Morimoto XB LED Tail Lights

[jbcrane]

I'm going to suggest Morimoto throws in a free backup/license plate light "for my trouble." We'll see if that flies.

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[dirtdigr]

Just wondering...
I ordered these on New Years Eve with an estimated shipping date of 5-7 days.
It has been nearly a month and nothing has shipped. I've e-mailed and called Morimoto CS several times, each ending with the customary "I'll reach out to our warehouse manager and get back to you," with no response, X3.

I'm wondering if anyone else has ordered around that time and if you've received your order? I know Atlanta has had some weather, and I don't want to be that guy, but this is my first time dealing with this company and at present, not sure what to think.

Thoughts?
TIA, JBC

Got my set in about a week.... But I ordered in November...

 

[MTBhops]

Oh man, I thought there was a delay to ship, but that they were already on their way and now delayed in transit. The idea that they can't just make sure they ship immediately now that you've contacted them several times is weird. I haven't had any contact with anyone at Morimoto, and fortunately mine shipped out exactly as described when I made the purchase. I'd tell them to either ship it out by tomorrow (with compensation for the delay) or cancel it. It's frustrating how customer service with a lot of companies these days focuses on neither the customer nor service.

 

[jbcrane]

Oh man, I thought there was a delay to ship, but that they were already on their way and now delayed in transit. The idea that they can't just make sure they ship immediately now that you've contacted them several times is weird. I haven't had any contact with anyone at Morimoto, and fortunately mine shipped out exactly as described when I made the purchase. I'd tell them to either ship it out by tomorrow (with compensation for the delay) or cancel it. It's frustrating how customer service with a lot of companies these days focuses on neither the customer nor service.

Thanks Dustin.
The saga continues.
After yesterday's (5th) call, I spoke with someone new - I'm not going to call him out - yet.
Here's the exchange:

11:54am​

"Good day​

Thank you for your call, I will contact you shortly​

Please let me know if you have any additional questions. In the meantime, I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day!"​

(Such platitudes do nothing but incite rage...)​

​

2:20pm​

"Good day​

The Buford warehouse informed us that we will get an answer by mid day tomorrow.​

Please let me know if you have any additional questions. In the meantime, I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day!"​

(Such platitudes do nothing but incite rage...)​

​

Today @ 10:11am​

"Good day​

We are still awaiting to here back and will have an answer today."​

(Thank you for sparing me the empty platitudes)​

​

Today at 4:30pm MST:​

Crickets.​

The reason I haven't cancelled yet is because when I ordered, the price was 30% off. I'm beginning to wonder if they're not shipping them because they can turn around and sell those same lights now for $100 more. My inner cynic emerges.

*Good customer service is acknowledged and rewarded. Bad customer service is exposed. They're getting called out here if there's no resolution.

 

[Heimkehr]

It's frustrating how customer service with a lot of companies these days focuses on neither the customer nor service.

Yep.

For many years, it wouldn't have occurred to me to use the nuclear option -- a credit card chargeback request -- because even the worst customer experiences at the time were, when later viewed in context, not excessively bad.

Now, though...

Just in the past two years or so, I've been compelled to initiate several chargeback requests (all of which I've prevailed in), primarily because vendors are now in the habit of just pivoting to radio silence after my repeated and good faith efforts to reach a resolution. That's a new behavioral trend from them. It should also be a concerning one from their perspective, not least because of customer empowerment...i.e., our ability to broadcast our experiences, as this thread plainly illustrates.

Trends like this are always interesting to observe.

 

[jbcrane]

Just in the past two years or so, I've been compelled to initiate several chargeback requests (all of which I've prevailed in), primarily because vendors are now in the habit of just pivoting to radio silence after my repeated and good faith efforts to reach a resolution. That's a new behavioral trend from them. It should also be a concerning one from their perspective, not least because of customer empowerment...i.e., our ability to broadcast our experiences, as this thread plainly illustrates.

This is, unfortunately, exactly what I've had to do. An e-mail was sent this morning saying if there is no FedEx tracking number by 2pm there will be a credit card charge back initiated. I can (easily) live without the lights and now, sadly even if they came, I'll be reminded of this frustration rather than enjoying them.

