Chinese manufacturing quality control. Which appears to be: set the device down, back away 100 feet, then look back toward the device.... if it is not on fire, it is A-OK!
We remodeled (reconstructed really: new joists / girder / floor, new ceiling (2" out of level), 1 new wall) the kitchen a few years ago and one thing we really struggled over was the under cabinet lights. Tried quite a few types that we just did not care for. Ended up using flexible LED strips, high output type, and used a 'warm' white strip along with a 'cool' white strip for the extra light as well as a fairly neutral color and overall, we were quite happy. They came directly from China, were cheap (in more ways than one) and worked great.... for one day, until the adhesive on the back failed and they drooped (Easy Boys!) all over the counters. No problem, a little carpet tape and all was well.... for several days when a set of three LED's started to blink and flash. Replaced that strip. Then the power supplies started burning up (one P.S. on each strip) and I think I replaced one once and the other twice and that settled down. A couple more failed LEDs, a couple more strips and all was well.... until last night when a group of three LED's are winking and blinking again (on a new strip that never did that before).
The stuff has all the makings of a decent product but they just cannot do the last 5% that makes or breaks the product. The solder joints between the LEDs and the foil are excellent.... mostly, except for here and there where it looks like they stopped the production line for lunch and let it all cool down.
I know what everyone is thinking: Jees Brian, spend a few bucks and buy better lights from the US you cheap Ba$tage! Well, I tried that too and it turns out the very much more expensive strip LEDs that are available from the US are..... the same Chinese ones marked up 10 times. They must try them all, pick out the bad ones from new and ship the rest. They even come with a card with a little box to check off as to why you are sending them back for replacement..... which shows they know very well they are of poor quality.
So here we (the consumer) are, always shopping by price and demanding the lowest cost. Well, I guess we got it because no one else such as Philips, GE, et. al, makes these things because they cannot compete with the price. So by purchasing this cheap garbage, we have apparently driven the quality manufacturers out of the fray and all we are left with is... cheap garbage.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
:-(
Brian