"They sell their own ballasts meant to replace discontinued ones, but their product pic shows the original ballast and says you'll get a replacement matching it but you don't. Makes you wonder why they don't show you a pic of what you'll actually receive. I got something too narrow and with way too many wire bundles coming out of it to fit in my fixture and replace the original, and no instructions. There's a lot of fine print on their site to give themselves loopholes to not return or replace it so you're stuck with a couple of paperweights. Buyer beware."
"Won’t respond to return requests and no phone number to call. Filing a complaint with my state attorney generals office as they shouldn’t be allowed to do business if they can’t follow their own policies on their site. Very sad there’s people like this in the world. "
"I ordered a ballest and after not getting it in two weeks I calked and they tell me it will be a month for me to receive my order. Very frustrated."
"placed an online order, received shipping confirmation, waited 4 weeks for delivery - it never came. Emailed ballastshop.com about the issue and they said it was never shipped.... How does one send shipping confirmation with a UPS tracking # and then not actually ship the order. Highschool students run better businesses. "
"Terrible customer service and no communication, ordered 4 ballasts that never showed up. Opened a PayPal dispute to get my funds back and the company never responded, don’t waste your time with this company. PayPal was quick to close in my favor."
"They said they shipped my item 30 days ago, but tracking info says USPS is still awaiting possession. What a joke! Avoid this place!!!"
"I spoke with Brian in customer service and he told me they had the item in stock. I order said item and receive the older model of if. It takes 3 days to get ahold of anyone there and when I do they try to convince me to keep it. If I wanted this I would have ordered it. Then they send me return label 3 days later. A week or so later then I end up receiving the same incorrect item. Once again Brian trys to talk me into keeping it. I requested a return label and refund and haven't heard back yet. This company is fraudulent and a freaking joke."
"PLEASE READ OF MY EXPERIENCE WITH THEM
On October 25, 2018, the light fixture in my shower room had stopped working. I first changed the 12 in. fluorescent light bulb. Still no light. If it wasn't the bulb, it was definitely the ballast that went bad. I went online and goggled the Ballast model I have.. a HD4032-120A Circline Ballast.
I found one on Ballasthop.com. I noticed on their website that there were 2 different pictures for same item. There were also differences between the two regarding the LAMP TYPE and also in the LAMP AMPS .
On the first picture, the ballast was showing no manufacturer name, only the lamp type > HD3222-120A. On the second pic, the ballast was showing AMEX LIGHTING as manufacturer and the lamp type was HD4032-120A.
To make sure, I ordered the correct item, I called Ballasthop.com and spoke with Brian. I told him about the two different pictures under the HD4032-120A Circline Ballast. Brian replied the pictures on our website have not been updated and you will be getting a HD4032-120A Circline ballast.
Days later (Nov 1st) I received a delivery from Ballastshop.com. When I opened up the package, I was in for a great surprise and got very upset. What Ballastshop.com had sent me was a used, scuffed, old dirty ballast, and someone has even wrote on it. The item was wrapped in a half (scissor cut) used UPS envelop stuck in a small UPS box. What was more upsetting was the fact that they shipped a different brand ballast. Webpage's picture is showing Amex Lighting brand and what they sent is a AMERICA ELEX brand !!
I immediately called Ballastshop. I ended up speaking again with Brian. I told him about the used ballast I just received and he replied, I don't understand as our company is sending customers new ballasts. Sorry but, the ballast, I received today is not a new item but a used item!!
Minutes later, I was getting a call from a John. He identified himself as the owner of Ballastshop.com. John said, the company we are getting these ballasts from is located in China, and they do not wrap these ballasts individually. He said the Chinese throw all those ballasts directly into a big crate on top of each other and this is why they're scratched and look run down. . If they are labeled new as Brian stated , then they should be wrapped individually to avoid being damaged. Those type of ballasts are sold on Amazon, at Home Depot and at Lowe's wrapped in a protective sheet of plastic.
Minutes later the same John, sent me an email stating: "we'll do what ever you want to make this right for you". "If want to return we'll send you a ship label".
I replied John, "What will make this right for me is to get a full refund on my credit card". I have also stated in same email if you agree for a full refund, please confirm. I'll then consider the matter closed. If however you disagree, I'll dispute (as I have ground for it ) the charge with my credit card.
Days passes and I never heard from him again.
On Nov 3rd, I have filed a dispute with my credit card. The credit card company asked me to return the item and I have since sent 3 emails to ballastshop.com requesting a prepaid return shipping label. So far I haven't received a return label.
On the Better Business Bureau website, this John is in fact John Mahoney and he's the registered owner-president of Ballastshop.com.
I have written this long review for the sole purpose of warning others about the "shoddy practices" of this vendor. PLEASE DON'T USE THEM FOR ANY PURCHASES!
I will continue to follow up on this terrible situation until I am satisfied with the outcome.
UPDATE: I think my review really "hits home" because, on Nov 8th, I got 3 things from Ballastshop and all on the same day:
1.) I was finally sent a return shipping label
2.) A full refund was processed on my credit Card
3.) An email from John @ Ballastshop.com saying: "Sorry for your poor experience. I have talked with the manufacturer who shipped the unit direct to you with less than satisfactory response at this time" > This is pure "BS" as there was no manufacturer involve here, what was shipped/sent to me was an old piece of junk (a used, scuffed, old dirty ballast)
There is also another reviewer on this page reporting the same issue with Ballastshop.com shipping him used ballasts. My advice is, avoid this vendor at all cost. If you need to replace a ballast use a reputable store such as Home Depot, Lowe's and/or a local electrical supplies store in your area. Or better, get a new LED light fixture that require NO ballast.
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"Simple website design and had everything that I needed in stock. I got my items within two weeks and they were in perfect condition from the manufacturer. I enjoy the convenience this website offers"
"I ordered two ballasts for some aging sconces we have in our condominium complex. Within an hour found some ballasts and put in a request to cancel the order. The next day I received a concise response that the ballasts were "shipped." After several back and forth with the customer service (an obvious oxymoron) I was told that I could return the ballasts and they would refund the amount paid after deducting for shipping and a 20% restocking fee. When I complained about the restocking fee since my request to cancel the order preceded the shipping, I received an email from a "supervisor" telling me that their timeline showed my request to cancel came after the items were shipped. This is totally false, but since they were unwilling to work with me I decided to keep the ballasts since we will eventually need them. Now, I just opened the package to add the two ballasts to the ones we already had and discovered that we were sent two USED ballasts. This is the first time I have ever received ballasts that were not in boxes and with the necessary wires and installation components.
Be very cautious. The BallastShop is a scam operation and customer service is a foreign concept to them.
As a follow-up to my previous post, I just did some more research and discovered that not only did I receive two USED ballasts, the cost was more than DOUBLE what others charge for the new ballasts in the manufacturer's packaging."