topic Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!! in Community Chat

Worst Purchase Ever!!!

grandma petes — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 21:39:09 GMT

I purchased the Bethlehem Lights Fairy Light strands and I have to say they are THE WORST purchase I've ever made from QVC.

The vendor sang the praises of the "new technology" of these lights. Even the description says you will get 72 days of lighting from one battery.....NOT!!! I have lost track of the number of batteries I have used this holiday season!!! They have been so costly I can't begin to express my frustration!!!!!!!!!!! I have used 3 different brands of batteries and there are times when they quit working after 2 days!!!!!
I will be returning all 3 sets I purchased.
Not sure where quality fits into the QVC brand....but these lights are total duds!!!!!!

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

SilleeMee — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 21:42:20 GMT

@grandma petes

Did you try the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries with those? They really are the best, far better than any alkaline battery out there.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

KBEANS — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:09:28 GMT

I agree. I bought those lights a couple of years ago and they did the same thing. Idk if they touted them this year as new and improved, but I wouldn't purchase their lights again.

That being said, I have numerous Bethlehem Lights Flameless Candles that are at least 6 or 7 years old and they are great. I even bought As Is when they discontinued them. They take D batteries and they rival Luminara.

The remotes to Luminara and BL are interchangeable.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

ValuSkr — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:09:33 GMT

I didn't have good luck either with my [first and only] BL purchase - a wreath. But that was years ago.

On the other hand, I'm pleased with the "fairy lights" i bought this year at Home Depot. The description is "36 Warm White LED Small Dot Lights with Timer, Battery Operated." It takes three AA batteries (sold separately), and has been going strong for almost a month.

I agree with the other poster - it's best to stick with name-brand batteries for light strings.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

tends2dogs — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:26:50 GMT

@grandma petes wrote:
I purchased the Bethlehem Lights Fairy Light strands and I have to say they are THE WORST purchase I've ever made from QVC.
The vendor sang the praises of the "new technology" of these lights. Even the description says you will get 72 days of lighting from one battery.....NOT!!! I have lost track of the number of batteries I have used this holiday season!!! They have been so costly I can't begin to express my frustration!!!!!!!!!!! I have used 3 different brands of batteries and there are times when they quit working after 2 days!!!!!
I will be returning all 3 sets I purchased.
Not sure where quality fits into the QVC brand....but these lights are total duds!!!!!!

@grandma petes send them back as defective. They didn't live up to the promise.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

Effie54 — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:33:49 GMT

I know the frustration of fairie lights gobbling up batteries like there's no tomorrow! I remember that presentation from Bethlehem lights, and the new so-called technology. It never works. I bought a pretty lantern at a craft show that I had battery lights, and after the second time I replaced the batteries, I threw the fairie lights out and replaced it with a Luminara candle. Much better.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

Kachina624 — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:37:49 GMT

@grandma petes I've read other complaints on these lights. Sounds like QVC was snookered by Bethlehem Lights. By all means, return them.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

avid shopper — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 11:11:29 GMT

@Kachina624 Or we were snookered by QVC

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

LindaSal — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 15:16:09 GMT

@ValuSkr I must have purchased the same wreath as you years ago, LOL! It didn't last very long and it actually started to change color, weird. I do have their version of fairy lights though and I have to say they have worked nicely for a few seasons now. I got the ones that have both the bright white and the soft white mixed on one strand. It's great for me as I mix new and older battery candles and some are bright while others are soft. It give it a nice balance. The compartment does take 4 AA batteries but they last quite a while.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

goldensrbest — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 15:27:41 GMT

As far as batteries, i have luck with amazon brand.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

ScrapHappy — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 16:11:37 GMT

I have purchased BL products from QVC in the past but have found similar products that are better. Won't purchase BL anymore.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

depglass — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 17:35:47 GMT

Did Bethlehem problems start when they had stuff manufactured overseas? One would think it could have been corrected by now. I won't buy anything from them because of their atrocious reputation.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

Kachina624 — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 18:43:59 GMT

@avid shopper wrote:
@Kachina624 Or we were snookered by QVC

@avid shopper QVC probably didn't know until the complaints started rolling in. I doubt they deliberately bought a product so many people would return.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

SilleeMee — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 17:34:22 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
As far as batteries, i have luck with amazon brand.

