Lightspeed - Poor Customer Service

Eric Gleason said:
Maybe we don't hear so many stories about CS at other companies because they've lost market share and their support isn't good enough or bad enough to be worth mentioning.
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Not sure that’s accurate. Hear DC CS stories much less often because their headsets don’t need as much regular repair, but the story is always the same... sent it in, fixed for free, sent back quickly.

I think the reason you hear so many good CS stories out of Lightspeed is because they have to do it. Their stuff simply won’t take the punishment DC will. They know it, too.

Bose is somewhere in the middle in longevity, but same thing, quick ship, free repairs.

I think if you aren’t doing quick ship and free repairs in the aviation headset biz, you won’t be around very long. See: Sennheiser and AKG.

I wanted AKG to make a better showing of it, considering their non-aviation headsets are great, but they pulled the plug. Literally and figuratively.

Heavy marekting, pretend you’re the best, do repairs really fast and free, charge 10X or more what the headset is worth outside of aviation... that’s the aviation headset game as best as I can tell.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
It sure sounds like there are some quality issues with lightspeeds. A lot of people testing out their customer service (which sounds like it HAS to be good) to make up for their inferior product. I only had to send my DC One-X back to DC because I severed the cord in my folding seat, through no fault of DC. They STILL repaired it for free. I can't say enough great things about DC and their product is a tank.
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Or maybe it's because Lightspeed likely outsells DC by 10 to 1 these days. I've owned 6 pairs of Lightspeed over the years and have never had an issue with quality, nothing has ever broken. The only repair I had to have done was when I closed the pilot's door on the cord and left it that way for four days. I sent it in for repair, they fixed it at no charge and even replaced the ear seals. It was both my fault and well out of warranty.
 
I bought a set of Lightspeeds used from someone. When a piece broke Lightspeed sent me a set of those for free! When I called I was just seeing if I could order them.



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timwinters said:
Or maybe it's because Lightspeed likely outsells DC by 10 to 1 these days.
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Citation needed.

Last I checked, DC still owns the government market, military, and a whole crap-ton of the non-aviation market where “rugged” actually has to be a thing.

Lightspeed is the iThingy of headsets. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

As long as they keep fixing them, cheap or free. They’re good. As soon as they stop, they’ll sound like Jobs telling us all that we’re “holding it wrong”.

They really have no choice but to do repair/RMA very very well.

A buddy took his Bose Aviation headset into a mall Bose store in Oz and they not only repaired them but had the parts on hand for the Aviation models.

That was surprising to him and me, both. Must be an Aussie thing.

I can imagine the guppy mouth breathing and blank stares from any U.S. Bose store at the “Outlet” Mall. Lol.
 
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denverpilot said:
Citation needed. Last I checked, DC still owns the government market, military, and a whole crap-ton of the non-aviation market where “rugged” actually has to be a thing.

Lightspeed is the iThingy of headsets. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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But the assertion that I was refuting wasn't total sales, rather I was responding to someone who asserted that there's so many more comments on pilots' boards about Lightspeed's great customer service because they are crappy.

I was only considering the FLIB aviation market.

I don't think any of the other entities that you cited are posting on our board.

Try again, Nate.
 
Can only speak for myself but light speed has gone above and beyond for me a couple times, and it wasn't their product not working, one was destroying a cord in a door, the other was a head set ending up in pieces, they have also hooked me up with soft parts and also a new carry case once even though I never asked.

Personally I'm rocking a zulu 2, my zulu 1 had a few thousand hours on it before it got destroyed (not the headsets fault).
 
Ran over the cord with my seat. Damaged the insulation (zulu2). Sent it in expecting to pay for repair because it was clearly my fault. Returned within a week. No charge AND they put in the new braided cord of Zulu3. That is what makes loyal customers (and a good headset which they are)


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timwinters said:
But the assertion that I was refuting wasn't total sales, rather I was responding to someone who asserted that there's so many more comments on pilots' boards about Lightspeed's great customer service because they are crappy.

