Just FYI in case you were thinking of throwing some money at headlights:

Participated in a group buy for DJ Autos with DDE and HID. Was quoted a price of $554. I was contacted and told the price was more ($600) since I wanted DDE Enhanced even though they quoted me $554 on the phone! I agree to the new price. My card was charged on April 7. Two weeks later I am wondering the status of my order. I email Umnitza and get the following reply "We will look into it immediately:)"
5 days later no reply. I email back wondering where my lights are. I get a response saying "Yes sir, as I would as well." Not a good sign.

So I decide to pick up the phone. They tell me that all order inquiries are being handled via email. Pathetic customer service.

A couple days later I get a tracking number via email. Where was this 3 weeks ago? And today May 4, 2005 I receive a box in the mail. Nice, I finally receive my lights, right? ...
Not quite... here's what was in the box....
http://www.dodoliver.com/images/p2.JPG

http://www.dodoliver.com/images/p1.JPG

Yep, completely empty box. Well I don't know if that is the Umnitza company's idea of a joke, but maybe they will stop laughing when Visa comes knocking at their door to get my money back.

Unfortunate. I bought my ZKW/DDEs from them a year ago and had great help. There have been more and more negative threads about them, so maybe I won't be ordering my V2 splitters from them. Hope it gets resolved in your favor soon.

That's very odd :confused I had a totally different experience with purchasing lights and an HID kit from Umnitza. I'm sure he'll fix this fast. But I'm real sorry about your situation. You would think they'd notice the box wasn't that heavy.

Wow, that sucks! My experience with Umnitza was pleasurable.

Dude, I know to you this situation is not funny.. but the way you introduced that empty box was histerical, lmao.

Anyway, I really would like to see what the company has to say in regards to an empty box.. it will certainly be interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of an empty box being shipped aside from the obvious scammers.

omg! i'm wonder what your face looked like when u opened the box. :eek: :angryfire :pissed :thumbdown :bazooka :ak :censored:

sorry to hear that man. that sucks

Dude, I know to you this situation is not funny.. but the way you introduced that empty box was histerical, lmao.



Ya i laughed too. sorry.... and wheres ur DJ head lights w/ dde?

fedex/ups puts boxes on the scale in various points while a package is in transit, should be easy to get that info. empty boxes are no laughing matter.

Yea, what is the posted shipping weight on the UPS sticker? Certainly they would not pay more(more weight=higher cost to them) for shipping a deliberate empty box. Who knows though.

/me shrugs

Yea, what is the posted shipping weight on the UPS sticker? Certainly they would not pay more(more weight=higher cost to them) for shipping a deliberate empty box. Who knows though.

/me shrugs

Yes, you would think the very fact that they didn't have to take much money out of their wallet to ship the box, they'd realize a mistake was apparent. Not bashing, just stating the obvious. :)

Yea, most likely a mistake. No company in their right mind would intentionally pull such a stunt on someone who could post(as you did) on bf.com and run other customers off. Despite the bad timing I bet they will make sure that you are taken care of.

Then again, I don't know you and I have no way of knowing that your not the one pulling the stunt...

Who knows. :help

.
post the tracking numberYea, most likely a mistake. No company in their right mind would intentionally pull such a stunt on someone who could post(as you did) on bf.com and run other customers off. Despite the bad timing I bet they will make sure that you are taken care of.

Then again, I don't know you and I have no way of knowing that your not the one pulling the stunt...

Who knows. :help

Maybe the fedex guy stole them :dunno

totally opposite of the experience i had with them however i think things have changed the last couple of months so...

My experience has be good overall. I bought some Xtec's over Christmas and it took a few weeks to get them due to issues with Fed-Ex. Since the delay was due to Fed-Ex and not Matt he still sent out another set 2 weeks after the order. Well guess what, they both showed with-in a day of each other, go figure. I ordered another set a few weeks ago and had then in 3-4 days. Other stuff I ordered arrived on time and in good shape.
Sorry you experience was different.

Tracking number is 9612808256063410031771

It says shipping weight is 10 pounds. Guess I'll give them a call and see if they have any answers. :mad

so i think its safe to assume umnitza did not ship you an empty box. Tracking number is 9612808256063410031771

It says shipping weight is 10 pounds. Guess I'll give them a call and see if they have any answers. :mad

The box was sealed with Umnitza tape and did not look tampered with at all.

