We had to replace the lights on the front of the house… the front door light and the driveway light… so off to our home away from home, Home Depot, we went to peruse their selection of outdoor lights. We found a nice set of Home Depot’s house brand, Hampton Bay, lights that included light sensors and motion detectors for about $70. each.  ‘Looked nice and appeared to be relatively easy to hang. They were, as most things are today, made in China (Hecho en China the box proudly proclaimed). All well and good because we really don’t have many other choices these days and they looked like a nice product. I pulled the instructions out of the box and, being a conscientious installer, started to read them. The cover page with all the required warnings was fairly straightforward as were the assembly instructions… a couple of grammar errors but nothing untoward.

The configuration instructions…. oddly titled PIR Instruction… were something else.

There is a knob on the light named LIGHT. It’s instructions are as follows “LIGHT” turn the knob to adjust day light customer desire environment conditions activate the sensor. (when turn the Knob ‘light’ fully clockwise, sensibility on light is poorest and the bulb is on night only.)

Huh?

Or how about configuring the TIMER knob: “TIMER” turn the knob to adjust time for need (when the knob “TIMER” is turned fully counter-clockwise, the time for the bulb being on is least about 4 sec +/- 2 sec. when turn the knob clockwise to the middle,the time for the bulb being on is about 6 min +/- 2 min.)when turn the knob fully clockwise,the time for the bulb being on is longest about 12 min +/- 3 min.

Again, huh?

And the SENS knob: “SENS” turn the knob to adjust sensitive distance for need;

Hmmmmmmm… sensitive distances… didn’t know distances had feelings.

And, finally, a cautionary word: The fixture should be avoided installing in places where the temperature is above 32 degrees C.

Grammatical errors notwithstanding, 32
Celsius is 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit…HELLO, this is Arizona folks, we
have entire days when it does not go below 90 degrees!! It appears we should
“be avoided installing.”

Lest you think I am making this up, click here to see the entire page. (Ed. Note, 2026: link no longer valid)

 

Now come on, Home Depot guys: making the product overseas is one thing but how about having someone who at least understands the written language write the documentation. Obviously you have access to spell-check because all the words are all nicely spelled… they just don’t make a lot of sense, not to mention being even close to grammatically correct!

You may have a quality product but the instructions sure make the company look like it is run by a room full of monkeys! If you are going to sell a product in an English- speaking country, at least take enough pride in your product to write the documents correctly!

March 14, 2009