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Adam W

I recently ordered some LED tape to try out at home; I've used it at work and it can produce a nice, subtle effect.

After shopping around the net I ordered it from a company called 'SimpleLighting', or 'Trade Lighting'.
According to their website they do next day delivery if ordered before 3pm and if you call them they'll solder the ends for you, otherwise you'll get a continuous length up to 6m. If you spend any length of time on the website a box pops up and someone asks you if you need any help, like an annoying shop assistant. I asked about part lengths and they said it'd be easier to order over the phone.

The guy on the phone didn't seem to know what he was talking about - he had to keep going and talking to 'the technical team' and he right royally stuffed up my order. He said they used tri-rated singles and not flex (or rather I asked), so I said I'd do the soldering myself. I asked if they could send me a bit of heatshrink but they said no they don't sell it separately.

I ordered 3m warm white, 1.65m IP65 warm white, 4 surface mounted extrusions, 1 recessed extrusion and end caps for each length.

They sent a confirmation of the order which had the wrong lengths of extrusion on it, which they said they'd change and refund accordingly. There was nothing on the order summary about cutting or soldering, and the LED tape was described as 'warm white/white/blue'.

Even though I ordered just before 3pm Thursday I didn't get the order until Saturday, which isn't the next day.
They sent separate 1m lengths of LED tape, 1 warm white (not IP rated) with a tail soldered onto it, and 4 blue, stuck into the extrusion with tails soldered on with about 10mm insulation showing out of the ends, which isn't what I wanted at all. Fair enough they're 12v SELV, but it just looks unprofessional. They didn't send any end caps for the recessed extrusion and the others were wrong.

I let them know about all the mistakes which they put down to 'a strange miscommunication', and it was agreed I'd return the whole lot for a refund but I couldn't just take it into a Post Office or delivery depot, I'd have to wait in for them to collect it between 9 and 5, which is what I'm doing now. I explained it would be inconvenient but the guy wouldn't do anything about it, he just kept apologising.
In the end I got the impression he wasn't taking it seriously.

I tried putting a review on Trust Pilot but it wouldn't accept my order ID. Strangely enough they have a satisfaction rating of 9.6....


I'm certainly not going to use SimpleLighting/Trade Lighting again; can anyone recommend a decent supplier of LED tape?
 
Strange, we use Simple lighting all the time, and do shop installs for them, never had a problem.

its like any company there are idiots in a lot.

for example when I was after some micc gear I asked for the resident ex electrician and he sorted me out in a couple mins.

if you explain what you are trying to do he will recommend alternatives if they are either **** or there is a better way to do it
 
True - any company is only as good as it's staff. Chances are this guy I spoke to was new - as I say he didn't seem to know what he was doing.
It could be if I had spoken to someone else the order would have been spot on, but I'm not prepared to risk it.

They haven't had many bad reviews on Trust Pilot (my suspicious side says it may have something to do with the problem I had where my order ID wasn't recognised so I couldn't post a review), but the bad reviews which are there are really bad.
The MD has replied to them, mostly dismissing them as 'unfair'.
 
Ledridge are good based in Leicester.
Thanks Matt. Have you used them personally? I emailed them and they said they only deal with large accounts, ie wholesalers. I'm not averse to ordering though Edmundsons if they can come up with a good price.
 
me, i'm not so ostentatious. i just use insulation tape of the approriate colour. can't see the need to illuminate it.:-------:
 
Update:
It turned out I couldn't leave a review because I was trying to leave it under 'Simple Lighting', which is one of 3 trading names of 'Trade Lighting.
I left a stinking review, then about an hour later Chris the MD called me with an apology and an explanation; the kid I'd been dealing with was new, he'd been with them for 5 days. He agreed with me that they should have sent out a postage paid label instead of having me waiting in all day. I forget the exact reason but it was something to do with insurance. Either way I didn't actually need to be in - they didn't even ask for a signature.

At the end of the call he asked if I'd already ordered from another supplier, which I hadn't. He offered to resend the order free of charge, with delivery before midday, so that was a bit of a result.
I adjusted my review accordingly.
 
Well on the bright side at least it sounds like they're serious about addressing dissatisfied customer complaints which suggests they're a company that's planning to be around for a while and improve.
 
Update:
It turned out I couldn't leave a review because I was trying to leave it under 'Simple Lighting', which is one of 3 trading names of 'Trade Lighting.
I left a stinking review, then about an hour later Chris the MD called me with an apology and an explanation; the kid I'd been dealing with was new, he'd been with them for 5 days. He agreed with me that they should have sent out a postage paid label instead of having me waiting in all day. I forget the exact reason but it was something to do with insurance. Either way I didn't actually need to be in - they didn't even ask for a signature.

At the end of the call he asked if I'd already ordered from another supplier, which I hadn't. He offered to resend the order free of charge, with delivery before midday, so that was a bit of a result.
I adjusted my review accordingly.

We all make mistakes. It's what you do to put it right that matters and, as Marvo said, customer service is paramount.
 
I`m glad to hear you had a result....Chris is a really customer focused guy, and we use them alot for panel lighting, as well as working for them in the south, fault finding. Although their tech team are more product knowledge than lighting experts, Andrew and Will are the best guys to ask for on info
 
I`m glad to hear you had a result....Chris is a really customer focused guy, and we use them alot for panel lighting, as well as working for them in the south, fault finding. Although their tech team are more product knowledge than lighting experts, Andrew and Will are the best guys to ask for on info
That was certainly the impression I got; as Marvo and jaypp said mistakes do happen, but what makes the best companies stand out from the rest is the way they rectify their mistakes.
 

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