I was only considering the FLIB aviation market.

I don't think any of the other entities that you cited are posting on our board.

Try again, Nate.
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So the argument is that since people make more comments about NEEDING Lightspeed to fix their headsets is a sign they’re what? Flimsier.

They’re really not built better than a good pair of studio quality pro headphones for ten times the price.

Like I said, they’re iLightspeed. I like mine. They’re fine. Kinda like Beats from the Apple store are fine if you don’t know better about build quality and audio quality.

If you were told you could buy any headset but it could never be repaired where you were going did the next gen years, the solution for that wouldn’t be Lightspeed.
 
denverpilot said:
So the argument is that since people make more comments about NEEDING Lightspeed to fix their headsets is a sign they’re what? Flimsier.

They’re really not built better than a good pair of studio quality pro headphones for ten times the price.

Like I said, they’re iLightspeed. I like mine. They’re fine. Kinda like Beats from the Apple store are fine if you don’t know better about build quality and audio quality.

If you were told you could buy any headset but it could never be repaired where you were going did the next gen years, the solution for that wouldn’t be Lightspeed.
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Meh, for what happened to mine a bose or old school DC wouldn’t have faired any better.

I got thousands of hours on light speeds, got old school DCs and acces to bose, I still default to me zulus.
 
James331 said:
Meh, for what happened to mine a bose or old school DC wouldn’t have faired any better.

I got thousands of hours on light speeds, got old school DCs and acces to bose, I still default to me zulus.
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I like mine too but I don’t pretend they’re rugged. They’re iThingys. :)
 
denverpilot said:
I like mine too but I don’t pretend they’re rugged. They’re iThingys. :)
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I guess, it’s built about the same as all the others strength wise, I mean it’s a headset not a mallet.
 
I've had a particular Lightspeed headset of mine in three times in the past year (Ugh!) but their CS department has been fine.
 
I got mine back in less than a week. No complaints
 
I have Zulu 2's, love the performance. I mangled the cord a bit on the canopy rail, battery box sticky coating an issue too. They replaced it all, no cost to me, even out of warranty. Even gave me new battteries. Happy camper, I am.
 
Sorry to revive this thread, but what is usually the delay to a first response from customer service from lightspeed? it has been 10 days without any sign of acknowledgement.
 
I usually get a response within a day or two. Have you followed up? I'd say it is time. How are you contacting them? Email? Voice Mail? On-line form?
 
i have tried emailing them via their contact page and filled the contact form on nov 13th or so. I have also tried to contact them via my account in the registered headset section the "service request" button and message them on nov 15th and the status is in progress since. i have not tried by phone yet and today it's closed.
 
I am really not in the same game with most of you here on LightSpeed experience. I bought 2 sets of LS 15K's at Sun n Fun, 2000, for my wife and myself.

They replaced DC head clamps, plus they were noise cancelling and fully individually volume controlled. My wife had refused to wear the DC's due to discomfort. She loved the LS's, and especially that volume control. Her flying hours are nearly identical to mine. Her audio cable is still fine.

10 years later, the soft ear pads went to pieces on both, I requested replacements, they arrived, no charge.

18 years later, the cable to my ears became intermittent, and the ear pieces are deteriorating again.

The flight hours on them is low, at 250 hours, but that is only our time, I have loaned mine out to friends for trips, and they bought LS headsets of their own, so the total is higher.

A very important point, though, is that I NEVER leave the headsets in the plane, even overnight. They are stored indoors, in their individual cases, and in my flight bag, away from sunlight and physical abuse. One exception to indoors, they were in the plane while I camped under the wing in a tent at SnF, but that is a very short exposure to higher temperature.

I wonder if they would repair that intermittent in the audio to my earpieces? Or just offer a discount on a new set?
 
