A New Sofirn Customer, and then a Lost Sofirn Customer for Life

TLDR (And I don’t blame you for only reading the TLDR): Bought two Sofirn lights because of their reputation for great customer service. One, an SP31v3, arrived with the USB-C rubber port cover falling out immediately, making it useless for outdoor use where I work out in the rain. Instead of a straightforward warranty replacement, the AliExpress customer service team kept insisting I press it back in, offered an insulting $3 refund, mixed up my orders, contradicted themselves about refunds already “applied,” and gave inconsistent answers. Their AliExpress email support was nonexistent. I didn’t immediately return it and buy another one because the exact model suddenly jumped from about $36 to $66 at the time, so I tried resolving it through support instead. After going through multiple communication channels, including email and the company’s Reddit rep, the AliExpress team eventually circled back to offering either $6 compensation or me paying $10 shipping for a replacement without a battery. While that replacement option was not terrible, after 15 days of confusion, poor communication, and backtracking, I had no confidence left in dealing with them, especially if a replacement had issues. I’m done with Sofirn and went with Convoy instead.

Hello. I am here to share my customer service experience story with Sofirn. Many in this community in the past have shared what great customer service they've had with Sofirn if there were any issues with their flashlights, which was actually the reason I bought two of them: an SC13A and an SP31v3 in green with the 519a. These (and a Convoy T5 for my mother) were my first flashlights that I've acquired based on researching into the enthusiast community for flashlights. I used to use whatever flashlights I had on hand and were water resistant.

The SC13A is functioning perfectly, but the SP31v3’s rubber piece that prevents water from getting in fell out the very first time I opened it (see attached pictures). The SC13A I can tug on all day and it stays in its hole, but the SP31V3 just fell right out onto the ground/table the moment I went to inspect the USB-C port and charge it up.

I work out in the rain, so it is useless to me. The reason I didn’t simply refund and then order a replacement that way was because, in that brief moment in time, for whatever reason, that variant of the flashlight had jumped to $66 from the $36 (before coupons) I had paid for it a few weeks back, so I was not going that route at that moment in time. It later fixed itself, but by the time it did come back down to normal pricing, at that point I wanted to see where this quality of customer service would go, as I’ve never seen it so bad before.

I saw this as a warranty claim, and I heard great experiences from everyone who dealt with them over the years from 2 to 3 year old threads and beyond when I was researching which Sofirn lights I was going to purchase. So I felt quite relaxed going into this, and this has turned into one of the most blood boil inducing customer service experiences I’ve ever had. It’s been 15 or so days, and 14 of the 15 have been spent dealing with customer service over this.

First, upon contacting and them looking at the pictures, they said to try pressing it back in (which I already tried before contacting them). I then tried for 10 to 15 minutes putting it back in from every possible angle and even trying the paper clip method some people on this subreddit suggested to get it back in. It did not work.

I told them, “It’s pressed in from the factory. That’s why the end is fatter than the hole, so on paper it doesn’t come out, but it immediately failed. My SC13A is in there nice and tight. Not this one.” They then said again that it should be able to be pressed down, implying I am stupid and the one at fault here for not knowing how to put a machine pressed piece of rubber back into the slot when people on this subreddit in the past can attest to how difficult it is to get the rubber piece back in with them (even with the tricks previously mentioned), not able to get it back in the hole either. This implication of stupidity was also while calling me “friend” in the opening of their messages the entire time I have been dealing with them. This, while meant to be friendly and is more of a language barrier thing, came to subjectively feel more tongue in cheek at times.

They then offered a small discount or gift on my next purchase (which why the heck would I buy anything else if this is the quality of customer service I will receive?). The company representative insisted that there was nothing wrong with the flashlight itself so there was nothing that they could do (so the water resistance can be compromised, but as long as the light technically turns on, you'll get nothing, again I work out in the rain). I tell him I will have to go for the full refund and he replies, “Okay, friend. If you cannot accept our partial refund, you may apply for a return and refund instead of a refund only.”

At this point I am curious and ask what the partial refund would have been, and he comes back with the wrong order for a flashlight that I had cancelled previously asking if this is the flashlight we are talking about. I start questioning if they even know which flashlight I am talking about at this point. They then come back with the right order and offer $3 as a refund for a useless outside flashlight.

I was insulted by such a low offer despite my intentions to return it, especially after seeing that partial refund amount for a compromised flashlight. However, upon seeing the increase of the flashlight's price to $66 or so on the various listings (which meant that I couldn't simply return it and order another one in the configuration I wanted), I temporarily changed my mind and decided to go through other communication channels.

I then tried their email. Their email got back to me and said that this is the website email that deals with purchases made on their own Sofirn website. They then shared their AliExpress email. I have sent 3 to 4 emails to the AliExpress email to no response, coming back to the website email saying how they have not gotten back to me. The Sofirn website email then CC’d them personally and still nothing from them a week later. An amazing customer service email for the AliExpress customers it seems.

