Flashlight Warranties

[Empath]

The subject came up elsewhere on the length of warranties. Rather than disrupt the theme of that thread, I thought I'd introduce it here.

Just casually remembering flashlight purchases, it seems that the industry standard for flashlight warranties is a lifetime guarantee. I know it's not universal. For instance, Arc carries only a ten year guarantee. Others it seems, including even the less expensive Rayovacs carry a lifetime replacement guarantee.

Has anyone else noticed such a trend or variations from a lifetime warranty?

 

[tkl]

everybody and their brother offers lifetime warrantys. i'm sure what happens, and what the manufacturer counts on, is you forget about it, loose the receipt or paperwork and have no idea where to send it. most people just buy another one or do without.

i always throw out packaging and rarely save receipts unless it's a bug purchase. you can find just about any companies contact info on the net for warranty claims.

 

[snakebite]

what are you feeding with the bugs? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
btw i read the warrentee on a rayovac package and it does not require a reciept.there are 2 types of lifetime warrentee.
1 it is such a cheap item that we just replace for the few that both fail and owner sends it in
2 we built it to withstand nuclear war and wanna know how you broke it.so send it in for free replacement.

[ QUOTE ]
tkl said:
everybody and their brother offers lifetime warrantys. i'm sure what happens, and what the manufacturer counts on, is you forget about it, loose the receipt or paperwork and have no idea where to send it. most people just buy another one or do without.

i always throw out packaging and rarely save receipts unless it's a bug purchase. you can find just about any companies contact info on the net for warranty claims.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[paulr]

There are real lifetime warranties, like on most decent knives, on Surefire flashlights, etc. The cost of warranty service is built into the price of the item. No big deal.

 

[Tomas]

RE: Shorter Arc warranty. Consider that most flashlight warranties do not cover the "bulb" whereas the ARC warranty does. I suspect the Arc warranty duration is at least in part based on that fact ... (it covers mechanical, elecronic, and light source IIRC).

 

[dougmccoy]

Call me a sceptic but I have never gained much comfort from 'lifetime warranties'. The small print wording usually defines the 'lifetime' as being that of the product and not of the owner. How long is the product supposed to last? Only the manufacturer knows that!
Even if the product is covered for the life of the original owner it will only usually be worth anything if the manufacturer stays in business! Also remember that a lot of these warranties will only be met if you can provide proof of purchase receipts. How many of us can say that we could remember where we filed a receipt 5 or 10 years ago?

I sincerely believe that Arc's warranty of 10 years is a genuine, honest and realistic commitment to its products. I suspect that a lot of other companies will not realisticly support their products 10 or 20 years on.

Doug

 

[Inverse Square]

A quick anecdote on warranties:
My Grandmother, when she was alive, used to always send back broken appliances with a note explaining how she liked the product, etc., etc. but now it's broken and what could be done? She told me that almost always it was replaced with a new model. Even those that were clearly out of warranty.

Do I think eleven years from now,if my Arc AAA fails and I send it back, Arc will send me packing? I doubt it...

 

[paulr]

North Face products have a lifetime warranty and I'm constantly hearing of them replacing 20-year-old jackets after a zipper fails or things like that.

On the other hand I have a cast iron frying pan with a 25-year warranty. I can't figure out what could possibly go wrong with it even after 25 years, so I wonder why they bothered not just saying it was a lifetime warranty.

One difference might be if a lifetime warranty only applies to the original owner, while a 25-year warranty might still cover Grandma's 15-year-old frying pan even if Grandma herself passes on.

 

[Empath]

I've heard many great stories of manufacturers honoring lifetime guarantees. I've heard very few, if any, of manufacturers not honoring them. I think most companies are aware of the great PR that has been generated by stories of Zippo Lighters and such being replaced when damaged.

With lifetime guarantees there are lifetime of the product warranties, unconditional lifetime warranties, and conditional lifetime warranties, such as exclusions for abuse and such. The lifetime of the product is of course the weakest, and fortunately it's the one I see the least.

The most obvious reason I can see for limiting a warranty on a product that should last a lifetime would be uncertainty by the manufacturer as to what they may be making in the future. Even if a company frequently changes models of a product, a "repair or replacement of equal value" type warranty is frequently made.

I know one man that was a custodian until he retired. He used the Key-Bak brand of retractable key holders. He claimed it wasn't because they were the best, but it was the lifetime guarantee. He kept two of them. When one would mess up he'd use the second and send the broken one in. When it was returned replaced or repaired he'd hold onto it until the one he was using messed up.

 

[Tomas]

Yeah, "Lifetime Warranty" is really a question begging term.

The frame on my wheelchair has one - and the "lifetime" of this $2500 frame is considered to be 7 years from manufacture date (not even purchase date).

Looking at the advertising, there's no clue that the "lifetime" they advertise is such a short time. One doesn't find out until one reads the finest of the fine print of the warranty in the back of the owner's manual. It's a footnote.

Having spent so much money on it I was understandably a bit peeved. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[kev1-1]

I had a pair of “*******” binoculars which were 8-years old when the lens fell out inside the tube of one eye-piece. So I sent it back (10-year warranty) in the original box and with receipt....next day I get a phone call telling me that I must have bashed it about! I sent it back in the original, undamaged, packaging as an indicator of how I treated them. Any how, their guy told me that if the product works when you buy it, then it never breaks because of their fault after would!!!! WHATS THE POINT OF THAT GUARANTEE THEN!!??! I wrote a letter pointing out this problem in their policy...no reply! You still see them being sold with a great "ten year guarantee"!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I paid for the repair…I will never buy/recommend their product again.

 

[llvo]

I had nice experience with Streamlight and Surefire.
Surefire sent me replacement lamps and Streamlight replaced the 'melted' LED module.

It's a great plus if you know that your $$lights have a 'good' warranty

 

[Wylie]

I just returned my Responder 4 aa hand held to The Bright Guy and the return flashlight is on the way. I cannot complain about Bright Guys customer care at all. Koehler Industrials would have replaced the flashlight as well if I would have mailed it to them and after some thought I think I should have sent it to Koehler. They may be able to figure what happened to the switch that way anyways.
The only thing that bugs me is the shipping costs of warranties. After one failure of the Responder I am without the flashlight and have to pay the shipping costs that could have gone to other things.
I think a great incentive would be free return shipping slips with the purchase of products as part of the warrantee. I know if the Responder's switch fails again I am left to mail it back to them again at my cost and I will not want another one at that point. So the post office is the only one making any money at that rate.
Just a thought anyways.

 

[AZMAN]

That is why I buy Craftsman tools........Warrantied Forever......even if I buy some used or have some from my grandpa they replace them for free if broken.

 

[Skid]

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
...I have a cast iron frying pan with a 25-year warranty. I can't figure out what could possibly go wrong with it even after 25 years,...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, a few years ago I had one explode on me while cooking fajitas. I know it was at least 20yrs old.

Skid