SF: no lifetime guarantee in Europe?

I just stopped by at the webpage of the German main distributor for SF lights and noticed a new note explaining the SF guarantee:

- bulbs are only replaced within the first 30 days of purchase
- flashlight body has a guarantee of 10 years (lense not included)

This is the link (German).

Has anbody noticed anthing similar? Is it only this dealer who "makes up" some new rules regarding the SF guarantee? Even though I could contact SF direct why can't I return a light to this dealer? SF has to stand up for their product throughout the whole world. that's at least what I thought.

Comments?

Klaus.

Hi Guys,
there is no such "lifetime Guarantee" in Germany, sorry :-(
In fact, German manufactors or shops are prohibitet to give a Guarantee longer than 25 Years...
Does that make sense to you? I don't know...
Holger

why is this so in germany? what's the rationale behind it? in any case, i think surefire would still take care of you if you contacted their customer service directly

Klaus,

i think here in europe there is nothing like lifetime guarantee.
i remember that it is the same with the photons.

we should better ask surefire about the lifetime guarantee!

if there is no lifetime guarantee by surefire in europe i'm not willing to pay twice the price for a sf and dont get the same guarentee as the us customer.

Even though if there is no lifetime guarantee in Germany, it is strange that they now explicitly remind you that it is only guaranteed for 10 years.
On the other hand this makes sence. In this case a 80-year old person does not have the same guarantee from a product as a 20-year old one.
10 years is a lot of time I think, it was just surprising to see that new note.

klaus.

That's one of the main reason that hold me up from getting Lupine (German product) X-Trem headlamp which carry VERY short warranty - 1 or 3 years (?). For a headlamp that costs more than $500, the short warranty scares me a bit and makes me feel that the manufacturer doesn't have enough confidence on their own product?

Alan

Alan, according to EU-Law every manufactor in the EU has to give a guarantee for at least 2 Years (changed from 1 to 2 Years effective 01.01.2002).
It is rather uncommon to give a longer guarantee in the EU. 3 years is much and I haven't see a German product covered with more than 5 years guarantee.
For european taste, a "lifetime guarantee" is more a marketing gag, than a real guarantee...
(Which product could fail after 20 Years because of mistakes while it was produced?? It will more likely fail imidiately maybe in the first Years or so)
Well, what can I say, different cultures if you ask me
Holger

The Lifetime Warrenty issues are soley France and Germany. The rest of Europe is stuck with it in many cases because manufacturers are not interested in market specific packaging.

If a manufacturer offers a lifetime warranty in other markets they will replace most everything, but can not state that.

It is a weird arguement - who's lifetime is the question - the orginal owner, the life of the product?????

If you have problems with your SureFire, I think the best solution would be to contact them direct.

i agree with Al. surefire customer service will definitely take care of you and your surefire product