Baja Designs Buyers Beware

*RANT WARNING*


I purchased a couple Baja Designs LP 4's and two OnX6+ 10" light bars in May of 2024, which I ended up installing behind the grill of my 4runner towards the end of June.


Let me start by saying that the lights are amazingly bright and provide a lot of usable light. They seem to be well designed (as they should be for how much they cost). That being said, within a week of installing them one of the OnX6+ light bars started to develop a moisture/ condensation problem. Kind of a bummer, but hey, things happen and QC cant always catch everything. I contacted Baja Designs via email using the warranty email provided on their website. I got a response back in 5 days asking me to send in the light bar so they could replace the moisture damaged components. I was a little surprised they did not offer to pay for the shipping seeing as I just dropped $2,000 on lights and harnesses and the lights weren’t even on my truck a week before one of them started to have problems (not to mention one of the harnesses came with busted pins that I had to fix). So anyways, I paid another $25 to ship it to Baja Designs facility. It took about a week to arrive there and arrived on July 26th (According to the UPS tracking). About 2 weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything from them so I sent an email on August 8th asking if they had received my light. I wanted to make sure they actually got it and UPS didn’t just drop it off outside the facility where it could have been stolen. I got no response to my email, and about a week later I ended up calling to make sure they had it. When I called, the customer service rep told me they had it and were finishing up repairs and that he apologized for the lack of a response. He said the customer service rep I was originally dealing with had left the company (sure bud). I inquired about shipping reimbursement and was told that they don’t do that. I then explained how the light was not even on my truck for a week when it started to have problems, not to mention the small fortune I paid for a defective product. The service rep ended up giving me a sob story about how sometimes mistakes are made during manufacturing and O-rings get pinched yada yada yada. I explained to him that I understand people make mistakes, but I think it is ridiculous that the customer is expected to take the burden for their mistakes. I’m a heavy equipment mechanic. I have made mistakes in my career, but when I do, I don’t expect my customer to pay for my gas or parts or time to come out and fix my mistake. We are paying a lot of money for a top tier product that should come with top tier customer service. Anyways, the light took about another 2 weeks to arrive. So I was out a light for about a month and a half on top of having to pay to ship it to them.


Fast forward 4 months and some change, and that same light is showing signs of having moisture / condensation problems again. I sent an email to BD Warranty on 12/31 New years eve. I didn’t expect to receive a response for probably about a week as it was the holidays. Well, as of today, January 21st,2025 I still have not received a response. Over 3 weeks later. Very disappointing to say the least and a good way to lose a customer. I have 6 BD lights on my vehicle, 2x SAE Fogs, 2x LP4s, and 2x 10” OnX6+ lightbars. 5 of the lights have been fantastic, its just the one.


EDIT: Spoke with Brahian who runs the BD account on the forums. He was very receptive of my issues and apologetic about BD dropping the ball with my case. He seems like a stand up guy and is working to fix my issue. As long as there are still people like him working at BD who stand behind their product I think they’ll be alright.

If anyone has any issues with their lights and is having trouble with the warranty claim or just has questions, I suggest reaching out to Brahian. He’s been super helpful.

 

I can't say I've had the same experience with them as my interactions have been great, but why would you warranty a week-old light and not just return it to the retailer? Almost nobody reimburses for shipping on warranty and it's normally spelled out in the warranty docs.

 

I already had the light longer than 30 days by the time I installed it, which is the period for return. I also had to modify brackets and take a little material off the heat sink fins (nothing that would compromise water tight integrity I might add) to get the light to fit in my upper grill. Kind of hard to do a return like that.

 

Anyways, I’m glad you have had good experiences with them. Wish I could say the same. For the prices paid, the product should be flawless…or have a damn good warranty and customer service. Of which I have not seen so far. Like I mentioned…this is the same light, barely 4 months later, already having issues again. So having to pay for shipping on top of high prices, poor communications, excuses, and a repair that lasted only 4 months is just the icing on the cake

 

This was not my experience. I purchased a 4runner with BD lights around 5 yrs ago. Last month, I realized one had burned out. I sent a message inquiring about repair fully expecting to pay for it. Eric C replied and said to send it in. It was repaired at no charge in a week. There was no communication with receipt, but this is not uncommon working with other companies. All in all, I found my experience dealing with BD refreshing and will be looking at them for future lighting needs.

 

I ageee with you. You spent $2k. They should have just sent a new one to you and let them sell the repaired one at a discount. I have diode dynamics and not one issue but if I did I’d be expecting good customer service given what I paid. You have every right to vent.

 

While this is typically not our protocol when it comes to warranty, I'm glad this was the decision that was made. We try to make it right for everyone. As off-road enthusiasts ourselves, we try our best to give our customers not only the customer service they deserve but also the customer service we would want when seeking parts for our build. I'm glad we were able to make it right.

Best,
Brahian Herrera | Forum Sales & Support
Email: brahianh@bajadesigns.com | Phone: (760) 560-2252 Ext 201

 

Baja has always been very proactive and helpful with any of my orders or concerns. But i do also call and speak to someone over the phone rather than wait for a email response.

They definitely should have just sent you a new set, even if they pre-charged you till they received the bad ones. I wish they would do this for my SAE upgrade since i cant do without them for even 1 day.

I remember back in the day i had a set of very expensive all chrome lens PIAA's that one burned out, they sent me a brand new pair and didn't even ask for the old ones back. That was impressive CS.

 

Baja Designs is recognized not only for its reliability but also for having some of the lowest failure rates in the industry. That said, occasional issues can still arise, especially with products that are hand-assembled. It's simply an unavoidable part of the process that every company needs to deal with.

When I was made aware of this issue, I immediately contacted the customer. I believe the Baja Designs warranty procedure may not have been met to its full capacity, and I wanted to personally ensure we found a solution. I'm happy to report that we were able to fully resolve the concern with the lighting.

At Baja Designs, we stand behind our products and our customers. If anyone has questions or concerns, you're always welcome to reach out to me directly at brahianh@bajadesigns.com. We're here to help, and we'll always do everything we can to make it right.

Best,