I will NEVER... EVER... buy from Umnitza again

[italy430]

***Class-action lawsuit information included below in thread***

Just like the title says, I will never buy from them again. They seem to run a shady, scam type of business with very poor business practices and HORRIBLE customer service, yet they say they have "devilishly good" service.

I will tell you about my situation with Umnitza and will include photos, videos and a complete email transcript of my conversation with Umnitza. The email attached is a 30 page long Word document which includes the dates and times of emails and is only there to back up my statements in this post. It doesn't include every single email conversation that I have had with Umnitza but the "Gmail conversation" attached is whole and complete in its entirety, I have only removed my last name, email address and mailing address for privacy concerns. I haven't modified Umnitza's emails at all since all their contact information is public. I am not trying to hide anything and will be fully honest about everything. I'm just telling the facts about what happened.

I bought the headlights December 24th, 2008. When I first received them I noticed that there were a number of things wrong with them. I should first say that one of the problems I say in the email is that they shipped both female ends but I found out that they had shipped the proper ends, I just didn’t put them together properly at first. I first noticed that the ballasts were damage with huge dents all over on both sides of both ballasts. These ballasts are made of very strong aluminum it looks like and you would have to smash them with a hammer or screwdriver to make these kind of dents. Pictures included. There were also other parts on it that were broken and the light bulb had fallen out because it was not proper secured and had been scratched from rolling around in the shipping box. I had these replaced and eventually got them in my hands. Umnitza also claims that one package kept getting bounced by USPS because of an “invalid” address, yet previous parts from Umnitza, as well as every other USPS, UPS, FedEx package I’ve had shipped to the address worked perfectly. It’s Ship Happens in Sumas, WA which is a mail handler and since I live in Canada it’s easier to have it shipped to Sumas and go across the border and pick it up. I eventually paid to have it shipped to Canada but I do find it quite strange that all of a sudden it just didn’t work. I still don’t know what happened and in no way was I trying to “blame” Umnitza for USPS bouncing it, which I stated to them many times throughout the email, but Umnitza instead refused to reply to my other concerns and only focuses on the fact that they believe it wasn’t their fault for the shipping. Unprofessional, poor service.

If you start reading on page 21 with the email on Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 3:22 PM you will get to the meat of the email. You will be able to tell that I had gotten very frustrated with the horrible service and the very unprofessional attitude that Umnitza was using to deal with the situation. They had tried to blame the damage to the lights on shipping and that it wasn’t their fault when the lights were wrapped extremely well with bubble wrap and thick foam pieces surrounding it and with zero damage to even the fragile cardboard box that it was packed in. Being very firm I laid out what exactly was false advertising with the help of a friend who is a legal assistant and requested that I have these returned with a full refund. I was then accused of blackmail by Umnitza because I stated in the email that I would also be posting on the forums about my experience, which by the way I didn’t, this will be my first post regarding this. I then corrected him in the next email with the proper legal definition of blackmail as well as extortion to make sure I covered everything. As you might be able to tell, this is a very unprofessional manner to deal with customers, especially of accusing a customer of blackmail, a serious criminal offence. After my email on Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 4:47 PM I was then told that Matt, the owner of Umnitza, would contact me Friday to discuss this.

On the phone I discussed with Matt that I was very unhappy with the service and that I wanted a refund. Matt remarked that I seemed a lot nicer on the phone than the emails that he must have read before calling me. I told Matt that yes I am, and I’m a reasonable guy but I don’t like to be screwed around with and if I need to I would take legal action. So we talked and we worked out a deal that Umnitza would give me a new headlight assembly, a mistake on my part. So eventually I got the headlight and started putting them in. I’ve run into nothing but problems (what’s new?!) while trying to install them and even took it to my indy shop and my main mechanic I always go to for everything said he wouldn’t touch it and to take it back to where I got it from. Then I noticed that the right xenon light stopped working completely. I was absolutely infuriated. I just sent Matt at Umnitza an email requesting that I have them refunded and that I will be contacting a consumer agency if I don’t have a reply within 2 weeks from September 13, 2009.

I understand that I have made a few mistakes with dealing with a company like this and being able to look over the whole situation there are many things I would change, like I would have demanded a refund from the start. However, I’m sure you will be able to see why I am very frustrated with this and hopefully I’ll be able to resolve this soon without having to deal with lawyers, as it is just more of a headache for me as well as for Umnitza.

I also understand that Umnitza seems to be very well regarded. In fact, one of my friends bought Angel eyes from Umnitza and is very pleased with them. However, I have been able to find more than a few people on the internet, like myself, that have had some bad experiences with Umnitza. I have since ordered OEM xenon replacement headlights from Tischer BMW, which are listed at $1855.86, which is more than THREE times the list price of $609.98 from Umnitza for the headlights I ordered. I have no problem spending the money to buy something good and I will continue to buy OEM as I have had pretty much nothing but problems with the majority of my aftermarket purchases. Nothing beats OEM fit and quality!!

