What flashlight company has the best warranty

Guess my luck must be good because I've not had that many failures / claims on new products in my life (IsawElvisonEdSullivan old)
I was buying many of the pelican and maglites for work purposes. Sometimes up to 250 lights in a single order. Often with our logo's on the side. With that volume you tend to get a few failures. Plus I'm sure some of the guys abused them then returned them claiming the lights were properly treated.

One thing I could say that was consistent is, Pelican switches suck!
 
Pelican switches have been an issue since the incan days. Looks like by now they would have solved the problem. I've yet to have one fail but hear about it enough to believe it to be true.
 
I was buying many of the pelican and maglites for work purposes. Sometimes up to 250 lights in a single order. Often with our logo's on the side. With that volume you tend to get a few failures. Plus I'm sure some of the guys abused them then returned them claiming the lights were properly treated.

One thing I could say that was consistent is, Pelican switches suck!
That sounds like the kind of good, statistically significant feedback that we rarely get but could use more of. Thanks!
 
I've had good warranty experiences w/ various mfgs, but the BEST experience ever was with maglite.

Had a 3d light with leaking/swollen/stuck batteries. Sent it to mag. They send back a letter asking what brand batteries we used (had checkboxes for the major brands). We checked the selection, sent it back, and they sent a new light.

I'd say they 100% billed the light to ray-o-vac.

Any other mfg would say to file a claim w/ the battery mfg ourselves.

I have a few aa led maglites that do not work. They have bad leds. They want them shipped back at my expense, which will cost more than buying a new similar maglite. Plus, their warranty does not cover leds.

Never bought another maglite.
 
I have a few aa led maglites that do not work. They have bad leds. They want them shipped back at my expense, which will cost more than buying a new similar maglite. Plus, their warranty does not cover leds.

Never bought another maglite.
How do you _know_ bad led and not circuitry or bad contact somewhere else?
 
Even look at the quality difference between a new surefire and one made 20 years ago. Most things are just meant to be replaced when they break anyway. That way you can get the newest, brightest, emitter. So who cares if a new light has a good warranty anyway.
That being said, a flashlight is a pretty simple thing. And doesn't break often
 
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Fenix is the only brand I've had to exercise warranty coverage on. I had an L0D-CE that failed, was replaced, and failed again. The second failure was past the original warranty term, so was not covered.

I've owned many Peak LED Solutions lights over the past 20 years, and Malkoff for the past 10, and have never had any issues with any of them. I just ordered a Peak last week and requested new o-rings for some of my oldest lights, and they sent me several for free along with the new order. I don't believe it's coincidence that manufacturers of the best-made lights such as these have the best warranties and best customer service.
 
Streamlight's warranty department is top notch; absolutely fantastic. What worries me is I've had to churn around a dozen lights through it. I didn't break them but it still makes me wonder.

Only experience I've had with HDS was excellent. Even more considering it's a garage operation.

Used ASP's warranty once, too. Results were technically positive (replaced a dead light with a brand new one) but personally unsatisfying (I thought it would be repaired and had sentimental attachment to the old light.)

Used to rank Surefire pretty high, but now their attitude is "lol you thought this warranty means something?" Even back during their good years I remember the time I sent in an M3 and an M6 and they came back with tool scars all over the heads.

The time I dealt with Mag-Lite was kind of weird. They did fix a discontinued light (3AA LED,) but they tore up the inside trying to get out non-existent battery corrosion and the newer repair parts they used didn't really fit correctly. They're also slow and you get shuttled from department to department depending on what you're asking.
 
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I haven't yet been in the collection phase of flashlights, but I have a few budget level lights from different manufacturers. The only lights I've had fail were from Olight. The first was the M2R Warrior that started failing after 2 years and after a couple of emails back and forth, I recieved a replacement battery and when that didn't get the light working, a new replacement light. Then a couple of months later, the switch on my i3t failed. I got a replacement and 6 months later, the switch on that light failed, prompting another replacement.

Needless to say, I'm a little leary on buying anymore Olight lights, however, the warranty department of Olight had been flawless. The two ladies I delt with were very friendly and courteous, especially as this was soon after the start of the troubles (from 2020 to 2022 and still going to a certain extent).
 
Its ironic but i just opened a warranty claim with Fenix and its not going well.
Thats strange.
I had a great experience with them, granted this was many years ago, probably about 10 years ago now?

I had a light...If memory served it was a TK40? - Think it was powered by 8 AA's... Might be wrong about the model but It doesn't matter.

After owning the light and using it for multiple years, the lights stopped turning on randomly.

