Mountainfarmer
Well-Known Member
Plantlightinghydroponics.com A.K.A. Aladdins lights suck BIG TIME. About a year ago I began a search for the equipment to build/design a grow room. I went to local shops and looked online. After comparing the prices of the two I decided to go online with a company called Plant lightinghydroponics.com A.K.A. Aladdins lights out of twinsburg ohio. BIG MISTAKE!!! I ordered over $3000.00 worth of equipment. Three Electronic NEXTGEN 1000 watt ballasts, high end bulbs, carbon filters, controllers, ect. No expense was spared. When I received the equipment I opened the ballasts to find that they had scratches and tool marks on the fasteners. I immediatly called PLH and spoke with one of the managers Jeff. He assured me that the ballast were new and they did not ever sell used or refurbished equipment. Being in a crunch for time, I just wanted to get things started so I dropped the issue. I figured if I had a problem with the NEXTGEN ballasts I could always rely on the manufactures 5 year warranty. WRONG!!!
Side note: I was warned about buying equipment from online vendors from local hydro shops and here on RIU. They said that returns would be a nightmare if even possible, customer service is poor to say the least, and that there were a lot of fly-by-night companies that just won't be in business when it comes time to make warranty claim. I DID NOT listen to these critics, mainly because there was a significant difference in the $$$$$ amount between my local shop and these online vendors. In my case around $1,400.00 difference.
lo and behold six months into my operation one of the NEXTGEN 1000 watt ballasts failed. Just quit working. Supposidly your able to self diagnose these ballast but this thing was DEAD. Fortunatly for me I bought (3) of these ballasts and was only using (2). So I switched out the dead ballast for the backup one and was instructed by Jeff @ PLH to send the broken ballast back to Custom Automated Products, C.A.P; which i did. He stated that if the ballast was deemed defective they would send me a "new" ballast. Three weeks went by and I heard nothing. I called Plant lighting hydroponics (AKA Aladdins lights) and this time spoke with another manager Mike. He told me that in fact the ballast was shot and C.A.P had sent me out a "new" ballast. That was this past monday. Well today I received the "new" ballast. Except the ballsat isn't new. They sent me a refurbished unit
...WTF...So I call the jokers at PLH and the manager Mike tells me that they must of fixed my ballast and just sent it back instead of a new one. I tell him the there are stickers all over the box that say REFURBISHED and the invoice says: replace with REFURB. He tells me that he is going to call CAP and call me right back. 
He calls back and says, Custom Automated Products policy is: If the ballast breaks within 90 days of purchase then they would have sent me a new ballast. But since it was outside of the 90 days (180Days) it is their option to send me a refurbished or new unit. WTF...If you look at NEXTGEN ballasts their BIG selling point is their 5 YEAR WARRANTY. Fucking Bullshit. CAPS warranty card that comes with each ballast states: 5 YEAR WARRANTY (3 years 100% and 2 years prorated.) So I called CAP today and they told me the same bullshit. I asked the lady at CAP, why doesn't the warranty card state anything about this 90 day bullshit? She did not have an answer. I asked her if she thinks it might be important to add this imformation to the warranty card for the benefit of customers and potential customers? She stated that she would "speak to the higher ups" about my concerns but that was their company policy.
This has got to be illegal. PLH, CAP, and the likes need to be put out of business through boycotts. We growers need to mobilize and force these bootleg companies to give us the service and products we deserve. Just because what many of us do is considered taboo and illegal in some situations, we are subjected to overpricing, no return policies, poorly designed products, shitty customer service, and an overall POOR experience.
Just warning all of you growers who were considering CAP equipment, you might want to reconsider. The reason I went with NEXTGEN ballast is because of their 5 year warranty. Filthy liars. And as far as PLH a.k.a ALLADIN LIGHTS, all of the warnings about online vendors proved to be true with them. I have never dealt with such a poorly run business in my life. From the manager to the employees, all are worthless. There were several other issues I had with PLH but I have spent enough time on these crooks.
Side note: I was warned about buying equipment from online vendors from local hydro shops and here on RIU. They said that returns would be a nightmare if even possible, customer service is poor to say the least, and that there were a lot of fly-by-night companies that just won't be in business when it comes time to make warranty claim. I DID NOT listen to these critics, mainly because there was a significant difference in the $$$$$ amount between my local shop and these online vendors. In my case around $1,400.00 difference.
lo and behold six months into my operation one of the NEXTGEN 1000 watt ballasts failed. Just quit working. Supposidly your able to self diagnose these ballast but this thing was DEAD. Fortunatly for me I bought (3) of these ballasts and was only using (2). So I switched out the dead ballast for the backup one and was instructed by Jeff @ PLH to send the broken ballast back to Custom Automated Products, C.A.P; which i did. He stated that if the ballast was deemed defective they would send me a "new" ballast. Three weeks went by and I heard nothing. I called Plant lighting hydroponics (AKA Aladdins lights) and this time spoke with another manager Mike. He told me that in fact the ballast was shot and C.A.P had sent me out a "new" ballast. That was this past monday. Well today I received the "new" ballast. Except the ballsat isn't new. They sent me a refurbished unit
...WTF...So I call the jokers at PLH and the manager Mike tells me that they must of fixed my ballast and just sent it back instead of a new one. I tell him the there are stickers all over the box that say REFURBISHED and the invoice says: replace with REFURB. He tells me that he is going to call CAP and call me right back. He calls back and says, Custom Automated Products policy is: If the ballast breaks within 90 days of purchase then they would have sent me a new ballast. But since it was outside of the 90 days (180Days) it is their option to send me a refurbished or new unit. WTF...If you look at NEXTGEN ballasts their BIG selling point is their 5 YEAR WARRANTY. Fucking Bullshit. CAPS warranty card that comes with each ballast states: 5 YEAR WARRANTY (3 years 100% and 2 years prorated.) So I called CAP today and they told me the same bullshit. I asked the lady at CAP, why doesn't the warranty card state anything about this 90 day bullshit? She did not have an answer. I asked her if she thinks it might be important to add this imformation to the warranty card for the benefit of customers and potential customers? She stated that she would "speak to the higher ups" about my concerns but that was their company policy. This has got to be illegal. PLH, CAP, and the likes need to be put out of business through boycotts. We growers need to mobilize and force these bootleg companies to give us the service and products we deserve. Just because what many of us do is considered taboo and illegal in some situations, we are subjected to overpricing, no return policies, poorly designed products, shitty customer service, and an overall POOR experience.
Just warning all of you growers who were considering CAP equipment, you might want to reconsider. The reason I went with NEXTGEN ballast is because of their 5 year warranty. Filthy liars. And as far as PLH a.k.a ALLADIN LIGHTS, all of the warnings about online vendors proved to be true with them. I have never dealt with such a poorly run business in my life. From the manager to the employees, all are worthless. There were several other issues I had with PLH but I have spent enough time on these crooks.
