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PIAA warranty - KUDOS to PIAA

oldcarkook

Subzero Scooter Idiot
I have had an experience with a product that bears sharing...

My PIAA 80 driving lights went kaput and after a little diagnostics and a LOT of help from other knowledgeable members of this forum, I determined that my light relay had failed.

I emailed PIAA to confirm that I was ordering the correct relay for these lights before I started disassembly. I wanted to avoid having the bike scattered all over my garage while I dug out the old relay and got the part number.

PIAA customer service responded overnight with an email indicating that I HAD to dig out the old relay so they could get the part number off it to tell me what was correct.

They added that they warrantee (sp?) their products for life so the relay will be replaced at no charge.

Say what? :confused: Did you say the parts are guaranteed for life?
Yes they did. :D They pay the shipping, they pay the handling, and they provide the replacement part at no charge. It's really that easy.

This is an 8 year old relay and it will be covered until the bike dissolves. Now THATS what I call customer service! They cover any part except the lamps (bulbs) which is fully understandable.

So, to all that are considering hanging a set of driving lights on your bike, consider PIAA's warranty as part of your decision making process.

Needless to say, a free replacement relay makes having the bike disassembled all over the garage worth it.
 
Sending out a 3 dollar relay once in a while after getting 300.00 for a set of lights is not charity. They can afford to do that. It is nice that they do though.
 
Oldcar, after reading your post I just don't know what to say. My relay went out less than two years of having the lights installed on my bike. I e-mailed Piaa, tried calling and left messages for them finally i went to a local dealer and they ordered me the relay and charged me about 42.00 for the relay. I thought there customer service was less than helpfull. I like there product and have installed there light set on my GT but there customer service sucks.:dunno
 
Here's the man to contact!

Jason in PIAA's customer service handles all the web based inquiries and warranty issues. They are on the West Coast so time your call accordingly. They open at 7:30 AM

Here's his direct email:
service@piaa-usa.com

Here's his direct toll free number:
Jason @ PIAA 800-525-7422

Here's their response to my first note:

Your message has been received by customer service.
A representative will respond to your question as soon as possible.

If you your question is related to Warranty or Trouble Shooting information, please take a moment to visit: http://www.PIAA.com/warranty.html

If you would like to find a dealer in your area, you can search our up-to-date database at:
http://piaa.idealerquik.com/custinfo.asp

You can also check to see which PIAA lamps or bulbs fit your vehicle at:
http://www.piaa.com/appguides

Thank you,
PIAA Corporation
http://www.PIAA.com


I'm sorry to hear that your experience was less than helpful, but I can tell you that they were helpful with my situation. I will also add that I stayed on top of it and followed the replacement issue closely so that may have made a difference too.

The replacement relay was very different from the original, :( and while it worked and corrected my problem, they took a relay that was 1" X 3/4" by 3" long and replaced it with two big honking plugs, one relay that was roughly the size of the original, one fuse assembly, and a fairly bulky wire harness with pigtails to each of the four components separately. :dunno

The sum total of the four separate replacement parts and associated wire harness was at least four to five times the size of the original relay and very bulky with the harness, so overall, this is not really a practical solution for the average bike. Also, the new relay is not weatherproof like the old one so I had to improvise there. I wrapped it all up in electrical tape and tucked it up there and I'll keep Jason's number handy becasue this one will eventually fail from water infiltration I expect. This would be ok for use in a vehicle where you have an entire dash board of room to play with, but on a bike where an inch one way is into the gas tank, and an inch the other way is into the alternator, it was a little challenging. But you can't beat the price!

The original relay had the plugs and fuse all integrated into one nice small clean unit that was easy to service. This replacement approach will not be so easy to service in one sense, but easy in another; the fuse and relay are now totally separated and can be quickly removed once they are exposed.
 
my experience with PIAA

I appreciate oldcarkook's telling of his experience. He saved me money when the relay on my five year old PIAA 520s went out on my trip to the rally in Spokane. I talked with Jason, per the previous message, and had the replacement relay/fuse within about a week or so. No cost for the part or shipping. It's great that PIAA stands behind their products.

Out of curiosity, I took apart the old relay/fuse and found that a small solder joint connecting a pin from the fuse to the circuit board had burned out. The new design, while bulkier than the old combined relay/fuse, has a heavy duty positive wire leading into and out of the fuse that is separate from the relay. I was able to get the new unit mounted to the tubes running to/from the antilock brake servo on my '99 R1100GS. The 520s are operating again, and I can be seen a lot better than with that single head light operating by itself.

Thanks to PIAA and oldcarkook.
 
It's great to hear about positive experiences with a product and a customer service rep....I have been considering auxillary lighting for my GS...and after reading your experiences...well, it certainly is making me lean towards the Piaa brand.
 
I recently had a similar excellent experience with PIAA. Both bulbs on my 540s had burnt out. Although I was over the one year bulb warranty, PIAA agreed to replace them anyway. Thanks to Jason at PIAA service.
 
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