I recently got scammed when I ordered a case of Osram/Sylvania HPL 575 lamps marked "Special". I had never encountered lamps labeled "special" before, so before I bought the lamps I searched for the term here on CB, but came up without any meaningful hits. I ended up ordering the lamps, and learned pretty quickly that "Special" means "sub-standard quality".
The lamps themselves are packaged, labeled and cased just like regular Osram/Sylvania lamps, with the exception of the word "Special" printed on the label. The entire case tested positive for continuity. Visually, they looked identical to regular lamps at first glance. Careful inspection revealed minor flaws: some lamps on the envelope, some on the base, some not at all. The true test was burning the lamp in a light. Of my dozen lamps, four burned-out immediately (within 3 minutes) of being powered. I've lost three more since installing them, approximately 20 hours of burn-time ago. The remainder seem to be perfectly fine (for now). Color temperature seems normal as well.
Needless to say, several vendors (including mine) have no idea what "special" means. Others are simply not disclosing the fact...I sent back a second case of "Special" HPLs I got from a different vendor. Right now on ebay, there are several listings for "Special" HPL lamps for auction. Since I started paying attention to this, I've noticed "Special" HPL's in 575 and 750 wattages, and in long-life (HPLX) and regular flavors. All of them have been Osram/Sylvania, a brand with which I have always been comfortable...until now.
Aside from warning others to beware of the "Special" HPLs, I'm curious if anyone knows how Sylvania defines their "Special" product, and why they don't use a more honest term on their labeling, like "2nd quality", or something? One would think they wouldn't want an inferior product like this besmirching their reputation for quality, or alienating long-time customers like me.
Remember... Osram Sylvania "Special" lamps, ain't so much.
The lamps themselves are packaged, labeled and cased just like regular Osram/Sylvania lamps, with the exception of the word "Special" printed on the label. The entire case tested positive for continuity. Visually, they looked identical to regular lamps at first glance. Careful inspection revealed minor flaws: some lamps on the envelope, some on the base, some not at all. The true test was burning the lamp in a light. Of my dozen lamps, four burned-out immediately (within 3 minutes) of being powered. I've lost three more since installing them, approximately 20 hours of burn-time ago. The remainder seem to be perfectly fine (for now). Color temperature seems normal as well.
Needless to say, several vendors (including mine) have no idea what "special" means. Others are simply not disclosing the fact...I sent back a second case of "Special" HPLs I got from a different vendor. Right now on ebay, there are several listings for "Special" HPL lamps for auction. Since I started paying attention to this, I've noticed "Special" HPL's in 575 and 750 wattages, and in long-life (HPLX) and regular flavors. All of them have been Osram/Sylvania, a brand with which I have always been comfortable...until now.
Aside from warning others to beware of the "Special" HPLs, I'm curious if anyone knows how Sylvania defines their "Special" product, and why they don't use a more honest term on their labeling, like "2nd quality", or something? One would think they wouldn't want an inferior product like this besmirching their reputation for quality, or alienating long-time customers like me.
Remember... Osram Sylvania "Special" lamps, ain't so much.