Is Meccatune a scam ?

[BBriBro]

For those of you that followed the other two threads on these HIDs you know about the complete lack of communication and long shipping delays. Well now I have a new concern, We were told that we were buying genuine Hella Ballasts, I don't feel that is what I got. My ballasts do not look like the others pictured on this forum, or those on his website. I peeled my "meccatune" decal back to look for the Hella decal underneath (or hella printing directly on the housing) and there was none, so How do we know that we really got hella ballasts? I am normally very leary of buying "cheap" aftermarket stuff, but based on meccatune's info, I bit the bullet. Did they change their logo or anything else? My logos, decals, packaging, etc, look nothing like those posted here a month or so ago. Here is a quote from

THIS THREAD (page 2)

Originally posted by Intimidator
This is what the kit includes:

2 x HELLA Ballasts

2 x Mecca Tune Clear Bulbs at TempK

2 x Brackets with Screws

2 x 3M Adhesive Pads

5 x Cable Ties

Wiring and Fuses

Installation Manual

Mecca Tune Decal

Warranty Card

Note: The Kit does not include an igniter because it is integrated into the ballast. Some kits come with separate igniters, but these kits experience more complications as a result.


The following is one of Mecca Tunes eBay sales. This is the kit that Ystang99gt bought for his Cobra. As you can see he paid a "little" bit more. Haha. The link also has a bunch of diagrams, pictures and what not.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36476&item=2470223179

1st of all, he says the kit includes Hella ballasts, 2nd He links to their sales on ebay (I'll get to that later)

Now here is another quote from page 3 of that thread.

Originally posted by gchronis
From what they have on their site here:

http://www.3gmtrading.com/Cartech/InformationBody.htm

They say that it's the Hella kit with their name on it.

Notice that link doesn' t work anymore, Is that because they no longer (or ever did) use Hella Ballasts? Here are the pictures that used to be on their website, and that sold me on this product.

Now here is what my ballast looks like.

They don't mention "relabeled" hella ballasts anymore, here is a quote from the Meccatune website . "Our private brand ballast uses the same technology as the Hella ballasts. We manufactured it from scratch and used many of the safety and QC features Hella implements on their own products." that doesn't sound like it's a genuine hella ballast to me. Many people in the other thread were complaining about "plain" packaging, and inferior packing materials insufficient to prevent damage. My box actually looked very nice, it was in no way plain, This too makes me wonder why everything I have is completely different than what is shown on their website?

Back to my ebay point. I'm assuming the seller "meccatuneusa" is the same company we are dealing with here on the forum. It really irks me to see his good feedback, that tells me he is communicating and promptly shipping the products to the ebay buyers, while we are left hanging, knowing we have no recourse or protection buying through a forum. I also noticed his ebay descriptions have changed, along with the website info, those pictures of the hella ballasts with their label used to be in the ebay auctions too, now they are not in the auctions or on the website.

Normally I do not like to bad mouth a company in a public forum like this, however in this case, I get no response to my emails, and they have no phone number.

I also see that they have yet another group buy going on right now. If they have the time to update their website (and keep track of multiple ebay auctions) I see no reason why they can't reply to our emails as well.

 

[KngCobra88]

I just installed that same kit u got over the weekend and they are the real deal.

 

[BBriBro]

Originally posted by KngCobra88
I just installed that same kit u got over the weekend and they are the real deal.

How do you know? since nothing matches their descriptions or their own pictures. Maybe I'm being too skeptical, but it's hard to trust anyone that sits on your money for 3 weeks, makes no attempt to communicate, and changes their "specs" after I place my order.

 

[KngCobra88]

Install it and see for yourself.

 

[Johnny Random]

You get what you pay for.

I got my kit and it works great. But I didnt spend $500-700 which is what most HID conversion kits cost.

 

[BBriBro]

Originally posted by KngCobra88
Install it and see for yourself.

HUH? Installing it won't tell me if it's a philips, hella, or some cheap japanese copy. They openly admit that they use "MANY" (not all) of the same saftey and QC features as Hella. I'm sure they'll work fine....now, but what about in 5 years?

 

[Intimidator]

Shipping delays and nothing more. Stop being paranoid and enjoy your kit.

My decal does not look like yours. So what? A company can't change the design of the logo? Your decal actually looks nicer than mine.

As far as your question is concerned, the only Japanese part of the kit is the bulb, which is manufactured by the same company that makes the bulbs for Acura. The ballast/igniter is Hella OEM. That's what you got in the group purchase.

Henry (the seller) was also apprehensive about selling an expensive product on a forum. There's a lot more protection on eBay for both parties. So that point is moot.

Any other questions?

 

[BBriBro]

I don't think the point was moot. I was told it was a relabeled hella ballast, and the pictures that proved that have disappeared, fortunately I saved them. Yes, a company can change their logo, yes they can improve their packaging, and yes, my label does look nicer than the "old" ones, but shouldn't it still say hella underneath? I just find it ironic all of these changes occured at the same time, if they are in fact hella ballasts, that is a strong selling point, why did he quit bragging about that fact? And replace that detail with something about their private brand ballasts. If the guy would just communicate, confirming an order, confirming payment, explaining the stock status, shipping delays, etc, I would have a bit more faith, But so far, he has done nothing to instill confidence in the buyer. Oh, and BTW, Henry doesn't have much to worry about for protection, He gets our money instantly via paypal, he sits on it for 3 weeks, and then ships the product, I think it's the buyer that needs to be concerned with blind purchases in a forum. His good ebay feedback still puzzles me, seems like a double standard to me.