Sunlight Saunas review: Sunlight Saunas Scam, Overpriced Junk, Chinese Made, 30% Return FEE! 34

I disagree. I had nothing but a good experience with Sunlight Sauna's customer service. My sauna has a beautiful cedar smell and I use it daily. I could not live without it and recommend it highly. I have never seen a negative review on this sauna before, so I suggest anyone reading this toss this review to the wind. - Karen Van Cleef, Founder ToothSoap dot com

So did you actually ever try the sauna? These are fabulous and I love them. Their customer service is wonderful. It may definitely be prefereable if everything were made in the US (I'm not sure what is or isn't) but this product is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to the health benefits I've received.

I also disagree, I bought my three person cedar Sunlight sauna in 2007 and love it. It has performed flawlessly and has been everything i expected. I am sorry yo hear your experience was less than satisfactory.

Rick Brunson

For those of you with the sunlight saunas, how long does it take to heat up? My NEW unit is taking 1 1/2 hours to get to 128.

Jason S.

I bought our sunlight sauna in 2007 and we LOVE it! I also had a problem with the sauna taking about 45 minutes to heat up, i called our power company and they came out and put monitors on our meter and detected that we had insufficient power coming into the house from the main transformer. They installed a new transformer and it solved the problem, the sauna now heats up in about 15 minutes.

we odered our impluse spa back in August of 2010. Still haven't received the spa, but they did take our money. First they said it would be delivered at the end of January 2011, now they say that nobody made that promise and our spa won't be avaiable until aroud April or May of this year 2011. Why advertise for a spa you don't even have until 5-8 months away and still don't know if it will be delivered. Anyone ordering a new spa should check if it is avaiable and in stock, not still being made in Vietnam. Not very happy with thisw company on their honesty. Norm Florez, CA.

Sunlighten Saunas are a ripoff, I have had two boards burn and replaced.The first time
I replaced myself, the second time they said they would send an electician.Never happened.
After they sent the new board without a new powercord I have called several times.So far
I have received two powercords.Guess what.Neither of them are the correct cords.They dont
even know what cords go with what sauna.Brian, Brooke and Pat are of no help.Pat even had the nerve to laugh about it.Whatever you do spend the extra money and Dont buy a
sauna from Sunlighten.You will be sorry.One month later my sauna still doesn't work.They
say it wont catch my house on fire.Do you want to take that chance?

I am confused:( I am trying to buy one but not sure anymore. I want know If all products made in japan? because I don't trust chines products anyone can answer this for me? Thanks

I spend two months each year on business in China. The short story regarding China and the products it produces ranges from the best consumer grade tools and high end clothing to inexpensive value based products. To summarily discount all products made in China will put you at a decided disadvantage as you make your purchase decisions.

My three person Sunlight sauna has been used approximately twice a week since October 2007 and I have had no problems. It has served me well, however it does take around 45 minutes to get up to 140 degrees. I recommend the three person sauna as you can lay down and fall asleep listening to music or the radio. The two and four person do not have room to lie down ... which is important to me. I have heard Sunlight changed ownership in the past few years but I don't know the details.

Lastly, I live in Mexico in the winter and will most likely retire there in the next 10 years. At that time I intend to disassemble my Sunlight and take it to Mexico.

The mPulse is a terrible product so far and customer service is taking forever to fix the issues. I created a Facebook page to post all the issues. Like it if you have experienced similar problems. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunlighten-Saunas-Suck/196791760344224

To All:

I am an Attorney and represent Sunlighten. The "Complaints" posted hereon appear to be HOAXES or--worse yet--a competitor of Sunlighten who is attempting to compete unfairly with Sunlighten by pretending to be consumers. Sunlighten has the highest ethical standards in the business and values every customer. It will do "whatever it takes" to try to resolve a situation and does not tolerate or encourage false, misleading, or disparaging advertisements or sales practices. A review of its sales records does not find any of the individuals who supposedly purchased at the time, place, manner, or under the names or e-mails provided in these "Complaints."

If any of these individuals who wrote these "Complaints" truly had the experience that is described, those individuals need to contact me immediately, and I will discuss the situation, determine who the "sales rep" was that talked to the individual, and take any and all corrective actions that is needed.

