Modlite PL350 “Free” Upgrade Program & Drama

$15 IS THE NEW FREE

Modlite owners can rejoice that the G2 upgrade program for the Modlite PL350 is now available via Modlite’s website!

And the good news is that it is (now) free-ish. More on that in a moment.

If you’re not a Modlite PL350 owner and you’re just here for the drama, here is a quick recap.

The Modlite PL350 is a handgun weapon light that fits either the Modlite PLHv2 or OKW heads. These offer 1,350 Lumens with 54,000 Candela and 680 lumens with 69,000 Candela, respectively—basically, really powerful handgun lights.

However, since its release, the PL350 has had some issues, mainly with the switches. Personally, my PL350-PLHv2 has a lot of flickering during shooting and will even randomly turn on or off even when in the holster. The flickering makes shooting in low light hard or impossible, and the random turning on and off kills battery life on what is already a fairly short battery life of ~30 minutes of continuous use.

My experience is not exclusive, as many reports of this exact issue have floated around the gun forums since its release in 2021.

People who have returned their lights to Modlite have had varying experiences, with some issues fixed and others not.

This year, Modlite announced that they would be releasing a G2 version of the PL350 switches that should solve these problems. And in April, Modlite said that this would also be available via an upgrade for PL350 owners and that the upgrade would be free.

“Free”

Monday, 8/7/23, Modlite released the PL350 upgrade program on their website and announced it via social media. However, instead of being “free” like the company said it would be, the cost was now $15 plus shipping your PL350 to Modlite for work.

In what was the most predictable course of events ever, people were not pleased and blew up Modlite’s social media with extremely negative comments. 

Yesterday, 8/8/23, Modlite has backtracked and reversed its bad business decision. The upgrade program is now “free” but still requires you to ship your (possibly defective) PL350 to Modlite on your own dime. 

The expected turnaround for the G2 upgrade is stated to be 15-18 business days.

Modlite’s founder and CEO put out a statement regarding the “free” upgrade program:

“Yesterday, we were met with a wave of well-deserved negative feedback regarding the price associated with our PL350 G2 update program. Previously in April, we made the statement this update would be offered at no charge. Ultimately, we recognize we deviated from that, and would like to recognize our fuck up. As the founder, I recognize the breach of trust this has caused among our dedicated customers. Many of you felt we lacked transparency and sincerity in our approach, and for that, I am genuinely sorry.

Taking full responsibility for this misstep, I want to assure you of the corrective measures we are implementing. Effective immediately, we are waiving off all costs associated with the PL350 upgrade program. While you would still need to follow the checkout process for the upgrade, no charges will be incurred.

Addressing those who have already paid for the upgrade: rest assured, every single one of you will receive a full refund within the next 24 hours. Please note it may take 3-5 business days for the money to be returned to your account. This refund does not cancel your order; it simply ensures equality, ensuring everyone benefits from the same free upgrade service.

This update program ultimately serves to right a mistake. The first gen PL350 had some issues, and while looking to correct this, we stumbled and will ask for your understanding. The cost and difficulty of bringing a product/update to market was factored in when it should have been left out. We’re an American company, all end users, and we want to serve the community, that is the reason why we exist in the first place.”

Cory Starr

Founder/CEO

Modlite Systems

LOOSE ROUNDS

While it is good to see a company own their mistake and take steps to fix it, it is still baffling as to why something that was announced as being “free” 5 months ago would ever have been released as $15 to start with. 

Personally, it makes me wonder if this change of heart was more about the possible legal liability Modlite could have faced if they went forward with charging for their “free” upgrade and less to do with the realization that they messed up. Maybe that is just the cynic in me.

As someone that bought a PL350-PLHv2 package in 2021 and paid full price for it, knowing the company behind this light not only sold me a product that doesn’t work as they claimed, and when it came time to fix that problem, tried to charge me for the privilege, I can’t say that buying more lights from Modlite is in my future.

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