ComplaintsforSunlighten, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My mp**** Emp**** sauna is the highest end sauna they carry. I called to look into why my near infrared light did not seem to be coming on and spoke a representative on 5/20/24 that informed me of a package I could order to bring my sauna up to date with a total of 15 parts I would install that included updating the wiring, power unit, transformer, near infrared heaters etc. I had questions and called and spoke to another rep early on 5/21/24 and she assured me that that upgrade package would indeed resolve the issues. I had forgot to ask one question and called back and got ****** who then told me there was no way to upgrade my sauna and that I would need to buy a new one. Said there was no way to upgrade my sauna because the wiring and power board would not work. When I stated the upgrade package included the wiring and power board etc he would not listen and told me there was no way to upgrade it and my only option was to buy a whole new $12,000 sauna. Total sales pitch and needless to say I am not happy. Unscrupulous businessperson, complete scam. I would like my upgrade package and people to know what kind of business happens here when you get ahold someone as unscrupulous as this guy...

  Business response

  06/24/2024

  The customer's sauna is an older model Empower that our current parts are not backwards compatible with that model year.  We do apologize that he was given incorrect information on his initial phone conversation.  We have addressed this with the representative he originally spoke with about the upgrade package. The second representative shared with him the reasons why the upgrade package wouldn't work and why.  He also, offered our customer loyalty program and shared the pricing to purchase a sauna with a warranty and available parts that are compatible with it.  

  Customer response

  06/25/2024

  
  Complaint: 21742353
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was not getting current parts in the parts list for the upgrade on my older sauna I was going to get the latest parts that were compatible with this model. This was specifically discussed when it was initially being addressed and offered. I spoke to two separate associates that assured me it would work with my model while I was trying to make up my mind to order the parts and the senior lead technician was the first person I spoke to had done so many times before. This is simply a sales ploy/decision from upper management to stop helping customers with older model saunas upgrade and force them to have to spend $10K on a new sauna if they want the latest software etc. I understand it is just business but when a couple days of thinking about investing in ordering the parts and getting in contact with the wrong sales associate was all it took for my opportunity to update my sauna with available parts in an attempt to be forced into buying a completely new unit it is unprofessional and unscrupulous. I understand that nobody there is willing to do the right thing for me and the ones that were being helpful and doing the right thing have been hushed and forced to go against what they know was right because of their employer. Capitalism at its worst, it is not about keeping customers happy and doing the right things it is about making money at the expense of morality and integrity. I can see this will get nowhere but that is what these complaints are for. Letting people see when companies take advantage of customers and do these types of things. I should have been allowed to get the parts I was offered etc but here we are.... it is just sad what this country has become 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Sunlighten are muting my perfectly reasonable comments on their social channels. It shows to me that the comment has been posted but it's not public, meaning when anyone else views it, they can't see the comment (see screenshots) We feel this is underhanded and misleading to potential consumers - my comments are solely alerting consumers to be careful before they buy Sunlighten products. Specifically they are about checking out the better business bureau, before buying. But Sunlighten are deleting them before they get to the public. We are seeking refunding of the shipping costs to send their faulty product back to them, which cost $500. The reason is we don't believe we should be paying to ship back a product that didn't work in the first place. We have already lost over 2k on electrician fees to install, check and re-check the sauna, to try and figure out the problem, when we had it.

  Business response

  05/09/2024

  We have connected with ***** to discuss the postings and return shipping fees.  Both of us have reached an amicable agreement on those two items as of today, Thursday, May 9th. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In November of 2023 I ordered an MPulse Sauna from Sunlighten for approximately $14,000 I did not receive the sauna until January of 2024 after being told I would receive it in December. Once we got it and put it together it worked until two weeks ago (April) We called Saturday (April 13) and were informed that there has been a known issue with the infrared panels and we would be shipped new ones. Today we called because we still had not received the parts and were told: "I wanted to reach out and touch base after speaking with you today. My warehouse team has informed me that we are completely out of stock on the NIR LED board needed for your order. Currently we do not have a confirmed ETA from our manufacturer on when these will be ready to ship. My warehouse team has been made aware of your order and if any options become available, they will ship ASAP. Once we are able to ship, you should receive an email with FedEx automatic tracking." THIS IS A BRAND NEW UNIT WITH KNOWN PROBLEMS. I have a loan I am paying on it and I cannot use it. I would like financial compensation on the unit while it is inoperable.

