but the tracking number wasn't available yet.
2/10 "“ I was given the tracking number, and I found out that the delay was due to their shipping method. What they do is ship the item from China to Hong Kong through some local delivery service, and then use DHL to ship the item from HK to the US. I was told there was a delay due to inspection of the shipment from China to Hong Kong.
2/14 "“ I receive both the controller and light (2 separate packages). The boxes look a little dented here and there. (nothing I wouldn't expect from international shipping) I open up the box, and find that the controller has a scuff mark on the front (I'll survive). The lighting fixture has a bigger problem. The glass panel that protects the lights is cracked and broken. I send an e-mail to Robin(with pictures), and he responds at night (morning for him) and is very helpful. He has already put a claim into DHL for the Item.
2/15 "“ I get a call from DHL about the issue, and have provided them the information they needed. Now waiting to see what's next, and when I can expect to receive the glass panel.
Overall experience/light opinion:
First off there are some more general things that you will have to deal with when buying from ESHINE. They are all located in China, so responses will only happen later at night, or earlier in the morning. It's a bit annoying that I wasn't able to get responses during the day, but they do respond right away at night and morning. If you want to talk to them via their messaging system on their website I suggest mornings. They seem to response faster.
The quality of the lights seems to be pretty good. For half the price of similar LED systems from American brands, the lights seem to do exactly what is advertised. The controller I received has a bit of a scuff mark on the front panel, which I'm ok with (expected the quality control to not be as strict as in the US). There were also some scuff marks on the side of the light fixture, which I think may have come from the packing material glue not being completely dry before they put the light into the box. The controller that can simulate sunrise and sunset works as advertised. Only complaint I have for that is that instead of "œdimming" the lights kind of just jump from 20% to 10%, so it's still a bit of a instant drop off, instead of a dimming quality you'd probably get with a pot.
The 3 year warranty that is advertised comes with a bit of a catch. The first year, they will pay for shipping and such for replacement parts, but there is an expectation for you to do any of the fixes. (I'm not sure if they expect you to solder the led's and such if one of them breaks) For the second and third year, they will provide the parts, but you will have to pay for shipping. This is what I've read from the warranty card, but I have not confirmed this with Robin. There are also stickers on both the controller and light fixture that say "œVoid if removed", but I was told by Robin that they would honor the warranty even if I removed it. (I'd ask them and save the e-mail yourself, if you plan on removing them)
Overall, i'm psyched that i was able to get a fixture like this with cree LED's for 1/2 the price that i would've paid otherwise, but i guess i just have bad luck and had a terrible shipping experience. Hope this helps you guys in your decision making. I will try to post some pictures of the boxes and the condition the lights arrived in later on. I might start another thread for how the lights look and such, but I don't plan to have the lights up for at least another week. (depending on when the glass arrives)
They're basically reselling, so if you want to pay for that, it's up to you.
