My Experience With Umnitza

[JKO_ZHP]

I recently reached out to Umnitza via email for the first time ever regarding my Orion V2 angel eyes. I bought them about a year and a half ago, and just last month, one of the four rings was half-mooning. (As in, half of the ring does not light up.)

In their response, they:
Included multiple links to posts on various forums where I had admittedly bad-mouthed their service only not products. This was because I had paid for a night controller back then, but they never notified me of the lack of supply. So I received my V2's only without the other product that I had already paid for. Only after I emailed them about this did they offer a refund or suggest that I wait. My point being, they did not tell me about the shortage, and made me reach out to them to get my money back, whereas other, BIGGER businesses such as Amazon would've told the consumer immediately before waiting for the customer to find out AFTER the fact.

They went on a long tirade about how my reviews hurts their business. I apologized for the heated remarks I made in the past based on my experiences with them, but given their arrogant/condescending wording and unwillingness to admit that the night controller debacle was their fault even almost two years later, I reaffirmed that there were COUNTLESS other negative reviews on literally every BMW forum. From E46Fanatics to Bimmerfest, M3Post, etc. Plus Yelp. I basically said, disregard my opinion - there are many others who have had problems with Umnitza and it's not just me.

Their response? Yelp and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are fake review websites with no credibility, because the companies have to pay to keep the good reviews on it. And that they have so much business, they're bound to have a few people with negative experiences who will in turn, spread the word. They noted that there were many positive reviews about them that were hidden on Yelp.

By the time I got to the bottom of their essay of a response, I didn't even want to have them do anything for me anymore. This was the first time I ever contacted them directly about an issue, and only after lecturing me did they address the issue.

I will never do business with Umnitza again.

All in all, I have spent over $1,000 on my angel eyes, Morimoto Mini H1 projectors, and other overhead costs related to installation plus traveling from L.A. to Concord up in NorCal to buy directly from them. As of now, my Orion V2's are still bugged, and the projectors' cutoff is misaligned. Installer blamed Umnitza, Umnitza blames the installer. I'm done spending time on this tug of war.

P.S.
-The positive reviews for Umnitza that were censored by Yelp? The majority of those accounts only have ONE review and ZERO friends. Suspicious much?
-80% of the complaints filed against Umnitza on BBB are for their product/service.
-All of the negative reviews combined from ModBargains, Khoalty, and TMS still amount to less than Umnitza's.

[Avetiso]

I'd say that between Khoalty and Umnitza, it's just the lesser of two evils. Both of these companies sell the same Chinese/Taiwanese parts and accessories and bicker back and forth like schoolgirls about whose are better. And both of their customer service sections are lacking.

Dennis and I had a good laugh at the SF meet. He has Orion V2, I have Khoalty Helios. Both of these companies hate each other and argue that "My product is best and their products sucks." It was funny because the angel eyes look exactly the same. EXACTLY the same. No difference at all.

I've met the owner of Umnitza, and he seemed like a really nice guy. I've also had no issues with Khoalty. But there will be a time when your luck runs out. Such is the deal.

Thanks for the info.

[Smolck]

Funny, I got similar response. In fact, Umnitza went to the moderator of the E46 forum on Bimmerfest and demanded they force me to stop posting my negatives about Umnitza (service, NOT PRODUCT, I actually like the Orion V2s) in their threads. Claiming I was hurting their business. I informed them that that was sort of the point. Instead of fixing the issue (crap service) they whine and complain that it is unfair to expect EVERYONE to be happy. Nonsense. I expect more when dropping over $200 for angel eyes. I have since boycotted them (this was from years ago) and do not recommend them to anyone coming to me for angel eyes.

I have installed a few sets for people who bought them anyway, but I just tell people that angel eyes are so "2000's" they should be different and NOT have them.

[johnrando]

Sounds like I got lucky with my experience, so knock on wood. For them to not own up to an issue speaks a lot about them though. It's not if you have an issue, it's how you deal with it... looks like they've fallen short. It seems both them and Khoalty are hit or miss from what I've read. Thanks for sharing the info.

[Vas]

Thanks for sharing.

[QC_ZHP]

This thread would come up when I have angel eyes in the mail from Umnitza and Xenon bulbs on the way from Khoalty. Just hoping everything comes in correct

[JKO_ZHP]

I guess I got lucky with Khoalty. I got my LED interior, DEPO headlights, roundels, Hamann fog duct covers, CF splitters, bulbs, etc. etc. etc. from them with no problems.

