Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Philips LED Bulb Burnout - Epilogue

As per my previous post, my bulb burned out.  I had a lot of fun with my post, and I emailed them, and it took a couple of days to respond.  They told me to phone (blah!) and I did.  It was pleasant, only one voicemail hop, and they answered right away.  They could even use my email as a reference, which is very progressive.  They said these bulbs should last a very long time, and really wanted the bulb back for the lab.

So they are sending me a label to send the bulb back for free, and a Home Depot equivalent gift certificate for a new bulb.

So, the lesson here kiddies, is to follow the procedures for a normal person and phone them.  I am not a normal person.  I have this deep aversion to the whole bulb thing and the way they control an entire store.  Still, they follow a reasonable return policy, and these bulbs are getting more like computer parts every day.

Update:  Got my Home Depot gift cards, but now Costco has a nice bulb at half the price .... hmmm....

Update2:  Utterly Bizarre Behaviour.  I did get the half-price led bulb and replaced the Philips.  It's in a kitchen fixture with a standard motion-detector switch.  When the fixture goes out, the new bulb goes very dim and pulses like it is alive.  A great night light!  This type of switch relies on a very small trickle current to keep it active.  Standard bulbs just ignore it, and the Philips bulbs are also off, but the burnout may indicate something is happening.  I wonder if this new bulb with last, and wonder if led bulbs cannot take this fixture.  Certainly the cf bulbs could not, they blew out quickly if they were mixed with at least one normal bulb.

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