Bwahahaha! :D That's outrageous.
I've been dealing with UMNITZA for prolly 3 years. GREAT SERVICE!!!

They'll take care of you and make things right . . . and then some. I promise you. Just be patient. Good company with great service . . .

They do make mistakes, though - nothing but a bunch of humans working over there . . .

thats a weird one. Matt will probably fix everything though, shoot him an email. I've never had any issues, spent some good money there :)

I am done with the email tag. I email and get no answers. Bullshit replies.

10lbs for some HIDs? that's crazy

i just got my HIDs today ala Habbie's GB. there was a mixup and within 45 minutes he called me and we straightened everything up. good experience for me. i hope you get this resolved ASAP

Oh wow, that really sucks. I'm not so much sure if the package would be 10 lbs. but the kit is pretty heavy.

They do make mistakes, though
oh i agree..... i just came home from indiana today (college) and i was expecting to put in my new headlamps, but to my dismay:

http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/519/medium/DSCN2165.JPG

definitely not as major as having NOTHING in your package, but still.....

i'm also curious, do you guys (umnitza) always leave the blue wire at the top showing? i guess i'm used to seeing dde plus's on zkw's so i guess i should've expected the quality to be not-so top notch.....

i'll give you guys a call tomorrow......

you can swap those yourself, it's relatively simple.

you can swap those yourself, it's relatively simple.
he shouldn't have to.

anyway, you'll probably get some half ass excuse that they are moving and mistakes happen. I think umnitza is total BS and they just think an excuse will make all the problems go away. Time to get your act together umnitza, and act like professionals.

so i think its safe to assume umnitza did not ship you an empty box.
is it possible that someone stole the contents? I've had UPS employees steel parts from me in transit such as wheel hardware, spacers etc from Tirerack shipments. regardless, UPS paid for the missing parts.

-Ron

Well, if they indeed shipped it out at 10 lbs, and it arrived at .2 lbs, I think it's safe to assume someone DID steal whatever was in there, not to rule out anything just yet. A crappy situation, sorry you have to go through it.

To the original poster:

It's being resolved, thanks for giving us a little more to figure it out. The situation will be resolved to your satisfaction.
--------
The wires are done this way to prevent damaged rings during shipment as the contents shift so do the wires and they pull back on the ring.

We do this so that it prevents damage during shipment. When the hood is closed, these should not be visible. If we keep the wires very snug, we've had too much experience seeing broken rings arrive.

im anxious to see what happend. I need to know this type of stuff. If I am to every do a purchase through you Matt. My 328 needs some HID badly.

To the original poster:

It's being resolved, thanks for giving us a little more to figure it out. The situation will be resolved to your satisfaction.
--------
The wires are done this way to prevent damaged rings during shipment as the contents shift so do the wires and they pull back on the ring.

We do this so that it prevents damage during shipment. When the hood is closed, these should not be visible. If we keep the wires very snug, we've had too much experience seeing broken rings arrive.

This sounds like quality service...I dunno, Matt helped me out with my problems, too...my lights wouldn't work because someone forgot to plug in the bulbs when I got them, but he helped me figure it out real quick. g/l and please keep all of us posted on the results.

One other possibility here is that Umnitza just prints out the fedex labels at their office and has the boxes picked up by FedEx. As a result, they can real easily accidentally apply the stickers to the wrong box, and probably wouldn't even notice because there's 25 boxes and you don't know what's supposed to be in them when giving it to the driver. So they *could* have shipped an empty box without really being aware of it. Still unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility.

That's how we ship at work...nobody weighs the boxes...we just guess. Then the boxes go where they go.

Dude, I know to you this situation is not funny.. but the way you introduced that empty box was histerical, lmao. .


EXACTLY -HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA; at least you kept your sense of humor about it.

Damn man an empty box?

I highly doubt Matt would do you dirty like that. Especially if the shipping label had a posted weight of 10 pounds.

Someone got their jack on :(

Hope it is resolved soon.

EXACTLY -HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA; at least you kept your sense of humor about it.

