Goodmart.com - Absolutely perfect... Saved my sanity!
Written: Dec 16 '06 (Updated Dec 19 '06)
|
| Full Review |
Goodmart.com saved my sanity last year!!
It was just about a year ago. I still remember it clearly. It was Christmas time, friends were in town for the holidays, and my husband was his usual light-obsessed self. What I mean by this is that he goes absolutely nuts when it comes to lighting. He always wants bigger, brighter, better lighting. So, we're hanging out in our family room, enjoying our company, when my husband got the idea that it would be great to install a higher-wattage fluorescent bulb in the fixture of our family room's ceiling fan. Now, let me point out that the light kit on the fan comes with instructions, where it very clearly states the maximum wattage you can use. But my husband decided he knew better; that even though the new bulb was clearly higher than what was stated in the instructions, that it would be "ok" because it's one of those energy-saver things, so even though it outputs a high wattage, it only uses a lower wattage... therefore it would work.
So - all holiday-related activity ceased while hubby took apart the light kit, and installed his brand new bulb. We put the light back together, flipped the switch, and were fascinated. "Ah...." , "Oooh..." was heard throughout the house, as we marveled at the oh-so-bright family room. But - about 10 minutes later we were saying "Uh Oh" and other exclamations I can't print here. As the light shut itself off, and refused to come back on. Yes, it seems the instruction manual was right and hubby was wrong. The light was dead.
After reading up on how these new-fangled fluorescent tubes work, we determined that it was probably the ballast that had burned out. Ok. No problem. We'll just take a drive to our local Home Depot. Surely they sell replacement parts for ceiling fans, right? Nope. They don't sell ballasts. Neither does Lowe's. It turns out none of our local stores sells this item. It was time for me to go online.
And here's the part where my sanity was called into question. I had the exact part in my hand as I searched for a replacement, so it shouldn't have been such a difficult task, right? Except that for some reason, the model number on my part was unmatched anywhere I looked. I found lots of sites that sold ballasts, but none had anything matching my exact number. They had lots of ballasts with numbers similar to the one in my hand, but I didn't want to take a chance, until I knew for sure that they'd be compatible. So, I needed some help. I frantically emailed the customer service centers of the sites I found, or tried calling their 800 numbers. But in the middle of a Holiday week, I was not getting much response.
Until I found Goodmart.com. They specialize in light bulbs, ballasts, light fixtures, and electrical supplies. Their navigation tools make it very simple to find what you're looking for. I simply clicked on "ballasts", then put in my model number, and of course, nothing matched. By this time, I pretty much knew that was going to happen. So, I went through my routine of finding their "customer service" link, and hitting the "email us" link. I described my problem, and hit send. Then the most amazing thing happened... Within a few minutes, I had a response! Mike had written me back, with the exact model number that I needed to replace my ballast. Furthermore, he sent me a spec sheet for the product, and, get this, offered to place the order for me, if I just give him a call on his toll free number. Or, the email went on, I could simply place the order through their system, now that I had the replacement model number. I couldn't believe what great customer service I received! I thought for sure, I wasn't going to get any help until after the Holidays! I placed the order myself, and received an instant confirmation. Their shipping and handling charges are as follows:
$5.00 per credit card order, no matter how large;
Free for registered commercial account holders;
$10.00 surcharge for small orders under $50.00, (applies to all customers);
Additional charges apply for shipping to APO addresses, Alaska and Hawaii.
So, for me, it was $15 since my ballast was under $50.00. I would have preferred, obviously, not to have to pay the extra $10 just because I was a "small order" but this is a site geared towards commercial purchases. All of their replacement parts are priced per case first; individual units are priced as secondary information. Still, considering they are mostly a commercial site, I felt very lucky that I was able to purchase an individual unit at all.
The ballast arrived a couple days later, the original bulb was placed back in the ceiling fan, and all was right in the family room again. And, Hubby hasn't tried to "fix" any of our "lighting problems" since then.
I'd recommend this site for anyone needing a specialty bulb, ballast, or other difficult to find lighting accessory. Simple navigation and excellent customer service provided a pleasurable experience all around.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Member: Mona
Location: Sunny South Florida
Reviews written: 1036
Trusted by: 240 members
About Me: SAP is down... See note, below.
|
