So I bought a pair of RP-HJE900 at J&R in New York for $90.  I bought them because I was going through a pair of cheap headphones every month and wanted something more durable.  The RP-HJE900 has a replaceable cord and is made from Zirconia.  After a lot of comparison shopping they seemed like the most likely to last, and if they had problems with the cord I could always buy a replacement cord for $15.  The 3 month warranty from Panasonic helped convince me to buy them as well.
 
Three weeks after purchasing them the left driver stopped working.  Not a cord issue, definitely a driver issue.  At least it was good I had the warranty, or so I thought.  I packed them up in the original packaging with a copy of the receipt and sent them back, figuring it would be no problem getting a replacement.  A few weeks later I get a package back from Panasonic.  Instead of replacing them with RP-HJE900 IEMs, they sent a $30 pair of drug-store cheapy earbuds.  Not even soft tipped: actual hard, round earbuds.  Close in style to these: http://www.exporience.com/Panasonic-RP-HV162-Stereo-Headphones-Control/dp/B00004T8R4
 
I didn't even open them up.  I wrote a polite but firm letter explaining why I bought the RP-HJE900's in the first place and letting them know that a $30 pair is not an acceptable replacement for a $90 pair and that I expected them to properly honor the warranty the second time around.  Put that in the box and sent it back to them.  The reply package?  Exact same as before, the exact same pair of crappy earbuds.  Not even an explanation.
 
I understand the RP-HJE900's might not be available anymore, but am I wrong in expecting the replacement to be at least the same value?  If I'm sending in a $90 pair of IEMs I should get back a pair of IEMs that retails for at least as much.  Not to mention the RP-HJE900 was and is listed at $200+ at some places.
 
Before I give them a call I wanted to see if anyone here has had the same issues with Panasonic and had any tips on getting them to honor their warranty?  At this point it's been well over 3 months but since they haven't honored it yet IMO I feel like they still need to make good on the initial claim.

That just sucks. I'd check with JR about a refund or credit.

Yep, J&R has 30 day exchange for defective items(for same item of course). Now with nothing to exchange I don't know what you're gonna be able to do. Contact J&R so they may contact Panasonic on your behalf. They(Panasonic) will try to get away with stuff with a single customer but may be forced to do the right thing when one of their dealers(read as important enough) steps in.