My Unsatisfactory Experience With Morimoto XB Headlights.

[PD1744]

First guys, I'm not here to bash anybody. This is to simply share my experience and lessons learned and those that want to read can do with it what you will.

Background

Late June 2020 - I placed an order for a set of Morimoto XB's and GJ motorsports 3rd brake light through @4x4TruckLEDs.com because they are a FRF Supporting Vendor. Reached out to them and they even were able to work a little discount in for me since, as y'all know, these two items are a substantial chunk of change, especially for a poor person like myself.

Late August - Truck isn't my daily driver and I soon as I started using these things in the dark, I started experience an issue with the driver side headlight not working all the time. Once again I reached out to the vendor and they were responsive and got me squared away.

Late Aug/Early Sept - Ordered and received my first replacement. This means I had to pay for a new headlight and wait for the old one to be received by Morimoto before I was refunded, but the turn around was fairly quick and didn't experience much down time.

Dec 19 - Started experiencing the same symptoms/failure modes on replacement assembly. Up to this point they either functioned fine or I didn't notice they were out. Can happen. They're really bright when they work.

Dec 22 - 1st attempt to reach out to the retailer and received no response

Dec 28 - 2nd attempt to reach out to the retailer and again no response. Completely ghosted. Still till this day

Dec 29 - Reached out to Morimoto directly

Dec 31 - Reply received from Morimoto

Jan 5 - Return label received from Morimoto. This time I decided to try and avoid the back and forth money transfer and just throw my old headlights back on. Thankfully I had the option. No Issues at all with the stock headlights.

Jan 7 - Package arrived at Morimoto

So here we are. It will be one month tomorrow since they've received my headlight and as I sit down to pound this out, I FINALLY get a shipment notice on the replacement unit after lots of interactions with very little feedback.

I tried to remain patient and cordial throughout the entire ordeal, but really reached a point of shear frustration with all this. Two failures in half a year. Countless amount of hours spent troubleshooting, installing, un-installing, emailing and contacting, shipping, etc. Not an ideal experience for a customer who literally purchased the most expensive headlight assemblies on the market for my vehicle. Was very close to taking a day off work just to drive down there in order to get this sorted out.

Believe it or not, this is the short version of the experience thus far. Imagine if this was my only vehicle and putting my OEM headlights back on was not an option? Totally unsatisfactory.

My lessons learned/take-aways

- Do more homework on vendors that I order from

- No more Morimoto products for me

- Choice between order a replacement and wait for refund or send the RMA unit and wait on replacement, I take the former.

- If this one breaks (2nd replacement) I attempt to repair it on my own before it goes in the bin

I'm out for now. Just had to sound off on this. Totally unbelievable experience in the realm of customer service in all of my experiences. If you read it all, thanks for taking the time. Hope it saves somebody from having to go through this.

-PD

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Yeah, doesn't sound like a fun time. Well hopefully the 3rd light works out for you. Hopefully the vendor chimes in for a response to clear things up, maybe offer some help for you.

 

[melvimbe]

How did you 'reach out' to 4x4LEDs? Phone, email? Did you contact a specific employee?

Did you install the headlights yourself? Seems like it getting 2 failed lights is rather unlikely....haven't heard much about XBs failing like that. Not looking to throw blame, but wondering if there's an issue with the installation.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Can you let us know your order #? Everybody knows we're insanely fast with getting back to people and we ALWAYS respond to inquiries. Also, how did you attempt to contact us? Phone/Email/Text? Let me know so I can look into it.

 

[PD1744]

How did you 'reach out' to 4x4LEDs? Phone, email? Did you contact a specific employee?

Did you install the headlights yourself? Seems like it getting 2 failed lights is rather unlikely....haven't heard much about XBs failing like that. Not looking to throw blame, but wondering if there's an issue with the installation.

All good. Fair questions for sure. I always interacted with Adam at 4x4 LEDs through his direct email. Pretty sure it's his company.