I've also sent a link to this thread.

Over the past couple years (since Covid) there have been several instances of frankly unbelievable incompetence from service providers/vendors. The event that moved my needle was ordering new windows for our home from Lowe's. It would take too much to explain what happened, but suffice it to say, if you value your sanity, don't ever initiate a window or home improvement project through Lowe's. It took over a year - along with several botched installs - to finally arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

So yes, sadly - incompetence and poor customer service is a thing in today's world.

 

[Heimkehr]

So yes, sadly - incompetence and poor customer service is a thing in today's world.

I have a pinch -- just a pinch -- of sympathy for vendors in general, be they online or brick & mortar. Having a Gen Z in the family gives me a front row seat to their thought processes and particularly their choices as it concerns employment.

To save time, here's the gist of it: For some time now, it's been easy enough to make a living solely from income captured online, usually via a "channel". The opportunities are remarkably broad, ranging from ASMR videos to selling yourself on OnlyFans. I mention Gen Z as just as a representative example, but they're hardly the only participants in the monetization game.

The nascent work-from-home arrangements that Covid compelled inadvertently served to prove that such arrangements were not only tenable, but could also be scaled up to the national level that is now in place.

And now...

The temptation to make bank without ever having to get dressed and leave the house -- or electing to purposely get undressed -- is certainly understandable. Why choose to deal with traffic, manufacturing issues, annoying coworkers and the rest, when pressing Record, and then later in the day, Upload, allows you to pay your bills on time, every time? How many folks on this very forum, for example, have arranged and are enjoying such a gig for themselves?

The natural consequence of the aforementioned is a material contraction in those folks who are entering or would consider returning to the in-person labor market. Businesses can't hire those who aren't knocking on the door. The concurrent reduction in the quantity and the quality of job applicants manifests in any number of ways, to include an unignorable reduction in the delivery of acceptable customer service...as both you and I, and many others, are now experiencing with increasing frequency.

Time will tell how this plays out.

 

[jbcrane]

I have a pinch -- just a pinch -- of sympathy for vendors in general, be they online or brick & mortar. Having a Gen Z in the family gives me a front row seat to their thought processes and particularly their choices as it concerns employment.

To save time, here's the gist of it: For some time now, it's been easy enough to make a living solely from income captured online, usually via a "channel". The opportunities are remarkably broad, ranging from ASMR videos to selling yourself on OnlyFans. I mention Gen Z as just as a representative example, but they're hardly the only participants in the monetization game.

The nascent work-from-home arrangements that Covid compelled inadvertently served to prove that such arrangements were not only tenable, but could also be scaled up to the national level that is now in place.

And now...

The temptation to make bank without ever having to get dressed and leave the house -- or electing to purposely get undressed -- is certainly understandable. Why choose to deal with traffic, manufacturing issues, annoying coworkers and the rest, when pressing Record, and then later in the day, Upload, allows you to pay your bills on time, every time? How many folks on this very forum, for example, have arranged and are enjoying such a gig for themselves?

The natural consequence of the aforementioned is a material contraction in those folks who are entering or would consider returning to the in-person labor market. Businesses can't hire those who aren't knocking on the door. The concurrent reduction in the quantity and the quality of job applicants manifests in any number of ways, to include an unignorable reduction in the delivery of acceptable customer service...as both you and I, and many others, are now experiencing with increasing frequency.

Time will tell how this plays out.

It's not such a brave, new world after all, is it?
I'm afraid what time reveals will not be an improvement... at least in the short term.

 

[jbcrane]

The magic of the internet:
After learning the warehouse my tail lights were supposed to ship from, I did a little googling and found it, in Buford, GA. I called the warehouse and got a very helpful, pro-active gentleman who actually handles the shipping. He was able to find my order and tell me the lights shipped out on the day they were ordered. We exchanged information and he promised to call me back in 10 minutes.

He actually did. Some weird thing happened and there was no tracking number. So he sent a new shipment, FedEx Express and they'll be here Monday.

Why no one from Morimoto was able to do what took me all of 5 minutes to do – is a complete mystery and doesn't bolster confidence in the brand name. We'll see if they arrive Monday. If so I'll update this thread.