I received my roundels just a couple days ago and the package was labeled 2-day ship. The two who have taken care of me these couple years were Dean and Kevin.

As for Umnitza, one person on Yelp said they dealt with the owner who was helpful and told him that most of the staff is new.

[baz11]

Just ordered product from Umnitza. Good phone support and extremely fast shipping. Sorry to hear you have had a poor experience

[iZHP]

Have had issues with them in the past as well. Never an issue with Khoalty.


-Sent via iPhone 5S

[ELCID86]

Just ordered product from Umnitza. Good phone support and extremely fast shipping. Sorry to hear you have had a poor experience
Ditto. Have not installed them yet.

[Johnmadd]

I had a solder on the v2 ballast come apart and sent them numerous emails and never got any responses... I wasn't pleased with that.

[Sockethead]

I never used them... I couldn't stand the way they argued with every user on Bimmerforums, back as far as 2009 that their angel eyes were the best on the entire planet... And I don't mean friendly either... Full blown name calling etc.
ain't nobody got time for that drama!

[94jedi]

I've also had a bad experience w/ Umnitza. To their credit, they tried to make it right but by that point, I had a bad taste in my mouth. I took my business elsewhere.

[sillieidiot]

lol sounds like what i had to deal with back in the day with the angel eyes war. but they hit me up, i guess i was doing so much, it actually impacted their business lol i still have that PM of them trying to apologize to me and asking me to stop putting their company down.

[Johnmadd]

lol sounds like what i had to deal with back in the day with the angel eyes war. but they hit me up, i guess i was doing so much, it actually impacted their business lol i still have that PM of them trying to apologize to me and asking me to stop putting their company down.

Post the pm please

[cakM3]

JKO, I just read your intro and have to say that I'm sorry to hear of your experiences with Umnitza. I recently ordered the Orion V4s and thought I had an issue with them when they got delivered (had V2 instructions packaged). I called their support line to clarify that the install instructions will work for my V4s and they were very polite with me and answered all of my questions. In my case, I had no issues at all dealing with Unmitza. So sorry to hear you had major issues...

Based on my experiences with Umnitza, I will be ordering another set of Orion V4s from them for my ZHP come spring...

[imola red zhp]

As Dario mentioned earlier I've met Matt owner of Umnitza and Tim their customer support they do have issues with support but really try to keep a steady customer base. I admit they can be better but that's on them. Matt does lurk on our site because he would tell me you guys are "bad mouthing my business" I told that's theirnopinion if they fell their not be treated fairly.
My advantage is that I'm only 15 minutes away and swap burned out ballasts or other parts with no hassel.
I hope he imporves his mail order part of his business. ....


sent by new technology DA

[poke08]

This thread would come up when I have angel eyes in the mail from Umnitza and Xenon bulbs on the way from Khoalty. Just hoping everything comes in correct

+1. I just ordered my angel eyes on monday from Umnitza.

[QC_ZHP]

I called Monday, too. Tim was extremely nice on the phone and even gave me a huge discount on V2's because I missed the Black Friday special. Looks like they shipped out today, so I have no complaints so far.

I've ordered from Khoalty 3 times now and have had no problems whatsoever. There is not much communication but everything comes as expected.

[poke08]

I called Monday, too. Tim was extremely nice on the phone and even gave me a huge discount on V2's because I missed the Black Friday special. Looks like they shipped out today, so I have no complaints so far.

I've ordered from Khoalty 3 times now and have had no problems whatsoever. There is not much communication but everything comes as expected.

Yeah, I spoke to Tim also. Same scenario with missing the Black Friday special but I got the 2.5's and mine shipped out today as well.

[ELCID86]

Guess we should tried for a group buy! Glad they treated you right WRT price.


Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1).

[JKO_ZHP]

The fact that they still blew me off and scolded me like a child when I mentioned that I did business with them twice and drove from SoCal, Los Angeles to them in NorCal, Concord TWICE was what killed all chances of me even acknowledging them as a business. I would post the email transcript but I don't want to cause more unnecessary drama.

Based on the other good reviews though, I will concede that at best, their customer service is inconsistent.

[johnrando]

Clearly they did not provide adequate customer service for you, especially given how you went out of your way. You are well justified to let others know that was your experience.

