Commuting - Cateye EL-300 mounting "lips" disintegrated!

In May I was in San Diego on business and got in a couple of rides with John E and William Karsten. I was concerned the rides might go past dark so I bought a Cateye EL-300 5-LED light from a bike shop out there. When I got home I used in numerous times on my daily commutes. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the beam seemed kind of "jiggly". When I investigated I found that the "lips" that slide into the handlebar mount had almost entirely disintegrated! It looked like the light had been held in place by one tiny remaining bit of plastic! I recently wrote to Cateye about returning it, but I have not heard back from them. Has anyone else experienced anything like this or had occasion to experience Cateye's customer service?
Thanks,
Raymond

I love Cateye lights but I must say I replaced two or three after the casing or attachements just broke after simply opening them up to replace the batteries and put them back together. Neve tool the time to calling them up. Wonder if anyone has better experience with other brands ?

You're probably better off calling directly for customer service. 1-800-5CATEYE (522-8393)

E-MAIL: service@cateye.com

If you talk to them directly, they are pretty friendly.

I used two Cateye 300's last year and had no problems.

This was years ago, but nevertheless: I bought a cheapish rechargeable halogen Cateye and used it for 2 months in the autumn. The shop I bought it from advised to leave the light as it is for winter. Surprisingly, the battery died. The shop was very reluctant to replace the battery but for some reason agreed to give me a new Cateye. I used that one for two autumns (4 months), after that some connections came loose and the light would require a sound smack every now and then to operate properly. The shop pointed out that the product only had 6 months warranty and tried to sell me a new one.

I have since then steered far away from that particular shop (the battery was obviously their fault, not Cateye's). But I was not particularly impressed with Cateye quality control with the 2nd light. I cannot afford to do testing for them, so I have not touched their products since. Their new ABS-lights seem very solid, maybe I should give them a second chance.

--J

Hey - I thought it was just me.

I have the 3 LED light and had the same thing happen.

I eventually used a really strong glue to permanently mount the light to the bracket. Not impressed.

The light is wonderful but the mounting isn't too good at all.

Nice morning, roads were wet the temp is 41 degrees and there is a slight head wind. I took the long way in and took a sneak trip through the animal farm. My total ride in was 23.4 miles and I averaged 16 miles per hour, the wet leaves make the twisting back roads a little on the hairy side in the dark. Today is forcasted to be a nice day, this afternoons commute should be a winner.

I spoke to Cateye customer service (thanks for the number L J). The young man was very nice and immediately asked if I often adjusted the light up and down by grabbing the light and pushing or pulling. I said I supposed I may have done that, but I really can't recall. He said that every reported case of this kind of damage that is what has happened and that they have many lights out there that stand up to very rough riding as long as you don't push/pull on the light. He did say to send it back, and they would replace it. He asked in the future please refrain from trying to move the light without loosening the mount.

So there you go.