Wellp, no idea where you at except “earth”, so if you have a Dept of Consumer Affairs, Better Bidniss Bureau, any agency to grex to, then do so. But only while still within the warranty period, else you’re SOL. But once you get your foot in the door, the clock pretty much stops. Or should.
Also, check the fine print of any warranty card that came-with. Maybe they did say all the above, ie, return it on your dime, they’re not responsible, blah blah blah. In which case their warranty was crap to begin with, and you’d be SOL anyway unless you’d do it their way anyway. And by buying it and not returning it immediately, you implicitly agreed to that warranty and those conditions.
That’s the reason I can’t bring myself to spend big bux on any Big Name flashlight. I don’t care what they claim the warranty is, if they’re gonna give me problems, then their warranty’s GFS anyway. So I’ll only get lights that I have a chance to repair on my own (and likely not be able to if I can’t get a replacement driver, or any other proprietary part), or if I’m willing to consider them disposable, or if they have good CS who’d likely honor at least a DOA without question (as Thorfire and Sofirn have, so kudos to them! XTAR, too, ’though it wasn’t a DOA but just a wonky switch).
You hear tales about, say, VOB getting major grief about his Jetbeam’s warranty (from memory; someone look it up if so inclined), so it doesn’t matter what’s claimed in any warranty if the mfr is going to move Hell and Earth to get out of it. Or just blackhole it and pretend it never happened.
Keep in mind, though, that lots of times when you’re told you have to ship an item back at your expense, it’s to keep yayhoos who don’t know how to use a light, or try running it with dead batteries, etc., from repeatedly shipping it back on the company dime, only to have someone test it and find out it works 100% and there’s nothing wrong with it, then have to ship it back again on their dime. This way, the one making the claim has to think hard before going through that expense.
Anyway, like I said, first check the terms of your warranty, then rear up and start howling loud’n’long ’til someone listens. 