06 Oct How long is your Landscape Lighting System warranty, what does it cover, and how is it funded?
By Mike Gambino
If you hire a Design and Build contractor for a landscape lighting project, you’ll want some assurances in the form of guarantees or warranties. Knowing the importance of warranties, some companies even give unrealistically long warranties such as 10 years, 20 years or even lifetime warranties. The sad fact is that most of these companies will be out of business long before their warranties expire. A good example of this is the originator of the low voltage landscape lighting industry Loran Nightscaping. We get emails all the time from people all over the country looking for replacement parts for their Nightscaping systems. Loran Nightscaping closed up shop and went out of business 6 years ago. So what is a realistic warranty that you can trust? Here’s what you should look for in a warranty.
- 1-year warranties are common and okay for labor, provided that the work is well done. Most landscape lighting build failures will show signs within the first year anyway. 2-3 year warranties are also common. Anything above that and you should look closely at the fine print.
- A decent warranty by the contractor will provide both labor and material for a covered defect for the first year.
- Product manufacturers may provide longer warranties on their products, but these only cover replacement of the material.
- Most warranties will have exclusions, so it is important to find out exactly what the contractor’s warranty does and doesn’t cover.
- Warranties should always be in writing and available for your review.
The question, “how is your warranty program funded?” will probably get you some puzzled responses. The fact is, most contractors have never even considered how to pay the expenses associated with warranty callbacks, and some contractors just seem to vanish when they get a warranty call. A professional contractor will be preparing for callbacks (they will happen, even to the best contractors) by including a line item in their budget for warranty work. Ask the question and see what kind of response you get. Sometimes, how the question is answered is more important than the answer itself!
Gambino Landscape Lighting Limited Warranty (rev.January 2017)
Limited Warranty Statement
Gambino Landscape Lighting (GLL) warrants to the original end-user or buyer of its products, that its products are free from defects in materials and workmanship. Repaired parts or replacement products will be provided by GLL at its sole discretion, on an exchange basis and will be either new or refurbished, so that it is functionally equivalent to a new one. Purchaser or whoever has the current ownership of the landscape lighting system must present acceptable proof of original ownership (original receipt or other documentation that GLL deems acceptable).
This limited warranty covers only repair or replacement for defective GLL products, as provided above. GLL is not liable for, and does not cover under its warranty, any technical work or labor costs associated with determining the source of the system problem after the system has been installed for a period of one (1) year. These costs shall be borne solely by the purchaser of the lighting systems. All site visits are subject to a minimum $150.00 service call fee after the one year period (365 days) from the original date of completion of its installation.
Please retain the dated sales invoice as evidence of the original purchaser’s date and final payment invoice, which indicates the installation completion date. You will need this for any warranty service. In order to keep this limited warranty in effect, the product must have been handled and serviced only by a certified GLL technician. This limited warranty does not cover any damage due to accident, misuse, negligence, war, severe weather, or acts of God. This limited warranty is transferable. Owner must notify GLL in writing, by emailing to mike@gambinolighting.com, immediately upon the discovery of any issue. GLL technicians shall be given access to the property during normal business hours, including after dark, if necessary, in order to correct the problem in a timely manner. All warranty claims shall be determined by Michael Gambino’s sole discretion. Any and all determinations are final. This warranty does not affect any other legal rights you may have by operation of the law.
Exclusions
It is the property owner’s sole responsibility to make sure that proper landscape drainage (surface and subterranean) is maintained at all times. Damages done to the lighting products by changes in grade, submersion, standing water, or water-logged soils and/or resulting from these conditions shall void any warranty.
Man-made disasters, acts of war, lightning and other ‘acts of God’ are not covered by any warranty. Damages or material failures due to abuses or negligence are not covered under any warranty.
Fixtures supported by stems longer than 6” in length are susceptible to breakage at the fitting that threads into the stake cover/stake. These products are designed to break at this point upon a certain degree of impact. This protects the stem and other fixture parts from a more serious problem, to include damage repair costs. Care should be taken to avoid collision with these fixtures. In the event of breakage there shall be a $150.00 fee for repair that includes trip charge, parts and labor.
GLL disclaims all responsibility for ensuring that existing electrical (120-v.) power sources, utilized circuits, and/or power boxes contain sufficient electrical load capabilities. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure these sources are made available for the landscape lighting system use, and that they are in good working order.
GLL is not responsible for changes to the existing landscape that may be affected by the installation process. This includes softscape and hardscape areas that may be disturbed. The customer shall be notified in advance of any necessary alterations to the landscape or the structures worked on. GLL shall do its best to return these areas back to their original undisturbed condition. If at any time and after landscape lighting system is installed, substantial alterations to the garden or hardscaping areas occur, then GLL should be notified and consulted with. This should occur at least one (1) week prior to work being done. Failure to do so may result in a cancellation of all warranties, at our discretion.
Conduit and the cabling/wiring contained within is not covered under warranty if it is mistakenly cut or damaged by the customer and any of their service providers. This includes electrical shorts caused from this type of damage, which could be the result of anything being driven, stapled, or manipulated into or through these cables and conduit.
GLL does not provide warranties on work performed by anyone else on its originally installed landscape lighting systems.
Duration of Warranty
Lifetime Warranty
All above-grade transformers (power cores) installed by an authorized Gambino Landscape Lighting (GLL) technician. If anyone other than an authorized and qualified GLL technician performs any work on this transformer for any reason, this warranty is void. All brass and/or copper fixtures installed by an authorized GLL technician are guaranteed not to rust. There is no warranty for surface finish or paint on any products. All brass lugs when heat shrinking is applied to ensure weather tightness, are guaranteed not to fail under normal operating conditions. If lighting fixtures are added to any transformer or any non-Gambino LED or lamp changes are made, then this shall void the warranty. These types of services or any service to GLL systems needs to be performed by an authorized GLL technician.
Five-Year Warranty
All LED modules that utilize a single C.O.B. LED chip, and that are installed within an enclosed GLL fixture.
Three-Year Warranty
All LED retrofits, modules and LED electronics with 3, 5, 6 or 7 chipsets, and that are installed within an enclosed GLL fixture. All above-grade integral transformer components and parts (breakers, terminal lugs, switches, etc.) other than the power core.
One-Year Warranty
All in-grade transformers including components (enclosure, power core, and electronics). All underwater fixtures, connections, cabling, or any component of these submersible products.
All mechanical timers, photocells, controllers, halogen or incandescent lamps, junction boxes, and auxiliary fixture parts including, but not limited to, glass lenses, mounts, silicone O-rings, seals, gaskets, hardware, shields, and risers. Glass lenses covered in mulch or other debris resulting in damage are not covered in this warranty. Etching of glass lenses from hard water or extreme environmental conditions are difficult to clean, if not impossible to, and therefore, are not covered under any warranty.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all
rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 27 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
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