  Business response

  05/04/2024

  We apologize for the shipping delays in receiving your sauna order and delivery timelines being pushed into January.  Our NIR red light panel boards have had electrical updates based on usage and performance issues.  We had to go back to our supplier for these updates to be implemented and for production to occur to meet our order quantities.  Yes, there was a delay that created backorders.  However, the updates were important and needed for those boards to work properly.  The customer's order has been fulfilled, shipped out, and arrived to the customer on Friday, April 26th.  We have not heard back from the customer since April 22nd.  If they are still needing assistance with the sauna or installation of the NIR red light boards, we'd be happy to reach out to them.  

  Customer response

  05/07/2024

  We received the panels, but when installing them we found that the original panels had started fires behind them. 

  We are very upset and worried this sauna will burn down our home.

  Business response

  05/20/2024

  We have been in communication with ******* about her parts that were ordered.  These parts were out of stock but have arrived at our warehouse.  We have shipped them out and scheduled for a tech to go onsite and install the parts.  This service appointment has been confirmed and will occur on May 24th at 9am.

• Initial Complaint

  04/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We bought ******* ******** Sunlighten Sauna, delivered in December of 2017 for about $10,000 on the recommendation of my ********* Clinic doctors/colleagues & the company claim of their Low EMF saunas still working well 18 years after purchase. Our sauna arrived with cracks/warped wood in the ceiling & floor that were never replaced/fixed, though the company said they would. The backrests we paid for never arrived. I patiently waited for replacement & the backrests. None of these problems were ever resolved. I became severely ill in 2018 & could not keep up with the company to encourage resolution. The control tablet broke & was replaced quickly. I had a good result from the sauna medically, and so I tolerated the cosmetic problems even the crack in the floor large enough to pinch the skin of my foot. About a year ago the heaters stopped working, a complicated problem to diagnose and resolve, in part because of my disability. I was able to get the problem diagnosed & old heaters off but new ones did not work. After more diagnostic work I was told that the power box is broken, & can't power the heaters which are still under warranty. Also the tablet we have, when it and other parts break the entire sauna will need to be trashed anyhow. The company "advanced" the saunas, so the old ones are no longer repairable. I was told I could buy a new sauna at 30% off via a loyalty program. Where is the "loyalty" to customers who trusted Sunlighten? Several times I was promised a supervisor would call me, & they may have quickly called and hung up before I could get to the phone, no message. I rushed home last week for a supervisor’s call in the AM and at 5:18 PM the phone rang when I could not get to it fast enough. The business as "closed" when I immediately called back. Clearly customer service is not a priority point and profit from new sales is their focus. Since this is not repairable, it seems replacement with a more simple, repairable model is the only fair solution.

  Business response

  05/04/2024

  We have communicated to the customer about her sauna and next options.  Her sauna warranty is 7 years for the heaters and cabinetry.  We are honoring that part of the warranty.  The electronics are a 3-year warranty and has expired as of 2020.  We are no longer carrying/producing power boxes that were originally installed in her sauna.  We have made updates to our power boxes since 2017.  Some parts are not backward compatible and in this case the power box isn't.  This is not uncommon in other consumer products or electronics.  Our message has a prompt stating if your sauna was purchased/produced in 2011 or earlier press this option.  We are not supporting these saunas for parts either but can troubleshoot and advise of another company that does stock a limited supply of parts for those sauna-types.  We extended an offer for purchasing a new sauna that doesn't have as many electronics in it that would need to be serviced or updated. We feel we are trying to support and offer solutions to the customer within the guidelines and ability we have given the circumstances.

• Initial Complaint

  03/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a new Sunlighten sauna that arrived in early August 2020 and the unit is still under warranty. The sauna has only intermittenly worked, and the first repair claim I had to make to Sunlighten was 2 weeks after receiving the sauna. I've had a total of 17 claims to repair the sauna, many of the fixes taking months to repair, one close to 7 months, and as of today the unit doesn't work, and hasn't worked since the time I filed a claim on Jan 10, 2024. Long story short, the unit has been down and unusable far more than it has worked and I've spent countless days working on the unit. They sent a technician from Kansas to Lincoln, NE to fix the unit, and just last Friday, March 22nd they had a 3rd party technician working on the unit until 7PM and noone can determine what's wrong with the unit and I've yet to receive anything substantive from Sunlighten. I've lost faith in Sunlighten's ability to diagnose and/or repair the unit to the point that it's usable for any period of time. I obviously have a lemon and am requesting that the sauna be replaced with a new one with full warranty or a full refund for the amount paid. I'm happy to assist in shipping the existing one back or disposing of it on my own.

