The GVM 300D LED Spotlight…
By dravani718 | Published | No Comments
I bought two of these in a “two for one” @ $590 from an Instagram promotion (targeted advertising works, folks). Delivery was quick and simple (no cost for shipping). I opened the box to find two other GVM boxes inside, each containing a light kit.
The kits themselves are well packaged, simple, but sturdy. In essence, I breathed a sigh of relief – as you do when buying things through the mail. It always feels a bit like Christmas – you’re excited to get something – but occasionally its already lost its luster since you told Grandma how much you wanted it 5 months ago – or maybe they forgot to poke air holes in the box to let what used to be full of life breathe for a few days whilst you wonder why the box is cutely barking under the tree and then fading miserably only to be a discovery of life-altering horror on Christmas day as you realize your parents are twits that shouldn’t have been allowed to have children in the first place.
Well, today is that day all over again – one of the two units works flawlessly – and I am quite happy to have it up and running! I used the good kit to film the other kit that unfortunately arrived with a power supply that gave up after a couple of hours of use. Everything I buy I use and test until I feel comfortable using it on set or with clients – I highly recommend this practice as it can save you from embarrassment, headaches, and befuddlement in front of clients. I learned that lesson with the RED One long ago – and it has served me well since.
To whit: nothing works entirely as advertised – except maybe C-Stands and Apple Boxes – okay, so nothing new works as advertised. The marketing and promotion work doesn’t take into account soft factors like ease of use and interoperability … and in this case: quality control. I was lucky enough to have two whole kits (“two is one, one is none”) – so I was able to split the problem in half by swapping power supplies between the two – the problem went with the power supply and cable, so I switched the cable and the problem stayed – so: power supply. I didn’t hook up a meter and troubleshoot further because its plain what the problem is and who the culprit is – the power supply just needs to go back for an RMA swap
… the only problem is ….
GVM doesn’t answer their phone…
… (two days now), nor do they respond to email, nor do they respond to messages on social platforms Facebook and Instagram. In the middle of the week. That’s off-putting to say the least. I’ve done the work for them, figuring out what the problem is instead of sending the whole thing back (which I couldn’t do either … until they answer the phone or messages.)
Anyway, a sad blight on an otherwise fantastic product. The lesson here: their quality control must be somewhat forgiving of … quality, and their customer support is lacking responsiveness at this point.
I just hope they don’t give puppies for Christmas…
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