(logo chimes)
- So Lit Mobile just sent me this wireless
solar battery pack.
I'm excited, let's see what's inside.
Oh yeah.
(upbeat music)
Hey guys, how are you all doing?
Really, that's just great.
You know I'm doing pretty great today, too
because you guys are
amazing, thanks to you
my Lit Mobile episode
took off like a rocket.
So, thank you and as promised
I will have follow up episodes for you
and today you're getting one of them.
So, what's been up the past couple weeks?
Well plenty, but one of those things
that happened was I got
in touch with a supplier
that sells solar chargers.
I got in touch with them via Alibaba
and I'll get back to that soon.
But one of the things that didn't happen
the past couple weeks
is Lit Mobile, actually,
supplying the product that I purchased.
I placed my order back when
I released the first episode
to this day I still haven't
received a shipping confirmation
or a tracking number.
I would say I'm surprised but I'm not.
I submitted a contact
form on their website
asking what's up.
Like many others, I received
the automated response from The Team.
I contacted the listed email
address and waited, nothing.
I sent a followup email
and waited, nothing.
And yes, their phone number
is still disconnected.
- [Automated Voice] 7-9-1,
the number you dialed
is not in service.
So, it's been radio
silence from Lit Mobile.
But I did receive a few
comments from you guys
that, actually, gave me a
glimmer of hope, in a way.
Some of you said you,
actually, had a good experience
with the product, or it at least arrived.
It, maybe, wasn't that great
but it at least showed up.
So, maybe at one time,
Lit Mobile actually had
good customer service, quality assurance
and they actually
shipped out orders, good.
Another thing I saw pop up a
lot was the term, dropshipping.
In a nutshell, dropshipping
is a fullfillment method
in which a store doesn't
have to keep inventory.
Instead the store provides the
customer a buying experience,
like a website, for example,
then the store owner
or respective employees order
the product from a supplier
and they ship the product
directly to the customer.
According to Talkbusiness.net,
in 2017 23% of online sales
were delivered to
customers via dropshipping,
as noted by Forrester Research.
I also found this Wired
article about dropshipping
and it's almost hilarious
how many topics Lit Mobile
checks off of this
dropshipping cliche list.
The article mentions
pain points, Ali Express,
targeting ads on social media,
particularly with video.
They mention the long
wait times for shipping
and they even mention
Shopify, specifically.
Hmm, seems familiar.
I also found this Oberlo
article which talks about
the negatives behind dropshipping
and one of the points they mentioned was,
dropshipping makes customer
service more challenging.
That makes sense, you
have very little control
over the product.
Pretty much, it isn't your product.
And it seems like Lit
Mobile has given up entirely
when it comes to customer
service and satisfaction.
Frankly, I don't work in this industry
and I've never sold
physical product online.
So, I wasn't familiar with
this term, dropshipping.
Well, now I know.
I don't think all dropshipping businesses
are inherently bad, but
dropshipping does open up
the possibility of you
giving your customers
a bad experience, especially
if you don't provide
good customer service.
For example, you don't
reply to your emails,
or you disconnect your phone number.
Are you getting the
hints, here Lit Mobile.
Anyway, there's some other
stuff I discovered too.
Another comment I received
was from the videographer
behind these ads.
He did confirm the on-screen personalities
were actors, makes sense.
I don't think there's
anything wrong with that
but if you're going to fudge
a testimonial with an actor,
you should disclaim it.
Of course, I'm not putting any
blame on the video team here
because they don't have the final say.
I get it, I've worked in
the video world for years.
I free-lanced a ton.
If I can interview this
videographer later,
I'll include him another follow up episode
because this journey is far from over.
Another interesting thing that occurred
is the new reviews on the website.
It seems like there's some (beep) posting
along with some memes occurring now.
As funny as that is, I don't condone that
and I don't want anybody really
doing that going forward.
Let's not make ourselves look dumb.
In one of the Lit Mobile website reviews
I found a product called
a Lit Solar, guess what?
There website follows
the same cookie-cutter
(beep) as Lit Mobile.
They even have the same logo, interesting.
Also, if you share a photo
of you're product in action
you get a 60% discount, is
that 60% off of the 60% off?
Or can I not combine the offers?
Help me out here Lit Mobile.
I know, I'll just call
your customer support
and ask that question, oh wait.
It's also weird that
they say they're based
out of Indiana but then show a photo
of Cloud Gate in Chicago.
Which is the city Lit Mobile
claimed to be based in, sigh.
I also love how a product
will say it has no reviews
and then another part of the page
will say it has 1,489
reviews, make up your mind!
I'm also discovering
other solar charger brands
using this exact charger product,
or at least something similar.
I saw a tweet which mentioned
the Halo solar battery bank,
which was, actually
also, on Indiegogo, what?
So, now what?
Well, I'm still waiting to
hear back from Lit Mobile.
I doubt they're ever gonna get back to me.
But I still wanted to
try this product out.
I promised I would do that,
at least, I think I did.
So, do you know what I did?
Oh yeah, I went to Alibaba
and got in touch with the
supplier, Juding Tech.
Granted I don't have 100% confirmation
this is the supplier Lit Mobile used
but, visually, it looks
like the same product.
The JD-T19, as suspected
they offer custom branding
and boxes, which for the
hell of it I submitted
my computer plan logo and
received three renders.
Neato, hey maybe, we can
sell these one day, wink.
So, after getting a few
errors on the Alibaba website,
I got in touch with the supplier
and ordered one non-branded
unit for review.
To Juding's credit they were super polite
and responded very quickly.
So, that product is on it's
way to my lair as we speak.
When it gets here, I will do some testing
and I will gladly do another
follow up episode for you guys.
So, stay tuned for that.
And if the Lit Mobile
product ever arrives,
I will gladly compare the two side-by-side
but I doubt it's ever gonna get here.
I did receive some generous
offers from you guys,
for you to actually donate
your Lit Mobiles to me
and I may have to take you up on that.
So, we'll see.
I'm curious to know about your
Lit Mobile buying experience
and as always I love to hear about
your other tech buying horror stories.
So, let me know about those
in the Comments, down below.
If you liked the video,
you know what to do.
Awesome, thanks for sticking with me.
Catch the crazy, pass it on.
(upbeat music)
(logo chimes)
