[rhino]

I've had to return defective merchandise to them before. It's definitely not an easy or expedient process, but I did get the new light.

When you deal with dealextreme.com or similar offshore companies, you're getting exactly what you pay for. Insanely cheap merchandise and insanely low prices. Customer service is not part of the deal. For some people, it's an acceptable trade-off. For others, it's a deal breaker.

If there was a competitor who offered even remotely similar deals, I'd gladly pay a little more for better service in the event of a problem. However, there are no others (that I have found yet) who offer the same or similar goods at the same or similar prices.

When I buy stuff from them, I'm not buying gear that I might use for emergencies when life and limb are on the line. I have other lights for that (although they do have drop-in CREE LED modules now). The lights I get from dealextreme are for utility use only and I've been pleased with them (with the exception of the one I had to return).