The reason for this post is to gain some support and to inform the public of a problem with Umnitza, similar to filing a complaint with the California Department of Consumer Affairs or BBB.org.

Media, 30 page Gmail conversion in Word format and website receipt for Umnitza purchase:

http://picasaweb.google.com/leslie.j...eat=directlink

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d...5965eaa7bc68bc

[O-cha]

cliff notes pleas.

[KevinC]

Summary: you bought cheap, offshore, unsafe, likely non-DOT-approved lighting, got what you paid for (crap), and are now unhappy. Lesson learned, hopefully. 30-page letter? Dude, cut your losses and move on. NOBODY here is going to read your 30-page diatribe, I can assure you.

[Hawkeye]

^ I agree with that guy.

I don't even think you can get headlights from a junkyard for $600... The price alone should have been a good indicator.

I am surprised they didn't cut their losses sooner and just refund your money!

[Dammmittt]

Originally Posted by KevinC

Summary: you bought cheap, offshore, unsafe, likely non-DOT-approved lighting, got what you paid for (crap), and are now unhappy. Lesson learned, hopefully. 30-page letter? Dude, cut your losses and move on. NOBODY here is going to read your 30-page diatribe, I can assure you.

Thanks for the summary, no way I was reading all that.

[italy430]

Dear italy430,

umnitza has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - I will NEVER... EVER... buy from Umnitza again - in the Vendor Comments & Supporting Vendor Info presented by Dell forum of Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum.

This thread is located at:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...9&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
All our emails are confidential and proprietary between us and the customer. Even despite this, the email stream only shows how big of an effort was made to meet all your demands: we never wavered from our professionalism in solving your issues.

Often, what ends up being lost in translation is the fact that the products you are/may purchase from either us or other vendors are invariably replicas of OE parts and/or custom built to order parts that take time to assemble. While we make every conceivable effort to ensure they meet the OE parts standards, some customers cannot be pleased.

One thing you need to be aware of is our return policy does not accept parts that have been installed (and used for over 4 months), however, we were of course willing to help you with the product problem you were experiencing.

There will be no refund offered for parts that were installed on your car however if you want to discuss this via phone only, we'll be happy to do so.
***************


There may also be other replies, but you will not receive any more notifications until you visit the forum again.

All the best,
Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

it seems Umnitza's response somehow got deleted so I posted it back up with my response...

"Often, what ends up being lost in translation is the fact that the products you are/may purchase from either us or other vendors are invariably replicas of OE parts and/or custom built to order parts that take time to assemble." .... I don't believe there is anything lost in the translation whatsoever. You said that perfectly yet, like every response I seem to get from you, it NEVER directly answers my concerns about your company.

I will try and make this as clear and direct as possible so that I, as well as the ppl on this and other forums will be able to see that you really are trying to the best of your ability to assist your customers in their needs and concerns...... Please explain why I was shipped damaged ballasts. I do not need to hear that they aren't OEM parts and that you have other vendors that supply you. You advertised on your site a specific product that was "assumed" to be brand new and in perfect working condition and was advertised as being non-OEM. And "assumed" can be legally used from all the evidence I've documented so far. It is without a doubt that you are responsible for your final product that you provide the customer. I cannot imagine shipping a customer a clearly damaged product even if I had received the product, damaged, from my vendor.

A couple reasons I just ran over re-reading the email that shows that you DID NOT do your best to help (this is not a full representation of the problems or concerns I have with Umnitza):

1) I informed you that I had not received my clear film protectors for my headlights that I ordered at the same time. I sent the email on Jan 21, 2009 and to this date have still not received them. (You can add that to the refund amount.)

2) I asked you to provide me with a receipt showing that the value of the goods I was paying for was $0 for the replacement headlight you shipped so that I wouldn't have to pay Canada Customs twice for the same headlight. You did not provide me with any such receipt.

3) I should also point out that the interior LED lighting "kit" that I ordered and in the first part of the email said I wanted to return is because they didn't have enough bulbs in the "kit", the bulbs that they did have, most did not fit and/or had something wrong with the connectors and the "kit" I'm referring too is actually a small, worn out, clear plastic baggie with the lights just dumped in, rubbing against each other with no protection. Again, very misleading with your advertising. Umnitza, take a look at Bimmian, they know how to put a proper interior LED lighting "kit" together. And I didn't make a fuss about this to Umnitza. Umnitza also claimed this interior LED lighting kit has OEM fit and finish....

