Welding Tips and Tricks

I recently purchased one of those Chinese inverter DC stick welders. I'll just say it was one of the two top brands you see advertized, so as not to ruffle any feathers.

The welder arrived promptly via FedEx with no damage....Upon unboxing, I was disappointed....The welding leads were only 6AWG and a little over 4 ft long !:(

Prior to purchase, I downloaded and fully read the owner's manual. The manual clearly stated the welder came in it's own suitcase and the leads were each 10 ft long.

Well, the welder they shipped came without a suitcase, and the leads certainly didn't add up to 10 ft in length even when clipped end to end.....hmmmm.....Oh, and the welder they shipped even tho it carried the proper model number paint and stickers, looked totally different than the one on their website and in the manual.....hmmmmmm.

I called the company.....they explained that "yeah, they change things on us and it's hard to keep up..."

So ok, I blame myself for NOT talking to them during normal working hours and VERIFYING what I was getting, but I work night shift and placed my order using their online ordering process and not their toll free phone number.....boy was THAT a mistake!.....NEXT came the credit card fraud!

Yep, next thing you know my bank calls to tell me they suspect my card number was used fraudulently!...They were RIGHT!.....They said just hours after my order from the welding company, my card # was attempted to be used in INDIA......But they (my bank) denied it and canceled my card.

Yaknow, that was the first time I had used that card to buy anything in over a year because I always use my ATM card for online purchases....Plus I had placed my order using a federal computer where I work that is on a sysytem so tight security wise there is NO chance my card # was captured by a trojan on my end.

So BEWARE when purchasing the imports, AND using their websites.

Sorry to hear about your bad purchase!! If you don't mind me asking what brand of Import did you buy? Would be nice to spread the news to this welding community not to deal with that company, unless you call directly, so this doesn't happen again. Did the company at least send you the case and leads you essentially payed for??

Sorry you're having trouble with your purchase. I almost bought one of those. But, the good people here on this forum gave me some good info on this new technology. Also, there weren't that many reviews on these type of welders, so, it made it difficult to determine what I was going to buy. I got my cert. in stick welding. The only reason I bought a mig welder, my garage only has 115 power. No 220 at all. So, I can't use my buzz box. I bought a Lincoln SP 140T. Here's what you could do. First, I'm not a lawyer. Buying something over the internet, is a contract. Get a copy of the add and write a letter to the company. If they refuse "To make you whole", you have a right to sue under breach of contract.

Personally, the only stick welder I was going to buy was a welder/generator. Then the stick welder would have it's own power. Good luck. I'm sure everything will work out.

Nah, I hate dealing with lawyers....And the only solution the company offered was I could pay to ship it back because it wasn't a warranty issue.

I made new 10 ft cables yesterday in a larger AWG...It welds fine, in fact it welds danged good.

The point of my post was to suggest you NOT use their webite for credit card info and VERIFY you are getting exactly what is described on thier web site...These Chinese makers seem to change their welders weely.

I don't need the suitcase feature as I don't plan to tote the welder around, however YOU might want it included.

Hmmm...you could add the welder to your signature line and let others draw their own conclusion.

GWD wrote:Hmmm...you could add the welder to your signature line and let others draw their own conclusion.

I am guessing it begins with an "E" !!!

rahtreelimbs wrote:

GWD wrote:Hmmm...you could add the welder to your signature line and let others draw their own conclusion.

I am guessing it begins with an "E" !!!

Bet not. Their website indicates 6' leads and the manual states 5' leads. They would have immediately corrected the situation if it is the same "E" that I'm thinking about and the same welder.

GWD wrote:Hmmm...you could add the welder to your signature line and let others draw their own conclusion.

Done......

I'll tell the rest of the story.................

So OK, I unbox the welder and discover the super short tiny gauge leads and flimsy work clamp, then I go to their website to price longer leads.....Yep, they have 10' leads @ 50 bucks each, but what was really interesting was on the page for the longer leads was a picture of a naked woman.....LOL, so I call them and let them know their website had been hacked and porn posted there....They thanked me and said they would remove it.

THEN the bank calls to tell me my credit card had been compromised!.....So ok, I'm thinking whoever hacked their site and posted the naked lady also got my credit card number...I'm thinking the naked lady pic was the hacker's "calling card" marking their hack (hackers do that for bragging rights).

So I call them back and explain the credit card fraud that occured almost immediatly after my purchase from their website and pointed out the naked lady pic and the credit card hack were most likely related, and they needed to investigate their web purchasing security and their overall site security.....I left that conversation feeling I was talking to clowns.....And then I recalled how they fail to keep their site up to date with lastest product changes and owner's manuals, so I figured it's no wonder their site got hacked and my credit card too.

Hey, at least my bank saved me and the welder works very well, huh?

I know what you mean. I hate lawyers, too. Over the years, I've gotten 4 disbarred. I knew things would work out.

Very blue joke coming-- be warned.

I've been told that pregnancy can occur from anal sex. Where did YOU think lawyers came from...



Steve

Sorry you had a bad experience. This is why I choose to and encourage others to buy American made products.

Hi, I hate to say it, but you were the clown, 100% .....nobody in their right mind allows a company to access their credit card without being on a verified safe site, that's why we deal on the 'net with Paypal.

One of the rules with Paypal is if the item is not to the description you can apply for a refund through the Paypal buyers' protection policy.

Most times when you mention this to the seller you get a result, because Paypal can take the money from their account, or freeze it if they are in breach of regulations.

I've been dealing on Ebay with Paypal for 15 years or so, and I have dealt with many countries round the World, but China was the most efficient place to do business with, and most if not all of their sites stipulate that Paypal is the only means of payment.
Ian.

I'm sure glad that it didn't begin with an E. I bought a 200DX tig unit from that company through the SF area distributor ... they have been great and so far the machine is awesome. No problem with the cc card and the service too was outstanding. I had looked at the Longevity and a couple others but after hanging around the Everlast forum and doing some extensive research ... I decided to go with it ... pleased I did.

Winky

That sucks! I'm glad the welder works good. Regardless, If it does not say that the images in picture may vary and the price advertised was with the longer leads and the suit case, the company owes you. You paid for what was advertised. Otherwise it is illegal "bait and switch". Those companies act like they are broke but they're not. They are just cheap. Everyone that they allow to get ripped off means more money in their pockets. I know you are wanting to move on from this transaction but if it were me, I would be spreading their bad name everywhere. I don't usually complain about little things especially when it was a great price. But this is a big deal. Also, when you do an online transaction the best way to ensure that it's secured is that the url bar above will show "green" on the https part. If it doesn't show that then do not enter any banking info.