Sunday, April 06, 2008

Greenlite my a**!

Robin had me replace two light bulbs in the kitchen. We have been trying to change all of our lights in the house to "Greenlite" bulbs. GREENLITE The two 60 watt bulbs that were warranted for "9" years made it less than one. We have went through the house and put many of these "green" bulbs in that are a hassle to dispose. I wrote to Greenlite about their policy that actually only assures "2" years and only if you have the printed receipts! I do not know about you, but I do not save all receipts for household goods and cleaning supplies. What a crock! Anyone else out there have problems with Greenlite? This is not the first for our house or our rental, just the first that 2 lights are out at the same time. Pacific Gas & Electric Company sold us on this project, are they liable?

Breaking news: Here is my whining letter and their response:

9 years warranty? My Greenlite's 60 watt's did not make it a year in my kitchen! Your warranty actually is only good for 2 years if you read the fine print with a receipt. Oh yes, we all keep our receipts for household items such as this. Give me a break! I do not keep receipts for hand soap, dish washing liquid, cleaning supplies, lawn care shovels, hoes, baking soda, cleaning pad and everyday use products. And your product takes extra steps to deposit in the trash legally! I wonder how many thousands of people who have fallen for your false information? Please send me replacement 60 watt 4-pack on my word, or I will buy the regular bulbs and publicly announce to my community that your product is a "green" ripoff.

Richard Marks


Dear Mr. Marks,

Thank you for your email and for you purchase. We are sorry to hear that the light bulb you purchased has failed. We will be happy to send a replacement to you right away. I realize it does state on the packaging that you should have the proof of purchase and register receipt and you should return it to us, however, in practice we have found that we experience so few issues with our product that it’s not worth it to put customers through all of that trouble. The few failed bulbs we have are replaced easily with a simple email or phone call. You should see your replacement within a week. Please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thank you.

Lisa DeWindt
Greenlite Lighting Corporation
10 Corporate Park #100
Irvine, CA 92606
800-930-2111 x200
949-261-5300 x200
fax 949-261-1798
www.greenliteusa.com

So there you have it! Send in your claims for their product and they will send you replacements.

23 comments:

Rose said...

Are these those twisty whirly ones?

The light in them gets dim after a little bit of use, and gets worse over time, you end up going back to good regular light bulbs - then add the mercury disposal concerns, can you believe they are pushing this shit on us? It's like MTBE. And we're falling for it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for putting those bulbs in the spotlight, Richard!

I've been complaining about those "curleycue" bulbs ever since I first tried them at my house.

I only have two problems with them. 1) They burn out in a few weeks, not after years of service. 2) Millions of these Chinese-made monsters are going to end up in people's garbage cans, and then the mercury is going to pollute the ground of American the Beautiful. That's right. Pollute it with poisonous mercury From Sea to Shining Sea !

Anonymous said...

Richard, I will never forget the pictures I saw in a National Geographic Magazine many years ago. They showed an old Japanese fisherman whose nervous system had been contaminated by mercury from fish in the waters where he lived.

This poor old guy was hideously twisted. His hands could not grip, his legs could not bear his weight. That picture was one of the most horrible things I have seen.

How can our national leaders invite China to introduce lead into our consumer products (by refusing to inspect them)? And how can they permit mercury-laden light bulbs to replace incandescent bulbs, while they know the harm it will do our nation's environment, and ultimately, our nation's health?

Fred Mangels said...

Yep, yet another result of the global warming hysteria. Corn- based ethanol being another example.

Anonymous said...

"We have went through the house" ... Shirley Mace and Doris Gildesgaard would be very ashamed and disappointed with you, Richard.

Anonymous said...

Richard, you need to learn how to play the game. Save all your receipts for household stuff and write them off as an expense for your rental property. Eveyone else does. The government rips you off every day; do the same to them. It's the American way.

Anonymous said...

Ahem, saw an "ecobroker" advertised in one of the supplements to the Times-Standard/Humboldt Beacon yesterday. And "ecobroker"????
And claiming to be a certified one at that!

I'm telling you, the word "green" is racking up huge sales.

I can't wait for "Pepsi Green".

Rose, the comment on MTBE is pretty right on.

Anonymous said...

Richard:

I know you don't often delete comments, but the one by anonymous 11:17 AM seems out of place and seems to stray over into a nasty personal attack.

samoasoftball said...

1:07-You are correct. I deleted.

Anonymous said...

I got the ones from Costco.. they work fine.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Only if Richard got himself that worked up on an issue important to people other than himself and the wifey. Oh, like say a living wage for Eureka workers.

samoasoftball said...
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Anonymous said...

lose some weight fatty. Maybe the reason your bulbs fail so often is cuz your entire house shakes when you walk around.

Hayduke said...

I too have had CF's fail in year. You do have to be careful not put the 23 watt ones in an enclosed fixture at they put out too much heat for the ballast. But like everything made in China (as almost all of these are) there are quality control problems.

Hayduke said...

I also should comment, not withstanding the disposal problem, which is a real concern, they now cost almost the same as incandescent bulbs if you purchase them on sale at a place like Costco, and for sure they save you on your electric bill.

Anonymous said...

If the bulbs get too hot they just don't last. We bought bulbs at Costco that specifically said they could be used in the cannister type lighting and so far so good with them. Also got some that could be used with dimmer switches. Some years ago I purchased the outdoor type and most of them are still working. It is odd to me that when they are going out the light bulb looks like it is pink - some kind of chemical reaction?

Anon.R.mous said...

Those lights are a rip-off. Never had one last long enough to make the payback point.

Now LED are completely awesome on the other hand.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

How sad to see such intolerance here.

samoasoftball said...

I meant the wiener at hand was not a doer, just a griper. Not a wiener do...oh never mind. People who really know me know of my stance on gays.

Anonymous said...

Just digging yourself a deeper hole there, Richard.

Anonymous said...

Here's something spooky.
For years, I was told that my smoke detector was Toxic Waste because of the little bit of radioactivity in each of them.

When I went to the hazardous waste section of the transfer station Friday morning, they would not accept my old smoke detector! They told me to throw it into the GARBAGE!!!

So now, I guess, our corporate masters have decided it is too much trouble to recycle smoke detectors. I guess it is OK to pollute our land fills from sea to shining sea with radiactive smoke detectors!

If we the People let them get away with this, the next thing you know, they will be forcing us to throw our "twisty whirly" light bulbs into the trash. Then our entire nation will be polluted with poisonous noxious Mercury!!!!

Can't anybody do anything about this infernal situation>???

Can't anybody tell me what in the name of all that is Holy is going on around here??????????? ?

Anonymous said...

Gee. Apparently not.