[BimmerWill]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I just recently had the same issue with my orion v2's. Emailed them and didn't receive an answer as early as I'd hoped so I called and he said to check the connections on the white box. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet but will this afternoon. Not fifteen minutes later I received a reply to my email stating the same solution. Guess I'll see whether they are right or not.

sent from S4

[JKO_ZHP]

Bump.
This is a long shot, but does anyone know of any expert retrofitters in the SoCal area? It's been less than two full years since the install, and just two nights ago, all four of my Orion V2's just stopped working. First one ring half-mooned, now they all won't turn on.

Not going to jump to conclusions, I'm just hoping it's a wire that came loose or something small.

[SoDelBMW]

Wow I never realize how big of a hit or miss it can be with these companies. I'm actually in the market for angel eyes and came across the V2's and was about to order them like last week and now after reading this I'm second guessing myself. Where do you guys think I should go for some that won't be a problem?

[ELCID86]

Wow I never realize how big of a hit or miss it can be with these companies. I'm actually in the market for angel eyes and came across the V2's and was about to order them like last week and now after reading this I'm second guessing myself. Where do you guys think I should go for some that won't be a problem?
I'm comfortable with buying from them--Umnitza.

[sillieidiot]

i think buying from them is fine. but don't expect any CS especially when trying to warranty items.

[jakksfor20]

i think buying from them is fine. but don't expect any CS especially when trying to warranty items.

I won't buy from them again. I bought p46 with FX-R upgrades from them for the coupe back in October time frame. Got them and all was dandy the first time I turned them on. Next time, the driver's side wouldn't work. I troubleshot and found the ballast was bad. True story..... don't ever grab one of the ballasts while the lights are on if you think it may be the problem. I had the crap shocked out of me. Anyways, I contacted them and they said send the broke one to them and they would have one out right away. I waited over a month. It took 3 other communications with them to finally get one. They said they were out of stock (BS, as it was a 35W Canbus ballast).

Then when I finally get it and get the headlights situated the beams are in a U shaped pattern with the drivers side being high on the left, passengers side being high on the right (as pictured). The cutoffs where not level at all. So rather than fight with them considering it was past the 30 day warranty time period, I fixed them myself. Had to bake the lights, cutout the mountains of epoxy (pictured) and redo them.

I will NEVER buy from them again.

[Avetiso]

I won't buy from them again. I bought p46 with FX-R upgrades from them for the coupe back in October time frame. Got them and all was dandy the first time I turned them on. Next time, the driver's side wouldn't work. I troubleshot and found the ballast was bad. True story..... don't ever grab one of the ballasts while the lights are on if you think it may be the problem. I had the crap shocked out of me. Anyways, I contacted them and they said send the broke one to them and they would have one out right away. I waited over a month. It took 3 other communications with them to finally get one. They said they were out of stock (BS, as it was a 35W Canbus ballast).

Then when I finally get it and get the headlights situated the beams are in a U shaped pattern with the drivers side being high on the left, passengers side being high on the right (as pictured). The cutoffs where not level at all. So rather than fight with them considering it was past the 30 day warranty time period, I fixed them myself. Had to bake the lights, cutout the mountains of epoxy (pictured) and redo them.

I will NEVER buy from them again.
Unacceptable. That looks like horrible work, too.

[sillieidiot]

lol that looks exactly like the headlights I just fixed. yeah, i meant more for like angel eyes and stuff like that. the stuff that they basically don't make themselves. the FX-Rs, they do the retrofit themselves. from my experience, even if i half-assed my work, it would still come out better lol

[jakksfor20]

lol that looks exactly like the headlights I just fixed. yeah, i meant more for like angel eyes and stuff like that. the stuff that they basically don't make themselves. the FX-Rs, they do the retrofit themselves. from my experience, even if i half-assed my work, it would still come out better lol
I had no experience doing retrofits before that. I'm confident I can for sure do the wife's ZKW retrofit now after dealing with grinding all that crap out (think it took me about 4-5 hours). It doesn't need but a 10th the amount of epoxy they put in there.

[SoCalZman]

Wow. That looks pretty messy. What about lightwerkz? Anyone familiar with the quality of their work?

[sillieidiot]

Wow. That looks pretty messy. What about lightwerkz? Anyone familiar with the quality of their work?

yeah they do some good work. nothing like you see in jakks picture lol