  Business response

  04/05/2024

  We have been working with *** ***** to remedy the issues with his sauna.  We recently had a technician come out to his location to service the sauna and troubleshoot.  That technician completed troubleshooting and parts installation.  This appointment did take longer to complete as we were doing more diagnostic troubleshooting to isolate the issue.  After completion of that visit, we have concurred that the breaker tripping issue is not due to the sauna but to the AFCI on the breaker itself.  We sent an email to *** ***** on March 28th referencing this, next steps to take, and how over time the AFCI breaks down and causes the tripping to become more frequent.  We need this to be addressed first before we can truly determine if the sauna components are not working properly.

• Initial Complaint

  03/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We purchased our sauna from Sunlighten in March 2022. On Monday, 3/4/2024 our sauna door shattered. That morning, I contacted customer care and the representative could not help with the situation. I asked to speak to a manager. He advised **** ****** could help me. I called and emailed **** and no reply. On 3/5/2024 I called my sales rep**** ********* and explained the door shattered and I wasn't getting a response from customer care. She said **** ****** could help me. Upon transfer, the call was dropped. I immediately called *** back, and she didn't answer. I left a message on her voice mail and sent an email. She replied "I'm on it and will have someone reach out to you shortly." Never heard from anyone. Sent another email on 3/7/2024 to *** and copied **** that I hadn't heard back from anyone. Bri responded that she will have someone from Logistics contact me. I still haven't heard from anyone.

  Customer response

  03/27/2024

  The issue has been resolved with SunLighten.

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  High end Model bought. Worked for 2 weeks and then experienced one wall of the unit not heating. Called customer service, they do not answer and call you back and a random time. If you miss the call you start all over again and it may be 1-4 days before they call you back. They try and get you to diagnose the problem using a volt meter as only a trained electrician would know how to use. After 2 months of trying to get direct answers they have given two solutions and neither one of them fixed the unit. They continue this game of call backs randomly with no direct way to call back or talk to a rep. The customer service continues to blame wire issues and get us to do all of the work that a skilled electrician would find challenging. we bought this unit for customers to use and we are losing money because of the malfunctioning unit

  Business response

  02/24/2024

  We apologize the difficulty in reaching our customer service team or if our returned calls resulted in a missed call.  We are trying to contact with our customers as quicky as possible and via phone call and email.  We did connect with the customer on Feb. 20th for further troubleshooting and as a result identified a heating panel and/or wiring connector and offer to replace both for the customer.  Customer opted for the heater panel first and wait on the wire connector.  That order has been placed.  It is due to arrive to the customer on Sunday, Feb. 25th.  Our warranty covers parts and service, but not labor/technicians.  We are happy to assist the customer with the installation of the part and if a scheduled call is preferred, we can send out a link for that call to be scheduled.

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We bought the Signature IV sauna from Sunglighten in May 2023 for almost $7000. After a month it started taking 2 hours to heat to 144 degrees. They helped override the 1 hour timer and the sauna functioned well for a month or so. Then it started taking 2.5 hours to get to 140 degrees where it topped out. This was both too long and not hot enough to sweat in. After 2/3 months of constant chasing, we were sent replacement parts (with no instruction and no paperwork) which we paid the electrician who installed it, to install. The electrician also tested all our power which is working fine (we paid $2500 for a direct electrical connection to set this up in the first place). This hasn't fixed the problem. It still takes 2.5 hours to get to 140 which isn't hot. The sauna simply doesn't work and we want to get our money back. We are generally being ignored by the company, and no one is returning our emails. We're writing to you to help us get our money back for the sauna and the electrician and return the sauna. Yours sincerely, ******** ***** 

  Business response

  02/13/2024

  We have been in communication (email and phone) with ******** about these issues and their request to return the sauna.  The process is in motion and scheduling is being done to then be communicated to them.

