Fenix
reviews and complaints

BEWARE! I contacted the company, but Fenix store will only let ya return a battery within 15 days! Now I'm stuck with a battery I'll never use. It's a real bummer, ya know? I mean, who can decide if they wanna keep a battery in just 15 days? Life gets busy, man. Sometimes ya don't even get a chance to try it out properly. And now, here I am, with this useless battery, gathering dust on my shelf. It's like throwing money down the drain, ya feel me?

I gotta say, it's a shame 'cause I've heard good things 'bout Fenix store. They're known for their quality products, especially when it comes to batteries. But this return policy, man, it's a real letdown. I wish they were more flexible, ya know? Like, give us customers a fair chance to test out the product and decide if it's worth keepin'.

Now, I ain't sayin' Fenix store is all bad. Nah, they got a wide range of products to choose from, and their website is pretty easy to navigate. Plus, their customer service was decent when I reached out to 'em. They responded in a timely manner and were polite enough. But this whole return policy thing just puts a damper on the whole experience, ya know?

So, if you're thinkin' 'bout buyin' somethin' from Fenix store, just be aware of their strict return policy. Make sure ya really want that battery or whatever it is you're buyin'. 'Cause once ya hit that 15-day mark, there's no turnin' back. You'll be stuck with it, just like me. And trust me, it ain't a good feelin'.

Overall, Fenix store has its pros and cons. They offer quality products and have a user-friendly website. But their return policy is a major downside, especially for folks like me who need more time to decide. So, think twice before makin' a purchase, my friend. Make sure ya won't end up like me, stuck with a useless battery.

I gotta say, I've been having some serious trouble with Fenix. I mean, seriously, I've called them twice today and still haven't gotten a call back. And it's not just today, I've tried reaching out before and asked for a call back, but guess what? Never got one. Can you believe it?

To make matters worse, my order is just sitting there on hold for who knows what reason. And try as I might, I can't seem to get a straight answer from them. It's like they don't even care about customer service or anything. I mean, come on, isn't that supposed to be part of their business?

Honestly, if you're thinking about using Fenix and you actually want some decent service, I'd say steer clear. It's just not worth the hassle. Trust me, I've learned my lesson the hard way.

I just bought two super pricey head lights from Fenix (fenix-store.com). The models I got were the HM65R+EO1 V2.0. I specifically requested that the boxes not be opened or tampered with since they were intended to be gifts. But guess what? When they finally arrived, one of the boxes was completely torn apart and it looked like someone had played around with the item inside before putting it back in the box. I'm fuming with anger right now because I clearly told them not to open the boxes. I even took the time to send them an email explaining that I'm disabled and it's a huge hassle for me to go out and ship the items back. On top of that, I no longer have any interest in keeping their products. But you know what? Customer service has been completely unresponsive. It's just another example of a company like Fenix, doing business in China, taking advantage of us poor Americans. It's infuriating, I tell ya.

I gotta say, all those people talking trash about Fenix and their reliability, they don't know what they're talking about! Let me tell you, these heavy-duty lights are the real deal! Right now, I got my hands on the TK20r, and let me tell ya, this thing is solid as a rock! It's built like a brick s--thouse, I tell ya!

The tubing on this bad boy is thicker than anything Nitecore or Thrunite can come up with. And let me tell ya, the dual rear switches on this thing, it's some awesome engineering right there! Fenix really knows how to make responsive switches, they're the best in the game, hands down!

And you know what? These lights don't cost more than Nitecore or Acebeam. They're right up there with the competition, price-wise. So don't go thinking you gotta break the bank to get yourself a Fenix torch.

I've got five of these babies, and let me tell ya, they're still working like a charm. Not a single hitch, my friend! So all those haters out there, spreading rumors and slandering this company's name, they need to stop! Fenix is the real deal, and I'm sticking with them for life!

FENIX FOR LIFE, my friends!

I had a RC-15 that stopped working. I contacted the warranty department at Fenix and to make the story shorter I was sent an RC-20 as a replacement for the RC15. I wish I had gotten a RC-20 because I had several chargers for that model, but apparently no RC20's were available, for what ever reason. The first RC-20 was DOA. Back and forth with the warranty, trying to establish if it was the light or the battery. To me this is non-sense. Things breaking down is a fact of life, DOA is lack of quality control. Second one is sent in, I forgot what the problem was, but it didn't work either ( this has been about a year or so ago). I don't feel that I should have to keep a detailed log with every event for something as mundane as a flashlight. Third one is sent, a return label was issued, previous 2 lights are sent back to manufacturer. Well, I thought 3rd time is a charm. Not by any means. The problems I see with the RC-20 is that it didn't fit the old chargers, I'm not sure so much changing is actually better, not in my case. The location of the switch on the end cap, is not my favorite location because I'm old and the thumbs hurt to activate or change to light settings. Having 2 switches on the back cap, may work in theory, but in reality it is hard to do it. Light intensity keeps getting changed unintentionaly, I have big hands and almost impossible to reliably work the 2 switches as intended. Good idea, horrible execution There is on good point, one can check battery level with display LED, between charging poles.
And now for the final act, this freaking light has an intermittent problem, sometimes it turns on, or not turn on, then it doesn't turn off, or goes into strobe mode, all this at random. As far as use for as a tactical light it is a big zero. If you need to have something that must daze someone, or permit you to be concealed, forget this thing.
The last thing that you need is to have something that goes into flashing mode, when you don't want others to know where you are. I don't know if this is bad luck, poor design, execution of the project, or just cutting corners to be more profitable. Warranty department handling of the claim wasn't as smooth as I had from other light companies. Turn around however wasn't so bad.
I"m now back to contact the repair/warranty department and see what happens.
Definitely not a model that I would recommend, on the other hand the RC-15 worked very hard for a few years.