Sunlighten stands 100% behind its product, its management, its employees, and--most importantly--its customers. I encourage each author of the "Complaints" to contact me directly [protected] to substantiate the claim and, if true, obtain relief for the unfortunate and isolated incident.

If the individual does not contact me within one week, I will assume--as I presently do--that this is a HOAX.

Kenneth P. Kula, Esq.

Dear Kenneth and Sunlighten Saunas,

While we are on the subject of hoaxes and fake reviews, I would like to bring to your attention a series of fake review sites that are run by Sunlighten Saunas. They were clearly created to spam the search engines and mislead potential customers.

http://www.sunlightenreviews.com
http://www.sunlightensaunareviews.com
http://www.sunlighten-sauna-reviews.com
http://www.sunlighten-reviews.com

You will notice that none of the sites contain any way to post real reviews and all the reviews are surprisingly positive. Upon closer inspection, the people in the reviews have the same last names as Sunlighten employees. It appears that the positive "customer" reviews are staged and biased.

Sunlighten Saunsa has shown itself to be dishonest and to use unethical tactics to trick their customers into spending money on a substandard product and service. Your letter comes off more as a threat than an effort to resolve a sitution. You are only confirming that Sunlighten Saunas cares more about their reputation than customer satisfaction.

Dear "I am an Attorney"
How is it that whenever real customers have complaints your company it writes it off as "Hoaxes" or "a competitor" has it ever occurred to you that these maybe REAL customers, with REAL complaints that your "great" company never addressed or cares to address?

I have read countless complaints against your company and they all seem pretty reputable to me, now what does seem very suspicious to me are the "Happy customer reviews" those seem staged and most likely written by you or employees of the company. I have never seen anyone write reviews on a complaint board that are happy because most like these happy customers do not go out looking for bad reviews so that they can post "happy" reviews to negate them. Usually pissed off customer go to these extremes because they feel ripped off and the company didn't do much to remedy the situation and it is quite obvious that Sunlighten spends a great deal of resources trying to remove negative feedback, but if the company was so great it would spend the time to address customer issues versus creating fake websites. That is what is called character!

I would never do business with this company and I find that very amusing that you call yourself a professional attorney but yet post on this board dismissing the validity of the complaint of people. I would assume that you would be busy handling real cases unless Sunlighten is your only paying client.

To All:

My offer still stands and has yet to be accepted. If anyone out there has a genuine complaint and does not believe he or she is getting satisfactory responses from Sunlighten's customer service, please call me with all the details so that I may bring it to management's attention and attempt to remedy the situation.

Thank you.

Kenneth P. Kula, Esq. [protected]

It appears that there are two different companies with similar names being reviewed here. Sunlighten and Sunlight Saunas are two different websites and companies. People should figure out where they ordered from before making statements about their product. There are numerous posts here about Sunlighten when the original complaint was about Sunlight Saunas. It's really helpful to read ALL the words and read them correctly before you decide you're finished reading and start responding. This particular page is a testament to the abysmal reading comprehension skills we have in the U.S. anymore.

Also, watch out for cedar...this is NOT a recommended wood for saunas as toxic fumes leach from cedar when heated. When buying, make sure of the size of the boards in the walls. Four inch boards tend to warp after not much use. Make sure the boards are no more than two inches wide.

My apologies, I made a mistake in my post. Since I cannot find a way to edit it, this is my correction. I said to watch out for cedar as it was not a recommended wood for saunas due to toxic fumes. I should have extended that to include watch out for UNTREATED cedar...it's fine if it's been properly kiln dried and treated. But if the company cuts corners and uses cheaper cedar that has not met these requirements, the fumes can be toxic. Word.

I ordsered an mPulse Conquer November 2010. The sales person told me the demand for this sauna was so high that it would not be delivered until February 2011. When February came and went without a word, I contacted the sales person and he told me to contact customer service and gave me a name and telephone number. I called and they told me it would be delivered in March. March came and went without a word. I called again and they told me May. May came and went without a word. So I called again. They told me June. Now June is nearly gone so I called them. The girl I spoke with said they redesigned the sauna so it would be better and that a customer service rep would call me back. Why didn't they contact the customers to tell the product was being redesigned. Sounds like another excuse to me. I am still waiting for the call. Now that I've read all these reviews, I am very nervous about their products. I was told if I canceled the order, I would lose my $1, 000.00 deposit. Has anyone canceled and retrieved their deposit? I am on the verge of taking legal action.

