Originally intended to document my experience of DeLorean ownership, focus is often radical and strange, boring and obtuse.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

A Reply Re: Daytime Run Lights

Kinda like 'Christine' only cuter, and more foreign.

Local stores carry only one Hamsar product, a universal Daytime Running Light kit that works with almost every car except Subaru, Mitsubishi and Geo. I bought it for our Honda Insight, but it didn't work.

I wrote them a letter:

From: Martini [mailto:bttflf@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, 13 July, 2006 11:28 AM
To: sales@hamsar.com
Subject: Inquiry/Feedback/UserID Request Form

Hello. I'm having a problem with my D.R.L. kit professionally installed on my 2006 Honda Insight. It is installed absolutely 100% correctly, however, the driver's side D.R.L. is twice ad bright as the passenger side. In addition, when I turn the headlights on, nothing happens. The passenger light remains dim, while the driver's light stays bright. The high-beams function properly. The kit stated it did not work on Mitsubishi, Geo, or Subaru cars but otherwise worked with every other car. Was 'Honda' accidentally left off that list? Can you explain why the lights aren't working properly?
Thanks for your time,
Martini

----------

A couple of weeks ago I received a reply from Hamsar regarding the universal Daytime Running Light kit. I was a little surprised:

Hello Martini:

Thank you for your inquiry. Probably your car has the wrong DRL installed. Unfortunately they are not universal and they can vary from one model to the other and from year to year. In order to advise you the compatible DRL for the 2006 Honda Insight, we will require a wiring diagram showing the head lamps back to the dashboard. I can then forward this to one of our engineers for review.

Please send the diagram to my email address or fax to my attention at
905 332-9020.

Thanks again for your interest in Hamsar,

Marcela Uribe
Bilingual Customer Service
Hamsar Diversco
Tel 1800-567-5483
Fax 905-332-9020

----

Okay, WHAT? A Daytime Running Light kit that works with every single car ever made except Geo, Subaru and Mitsubishi is NOT universal?

Let me get this straight. My kit is the ONLY kit sold in stores, and therefore is fully expected to work on any car, and yet it is NOT universal? If there is only one kit to buy, how can it be the wrong one? And why do I not have a choice of which kit to buy when I go to the auto parts store? If different kits work with different cars, why am I not able to purchase any of those kits?

Ms. Uribe, your company sucks. Learn some marketing skills. Geez. I'd cast a curse on you if I could, but it looks like I don't need to. Your company already doesn't know what it's doing and will likely fail without my curse.

Good luck.

12 Comments:

Blogger mmat said...

several members of my family are long-time honda owners, so with a small bit of experience i would highly recommend that you not install anything in your honda that didn't come directly from their factory. most of my family has had terrible problems at one point or another with after-market parts on their respective hondas.

12:50:00 PM

 
Blogger Louisiana said...

Marcela i bet makes good money, has a cushy job, lots of wks for vacation and great benefits. Why would she care that her customer's aren't looked after..

she sucks!

unfortanetely so do most 'customer service anything'..not too many companies out there that still care beyond the almighty dollar.

that sucks!

12:58:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

mmat - you've got some good advice there. People with experience are always the best to talk to. We originally asked the Honda dealership where my sis works to install the daytime running lights for us, and sadly, they said they couldn't and suggested we try Canadian Tire!

Side Note: I promptly disconnected the D.R.L. kit after we passed our federal inspection. The lights all function properly now.

1:22:00 PM

 
Blogger Jerry Bowley said...

I'm gonna try a new twist and play devil's advocate here...

A quick look at Hamsar's website shows that they actually have quite a few different DRL kits available, depending on the make and model of your car. I ran a few different scenarios and found that, yes, most cars take the same kit, but not all... including the Honda.

I would say that the fault lies partially in the marketing of the kit you purchased as "universal", but the retailer is more to blame. They obviously only ordered the one specific part that they determined would not sit too long on the shelf (since 'most' people would need it, as opposed to the 'few' people who would need the other kits).

Side Note: I could only find a DRL kit for Insights from 2001-2003 on the Hamsar site. Perhaps DRL is an option already offered by Honda on newer models?

2:44:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Cuppojoe - you wiley devil you. You seem to be correct there.

Grammarists beware the following borderline run-on sentence:

I hereby transfer 50% blame to Canadian Tire for only carrying the one product, but I still insist that Hamsar retains 50% of the blame for marketing their product so poorly as well as not including Honda on their list of manufacturers with which that kit is not compatible and therefore misleading the public into thinking it is truly a universal DRL kit and that it will work on Hondas when, in fact, it will not.
*Whew*

3:59:00 PM

 
Blogger Lori said...

wow that all sounds like a lot of work! sorry they didn't work out for you

8:50:00 PM

 
Blogger Monogram Queen said...

"universal".. no such thing. It's a fairytale. Does not exist.

10:41:00 AM

 
Blogger Rowan said...

we have the same lights in our car.
It still is dim on one side and bright on the other.
we compensated by adjusting where the headlights point (one slightly higher than the other) to compensate for this.
It doesn't work. if you find a solution let us know. We've been driving it like this for about a year now.

1:54:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

My dad likes to aim his headlights lower, then just use the high beams.

2:58:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the store is lying to you. After all, doesn't everyone?

ahem ... Maytag. Cough cough...

Excuse me...

1:53:00 PM

 
Blogger mmat said...

i wonder if instead of the DRL kit, if you could just bypass the off switch so they stay on all the time.

8:36:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's a website that sells a DRL kit that is truly universal, that hooks to the front turn signal bulbs instead of the headlights:

www-daytime-running-lights.com

9:21:00 PM

 

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