01 Mar The Reality of Landscape Lighting Product Warranties
By Mark Carlson & Michael Gambino
This week’s blog features my friend, business colleague and writing partner Mark Carlson of Avalon Lighting design. I asked him if he would do some research of major manufacturers product warranties and assist me with this week and next week’s blog articles. This will be a two part series.
Mark-This is the first time that Mike and I have partnered up on a blog style article. Mike-In our book “Original Garden lighting” we shared comments on Nightingale’s writings and prefaced our comments with “Mark and Mike” in bold face before them. That is the same format we will follow here for clarity. Mike– This topic came up recently when a prospect questioned why my warranty wasn’t as lengthy for my LED’s as it appeared it was for a competing manufacturers product warranty for their LED’s. I think warranties are one of the most misunderstood aspects of our trade and deserve some clarity.
Mark-We have both taken a great interest in this topic due to its impact on our industry. We each will address different aspect of this and will look at the impact that these warranties have against the contractor and assess how we understand these written disclosures.
Mike– I believe I can bring a unique aspect to this as I am both a contractor and a fixture designer who has exclusive products manufactured for my companies use.
The Breakdown of a Warranty
Mark-I think it’s important that we all fully understand how and why these disclosure statements are written. There are six basic components to this:
Parts and Problems Covered
- Period of the Warranty
- Mode of Problem Rectification
- Warranty Service
- Restrictions and Limitations
- Type of Warranty—Full or Limited
First and foremost, warranties are written in such a way to legally protect the best interest of the provider of the product or service. This is pretty obvious and that is why it is so important, as a consumer or service provider to fully understand these terms and conditions before buying. In addition, products must be used as per the instructions of the manufacturer. This also includes having them cared for or maintenance performed. Mike– Yes this is correct I believe there to be much ambiguity in regards to these requirements. Much of the language allows the manufacturer great latitude in being the sole and end all decision maker in regards to honoring a warranty claim or not. Mark-The majority of lighting manufacturers out there will distinctly specify this with the use of the following:
“Improper installation”, “Improper maintenance”, or “Improper care”
The point here is that if any of these conditions are present or considered a concern to the manufacturer, then this allows them a means to void the warranty. We will discuss more on this shortly.
The warranty should describe what is necessary in order to solve these problems. Many times this will include steps to take, and it will include what you must physically provide to either the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s authorized dealer. Please note that I said, “authorized,” as this could be another sticking point to void the warranty.
There are two ways in which a company might address writing these warranties: 1) simple, clear and easy to read, and 2) difficult, confusing, and lengthy. After analyzing approximately 15 different manufacturer and/or importer warranty statements, I have found that those companies that are selling mediocre to sub-standard products are the ones with lengthy, confusing warranty statements. So, my point might be is that if the company really stands behind it’s products and they provide the better quality to the consumer, then they will have a very clean, short and easy to read warranty.
Warranty Concerns
This is a very important section to pay attention to because this is where the majority of contractors and consumers don’t understand what is really being said. Think about it this way, the manufacturer has had the warranty written most likely by an attorney. Therefore, every word is carefully constructed to best protect their interest first. Most people do not closely read these statements, but they can make a great difference in your ability to recover any losses.
There are a few things that cause me grief in the way that most of these warranties are written, because they impact the consumer or contractor. The following are those items that I consider problematic:
- Lacking of details to describe what is meant.
This occurs more so with companies that are trying to over-protect themselves. They will use the many of the following words or statements:
- Misuse, Mishandling, Misapplication, Unusual use, and Neglect—yet, there is no details into what these really mean. The only true way to protect yourselves is to find a detailed listing of the manufacturer’s expectations and you perform them precisely. This would include the use of their “installation guidelines” and their “maintenance care” instructions. Mike- One of the biggest problems is how is this going to be determined? Sometimes it’s difficult to detect lack of maintenance or care. And what about proof, it’s not like the automotive industry where in most cases the branded car dealer acts as an agent for the auto manufacturer and computerized records are kept. Mark-
- 2. Misleading entries to imply something, but this is not the case, and the layering of disclosures.