Yes, installed myself. I do all my work myself. Consider myself very mechanically inclined. Not just two failures. Two on the same side. And I've definitely read of Morimoto quality issues since digging deeper into it. Their customer service I've heard has always been pretty good though until maybe recently. I pretty much trouble shot the thing all the way down the actual connector itself that made the connection unreliable. However, I didn't feel it was something that I should be responsible for fixing considering how new they were and how much they cost. Again, zero issues with my stock headlights so that should tell you right there.

 

[rcseorgia]

Thanks for posting about your experience and providing the facts. I am looking for some new light bars, and I always read the good, the bad, and the ugly. IMHO you didn't bash anyone.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

All good. Fair questions for sure. I always interacted with Adam at 4x4 LEDs through his direct email. Pretty sure it's his company.

Yes, installed myself. I do all my work myself. Consider myself very mechanically inclined. Not just two failures. Two on the same side. And I've definitely read of Morimoto quality issues since digging deeper into it. Their customer service I've heard has always been pretty good though until maybe recently. I pretty much trouble shot the thing all the way down the actual connector itself that made the connection unreliable. However, I didn't feel it was something that I should be responsible for fixing considering how new they were and how much they cost. Again, zero issues with my stock headlights so that should tell you right there.

You mentioned you dialed it down to a connector? That's a known issue across the board with Fords and aftermarket systems. The H13 connector on the Fords have 3 pins. You'd THINK they should all be centered, but in fact they should NOT be centered. We've had numerous customers email us experiencing issues and we've also experienced issued first hand. Where the H13 connector seems solid but the light does not come on. The fix to this is to move the pins off-center, so that they actually seat properly in the connector. An easy fix that solves the issue.

So that is probably what your issue is.

But as I said earlier, please let me know your order # because we always respond back to customers.

Regarding your issue with having to put down a deposit for a replacement... that's standard practice in the industry. We're charged for a replacement also from Morimoto (refunded upon return of the failed item). It's how we handle all RMA's. If you want to wait, you can send it in OR if you want an advance replacement, you need to put a CC hold down (this ensures we get the failed item back).

 

[PD1744]

Can you let us know your order #? Everybody knows we're insanely fast with getting back to people and we ALWAYS respond to inquiries. Also, how did you attempt to contact us? Phone/Email/Text? Let me know so I can look into it.

All my interactions were with Adam Daley through [email protected]. Original order number was #13808. I appreciate the response guys. I reached out at least 3 times with zero response regarding this last issue.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

All my interactions were with Adam Daley through [email protected]. Original order number was #13808. I appreciate the response guys. I reached out at least 3 times with zero response regarding this last issue.

The last email we got from you was dated 9/2/2020 at 2:26pm, which was your reply to our email we sent you at 2:24pm (we sent you a prepaid return label)

I do see another email dated 1/21 that you sent us a copy of. It was an email that you sent to Morimoto (so we didn't respond to that, we thought your dates were attempts to contact Morimoto, not us). I assumed you were looking to Morimoto for an ETA since you stated that the package arrived at their site January 7th (and we had nothing to do with that RMA or any knowledge of it)

Do you use gmail by chance? I know there were some gmail issues last year where customers could not send/receive emails to non-gmail folks. We had a lot of orders that came in where nobody got receipts or tracking #'s because of a gmail outage. Not sure if maybe that was around the same time? Possibly.

But based on your past experience with us, you know we respond right away to email so there was definitely some other issue going on where we did not get your emails.

Did you call us by chance when we didn't respond?

I would have appreciated it if you had called us us if you had issues rather then making a post claiming we didn't respond to you at all, and warning others to choose their vendors carefully. It makes it sound like we didn't do our job and we ignored you (not the case, as you actually know from your first issue with the Morimotos).