We bought our Sunlight sauna in 2007 and have been quite happy with it. The shipment came when promised and the delivery man put the sauna together for us.

I use it approximately twice a week and after four years it still looks very much like new. The radio/cd player, the control panel and all the lights are working fine after all the usage. I love the fragrance of cedar when I heat the sauna.

I do not get tired in an infrared sauna like I do in the traditional Finnish sauna. If I were to buy another sauna it would be from Sunlight.

Has anyone used/have the Sunlighten eMPOWER sauna? This is their 6 person infrarend sauna. I am looking for more information on these, than what is on their website.

SUNLIGHTEN are horrible company! Stay AWAY! They are robbing me off 5, 000! Two months---NO SPA!
BEWARE! They are trying to cheat me!

I received the empower more than a month ago and it still does not work! I have spent more than 3 hours on hold over the course of attempting to get help. Customer Care does the minimum to make you feel hopeful that your problems will be resoved. Right now I have been waiting almost two weeks for them to send an electrician. DO NOT BUY FROM SUNLIGHTEN! I am beginning to believe the posts that say they are a fraud.

I am not aware of any perfect company. I am a small business owner and find it impossible to satisfy 100% of my clients. I do not own a sauna but am in the market. I have read some (what appear to be honest) unfavorable comments on this company elsewhere (another site), but there seems to be something fishy about some (not all) of these "rants". Are they even real customer? Are they a competitor?

Just sayin'

We have had out Sunlight 3 Person sauna for 2 years now. It has been used on the average 5 times a week for 35 minuets per session running at 140 degrees. If you do as they say and have it plugged into a single wall plug you will get proper heat up times. Ours in in our basement which is 68 degrees and it take our sauna 25 minuets to heat up to 140 every single time. I had a couple of the chromotherapy lights to working with remote I called and in a couple days had new ones. So in families experience it has been a great one. There is a wood smell but we enjoy it.

When I ordered the unit, I was told that it was locally in stocked and could shipped quickly. After two weeks, my Sunlighten mPulse finally arrived and their professional installers installed it. Unfortunately, professional installers never installed a sauna before, took them over 5 hours, using my tools, asking for drinks, using my restroom and spending alot of time on the computer trying to figure how to install the unit. Had to help the installer numerous times because installer wife wasn't strong enough. They wanted to charge twenty dollars to remove the trash, wanted to charge for installing the chromo light, dented and scratch the unit. After numerous calls to Sunlighten, trash was removed 4 days later, but little else to be desired. Three techs later, 3 weeks later, unit isn't leveled, door doesn't close properly, horrible fit and finish, radio doesn't work, lights not working correctly. Two techs recommended that the unit be sent back, but customer service doesn't believe its necessary. Sales person hasn't been helpful, customer service promises, but doesn't performs. If I had known all of this before, I wouldn't of bought from Sunlighten.

The truth about Sunlighten- For the lawyer or representative.
1) They are owned by Connie and Aaron Zack (true) Connie and Aaron Zack have a very shady past with lawsuits and had a long relationship with the Clearlight owner, Raleigh Duncan (true) and I heard they sued their own brother who founded the company but I can't substantiate that fact, so not sure if it's true.
2) Their COO is Randy Brown (true) He can't spell, or make coherent conversation- and avoided my calls and my neighbors calls like the plague (true)
3) They say their saunas are American made but in truth the heaters are made in China and they are manufactured in Vietnam and are shipped to the US in containers (truth)
4) My next door neighbor's sauna caught on fire one day and when her husband called in to complain, they told him to relax, it wasn't a big deal. (true) My next door neighbor is getting therapy still for that experience, thankfully she wasn't hurt. Someone named Dustin told her this had happened several times to the saunas. (nice)
5) I bought a sauna from Sunlighten that came with forklift marks and it NEVER heated up past 110 degrees so I sold it on Craigslist (true)
6) They are made better than some other saunas BUT the top of the sauna IS a piece of cheap plywood (true)- when they tell you the whole thing is basswood and the top is plywood and your wife has terrible sensitivities, it's deceptive.
7) The empulse sauna has about 40 different mechanical problems and it never works right, and it takes about 5 months to finally get delivered and it's a nightmare, but at least mine didn't catch on fire. (true)

Bottom line- I wouldn't spend a dime on a sauna that catches fire to be told 'it's not a big deal.' To me, that's terrifying. Check it out- and I dare you to say my claim is unsubstantiated. Maybe you should ask the representatives there before you start calling everyone with a problem a 'liar.'