Review:
So, I had this RC-15 flashlight from Fenix, right? It suddenly stopped working, and I was like, "What the heck?" So, I reached out to Fenix's warranty department, hoping they could help me out. And guess what? They sent me an RC-20 as a replacement! I was kinda bummed though because I had a bunch of chargers for the RC-15, but apparently, they didn't have any RC-20s available. Bummer, right?

But here's where things went downhill. The first RC-20 they sent me was dead on arrival. Like, seriously? I had to go back and forth with the warranty department, trying to figure out if it was the light or the battery causing the issue. And honestly, that's just nonsense to me. I mean, things breaking down is a part of life, but getting a dead flashlight right out of the box? That's just poor quality control, man.

So, they sent me a second RC-20, and I can't even remember what was wrong with it, but it didn't work either. This was like a year ago or something. And let me tell you, I don't think I should have to keep a detailed log of every single event for a simple flashlight. That's just too much, you know?

Anyway, they finally sent me a third one, and they even gave me a return label to send back the previous two lights. I thought, "Okay, third time's the charm!" But nope, not even close. The RC-20 has some serious issues, man. First off, it doesn't fit my old chargers, which is a bummer. I mean, why change so much? Sometimes, change isn't always better, especially in my case.

And let's talk about the switch on the end cap. It's not in my favorite spot, you know? I'm getting old, and my thumbs hurt when I try to activate or change the light settings. And don't even get me started on the two switches on the back cap. It's like they had a good idea, but the execution was just horrible. I have big hands, and it's nearly impossible to work those switches properly. It's frustrating, man.

Okay, okay, I'll give them one good point. You can check the battery level with the display LED between the charging poles. That's kinda cool, I guess.

But here's the kicker. This freaking light has an intermittent problem. Sometimes it turns on, sometimes it doesn't. And when it does turn on, it doesn't turn off when I want it to. It even goes into strobe mode randomly. Like, seriously? This is supposed to be a tactical light, but it's a big fat zero in that department. If you need something to disorient someone or stay hidden, forget about this thing. The last thing you want is a flashlight that starts flashing when you're trying to stay low-key, you know?

I don't know if it's just bad luck, poor design, or if they were cutting corners to make more money. But let me tell you, the warranty department didn't handle my claim as smoothly as other light companies I've dealt with. However, the turnaround time wasn't too bad, so that's something.

Now, I'm back to contacting the repair/warranty department to see what they can do. But honestly, I wouldn't recommend this model to anyone. On the other hand, the RC-15 worked really well for me for a few years.

If you buy a headlamp from Fenix, you would expect it to be durable and worth the $100 price tag. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The quality and durability of their headlamps are disappointing. You might think that their great warranty would cover any durability issues, but you would be wrong again.

I purchased the HM61R right-angled headlamp, and while the actual light itself is decent, the problem lies in the construction and design flaws of the headlamp. They chose a cheap plastic bracket as the attachment point for the light, instead of using a metal bracket like their competitor, Nitecore, does with their HC35. The metal design of Nitecore is much more durable compared to Fenix's design. I've been using the Nitecore with the metal bracket for over 2 years now, while the Fenix broke after just a couple of months. It's disappointing that I didn't notice this before purchasing, but I can't entirely blame myself.

The reviews on their website are either fake or selectively chosen to make the products seem better than they actually are. I left an honest review about my experience with the light and their customer service, but it was taken down within a couple of hours. It's clear that they filter out negative reviews, which is deceptive and unfair to customers.

Now, let's talk about their customer service and warranty experience. It was terrible, to say the least. When the plastic bracket on my headlamp broke, I called customer service expecting them to send me a new one. After all, it's just a piece of plastic, right? Well, according to their warranty, the bracket is considered an accessory and not covered. I find this absolutely wrong because a headlamp is defined by the bracket that holds it to your head. Without it, it's just a right-angle flashlight. So essentially, I paid $100 for a right-angle flashlight, not a headlamp.

When I explained this to the customer service agent, they said there was nothing they could do because it's considered an accessory. I find this unacceptable. I'm now considering returning my newest order with them because I can't support a company with such deceptive customer service and warranty practices. They don't even offer the bracket for sale on their website, and when I asked about purchasing it, they said it wasn't available. It's frustrating to deal with all of this on top of the time and money I've already invested.

I hope that by sharing my experience, I can warn others about this company's deceptive practices. It's clear that their customer service and warranty are a scam. I might even start making YouTube videos reviewing lights, including this one, to further expose their unethical behavior. Unless they make things right, I won't be recommending Fenix to anyone. Shame on them for taking advantage of customers and not standing behind their products.

Attached is a photo of the bracket with a makeshift plastic welding job I did to make it a headlamp again. Since I couldn't order a replacement part or get it warranted, I had to come up with a solution myself. It's not ideal, but it works for now. I don't know how long it will hold up, but it's a temporary fix considering the lack of options. Anyway, I hope you have a better experience than I did. Avoid Fenix for now until they improve their practices, if they ever do.