 

[PD1744]

You mentioned you dialed it down to a connector? That's a known issue across the board with Fords and aftermarket systems. The H13 connector on the Fords have 3 pins. You'd THINK they should all be centered, but in fact they should NOT be centered. We've had numerous customers email us experiencing issues and we've also experienced issued first hand. Where the H13 connector seems solid but the light does not come on. The fix to this is to move the pins off-center, so that they actually seat properly in the connector. An easy fix that solves the issue.

So that is probably what your issue is.

But as I said earlier, please let me know your order # because we always respond back to customers.

Regarding your issue with having to put down a deposit for a replacement... that's standard practice in the industry. We're charged for a replacement also from Morimoto (refunded upon return of the failed item). It's how we handle all RMA's. If you want to wait, you can send it in OR if you want an advance replacement, you need to put a CC hold down (this ensures we get the failed item back).
The last email we got from you was dated 9/2/2020 at 2:26pm, which was your reply to our email we sent you at 2:24pm (we sent you a prepaid return label)

I do see another email dated 1/21 that you sent us a copy of. It was an email that you sent to Morimoto (so we didn't respond to that, we thought your dates were attempts to contact Morimoto, not us). I assumed you were looking to Morimoto for an ETA since you stated that the package arrived at their site January 7th (and we had nothing to do with that RMA or any knowledge of it)

Do you use gmail by chance? I know there were some gmail issues last year where customers could not send/receive emails to non-gmail folks. We had a lot of orders that came in where nobody got receipts or tracking #'s because of a gmail outage. Not sure if maybe that was around the same time? Possibly.

But based on your past experience with us, you know we respond right away to email so there was definitely some other issue going on where we did not get your emails.

Did you call us by chance when we didn't respond?

I would have appreciated it if you had called us us if you had issues rather then making a post claiming we didn't respond to you at all, and warning others to choose their vendors carefully. It makes it sound like we didn't do our job and we ignored you (not the case, as you actually know from your first issue with the Morimotos).

Yes, pinpointed to the connectors on that side. Had to figure out the wiring schematic. Swapped headlights side to side, checked the truck side with a meter and was seeing everything I should be seeing. Pins on the Morimoto connector are extremely flimsy and get out of position very easily to the point where they could potentially bend and miss the socket. Definitely one of the issues I saw. Beyond that, there was something going on internally on the connector on the headlight side as the rubber isolator that keeps the pins separate was melting and deformed which shows me there was some arcing or shorting going on. Truck side connector showed discoloration of the socket to support that. I could have taken the connector apart and de-pinned and rechecked everything, but again, I don't feel like I should have had to have done that. I could get the headlamp to ignite by wiggling the harness but was unreliable. Meaning couldn't depend on it firing every time the switch closed or when flicking from high to low beam. The other connector that powers the blinker and C-Light was unreliable as well. There was this sweet spot that it worked in. Seat it too deep or too shallow and it didn't work.

Yes, that last email you received was putting y'all on copy only. Emails were sent on the dates above about attempting to contact y'all regarding my issue over the holidays. Waited a week in between the attempts to give y'all time to reply. And yes, Gmail, so could have been the issue.

And you're absolutely right. Until I felt like I was ghosted, you guys were doing awesome. But from a customer perspective, working through the same means of interactions we always have my perspective is this: First email comes in - "Ugh, this guy with a broken light AGAIN". Week with no answer, so ask again, and again no reply... "Well they must not want to deal with me". Since it was two attempts. I try not to be "that guy" and keep hounding and bugging people. Trust me, it's totally not who I am. And you're right, possibly a phone call could have cleared all of this up, but after over a week of no answer to a couple of attempts, I just felt like I was being ignored by that point, right or wrong, that was my perspective. Not to mention I'm a pick up the phone as a last resort guy. Some guys love calling and talking on the phone. Not me. I'm a "if you can text me or email me, then do that" kind of guy.

Again, not bashing. This is what happened. It's been my experience and my perspective. Could things have gone differently? Yes, probably. Can we go back and change this experience for me? I wish. I do appreciate you guys taking the time to respond here. Honestly.