We've had a Sunlighten Mpulse for 4 years now. We love this sauna...when it works. Replaced several of the carbon emitters several times and the control box twice. Their people are helpful, but they must be low on replacement stock all the time as it takes FOREVER to get the replacements . The continuing issue, which Snnlighten cannot figure out, it how to get the gremlin out that keeps turning the unit on when it feels like it! What's happens after time is that this causes overheating and the temp sensors burnout. The only way to get the sauna back on is to unplug, re plug, go through set up, bypass error messages, then you're back in business. Til next time. They should tell the guys in Vietnam that build this unit to pay more attention to the electronics.

I'm a consumer looking into purchasing an infrared sauna, and am doing research. Just to add to some of the comments I've read here: Sunlight and Sunlighten are the same company. It's a worldwide company headquartered in Kansas, has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and is BBB accredited. They have had customer complaints and appear to have dealt with all of them in a satisfactory manner. All of this information is available on the BBB website, which IMHO is a far more trustworthy source of information than this site.

I wanted to share my experience with a Sunlight Sauna. One year ago (Feb. 2014) I spent 30 minutes in my sister's infrared sauna at an ending temp. of 145 degrees. She says she uses it to rid her body of toxins. After 15 minutes, I started to experience a headache in my sinus area. My headache lasted for a few days. I started with congestion which turned into a sinus infection. My ears were plugged for over 1 month. My hair also started to fall out which my doctor said was due to the stress of the infection. It's been 1 year now and I still have problems with my sinuses. I also now have constant ringing in my ears. PLEASE, beware of using infrared saunas and DON'T use them unless you talk to your doctor or are aware of the risks. I was not and am now paying the price (over $1, 000 in medical bills and medication). My doctors still don't know why my ears feel pressure. I'm afraid this one time mistake will cost me for the rest of my life.

I recently bought a 3 person Sunlighten Signature series sauna. SUNLIGHTEN. I am not a competitor, I'm a health care practitioner. Our sauna has been here for 4 mos and it is still outgassing. I was assured this sauna had no odor and was AOK for chemically sensitive people. It's not. It takes forever to heat up and it smells awful, especially on the inside ...causes all of us to get headaches if we're in the same room with it. We've tried everything: running air purifiers inside and around the sauna for 8 weeks. Air purfiers designed to remove chemicals and odors which have worked for us for things like new furniture, etc. but they don't work on this! We've tried running it hot every day without anyone in it. You name it, we've tried it. Still smells and makes everyone sick. I was very happy with their single solo system and never had any of these problems. Whatever they treated the wood with is toxic as all get out. We're considering bringing in an environmental inspector to do air testing on the unit to find out what the toxicity is ...if we do it, I will let you know.

I received my Signature I Infrared made in Vietnam about 3 weeks ago and could not even make use of after assembling it together as instructed at this point. They told me I need a dedicated outlet just for this? When I hooked it up to the outlet all I got was the flashing lights, the power could not even be turned or off and I called back the Customer Care Services about 2 weeks ago, they told me it could be a missing connection near the top left of the roof. I checked again all the connections were there connected, so far it has been three weeks I could not make use of it for a price tag approx. $3K. I am not so happy nor satisfied with the product & services so far leading me no where? Please have a local rep or serviceman to help me to get this going in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I may have to return it for refund the unit if I can not make use of it the next 2 weeks.

