Aneng rant

[Tangent_Tracker]

ok folks don't attack me for this but I have to get things off my chest lol

Bought an Aneng ST1212 as I needed a cheap DC clamp meter for the car... Knowing it wouldn't be the best bit of kit in the world when I finally recieved it I was neither dissapointed nor that impressed...

I wondered how long it would actually last, and finally getting it out recently to take another current measurement on the car guess what, knackered.

The worst bit is their customer service though. I sent them a video of me testing batteries, then putting them in. They have turned round and suggested I have overloaded the meter "too many times" (whatever that means) and now any messages I send to them seem to be disapear into the ether without the usual we will get back to you response....

To make matters more interesting, they clearly don't want my custom because since they responded, shipping with them on Ali-express has suddenly gone from free, to £25!!!

Has anyone else had good service with them?

[BillyO]

Probably means the ST212.

[bdunham7]

Has anyone else had good service with them?

If the product was in the box you got service as good as it gets.  Expecting after-sale assistance or warranty support for a $20 meter from AliExpress is hopeful to the point of being delusional.  There just isn't enough money in the deal for them to offer any sort of support or actual warranty, just like there isn't enough money in it for them to actually add the components needed to meet the CAT ratings stated on the front.  Even providing what they do  for that price is amazing.

[radiolistener]

if it shows big offset for DC current, try to demagnetize it, usually it helps with many other current clamp meters.

For example, I'm using UNI-T UT210E PRO clamp meter, after high current pulse it has DC current offset up to 0.6 Amps at 2 Amp range. But after demagnetization it returns to about 0.02 Amps offset. There is no sense to demagnetize it more, because if I turn the meter around Earth magnetic fields it shows offset between about -0.015 to +0.015 Amps.

[Traceless]

Has anyone else had good service with them?

I bought an ST212 a while ago (because I'm a big fan of the Aneng 8009). The device was dead on arrival. Auto-mode select kept chasing around on its own and in current mode it was reading .7A out of thin air.

When I reported the defect their service rep only asked if I had tried the other functions. I told them that I expect every funtion to work in a new meter. They asked for picture/video proof which I sent and then tried to tell me that the meter's behaviour was normal. I opened a case with Aliexpress to get a refund. Then they wanted me to disassemble the meter snap the PCB and send them pictures (for safety reasons, as they told me). Got a full refund from Aliexpress. I guess if your meter breaks after the 14-day refund period you're out of luck.

TL;DR service is horrible. Ultimately I went and bought a Brymen BM089 instead. Slightly more expensive but I didn't regret the decision.

[rsjsouza]

As others have said, one's ability to enforce warranty and post-sales service is proportional to the inverse-square of the distance between the buyer and the seller. That is compounded with the ultra low cost of the equipment itself, which is frequently lower than the shipping alone.

If it wasn't for a heavyweight company such as Aliexpress or Banggood to handle the time-limited post sales, several of the brands seen on these websites would be very difficult to deal. I have seen my share of these products not delivering what they had promised on their manuals and even what was stamped on the front fascia of the meter.