I believe the light was already discontinued - but I went ahead and got in touch with their service department, and luckily for me they had old-stock of parts for the light I inquired about. Fenix actually sent me a brand new head for the flashlight in the mail received it within 4-5 days, and totally free of charge. I didn't even need to send the old head back, and I didn't need to show proof that I purchased the light.

Anyway, that's my story about fenix.

I also have a story about SUREFIRE - recently... maybe 4 months ago I picked up a surefire light, which needed a new tail cap right out of the box. I contacted surefire and they were receptive and shipped me out a new tail cap for the light within a day, free of charge. I will say however the individual I spoke with through E-mail back and forth wasn't necessarily understanding the issue I was having, and I didn't care for the E-mail exchanges with her/him. The way they phrased their sentences... almost seemed like they were doing me this HUGE favor by allowing me to receive the replacement tailcap from them, as if it was coming out of their own pocket. God forbid you make things right for a customer who just bought a $300 light. (aka another overpriced light from surefire) lmfao
 
Streamlight's warranty department is top notch; absolutely fantastic. What worries me is I've had to churn around a dozen lights through it. I didn't break them but it still makes me wonder.
So, this is the crux of how Chinese companies can keep prices so low.

Quality Assurance costs a LOT of money. Like...a metric F*** ton.

Generally, you manufacture things and specify the QA you want. Most places will use a few samples from a very large batch, and have some generous tolerances. If you have low tolerances, that costs a LOT more, and if you test batches more often, that costs a LOT more.

People think of QA in terms of labor costs, but that's the tip of the ice berg. Yeah, it's expensive to pay someone to measure stuff all day, but the REAL cost is in what happens to the stuff out of spec? In many industries, out of spec parts move down the foodchain; they are sold to other companies who don't have as tight of tolerances, and so can offer a cheaper product. This is why you can find a million no name companies on AliExpress selling flashlights that look vaguely familiar to more "name brands" from China.
If you have tight QA, those parts are scrap.

This is why places like Malkoff and especially HDS cost so much (and, most of the US brands). It's not the labor, per se, it's the QA. People poop on Surefire, but at a certain point, they do need to have above average QA for a company of their size, lest they risk losing those sweet, sweet Government contracts (which would probably lead to them being bankrupt). HDS famously rejects anything not meeting Henry's standards. Malkoff falls somewhere between HDS and Surefire.

With flashlights, especially, there isn't a downstream supplier to dump rejects to, so tighter QA just racks up the costs. A single rejected batch of bodies, reflectors, heads, etc. just eats the bottom line, which is why prices have to be higher. Surefire, HDS, and Malkoff cannot monetize rejects and sell them to another brand to build less-than-perfect flashlights with. All the time and money that's gone into the entire batch of products is entirely scrap. So, their prices HAVE to provide a way to cushion that so they can stay in business.

A huge way companies can lower prices is to externalize QA to the customer. This is why so many companies (especially that have outsourced manufacturing) these days have "excellent" warranties (on paper). They didn't pay for the $$$ QA, and their bean counters have determined it's just cheaper to send products out, and IF AND WHEN a customer notices a problem, warranty it.

Better yet, due to the associated costs of time and money, many customers simply won't process a warranty claim. That means you got to sell out-of-spec parts of in-spec prices. That's just pure profit.

Of course, this is why there is such wild variation with the experiences of most Chinese/outsourced products. IF they are in spec, they are often perfectly fine. But, they're almost guaranteed to be out of at least one spec. Materials? Machining? Fitment? Performance? Finish? All of the above?

Literally, unless it impacts your usage (typically, that means is has to stop working), you'll never notice.

No one tests the alloy of their flashlights, the anodization hardness, the output of their individual lights, etc. So, we're "none the wiser."

For the vast majority of us, the PRICE is the thing we're going to notice the most difference in, so it's not really a Faustian bargain as much as it is an unknowing, yet agreeable arrangement. No company is SPECIFICALLY telling us how this works, but even if someone breaks it down for us, it's a fair trade off.

This is why I LOVE Malkoff, but I do still buy Convoy lights. I KNOW it's not going to be nearly as well made, and it IS more likely to have issues. But, that's why I can get an AA light from Convoy with my choice of emitter for under $20. It's a better-than-not chance something will be wrong. BUT, it's likely nothing major. So long as it functions most of the time, and does a reasonable job of what I expect, I am more than happy. I'm not going to die looking for a screwdriver bit under my desk if my light goes out.

When I NEED a light and I DEPEND on that light, that's why I'll spend a bit more on a Malkoff. For me, making sure that "bump in the night" is a family member, and not an intruder, is 1,000,000% worth money a Malkoff (or Surefire, etc.) costs.
 
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