 

[Bill_BCNtoNY]

The magic of the internet:
After learning the warehouse my tail lights were supposed to ship from, I did a little googling and found it, in Buford, GA. I called the warehouse and got a very helpful, pro-active gentleman who actually handles the shipping. He was able to find my order and tell me the lights shipped out on the day they were ordered. We exchanged information and he promised to call me back in 10 minutes.

He actually did. Some weird thing happened and there was no tracking number. So he sent a new shipment, FedEx Express and they'll be here Monday.

Why no one from Morimoto was able to do what took me all of 5 minutes to do – is a complete mystery and doesn't bolster confidence in the brand name. We'll see if they arrive Monday. If so I'll update this thread.

Good on you and beyond ridiculous on the Customer Service setup from Morimoto… beyond incompetent!

 

[MTBhops]

My lights arrived yesterday. I won't install them until tomorrow, but they look nice and seem to be high quality. I'm glad you finally got a hold of the right person and your order is finally on the way. I know what it's like to put companies in the "you're dead to me" category.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I've been watching this thread. These tail lights interest me. Morimoto has a reputation for building quality lighting. But I'm waiting to see what actual user impressions are.

I'm guessing that part of the shipping problem is likely due to unexpected demand. With the JL it seems that owners not only want to replace the base tail lights, but also the optional LED ones as well.

 

[jbcrane]

I've been watching this thread. These tail lights interest me. Morimoto has a reputation for building quality lighting. But I'm waiting to see what actual user impressions are.

I'm guessing that part of the shipping problem is likely due to unexpected demand. With the JL it seems that owners not only want to replace the base tail lights, but also the optional LED ones as well.

I'll be following up with a 'was it worth it' review at some point next week. I saved over $100 on the normal price, but whether that's adequate compensation for the frustration remains to be seen.

I get that sometimes glitches happen in automated systems. That's life. What's so perplexing is how 5 different calls to customer support can produce zero answers - when it took me - a non employee - one call to a number I found on the internet? They might make great lights (it remains to be seen). If so, it's a shame the quality of their customer service doesn't match the quality of their lights.
To be continued...

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I understand about so called customer support. I always ask who I'm talking to, and their extension number. That usually is enough to get them to actually do something, as you now have a reference for a complaint, and they know it. I also ask if they record their calls, and tell them that I record mine.

Many times these days, customer service call are routed to answering service type call centers. Often you are not even speaking to anyone who works for the organization. I will ask that question too when I'm speaking to someone.

It's gotten to the point where I absolutely hate ordering anything online. There's often an issue with shipping and bandits stealing packages. I truly miss the days when you went to a parts counter and experienced, knowledgeable people worked there, and what you needed was almost always in stock. Now stores order it the same as you or I could.

 

[jbcrane]

I understand about so called customer support. I always ask who I'm talking to, and their extension number. That usually is enough to get them to actually do something, as you now have a reference for a complaint, and they know it. I also ask if they record their calls, and tell them that I record mine.

Many times these days, customer service call are routed to answering service type call centers. Often you are not even speaking to anyone who works for the organization. I will ask that question too when I'm speaking to someone.

It's gotten to the point where I absolutely hate ordering anything online. There's often an issue with shipping and bandits stealing packages. I truly miss the days when you went to a parts counter and experienced, knowledgeable people worked there, and what you needed was almost always in stock. Now stores order it the same as you or I could.

It's so true.
I got a call from Amazon business today wanting me to sign up. I told him I'd lost confidence in Amazon after years of delays, price hikes, etc. He assured me Amazon Biz was different than Prime - and it was free. I told him it didn't matter... it might be free now but the playbook is the same: reel em' in, hike up prices and do a poor job.
No thanks.
I'm with you. I'd much rather walk into a store and pay a little more to a brick and mortar merchant who went through the trouble of ordering, taking delivery, inventorying/stocking, and advertising the item - so I had the convenience of inspecting it in hand then making a guaranteed purchase decision on the spot.

To Jim's comments earlier... the landscape has changed... here's hoping things continue to change, but for the better.
They can't get much worse.

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