In Dec. 2015 I called Sunlighten to inquire about firmware updates to the internal control panel in my 2011 mPulse series Sauna. Specifically, I asked about the temp and time adjustments on the pre-programmed settings that, although on the display, never worked. The Sunlighten Rep told me that the old control panels were prone to "touch screen" issues. He then sold me on a $500 upgrade to a new Android based control panel and power supply that had this feature and much more. Although the interface on the Android Control Panel was more graphically pleasing, I saw no advantage to this upgrade. Neither time or temperature could be adjusted while in program mode which was my original concern. In fact I lost some features - The front control panel on/off button no longer functioned. I later learned that the front control panel has been eliminated in newer Saunas. The SO Sound Therapy feature that I paid extra for with the initial Sauna purchase no longer worked because the fade control that was in my old control panel wasn't included in the new Android based Control Panel. The Sunlighten Rep thought I could control fade from the radio but the radio only had speaker left to right, no front to rear. The sound system volume control on the new Android control panel was erratic and uncontrollable. I offered to work these issues with Sunlighten Technicians either over the phone and/or a site visit but got no response. Also, I expected the android panel to be more flexible in that I could add apps, access files over my network etc, but it appears to be limited to only those apps Sunlighten approved and pre-installed. Summary: I returned the panel to Sunlighten and the Company returned all but $100 and shipping charges. I explained, more than once, in writing that since I lost more functionality than I gained they should waive the "restocking" fee but they refused. So if you're thinking of buying a new control panel or anything else from Sunlighten beware, be prepared to lose some money if the product has to be returned.

I purchased a Sunlighten sauna a little less than 2 years ago. My chiropractor had an older 5 or 6 person version, and I loved it, so I decided to put a smaller, newer version in my home. Although I like the sauna, I will say it is not very durable if you use it regularly.
1. The touchscreen has already stopped working. It works randomly, but often it simply does not respond to the touch. I called Sunlighten, and naturally, that does not fall under my extended warranty. I would have to purchase an upgraded screen (that has only been out for about a year, so the company cannot guarantee how long this one will last). The upgraded screen will cost $499.00, but they offered to give me a $100 discount. Not what I expected for a sauna that is just coming up on two years old. My chiropractor has the manual controls, and hers works waaay better than mine.
2. Additionally, I have never been able to get my sauna to heat above 135 degrees, even though I have set it for a higher temp. Again, not as reliable as my chiropractor's older version. Granted, any sauna will take a while to heat, but even after 1 hour on, my sauna will not heat past 135. The other disappointing aspect is that you are on your own with regard to installation and/or replacing parts. They do not have individuals who can set this up and/or repair it. For me, that is huge. I am not handy. I will say, everyone at the company is very friendly, but sadly, there is not much they can do if you have a problem. Since I did not want to spend an additional $400 for what I feel should not be a necessary replacement part so soon, I simply have to start my sauna from the outside, and simply no longer watch a movie while taking my sauna. I am starting a business, and I am going to put an infrared sauna in there as well, but I probably will not get a Sunlighten. I need a very durable sauna made for a lot of use, and one that will not require me to do all the assembly, repairs, etc.

I both a sunlightened suana 6 months ago and didn't assemble completely until recently because of the difficulty in assembly (and I'm very handy). Half the walls did not line up properly. The door doesn't close all the way. I spent 4 hours on the door and it still doesn't close all the way. I did get it to close but then one of the walls didn't line up. It takes too long to pre-heat, I was never told that in the sales call. They said just get it and turn it on. I've made about 10 calls for various problems. I need to call again but there customer service dept is open for only 6 hours a day and it's open when most people are not home usually a work and working overtime to pay for this overpriced inferior product. The customer service rep was a no help in trouble shooting the assembly problems. Now just this morning I turn on the suana, 1 hour before my secession to pre-heat and there is a buzzing sound coming from the control panel. Their return policy is terrible. I wasted $5, 000 on junk. DO NOT buy any of their products.

Sunlighten Saunas is the worst company. I've spent $4500 on a smaller mPulse sauna and extra for white glove delivery. The company who delivered my sauna didn't know what White glove delivery was. So I got stuck unpacking the crates the sauna came in. Talk about a lot of styrofoam and cardboard! The direction were not complete at all. The radio didn't work. The heavy glass door wouldn't stay on correctly. I kept calling and emailing Sunlighten. They promised a care package for not getting the white glove service I paid for. They also offered to refund the money I paid for that service I never got. Three months later and I'm still waiting for them to do both promises. They promised to fix the issue with the door and radio. I'm still waiting on that one too. They have ignored all my emails so I have no choice but to write review after review till ALL these issues are worked out.
Julie in Buffalo NY