The Retrofit Resource / Morimoto buyers beware

Admin move is not the right forum.

So in my 2018 TRD Pro i put the Morimoto HIDs from the Retrofit Resource. Today I called and started a warranty claim for the 4th time. When asked why the ballast keeps failing I got a response the only about 1% fail. However in Oct 2018 I was told they had an issue and changed the ballast. Attached are photos which shows old and new style.

Then I am told they have a lot of sale orders to process so they are backed up and Ill have to wait a few days for a replacement to ship. So here I am down and they can't send me a simple ballast. I drilled out the old one and emailed them pics as i'm a pro at the warranty process, yet no help.

If I didn't spend the higher dollar value on these id toss them and go with a cheaper alternative but since they have a warranty ill go with it. Just want others to be aware before they spend almost $200 on these.

After the sale help is much more important to me and now ill do down all weekend waiting but lucky for me I have an alternative ride.

 

I hate you didn't have a good experience with them. I have used them in the last 3 cars I have had and have had zero issues. I've even kept the same set from my last vehicle and transferred them over to the Tacoma and just purchased the right bulbs. Mine are just like the ones in the top picture.

 

I tried to start a warranty claim, it's been like 5 days or so and haven't heard anything. I reached out via their chat yesterday and was told they couldn't help me and I need to continue to wait. Pretty thrilled......

 

It's the week after Black Friday/Cyber Monday and they ran some pretty good deals. It's expected they would be backed up. Just be patient and wait it out

 

While I get that, why couldn't the support person on their chat kick off the warranty claim? Seems odd they can answer questions and such but can't start a warranty claim.

 

Had the same experience with them when I had some 2 stroke LEDs on my old Chevy. Had two of them fail and got the same "1%" story. Sent them an email after the second where I mostly just ranted and admittedly wasn't exactly necessary. All I got back was "so do you want to start a warranty claim?"

 

$200? I think mine only cost 140. I have had mine on for a 15 months, no issues.

 

I just gave their chat feature a shot again, this time they were more responsive and said they will start the process and send an email out shortly.

 

Xenon Depot is even worse, I tried to start a warranty claim, their solution was for me to buy a new one. WTF? No it's been less than a year since I bought these. Time to file a charge back on paypal.

 

So this is interesting, I need to remove the blub, break it, send them a picture of it broken, and then they will send me a new one.....so in the mean time I have no blinker????

 

this sounds like a classic case of a company being a victim of its own success

 

Im pretty sure TRS bought out XenonDepot a while back so it may be the same company.

 

I don't know much about the HID install but see a lot of water/corrosion on that part. Are they supposed to get that wet?

 

Sucks you're getting terrible service from them. I've done warranty claims on ballasts before and they were very responsive. I've used them on multiple retro's and have the latest Morimoto HID's in my truck currently, love it. I think it's bad timing like others have said, but customer service should be better about getting back to you.

 

I order thousands of dollars of lighting products every year, and finally stopped ordering from them earlier this year. You’re way better off buying from a slightly smaller dealer like Lightwerkz. Same products, better customer service.

On that note, I’ve used probably 30+ of those kits on retrofit builds this year and have had 2-3 part failures. Definitely could be better.

 

Where was this installed (location of ballast?). I have a Morimoto kit i bought a few years ago (older style ballast) Still sitting in the box and i was going to install this weekend or next.

 

Definitely bad timing with bf. and probably dealt with someone having a bad day (no excuse though). My ballast are the newer version no issues in almost a yr or so.

I’ve had 1 claim with trs for hid bulb- had to cut the feed wire but I don’t remember being 1 headlight down or going to stock while I waited for the replacement. I can’t say for sure but I’m pretty sure I said that’s not acceptable and i won’t cut it until the replacement came in. As I type this I remember now, We worked it out that I pay for the replacement bulb then when received cut the bad and photo then get refunded. My bulb wasnt completely out just off on color temp or hot spot.

 

I'd be willing to do that, we will see what they say.

 

I think im the one that brought it up so make sure you bring it to the table.

The whole point is to make sure your not going to try and scam/sell the “bad bulb” and I get that so by paying first/refund after seemed like the best for both sides (knowing I wasn’t going to be scamming and I’d get my money back)

 

Mine have all been a failed ballast. Igniters and bulbs all fine. I know they are busy as am I but I’m asking for a warranty part and tried calling and 18th in line, then tried chat only to be told he’d email me, only to have me email pics which I had already done.

I ended up buying one off Amazon for $35 so it’ll be here Saturday. Sure I’ll wait over a week from Retrofit Source and wanna be able to drive at night.