Doing things that feel "good"

[jelee1311]

I'm sorry about your troubles,the videos are great. I'm a complete dork for Christmas lights (even before I had my DD)so even though I don't live in your area please don't give up and thanks from all of us that love seeing and enjoying Christmas lights!

[owlice]

"They told us the warranty started when THEY placed the whole-sale order (2009) for delivery in 2010, which is bs, but still out the $800 for the light order."

Did you contact the manufacturer? I'd be raising all kinds of holy stink about this -- if the lights didn't work, they didn't work, and you should be either getting a refund or getting lights which DO work.

I think you need to write to the president of the company which manufactured the lights, or the importer/wholesaler for them, and include in your email not only your address, but your social media contact information (and if you don't have any, get Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else you can think of, and oh, maybe mention your moniker on the Christmas lights forum, too.... you see where I'm going with this, yes?), too. I think you should let the company know how disappointed you are with the lights and with the retailer from whom you bought the lights (and I think you need to cc the retailer on this). I would do this in snail mail, politely, and mention, too, the joy you'd hoped to bring to your neighborhood, where you are known for your Christmas light displays, so much so that your neighbors ask you for Christmas light advice. Mention that you tried to resolve this issue with the retailer who sold you the lights, but that the solutions presented are not satisfactory to you.

I think you should mention that you would like an answer from the person; I'd give it four weeks, tops, from the time you send the letter. If you don't have an answer in that time, send another letter, and cc a local television reporter; many local stations have someone on the consumer beat. That's putting this increasingly close to Christmas. Include a link to the videos from Christmases past.

I should think that at MOST, two letters will take care of this. Social media is a very powerful consumer tool, and savvy companies know this and respond to it. You spent a lot of money on these lights; the product didn't work. You should be made whole!

Bet that'd bring your Christmas lights mojo back, too!

[tzvia]

Sucks on several levels. Christmas spirit only goes so far as the warranty with some it seems.

Beyond that, you contacted the dealer before the warranty expired, but due to the weather could not get them down till later, they they did not respond to you till after the warranty expired- how were you contacting them? Phone? Email? Letters?

If by phone, you have a phone record, ditto with email. I would contact the manufacturer and provide this information and see what they do. Advise that the dealer had been informed and was unresponsive until after the warranty expired. As was said here already, give them several chances to respond. If you get no response or are 'pushed off', post your experience with both the dealer and manufacturer at that Christmas light forum. Don't rant, just provide your story and and let the members know of the poor service and poor quality of lights you received.

Warranties start when the end-user makes a purchase from authorized dealers of most anything. When I bought my new '08 Specialized in '09 the warranty started that day. It was new stock from a licensed dealer. Now if that dealer were not a licensed distributor/dealer, the manufacturer may see him as the end-user and the warranty would start when he bought the lights but it sounds like he is a dealer so that would not be the case.