:lol :lol I have to admit, I cracked up too. That was so ridiculous. :D But don't worry man, I'm sure Umnitza didn't do that on purpose. If they wanted to scam you, they would have just not sent the goods at all. I'm sure you'll be given a new set ;)

:lol :lol I have to admit, I cracked up too. That was so ridiculous. :D But don't worry man, I'm sure Umnitza didn't do that on purpose. If they wanted to scam you, they would have just not sent the goods at all. I'm sure you'll be given a new set ;)
Holy sh*t, that was funny! I'm still smiling.

Let us know how this works out, b/c I'm going to upgrade my lights as my next mod. I've seen some bad stuff about Umnitza, and I was going to use them too.

Sorry to hear about your problem, but WHY in the world would you open a box that was so obviously empty?? You could have easily screwed yourself out of a claim (at least with FedEx). :nono

Sorry to hear about your problem, but WHY in the world would you open a box that was so obviously empty?? You could have easily screwed yourself out of a claim (at least with FedEx). :nono

Opening the box has nothing to do with the fact that I never received the product I ordered.

Opening the box has nothing to do with the fact that I never received the product I ordered.


i think he means in the eyes of FedEx. if the box was tagged at 10 pounds and it's open when they get there to investigate they're gonna think you just took the goods out of the box, whereas if it was still sealed it'd be easier to prove.

Considering the fact that I have used FedEx countless times for years and have never had a problem I would find it hard to believe that this is FedEx's problem. Although I am not saying it isn't possible.

I'll post the outcome when I find out.

How are two headlight assemblies supposed to fit into a tiny little HID box. The picture looks like the shipping label is pasted right onto that HID box, so a mistake had to be made in whichever point it was shipped out of.

Original poser- your refractory lenses are in the wrong places!

LOL!!! Am I the only one that finds this funny? Just like you said you can retract your money. So this is Fuken halarious.

wow, i hope umnitza get this fixed up for you.
ive bought from them 2 times and had good service. i bought a set of zkw's, and then some hid's, which were shipped inside of another box with packing material, not just with a label stuck on them like yours.

The shipping weight on the label has nothing to do with the actual weight of the package. Umnitza, when shipping out a package enters in the weight and then prints a label. He could ship a box that weighs 20 lbs. on a scale as only being 18lbs...etc. (Im not saying he is doing this) Someone could have made a label saying 10lbs and thrown it on an empty box....the fact that the box showed up empty doesnt automatically mean UPS/FedEx stole the contents.

jeez more negative stuff bout umnitza

This is crazy, I keep hearing more and more things about these people that I placed an order with on the 29th. Their website still says it's 'processing' the order, meaning it hasn't shipped yet. I was told 2-5 days to be here at most, well now it's the 6th and they haven't gone out. I emailed them yesterday and they said it would ship before five...still says processing. I'll just be happy when I get my package.

This is crazy, I keep hearing more and more things about these people that I placed an order with on the 29th. Their website still says it's 'processing' the order, meaning it hasn't shipped yet. I was told 2-5 days to be here at most, well now it's the 6th and they haven't gone out. I emailed them yesterday and they said it would ship before five...still says processing. I'll just be happy when I get my package.

Get in line buddy, i placed my order on the 28th....of MARCH! and i am still waiting like a b*tch. i am actually in the process of trying to get a refund, and even that has been delayed (by Umnitza) 3 days already.

Umnitza...apparently you're not responding to my emails...please refund my $944! :lol order #: 1762

i know...its ridiculous i let them hold that much money for that long! :(

let us be clear, we did have some issues and even shipped you the wrong item, we acknowledge our mistakes and have changed how we do shipping.

Yes, it's been a trying time. You've been refunded.

We've all been in and out, our i'net connection was supposedly hooked up today, but we spent all day looking for a way to use it and it wasn't working.

So, we didn't get your email until later. Your refund request was only today and it did get immediately taken care of once we got the email.

Thank you for your patience, good day.