The primary reason that I say this is misleading is that some of these claims are mentioned under one heading, for example, “Lifetime Warranty.” However, there will be an attached statement that includes a limitation to this, which leads you to another disclosure. My point here is that people tend to skim over these disclosures and they will only see “Lifetime” without taking the time to read further into the warranty. Is the manufacturer trying to hide it or to mislead….who knows? But, this tactic of writing makes it harder to find or to read.
Here are two examples that I found concerning to me because they were kind of buried in these disclosures:
“Unusual use (including but not limited to use in an environment where the ‘annual average’ ambient operating temperature is below 27 degrees or above 95 degrees F).”
Not many people really know what their ‘annual average ambient operating temperature’ is and I’m sure most do not really understand what it means. Here’s my concern, what happens if you have several weeks or a month of enduring 100 degrees or more? What if the product fails or is damaged in some way from this occurrence, and this is more specifically related to LED use. Would the manufacturer cover the warranty here? Mike- Ambient temperatures outside the enclosed fixture is more of a concern with LED lamps because of their solid state electronic nature. Tracking ambient operating temperatures is cumbersome and unrealistic.
“Lifetime warranty on all brass and copper fixtures.”
“X-company warrants its products against defect in material and workmanship….Any properly installed X-company product which fails under normal operating conditions within three years from the date of installation, provided it is returned to the factory, transportation prepaid, and our inspection determined it to be defective under the terms of this warranty.”
So, what is really being said here? Doesn’t this really mean that you will have a lifetime warranty only if any defect is returned within the first 3 years?
Again, when I see this kind of wording and structure to a warranty it just tells me that there are problems and they are trying to protect themselves. If one looks at the reality of the situation too, then you would see that most of these manufacturers are more or less gambling on the fact that few will attempt to process a claim. Mike– These bold print Lifetime warranty and in small print conditions that would exclude are escape clauses design to make the process of deciding arbitrary. I find these practices very troubling. In regards to the warranty being valid if the product was properly installed I find this odd since those determining warranty claims don’t normally see the product in its installed state so how would they know if it was proper or not?
Mark-If these warranties are structured to make you jump through hoops to get what is rightly yours, then most consumers or contractors will abandon their quest to find justice. In a sense, this is why several of the mid-grade or even low-cost companies tend to sell their warranty with high claims….15 year or 20 year warranty! How is it that these mediocre and low-cost companies can offer higher claims to life expectancy on their products over those true companies that provide better quality products? It’s because of these written limitations with the warranty. Should the company of concern find themselves in a position to reimburse or take care of too many problems, then they can fall back on these limitations and “void” the warranty. Mike- This is like the common “run around” that some consumers must go through in order to cash in on warranty claims. The “game” is to make it so time consuming, aggravating and difficult of a process that the consumer just ultimately gives up and drops their claim.
Mark-There are a couple of common statements used in warranties that allow the product provider/manufacturer the ability to do what they want, and they are stated as follows:
“At X-company’s Sole Discretion” or “X-company Reserves the Right to…”
In addition to all of this, there are a few other statements or conditions that everyone needs to be aware of with warranty statements, and they are listed below:
- “the Original Purchaser of the product”—you have to turn them in and no one else.
- “warranty is Not Transferable”—if you move or someone else takes ownership, then you are out of luck.
- “warranty is void if the Original Purchaser ceases to own the product”—same as previous statement.
- “the use of Unauthorized parts or attachments”—if you use any form of construction application, method, or items that are not sold with this product, then you could void the warranty.
- “Significant product exposure…”—this description does not define what ‘significant’ is.
- “manufactured to Meet UL standards”—just because these products were made to ‘meet’ the standards doesn’t mean they are UL listed or approved by them.
- “Replaced, Repaired or Refunded”—the product manufacturer has the choice, not you.
Mike- These conditions remind me of the first home I ever owned. The home had a pool whose stainless steel filter had cracked and had become un usable. The previous owner had left me all of the owner’s manuals and I was delighted to find that it was lifetime warranted. When I called the filter company I was disappointed when told that was for the original owner only.
3. Limiting Statements.
There are specific statements which include words that cause limitation and this must be understood, too. They include the following examples:
“This warranty ‘only’ applies when ‘all’ components, including transformers, have been provided by X-company.”
“Substituting another manufacturer’s product and/or components will render the warranty completely void.”
Continued next week.
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