CheapLights.com Reviews 14

Famous Stages should change their name to Cheap-skates Lighting dot com. I've had been a long time customer of the old Cheaplights.com based in Houston for almost a decade spending thousands of dollars on gear over the years. While shopping online the other day on their website I noticed they had listed 10' AC power cords at $0 .. I thought what the heck and ordered (14) pieces as part of a larger $200+ order. When the sales team caught the mistake this guy Joe calls my cell trying to make it my problem. At first he didn't believe me when I told him the price on their own website and hung up. Then he calls back and was extremely rude saying he could not honor the order even it was their mistake. When I offered to pay for the cords at his cost and he told me his cost was none of my business. I canceled the entire order. Joe told me I should never order from them again. Rest assure I won't!!

Needed lighting for a company sponsored project. Walked into their Dallas store with two other friends. Viewed a great floor display for about 15 min until we stopped someone for assistance. We were told there was only one rep and we waited another 15 min until we stopped another of the 4 people that were walking around. He was extremely unresponsive when we told him what we were looking for and treated us as if he was sure we weren't going to buy anything. We were patient and asked questions about the different products but were repeatedly told "naw that's it". We settled with what we could and asked to buy three of one of the floor models we saw but after 10 min were told they were out of stock. I gave up at this point at even trying to get an alternate. All of the reps were at the counter "hanging" with customer-like people and could care less about selling anything. I have no idea how they stay in business with this kind of "unprofessional, backstreet, I'm doing you a favor" approach, especially when they seem to be in a good market with products that have demand (maybe that's the problem). The sad thing is that we weren't on a budget and would have sold up.

I purchased my lights through their financing program.They shipped the wrong lights. I spoke with their customer service and was told i would be issued a ups call tag and that the correct lights would be overnighted to me. The next day i was contacted by tbe same guy asking if i would be willing to pay half of the overnight shipping. I said no way, it was your mistake and you promised overnight. He said no problem...it will go out today. Later i got a call from them saying they would only be willing to ship ground and that it is not their problem that it doesnt fit my schedule....REALLY? WOW! After being treated like a second rate citizen for over an hour i was finally promised 3rd day shipping.

Steer way clear of these idiots!

I purchased some lights from them through their website which arrived extremely slowly and were packed sloppy with tons of loose Styrofoam peanuts. The website was hard to use and gave lots of problems with my credit card saying my address wasn't on file. When the lights arrived most were fine, although the quality was extremely poor and documentation was horrible. Three of the lights were too big and bright so I called to see if I could return them and get other lights instead. They said sure, but when I got a quote for returning the lights it was going to be almost as much as I paid for them and I decided to keep them. I still decided I'd want the smaller lights and ordered those on the phone as well as ordering some DMX cables. When that order arrived I found that the DMX cables were actually microphone cables. When I called to complain I was told "They will work fine" and I explained that I already had microphone cables and needed DMX cables which are a different impedance. The return manager (Phil) was extremely rude to me and finally said, "Fine, I'm not going to argue with you, you can return them." I then told him that the small lights I bought didn't do the color fade as described on the Stage Ape site. He then argued that there was nothing wrong with them and said that any returns would be for credit only! I told him that wasn't acceptable since they weren't as described and I wouldn't have ordered the lights or DMX cables had I known. He continued to be rude and finally gave me an RMA to return things, so I returned both of the two RMAs I had in one box. A few days after they signed for the package I called to see when my refund would be issued. I was transferred between many people before finally talking to someone in accounting that said I had been issued a credit for only about 60% of the value of the purchases. I asked why I was issued a credit and why it was not even for the right amount. She told me that I'd been charged a 30% restocking fee (!) and would have to talk with Phil. I said I had already had talked with Phil and had a disagreement with him and that he finally gave me the RMA numbers and said I could return the things. Later when I called back again I was told that I was being charged the restocking fee because there was "nothing wrong" with the returns. I was sick of dealing with them and wrote them a detailed letter explaining why I should have my money refunded and that I would dispute the charges with VISA if they did not return my money. A week later they refunded all my money except 10%. I finally had to file a dispute with VISA and VISA immediately gave me my money back citing how they have had problems with the merchant before and how I was correct that return policies need to be provided in writing BEFORE THE SALE.

Do not shop with Cheap Lights, they are not trust worthy and will just try and take your money. Their shipping prices also seem inflated.

Don't trust any positive reviews on here (not that I saw any). A friend of mine got fired for refusing to write positive reviews to counteract the negative reviews from actual customers. You want better reviews? Practice better business. Listen to the reviews and fix the problems instead of trying to cover it up.

Cheaplights is... uh... interesting. I ordered some strobe lighting for a Haunt we do tech for. 10 Kodiak Strobes. Showed up 9 days after ordering, really? 9 Days? I was told 4 maximum when I spoke to a very rude customer service agent. Lights show up, and as we test them, they only seem to work in cycles... Sometimes we plug them in and they work, other times they do not. As of today, only 2 of the strobes still function, after 10 light uses (very rarely flashed). Store would not help in any way, despite the "warranty" that was included with them.

Spend the money and buy from real suppliers. Even direct from china is better than these morons.

