Complaint Review: Intermatic

In August 2001 I purchased two Intermatic Malibu Landscape Lighting kits. These lamps were installed in Colorado where there is low humidity and very low rainfall. Within 9 months, the finish on these lamps had corroded (oxidized), exhibiting an inconsistent and unattractive white powdery surface.

In May 2002, I purchased one replacement lamp and found that the company had changed the paint finish. The new lamp had a much tougher coating and because of this and the corrosion on the older products, no longer matched the lights I installed 9 months earlier. The mismatch looked terrible.

The product has a 5 year warranty so I called Intermatic and was instructed by their customer care representative to return the lamps postage paid for replacement. A week later, I received a call from Intermatic that they had inspected the lamps and would not replace them. The lamps were returned to me.

I escalated to the office of the CEO and my complaint was delegated to manufacturing who stood by the original decision; they refused to replace the lights. Intermatic contends that I was only looking for matching lights and that this was not covered in their warranty. In reality, I was looking for lights that didn't have a defective finish.

In the end, I returned the entire kit to the retailer for a total refund and replaced them with a competing product. Intermatic lost a customer, and in the end, received their garbage back through the retailer's "Return to Supplier" program.

The bottom line: In my experience, Intermatic customer service is despicable. Not only did they provide a defective product, they put me through the hassle and expense of returning these lamps and provided no satisfaction. The cost of replacement would have been very low since this kind of product is manufactured in factories in places like Juarez, Mexico and China where workers are paid less than $1/hour.

I have purchased numerous Intermatic products over the years but will not buy another. This includes their Malibu Outdoor Lighting products, their electrical and lighting timers, wireless burglar alarms, power failure lights, pool and spa controls and surge suppressors.

Roger
Larimer County, Colorado
U.S.A.