Could we try owning our opinions here? My comment does not make sense to YOU. Case by case is not acceptable to me value-wise because different products and items on a product may have different times to failure and the sole decider of the refund is LL Bean. While it is possible that after one year I might still have gotten a full refund on the coat, I might have gotten a paltry or zero amount. Given the downside risk, I might not purchase at LL Bean in the first place unless the prices were lower vis a vis other options.
I agree abuses can occur with a lifetime guarantee. But in my case, I might have used the zipper on the old coat 720 times (2 times 120 days x 3 years.) I think a zipper should have more life than that, it is critical to the coat being of use, and given the zipper and the coat's construction, it can't be replaced by a tailor (I looked into that.)