I ordered lights. They arrived broken. I called for a replacement. They said I have to pay the shipping. I never had a company try to charge me for shipping back a broken product. I could see if the product broke months later and before the warranty period. But these arrived broken. The girl on the phone said she knows and agrees that is isnt fair, but there was nothing she could do. I m actually affraid to even ship them because I dont trust that they will replace the broken lights. I wish I read the reviews first. Dont buy From Cheap Broken Lights. Com

We had bought a product advertised as a hazer, expecting the typical characteristics of a haze machine. Upon it's arrival, it was an over glorified fog machine. Due to limiting circumstances, a fog machine is next to useless for what we needed it for. Upon contacting customer service to explain the situation, we were rudely told there was nothing that could be done to help our situation. The only option was to pay at 30% restocking fee, plus shipping, and have receive in-store credit. Now, why would I want more credit to a store that has treated me so poorly? Looking back, it's pretty comical how bad it was. There are a lot of great one-liners I now share with my friends that I gained from their customer service.

I ordered about a thousand dollars worth of lighting from them, and around a fourth of the order arrived damaged. Plus, one of the products was NOT what the web site claimed - the web site called it a "96 DMX channel controller" and it was actually a 24 channel controller that you could save 96 "scenes" with. Not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination.

I asked to have the damaged products replaced, but they said all they would do is send parts to make the repair. The parts they sent were for another product, and of course, did not work. I also asked for a refund on the controller since they misrepresented the product on the web site. They agreed to take the controller back, but would only give me store credit. I ended up with another controller that still does not meet my needs, but it was all they could offer. It's going up on eBay soon.

The manuals that come with the products are useless. One says not to use the light in any place that is " damp or darkish." Really? I can't use the light in a place that is "darkish?" What's the point of having the light, then?

These guys buy crappy, crappy Chinese-made products; they tell you whatever it takes to get you to buy them, and they don't stand behind these junky products at all. I will NEVER buy from them again, and I will actively direct people elsewhere for their stage lighting needs. In this case, you don't get what you pay for - you get LESS. Steer clear of these guys.

"Stay away from this company!" My problem was simple I was upset that I placed an order and paid for it only to get a phone call that the item was already sold. I was asked to buy the new one. However when I got upset I was offered to split the difference. I decided i wanted to speak to a manager and was told one would call me back. A few days later I sent an email responding to my order being canceled asking again to speak to a manager. Didn't get a call back from a manager and only after another email did I get an email from "Ernesto Gongora, G.M" who informed me of some real gems (here are some direct quotes) "The managers are busy handling calls for customers who have legitimate problems and real issues or serious complaints"

"If we had managers call back every customer when we ran out of something we would loose all of the customers who legitimately required a call back for resolution of a problem that was truly critical as opposed to somebody who just wanted to argue for some insanely childish reason."

"As a child most learn this is not a perfect world an of course choose to take issue when they feel a serious injustice was done them but only a narcissistic individual would go on the way you have in demanding perfection in the name of customer service"

"I would suggest you seek counseling or at least take a hard look in the mirror and try to grow up."

"People like you are why we have so many frivolous law suits in this country"

"Please do not contact us anymore."

"People like you are why we have so many frivolous law suits in this country'

"Please do not contact us anymore."

After that I don't know what more there is to say? I suppose just keep it simple and stay away. "You get what you pay for both in service and product." what is even more mind blowing is that the item I wanted, that I was told was already sold is still this point listed for sale on their website. Wow!

DO NOT purchase anything from this seller. The sales department is very friendly,and helpful right up until the point that they get your money. If you have any problems after the sale, then you will get nowhere. Said found my return sending out replacement called a week later said we never received your rma product yet. poor poor business. STAY AWAY will never buy from again

I spent a great deal of money at cheaplights.com and made a phone order. The people there were helpful when I wanted to know about the product. However, as soon as they got my money it was a different story.

I was told the shipping was going to cost around 50 dollars for my order. It was 100. I was offered a drop shipment at my house, but what they dont telll you is that the drop shipment is an additional 60 bucks. 160 for shipping altogether. Suddenly these cheaplights got expensive. I found this out after calling them asking for the rececipt that they never emailed me and getting the invoice.

They sent the shipment to their warehouse instead of my house and offered me store credit if I went to pick it up instead of them reshipping it to me. When I went to pick up the lights they told me I could only get 20 dollars worth of store credit. Not even enough to cover the cost of driving over there or buy anything descent in the store.

When I tried to tell them I wanted to be reimbursed for the 60 dollar drop shipment which never happened they told me my inconvenience was not worth that much.

ALSO what they do not tell you is that there is no returning your lights once you buy them. I guess the fact that the tattooed men tossing my boxes full of lights on the ground would have nothing to do with them not working? When I asked them why that was not stated over the phone they replied that it is in tiny font on their website. I guess I should have just known that?

Overall the service is just shameful. They were rude and condescending, the man running this business is terribly unprofessional, and they are increadibly misleading. I must have asked 50 questions of these people before buying and they still manged to screw me over. They may be cheaplights but they get you with shipping and a lack of return policy. I will never shop there again.

AVOID THESE PEOPLE THEY WILL TRY TO SCREW YOU OVER!!!

We have spent a lot of money at cheap lights, but we will not be using them anymore. The man in charge was rude and condescending. They did not try and fix the problem and I ended up having to reorder the broken piece and pay almost the same price for shipping to get it in time. They said they would make sure I got my money back once fed-ex came and picked up the damaged material. (another thing I had to do myself) I called them to get my money back for the claim which again they were condescending and rude. They had a whatever attitude and didn't make anything right. They had no problem taking my money and had no problem putting all the blame on fed-ex and the manufacturer. We have spent thousands of dollars with them and they wouldn't hold to their word regarding fixing the problem. I am out over 380 dollars that they won't make right even though they said that if I got fed ex to pick up the broken piece they would reimburst me for the other charges. (when I had to reorder the piece of trussing to make our show deadline) They sell cheap stuff for cheap. Apparently the money you spend doesn't go toward customer service.