4) The turn signal lights that I ordered from Umnitza claim that they have OEM fit and finish. They DO NOT have OEM fit and finish! Again, I did not make a fuss about this. http://www.umnitza.com/depo-front-tu...ked-p-329.html

5) The LED tail lights that I ordered also claim OEM fit and finish, no error messages, complete plug and play, 1 year warranty and no dealer reflash required. Perfect!!... if only it was actually true. They barely have OEM fit and finish, better than the turn signals and headlights tho, I have error messages that even the dealer couldn't put out, obviously not plug and play then, and speaking of the 1 year warranty I have a whole row of LED lights in my left tail light burnt out as well as a row in my left rear turn signal. Please ship me replacement bulbs. If you would like pictures or anything like that I can send you some. http://www.umnitza.com/eagle-eyes-ta...nly-p-323.html

6) Not only has every single product that I've purchased from Umnitza had multiple problems with it, Umnitza has had extremely poor customer service and I'm sure will all the above information I don't need to go into the false advertising on Umnitza's part or the fact that I'm extremely frustrated with this company. I'm sure anyone in my current situation would be as well. And then one of my xenon lights stopped working and after fiddling with it for about 1 hour I couldn't get it to work so I decided that was it and sent and email to Umnitza which they still have not replied to, and posted on the forums.

You state that you have a 4 month return policy and that you don't accept products that have been installed. You forgot to state in that policy what happens when you sell false advertised products. I have more than enough reasons to demand a refund and I will keep pursuing this.

If this whole issue is not resolved by September 28, 2009 I will take further action.

This reply will be posted to the other forum sites as well as emailing a copy of it to Umnitza. If Umnitza would like to contact me by phone they may do so and have my contact information. You may coordinate a time with me to talk on the phone by email.

[KevinC]

World's worst customer, buying a crummy product = train wreck in the making. Nothing to see here, drive through, thank you.

[155MPH]

jeez....I am too ADHD to pay attention to this thread.....

[Car_Girl]

I made it thru the first sentence of paragraph 3 and called it quits. If anything, the original post probably made italy430 feel a little better getting to vent about the whole situation.

Moral of the story is that you often (and unfortunately) get what you pay for. Use local vendors (within your own country) saves on the customs issue or vendors wholeheartedly supported by forums like these and do your research thru recommendations of others for quality products and service. You give yourself a better chance of not running into such a bummer situation.

Better luck next time...

[WhoU4]

Originally Posted by Car_Girl

I made it thru the first sentence of paragraph 3 and called it quits. If anything, the original post probably made italy430 feel a little better getting to vent about the whole situation.

Moral of the story is that you often (and unfortunately) get what you pay for. Use local vendors (within your own country) saves on the customs issue or vendors wholeheartedly supported by forums like these and do your research thru recommendations of others for quality products and service. You give yourself a better chance of not running into such a bummer situation.

Better luck next time...

+1!

[KevinC]

There's just no free lunch when it comes to lighting upgrades. Most of the aftermarket stuff is cheap Asian knockoff crap, almost never DOT-approved, and often downright dangerous. Downgrading one's lighting, whether for cosmetic purposes or perceived "improvement", is insane. If it's cheap, RUN. The only way to do this right is to go OEM.

[tom @ eas]

Nothing new. Here's some threads to reference from from similiar situations:

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum...hlight=umnitza
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum...hlight=umnitza

Hope your situation gets resolved.

[italy430]

I'm considering a class-action lawsuit against Umnitza seeing as there are many people short money or product from Umnitza and I continue to find even more stories of it. It'd be more beneficial for everyone doing a class-action rather than trying to have all individual settlements.

If you have been or do know of anyone who has been screwed over by Umnitza, send them this info and get in contact with me, PM me. I'll be meeting with a lawyer in Seattle, WA on Monday to discuss the idea of a class-action lawsuit as well as an individual settlement.

As of now, Umnitza has told me they refuse to continue talking over email and I told Umnitza that I'd be willing to discuss things over the phone only if I recorded the calls. They rejected that. Funny how they don't want to discuss anything where it can be kept on record! Also, people that have contacted Umnitza, have you noticed their little speech at the end of all emails? It says everything in the email is protected under a US law. Interesting that, with all the companies I've dealt with before, I can't remember any one of them stating that in their emails. And especially from a company that deals with selling lights for cars! I could maybe see it from a lawyer or some sort of high class legal company but not Umnitza. Just little signs to watch out for.

[flpnout]

Unfortunately they are located here in Northern Cal. Back in 2004 I got a pair of Angel eyes for my E46 M3 and I told them I would rather pick it up since there phone number was in the 925 area code. Matt gave me the address and had me come over. At that time he was running his business from his garage with lots of Fedex boxes everywhere. Anyways, my driver side halos only lasted 6 months. Cheap products! They seem like they have there own little headlight assembly going on in that garage as I saw so many headlights being modified to have halos. I never bought from them again.