There was a very good article recently in either LED Journal (yes, there are publications dedicated to LEDs exclusively) or Electronic Design that discussed this. The problem is so many low quality manufacturers are churning out these cheap "incandescent replacements" that do little good that they are making consumers think that LEDs are a scam.

There are very good LED lamps out there, built with high efficiency, high brightness LEDs, but they are expensive.

It really is a pity. I've been experimenting with multiwatt LEDs for some time (individual, unpackaged units) for a little off-grid experiment I have going and they are scary bright! But at the consumer level, there is nothing available at low cost that is useful.