Thursday, February 16, 2012

Final assessments

I had promised in a previous post that I would do a second round of testing, comparing the current front-runner, Fox Labs, against some comparable units. In particular, I had wanted to test some of Sabre's highest strength formulation, since what I had acquired previously was actually half the strength of their strongest formulation. I also wanted to try some of the units from guardpd.com, since they give extremely complete information on all their products. Alas, this second round of testing will not be happening, at least not for some time.

What eventually dissuaded me from going for a second round of testing was the subject of my previous post: responsiveness to customers. The following is a list of the manufacturers I contacted and the state of their response:

Fox Labs: Responses were timely, and I got a phone call with the owner of the company. High marks!

Sabre (SEC): They don't have an email listed on their website, and my phone calls (there were 2), have not been returned. On this score they're not even in the same league with Fox Labs.

GuardPD: I received a reply in a fairly timely fashion, but the reply was completely disjointed and did not answer any of the questions  I asked in my email. I had asked some very specific questions in my email, and the "answers" I got were less informative than my question! It is possible (I hope this is the case, actually) that there was some sort of language barrier, because the English was atrocious, so perhaps my questions were simply not understood. Either way, despite the timely response, they too score well below Fox Labs.

UDAP: This was perhaps the most disappointing of all of them. They seem to be a reputable company that puts out quality products and provides accurate information about their products, and their maximum strength formulation is listed as incredibly potent. Unfortunately, I have yet to hear back from them. I sent an initial email over a week ago, and when after a week I hadn't heard back from them, I forwarded it to them again. Still no response. The complete lack of responsiveness to customers is a shame, since the company seemed so solid otherwise.

At any rate, since Fox Labs was leading the pack in terms of testing anyway, and went on to do resoundingly well in the customer responsiveness department, I have to say that I will be going with Fox Labs for my pepper spray, and it is my recommendation to all of you as well!

3 comments:

  1. Here is my question for you. Between the UDAP and the Fox Labs, which one is better in terms of burning and which one is better in terms of respiratory effects? I remember being sprayed once (I think it was UDAP) and I could not breathe and thought I was going to die. I'm looking for respiratory effects more than burning effects because if an attacker can't breathe, he's completely incapacitated and extra burning would just be a plus.

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