Ledvance's 5-year warranty - a scam
Ledvance's 5-year warranty, as stated on the box of their Osram LED bulb, is a marketing trick: when my bulb stopped working after 3.5 years, and I checked their website to see how to get a new bulb, it turned out I needed to send a paper letter with all the details, and post it in an envelope. I guess I should consider myself lucky not to have to use a pidgeon-:( The reply came by email, asking for yet more details off the bulb box (=do keep the box of any bulb claiming a long warranty!). That was not enough. Another email came, asking for the details of the fitting. Then, at last, the verdict: though my fitting is for a bulb of up to 40W, and the Osram bulb was 9W, I was told that I wasn't entitled to a replacement. And the reason? Ledvance explain that I should only use an LED bulb that is *equivalent* to 40W (my 9W are equivalent of 75W), as the heat the bulb emits does not work with this fitting. I searched both Osram and Ledvance URLs, and did not find that sort of information anywhere. Clearly a cop-out. Luckily they did send a replacement bulb (an appropriately weaker one) in the end "as a gesture of good will". That taught me neve to buy Osram bulbs again!