I bought mine in 2011, and i have been satisfied with the headset quality, however the first gen cable is more prone to failure than their new kevlar cable so i hope they will at least answer me.
see that cable ripped and the base of the headset
h ttps://previews.dropbox.com/p/thumb/AAnBw2KeZZAjqOktpcj5MmNCyCQhcXoVGHtsI6BWYYgQOUTHTVHVi9pnQRmwA6i_jGOYttqwYpLyNGkFblcgXepRT78vR57dU2Ao6g4mqTpQ9_EYVh_5gz4nkbGBGs5qLWOxiwLERTrqSSkgFiCgfwsXJ8edZneGRc2Lp-zqB0PPETR638SBIY7Xv35K0qINct-QvP-DgtOvtR0v7e1xk3XlaNKg5YEcPF8zjtfg1CRwdP2lZ8t_pIo82JgAQ46P3QKCt905HuygL2Aor_b8a6X_eWP37C3l2eOLqa8P7VTxHS0PxcsR-woVJ811kgaY_Cshvch5VNxhwuNsnzBdFG42/p.jpeg?fv_content=true&size_mode=5
 
wayne said:
I bought a set of Lightspeeds used from someone. When a piece broke Lightspeed sent me a set of those for free! When I called I was just seeing if I could order them.
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That's the way they used to operate. They don't seem to do it anymore. You call them and they won't even talk to you until you rip their dumbass design apart to get the serial number and then it took over a week and two emails to get them to tell me they wanted $100 to have the plug installed.
 
Sad, if true, I've always received impeccable service from them. I guess everyone is adopting the Garmin model of cs.
 
Yep, and even when the things under warranty they told you to pound sand if you complained about their decomposing earseals.
 
Shawn said:
Meh...can't please everyone. I am a loyal Lightspeed customer now BECAUSE of their amazing customer service.

8 years?...really? Sounds like a pretty good lifespan with today's electronics.
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When my ancient 15XL’s started falling apart after about a decade, I called them about parts. They said they were no longer supported, but sent me - for free IIRC - a box of miscellaneous repair parts that kept them going for a bit longer. And then they gave me $250 credit each towards new Sierra’s, now about 12 years old, I think.

Absolutely great customer service, in my book.
 
I have some David Clark’s... I use them for backseat passengers when I don’t like them enough to give them one of my A20s... my Lightspeeds went in the garbage with the rest of the trash!
 
I’ve had decent customer service from Lightspeed but I have to say my PFX headset is by far the worst POS purchase I’ve ever made. I bought the headset just after passing my PPL check ride and passed over the Bose headset since I had a houseful of Bose products and wasn’t particularly impressed with the quality for the money spent. The reviews for the PFX headset were stellar so I thought I would give them a try. I’ve sent my headset back twice for service. It eats batteries like M&Ms without using the Bluetooth function (I carry at least 8 spare batteries in my flight bag) and I get a lot of feedback through the headset from time to time. None of my other headsets give me feedback including other ANR sets so I’ve ruled out the intercom or my audio panel. The control box is large and bulky and not really convenient to put anywhere. When I took spin training, I had to tape it to a brace since I had no way to secure it. Every time I’ve sent the headset in for service, Lightspeed can’t find anything wrong with it. But they do supply a damn fine case. Honestly if it hadn’t cost so much and if I wasn’t a cheap tightwad, I would probably donate it to some flight school and buy something different.
 
Customer Service via telephone worked like a champ for me a month ago. No hold time, very friendly person on the other end, gave me the option of flat rate repair with a limited warranty or upgrade for not many more pesos and a three year warranty. Quick enough turnaround when I USPS Priority Mailed my broken headset to them. Happy camper still, I am.
 
My Dave Clark's are from the late 70s; have replaced the ear pads a couple of times. Also cleaned the contacts every decade. Or maybe 15 year intervals? I can' remember. Indestructible.
 
Sundancer said:
My Dave Clark's are from the late 70s; have replaced the ear pads a couple of times. Also cleaned the contacts every decade. Or maybe 15 year intervals? I can' remember. Indestructible.
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The problem with an indestructible headset is that if it doesn't fit your head perfectly, then it is your head that destructs. I had one flight with DCs and swore, never again.
 
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