I agree, Amazon brand batteries are very good but they still don't make the lithium batteries. When it comes to battery performance, nothing beats lithium. No comparison to any alkaline battery out there.

ETA-

Once you use lithium batteries, you'll never go back to using whatever you were using before. They're that good.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

jananddean — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 21:38:30 GMT

I have used the ones they had this year that needs 1 D battery and I use Energizer and they work great. The ones they had last year that took 2 AA batteries were worthless. I got rid of them at a garage sale.

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

Spurt — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 22:36:52 GMT

@KBEANS wrote:
I agree. I bought those lights a couple of years ago and they did the same thing. Idk if they touted them this year as new and improved, but I wouldn't purchase their lights again.

That being said, I have numerous Bethlehem Lights Flameless Candles that are at least 6 or 7 years old and they are great. I even bought As Is when they discontinued them. They take D batteries and they rival Luminara.

The remotes to Luminara and BL are interchangeable.

@KBEANS

Same here, lighted garlands and wreaths by Bethlehem Lights still going strong after 8 yrs. However when I purchased a new garland to add to my outdoor display this lasted a year and a half..tried numerous brands of batteries it was the mechanismnot the batteries as the reason the items wouldn't light !!!! No more Bethlehem Lights for me....

Same thing with Valerie Parr Hill Christmas tree...it.lasted a year and a half then half of the lights wouldn't work. I posted a comment on Valerie's Facebook disappointed in the quality since this tree was not cheap, and her staff responded, oh just buy a new set of lights and string them on the tree....And I replied I don't want to have non-working lights along with working ones at the same time. That doesn't look good, and am concerned about a possible short in the wiring and that's why they weren't working--- that's a fire hazard. I was disappointed in her staff's indifference to the issue and it was way past the holiday return period.....

Quality Control is lacking on some QVC products and vendors need to be held accountable.....

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

Mom2Dogs — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 22:39:15 GMT

@grandma petes wrote:
I purchased the Bethlehem Lights Fairy Light strands and I have to say they are THE WORST purchase I've ever made from QVC.
The vendor sang the praises of the "new technology" of these lights. Even the description says you will get 72 days of lighting from one battery.....NOT!!! I have lost track of the number of batteries I have used this holiday season!!! They have been so costly I can't begin to express my frustration!!!!!!!!!!! I have used 3 different brands of batteries and there are times when they quit working after 2 days!!!!!
I will be returning all 3 sets I purchased.
Not sure where quality fits into the QVC brand....but these lights are total duds!!!!!!

I have those battery powered lights (and love them) and I use energizer batteries. I put the batteries in the day after Thanksgiving and the Friday before Christmas I noticed they were getting dim but I thought that was a decent amount of time. I put them on steady, do you recall what setting you used?

Re: Worst Purchase Ever!!!

grandma petes — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 02:16:27 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@grandma petes wrote:
I purchased the Bethlehem Lights Fairy Light strands and I have to say they are THE WORST purchase I've ever made from QVC.
The vendor sang the praises of the "new technology" of these lights. Even the description says you will get 72 days of lighting from one battery.....NOT!!! I have lost track of the number of batteries I have used this holiday season!!! They have been so costly I can't begin to express my frustration!!!!!!!!!!! I have used 3 different brands of batteries and there are times when they quit working after 2 days!!!!!
I will be returning all 3 sets I purchased.
Not sure where quality fits into the QVC brand....but these lights are total duds!!!!!!
I have those battery powered lights (and love them) and I use energizer batteries. I put the batteries in the day after Thanksgiving and the Friday before Christmas I noticed they were getting dim but I thought that was a decent amount of time. I put them on steady, do you recall what setting you used?

I kept them on steady and put the timer for 4 hours a day...sadly, the last 2 weeks I had to replace the batteries twice. So disappointing....I spent so much money on batteries....will be returning all 3 sets.