Crappy LED Christmas Lights

We Got Hosed

So a few years ago the big thing was these brand new LED Christmas lights. The big draw for them is that they use practically no power, so they are better for the environment.

The first lot be bought came from Canadian Tire or Home Hardware, and we laughed when we read about the 25-year warranty they came with. Who'd keep the documentation on a $10 string of lights for 25 years? So we tossed the documentation and receipt.

Turns out the joke was on us. The third year of service, we started having problems. From intermittent failures of a bulb here or there, to strings showing half of the LEDs dead, we have lost all of the strings we purchased over the first two years. They are all broken.

So I thought I'd record the information here, although I'm not sure what good it will do anybody beyond a "oh look dear, someone else got screwed on these crappy lights too."

• Blue icicle-style string, white wires and housings. LEDs fade one by one in random pattern then fail completely after a period of time.
  219475
  Model no. COD-TS-70
  Made in China

...and it appears that we already tossed the other failed strings, since the other ones I was all set to hate appear to work. Oh well.

Update, January 2010: I have received an email about these:

Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:57:08 -0800
From: Tim Schewe
To: feedback@xdroop.com
Subject: Crappy Christmas Lights

Hey Dave!

These lights are called Forever Bright and are distributed by Fiber Optic Designs of Yardley, PA, USA.

They list the US and Canadian distributors on their web site, so I have started my own exercise in futility to see if I can get a string replaced.

Tim said he'd let us know what happened.