I also PM’d the Sofirn guy here on the subreddit explaining my situation saying that they would have a lost customer for life when all I wanted was a replacement. Sofirn_light then apologized for my “terrible after sale service” and said that they personally informed one of their colleagues and they should deal with my problem again.

They finally offered two improved resolutions, either a new flashlight without a battery for $10 as I would pay for the shipping (although they would later offer sending out a replacement rubber piece for free, which I know one is bigger and thus more expensive than the other, but they are willing to send out of their pocket the rubber piece that won't resolve the issue as it can't be pressed back in by a human. I know there is a weight and cost difference but I do not believe it is that much. Or a refund of 6 dollars on the current order while stating that they have already refunded me. They said specifically:

“We will send you a new flashlight without batteries. Are you willing to pay $10 for official shipping? Secondly, we have applied for a refund for you and will return $6 as compensation. Which option do you prefer?”

I was understandably confused as they used “secondly” implying that they had already applied a refund for me and the question then seemed to be -in addition to the full refund would you like an additional 6 dollar coupon / compensation or a second flashlight without a battery for 10 shipping in addition to the refund?- At least that’s how I interpreted it when I think they meant to say “Second, we can apply for a refund for you and will return $6 as compensation.”

I then sent a message back asking for clarity on how it was worded and what they meant by
“they had already refunded me, but what option would I prefer?”. The person replying did not read the previous communication because after offering these improved solutions (the first option would be the best if I was not so done with the company itself), another representative comes on the next night and starts saying that we inspect every flashlight to make sure it is good (you could have opened the USB port once and would have found out), implying it was my fault again and changed the terms back to a $3 compensation OR ship out a new rubber piece for me to put in the flashlight that is machine pressed and is not meant for a human to put in.

I repeat the previous improved two option message back to him the next night. They then apologize saying, “We conduct batch inspections before shipping, so there may be some defective products,” implying that the fault was on their end and not mine for once. They then say that the refund was a $6 refund that they AGAIN state that have already applied a refund for me and ask if I want a $6 compensation to let them know. For the record, I have NOT received any refund on the order yet either, it still says $30.51 with no refund showing up when you open up the order. They also said that they would review previous communications and come up with new solutions.

I waited three days and then messaged asking if they have reviewed the previous communications and had any new solutions. They write back saying they are waiting on me to pick one of the two options despite saying the following:

“So before replying to the previous message, We will review the previous communication and then discuss new options for you to choose from. We hope to negotiate a more reasonable solution with you.” There is more to the message trying to clarify the second option of a six dollar refund but that quote was the core point that I waited on since they said they were going to review the previous communication.

After repeating back to them what they said, they came back with a picture with a red arrow pointing at the message that I repeated back to them, stating “we are here to inform you of our intention to address your questions and provide an explanation. So, would you accept a refund of $6, or are you willing to pay $10 for us to resend a new flashlight without battery?” If those are the two solutions you’re going to give, that's fine, but don’t say we will look into the previous communications and come back with a new solution as we wish to negotiate with you and then…not at all.

I am done at this point, and if all of this sounds convoluted and long winded, yeah tell me about it. I have gone with two Convoys instead of Sofirn as my mother’s Convoy T5 that I got her at about the same time (as she wanted something very noticable and you could get it in orange) works great and is quite happy with it. And it will be nice to know that if there is something gone wrong, I am dealing with a single person, Simon.

You have lost a customer for life Sofirn. All you had to do was copy your darn homework from over the years based on people's experiences on this subreddit and provide great customer service. They could have simply said, “Return it and buy another one from us, if the other one is more expensive, when it gets here, we’ll refund the difference plus $3 to $6 for your troubles, does that sound good?”

The most they suggested was return it entirely and we will never see you again, refund it partially (an absolute pittance for an on arrival faulty flashlight), or a coupon toward a future purchase, which I would never want to do since your AliExpress customer service is so accusatory and unhelpful.

The closest to a good solution was another flashlight being shipped out for $10 and keep the old one, but:

A. I already have indoor flashlights.
B. I could simply at this point return it and get another one (thank God).
C. The AliExpress customer service is so unhelpful and rage inducing that I would not even come close to considering it, especially if in the event that somehow this replacement also had something different that was faulty beyond the charging port rubber, I would be screwed. It is unlikely something would be wrong with the replacement, but after this experience I would most certainly not want to take that chance.

Sofirn_light here on Reddit did the most and got the Ali team the closest to getting to good customer service so shout outs to them, but the AliExpress team itself left much to be desired.

If they offered the solution initially that Sofirn_light had gotten them to do (the $10 dollars for another flashlight without a battery when they were briefly $66 bucks for whatever reason), I probably would have taken it and been overall a happy customer. Again, I had no use for the old faulty rubber flashlight, but maybe I could have gotten a battery at some point and given it to someone else for their home flashlight.

I don’t know if their website team is a lot better, but it’s too late now. I’m not coming back.

So long “Friend”.