The shipping weight on the label has nothing to do with the actual weight of the package. Umnitza, when shipping out a package enters in the weight and then prints a label. He could ship a box that weighs 20 lbs. on a scale as only being 18lbs...etc. (Im not saying he is doing this) Someone could have made a label saying 10lbs and thrown it on an empty box....the fact that the box showed up empty doesnt automatically mean UPS/FedEx stole the contents.


i agree. i do a lot of shipping through ebay. i have my own fed ex account and i enter the dimensions and weight of the package. all these negative posts about the ompany are making me think twice about ever ordering from them. good luck man

Original poser- your refractory lenses are in the wrong places!
i'm very aware of that

i agree. i do a lot of shipping through ebay. i have my own fed ex account and i enter the dimensions and weight of the package. all these negative posts about the ompany are making me think twice about ever ordering from them. good luck man
When a company sets lofty expectations - "Devilishly Good Service" - and lives up to them 90% of the time, that company is thought to be a failure by those 10% that didn't get EVERYTHING they had desired.

It's the case of overpromising and under delivering, meaning that if you accept the same level of service from us as anyone else, then you would be extremely satisfied that we exceed your expectations every time. But if you expect nothing but the best, and somehow, we come out as just "good", then your expectations aren't met and you become dissatisfed.

In our case, we could run away from the truth about our troubles. We could not respond and try to brush it under the table. We could change our motto. We could also do the right thing, which is what we are doing:
1) We've admitted faults
2) We're definitely human here, it's some large conglomerate like FedEx or SBC that hides behind 20 different departments.
3) We have answered all your requests and are genuinely trying to make it right.

There are MANY good companies to buy from, what we bring to the table that the others don't is this:

1) Experience
2) Personal attention, you're not just a number, your problems are OUR problems. As the owner of the business, I feel the pangs of pain that you feel when something isn't right.
3) Customized products
4) Increased communication
5) Our own inventory - many of the companies you choose to buy from are just "eStorefronts" - they don't hold inventory, they don't manage shops, they don't do the work themselves. When you buy from us, you buy almost direct - while we don't make our own products, we do assemble them all in house.

When we first started it was unheard of that the assembly of this many headlights (we cannot really tell you how many we move to avoid letting the competition know) and products in general.

We've helped drive the price of such great upgrades as headlights, angel eyes, and HID down to unprecedented levels, all the while holding the prices steady on some key German-made products that required us to take major hits due to the fluctuating and weakening dollar.

All this is behind the scenes stuff that only when someone visits us do they get a feel for how much work is actually done and how many quietly satisfied customers we service.

During this trying time of a move, followed by rancor in the supply chain, followed by personnel changes, followed by major event preparation, we've steadily worked through your returns, your questions, your concerns and your orders.

Yes, we admit, we have delays sometimes when a particular complex order is requested - for example:

Customer A requests - ZKW + 4500K HID + 4500K DDE or Predator
Customer B requests - Hella OEM E39 Lights + OEM Rings Removal + Predator Rings Replacement of OEM Rings.

We know that Customer B's order is going to take longer, so we set to working on it, so the ZKW order - which is custom built to order - takes a little longer, say 4 extra days because we have to make sure the rings set, the HID works, the ZKW isn't broken, etc.

That's how we work. We assemble all of it in house, and while we do factor that into the price a little, we certainly don't factor in the full amount of labor for it to keep the prices low as possible.

We appreciate your business and are doing everything we can. At this time, we have two full time employees and a handful of on and off contractors.

We're doing everything we can to improve the process and run a shop. We welcome those of you in the area to drop in - unannounced if you wish - any time to see our operation. Drop in often, to see how we grow and improve.

Thanks for reading.

When a company sets lofty expectations - "Devilishly Good Service" - and lives up to them 90% of the time, that company is thought to be a failure by those 10% that didn't get EVERYTHING they had desired.

It's the case of overpromising and under delivering, meaning that if you accept the same level of service from us as anyone else, then you would be extremely satisfied that we exceed your expectations every time. But if you expect nothing but the best, and somehow, we come out as just "good", then your expectations aren't met and you become dissatisfed.

In our case, we could run away from the truth about our troubles. We could not respond and try to brush it under the table. We could change our motto. We could also do the right thing, which is what we are doing:
1) We've admitted faults
2) We're definitely human here, it's some large conglomerate like FedEx or SBC that hides behind 20 different departments.
3) We have answered all your requests and are genuinely trying to make it right.