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

  As of 2/8/24, Sunlighten has agreed to accept return of the Sauna for a refund (less $500 that we'll need to pay for return shipping).  We've been unable to get that scheduled yet, but will keep trying to get a hold of them this week.  I will update the status here.

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  Our logistics team should be reaching out to the customer this week with a status update on scheduling the sauna pick up.  

  Customer response

  02/15/2024

  Hi 

  We have heard back that after 4 months of problems, Sunlighten will refund us for the cost of the sauna but want us to pay their shipping costs. 

  I don't think we should be paying $500 for the privilege of returning a faulty product that we've repeatedly tried to fix at cost to us. 

  For example it cost us $450 for the electrician to install the replacement parts, which didn't fix the problem. 

  I don't want to put the refund in jeopardy over this shipping cost but it doesn't feel fair that we're paying over a thousand dollars to fix and send back a faulty product.

   Yours sincerely, ********* 

  Customer response

  03/17/2024

  We have been told that we would receive a refund but it's coming up on 3 weeks since we sent our Sauna back. We took great pains to make sure it was well packed and everything was there. We've been assured it's 'in the system', it has been 'received' etc but we've no way of knowing if and when this refund will actually be given. All we can do is keep writing to them asking for updates which are never useful. They never get in touch with us to tell us what's happening. It's exhausting. Please can you help us get a concrete response with times, next steps, action plan etc. 

   

   

  Business response

  03/30/2024

  Customer refund has been processed by our accounting department on 3/27/2024.  The refund should hit their account with 3-5 business days.  They will need to check with their financial institution or credit card company.  

• Initial Complaint

  12/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased my sauna for my personal training studio 1 year ago in 2022. 4 of my heat panels went out in October 2023. I called the tech that walked me through to make sure it was electrical or the panels, we soon determined it was the panels. I was made aware that they will send them out asap(still under warranty). I never received an email so I called back, I was then told they were on back order, but would be in soon. I called back weeks later, ***** in logistics was who I was communicating with. She told me they were in and they were being "tested" and will be sent out at the end of the week , which was before Thanksgiving. Never heard back so I emailed her back. She then told me that they needed MORE "testing". I have been patient and kind. I called customer care, they talked to logistics for me, I got another work order email. STILL nothing. I have referred 3 of my clients to this business and they all bought one from them. Everyone of my clients now have a bad review about this company because my sauna has been out of service for 3 months and ***** ******* quit responding to my emails. Not only is it bad for their business, it makes mine look bad. Word of mouth is everything in business. I am a small business in a big town, I support small or big businesses that treat their customers right.

  Business response

  12/30/2023

  We certainly understand *** ****** frustration and apologize for the delay in the heater panels being sent out.  This was expedited to our Logistics team to assist and source the panels as quickly as possible.  We have sent those parts out and did recently spoke with the customer on additional troubleshooting.  We isolated the issue with the power box and have placed the order for that part on 12/28/2023.  

  Customer response

  01/10/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ****

• Initial Complaint

  09/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have had the same issue since my unit was purchased and they gave me bandaid remedies then- double sided tape. It has contributed to drape the inside of the device and all they say now is you’re out of warranty l. Well you never fixed it to begin with and from what I can tell with a 2.5 rating on bbb your customer service on your products is subpar.

  Business response

  09/18/2023

  We want to assist this customer.  The sauna is from 2010 and is out of warranty.  We have advised her on how to repair the draping fabric on the inside of the dome.  We also advised her that replacing the domes with new ones would be of great benefit to her and we offered discounted pricing for new domes.  We have reached out to the customer as recent as September 12th and again on the 13th.  We offered solutions again and the customer hung up on us without letting us know what she wanted to do with our offers.  

  Customer response

  09/19/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because this has been an issue when under warranty and they did nothing. This company has lacked customer service on all points. I would never recommend them or buy anything from them EVER again. My mother even owned a sauna from them, but I guess the quality and service standards they once had is gone. NEVER AGAIN!
  
  Regards,
  
  ********* *************

  Business response

  10/07/2023

  We have tried to work with this customer on a solution for the fabric and sauna issue.  The sauna is out of warranty per our warranty terms and guidelines.  We did offer to discount the purchase of new domes for her sauna, and she didn't respond to that offer.  We feel are trying to work with her but giving her new domes at no charge is not feasible at this time.    

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