There are MANY good companies to buy from, what we bring to the table that the others don't is this:

1) Experience
2) Personal attention, you're not just a number, your problems are OUR problems. As the owner of the business, I feel the pangs of pain that you feel when something isn't right.
3) Customized products
4) Increased communication
5) Our own inventory - many of the companies you choose to buy from are just "eStorefronts" - they don't hold inventory, they don't manage shops, they don't do the work themselves. When you buy from us, you buy almost direct - while we don't make our own products, we do assemble them all in house.

When we first started it was unheard of that the assembly of this many headlights (we cannot really tell you how many we move to avoid letting the competition know) and products in general.

We've helped drive the price of such great upgrades as headlights, angel eyes, and HID down to unprecedented levels, all the while holding the prices steady on some key German-made products that required us to take major hits due to the fluctuating and weakening dollar.

All this is behind the scenes stuff that only when someone visits us do they get a feel for how much work is actually done and how many quietly satisfied customers we service.

During this trying time of a move, followed by rancor in the supply chain, followed by personnel changes, followed by major event preparation, we've steadily worked through your returns, your questions, your concerns and your orders.

Yes, we admit, we have delays sometimes when a particular complex order is requested - for example:

Customer A requests - ZKW + 4500K HID + 4500K DDE or Predator
Customer B requests - Hella OEM E39 Lights + OEM Rings Removal + Predator Rings Replacement of OEM Rings.

We know that Customer B's order is going to take longer, so we set to working on it, so the ZKW order - which is custom built to order - takes a little longer, say 4 extra days because we have to make sure the rings set, the HID works, the ZKW isn't broken, etc.

That's how we work. We assemble all of it in house, and while we do factor that into the price a little, we certainly don't factor in the full amount of labor for it to keep the prices low as possible.

We appreciate your business and are doing everything we can. At this time, we have two full time employees and a handful of on and off contractors.

We're doing everything we can to improve the process and run a shop. We welcome those of you in the area to drop in - unannounced if you wish - any time to see our operation. Drop in often, to see how we grow and improve.

Thanks for reading.

See people, this is how a vendor is supposed to behave.

See people, this is how a vendor is supposed to behave.

Actually, devilishly good service should mean 99% of the people are satisified, not 90% (90% would be devilish service).

A vendor should not promise what they can't deliver - end of story. If you can't deliver the product promised, last time I checked, that was fraud. A successful business should ramp their production BEFORE they sell the inventory, not the reverse. If you stock to order instead of order to stock, you will ALWAYS have service issues.

When a company sets lofty expectations ...

This is my point exactly. You address everything except the information the customer is looking for. The reason I started this thread was because I was looking for answers regarding the status of my order, and why on earth I received an empty package. (I also called FedEx by the way). Once again you have avoided giving me information regarding my order. That's fine, at this point I am only looking for a refund, which Visa is working on since who knows how long it would take for you to issue.

Good luck with the future of your business, I hope you fix your issues so other customers won't have to go through the frustrations I did.

Actually, devilishly good service should mean 99% of the people are satisified, not 90% (90% would be devilish service).

A vendor should not promise what they can't deliver - end of story. If you can't deliver the product promised, last time I checked, that was fraud. A successful business should ramp their production BEFORE they sell the inventory, not the reverse. If you stock to order instead of order to stock, you will ALWAYS have service issues.

rite on point hal9000!

also, have you heard of the article, "Execution Without Excuses" by harvard business review. some crazy fellows named Michael Dell & Kevin Rollins were interviewed about why their company is so successful and how they foster a company culture of accountability and of course, "Execution Without Excuses"

Actually, devilishly good service should mean 99% of the people are satisified, not 90% (90% would be devilish service).

A vendor should not promise what they can't deliver - end of story. If you can't deliver the product promised, last time I checked, that was fraud. A successful business should ramp their production BEFORE they sell the inventory, not the reverse. If you stock to order instead of order to stock, you will ALWAYS have service issues.
Hal, thanks for that wonderful review. We'll see if we can take your experience and work with it.

*** UPDATE ***

Full refund was given by Umnitza.
Sorry, no explanation given for the empty box.