[romydevilla]

I am from Manila, Philippines. I bought my E5 from an authorized distributor here in our country last March ’05, and since then I have been using it almost everyday. I bought the unit for USD 358. Recently however, I needed to remove the memory wire because the plastic covering it (on the left piece) cracked; for me to use it still I carefully removed the plastic cover and the wire. Everything was fine, it was actually more comfortable without the memory wire. Last week I noticed that the cable on the left side (again) near the earpiece itself (it’s the part where the cable goes in the earpiece) has cracked also (actually the one that cracked is the Teflon/plastic covering). I assume that the earpiece will eventually snap out once the exposed portion of cable gets strained.


My questions are:

Since I bought the unit this year, is it still covered in warranty?
The dealer said that the only thing covered by the warranty is the driver, thus my unit will not be replaced anymore. Is this really the case?
Is the warranty provided by Shure a “blanket” warranty – the provision of the warranty applies to all distributors regardless of location?


Money is hard to come by in this part of the world and it took me a long time to save up to buy this E5. I really want to enjoy my E5 for a longer time. It will take me several months again to raise some money to buy a new one in case Shure says that my case is out-of-warranty already.

Attached are some pics of my Shure E5

 

[Bob_McBob]

Have you tried contacting Shure instead of the distributor?

 

[Spiritboxer]

AFAIK Shure has a two year warrantee on their IEM's and a reputation for excellent customer service. It might help to mention you initially asked for help on Head-Fi when you contact them.

 

[Dominode]

I'd suggest contacting Shure directly,and began,if possible with a phone call.
Get contact particulars (name,title,etc.) of the person you speak to. Write down the particulars for the follow-up email you'll send shortly after the phone call ends.
Explain your problem in a succinct,courteous way. I think if you had acted and brought the "apparent defect" (variation of "reasonable wear and tear") to the attention of your dealer,or contacted Shure directly with your concern,they would've offered some remedy provided you did not modify the memory wire sheath yourself. Meet them halfway and offer to pay a repair cost. Stateside at least,Shure offers a flat $100 repair fee for E5's (June 1st. 2005) which are out of warranty. You might very well have voided the 2 year warranty by modding or tweaking them yourself. And personally speaking,I doubt very much your dealer's assertion that the 2 year warranty applies only to the drivers within the E5's. But I'm not a dealer,just an end-user like you.

From this link (www.shure.com/sales-service/warranty.asp) Shure states the following,which applies to domestic (North American borders,post 2003 production) products only:

While under a valid warranty period, damaged or defective products (purchased domestically) may be returned to Shure's Service Department without prior authorization for service and repair, free of charge.

Out-of-warranty items may be returned for service and repair for a flat fee. Shure does reserve the right to charge an additional fee for products with extensive physical damage, however, we will not proceed with service without your authorization.

For specific repair issues, please contact Shure's Service Department and/or Authorized Distribution Centers through the regional contact information links provided below.{END QUOTE}

And from the regional contact links (Phillipines),the following info (ignore it if you've already tried them with no success):

Audiophile "The Sound and Music People"

Address:
AC Bldg 1142 Pres. Quirino Ave. Ext.

Paco
City:
Metro Manila
Country Located:
Philippines
Postal Code:
1007
Phone:
[632] 5615561 / 5880918
Fax:
[632] 5641720
E-Mail:
audioph@audiophilecomponents.com

So give it a go,romydevilla. I own a set of Shure E4's and a set of E5's,too.
I think highly Shure's products,,and have found the people I've spoken to there on the few times I've called both very pleasant and very professional.
My hunch is that they will be very fair,and that you'll be pleased.

Please post back with an update regarding the resolution to your problems.
Good luck!

 

[romydevilla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiritboxer AFAIK Shure has a two year warrantee on their IEM's and a reputation for excellent customer service. It might help to mention you initially asked for help on Head-Fi when you contact them.

Thanks for the advice SB/Dominode. I already emailed them last week, but I haven't received any reply yet. Not even a confirmation that they got my email. I emailed it to service@shure.com as instructed in their Web site. Do you happen to know someone from Shure who I can email/call directly to ask for help?

I'm really hoping Shure would honor this warranty.

Thanks again!

 

[Dominode]

I think you need to contact your regional Shure center,which is the local (for you,anyway) contact between you and Shure.
Did you try phoning/emailing this company? I think that this is Shure's distributor for the Phillipines,and that Shure requires non-domestic (ie. non-US) warranty issues to go through them.
Start with a phone call and see what you learn,and/or send a copy of your email to the link below.




Shure's regional distributor for the Phillipines,DBA as:

Audiophile "The Sound and Music People"
Phone:
[632] 5615561 / 5880918
Fax:
[632] 5641720
E-Mail:
audioph@audiophilecomponents.com

Edit: Just reread some Shure related service prompts from their US site,so I'm quite certain that company is whom you need to contact. Good luck!

 

[romydevilla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominode I think you need to contact your regional Shure center,which is the local (for you,anyway) contact between you and Shure. Did you try phoning/emailing this company? I think that this is Shure's distributor for the Phillipines,and that Shure requires non-domestic (ie. non-US) warranty issues to go through them. Start with a phone call and see what you learn,and/or send a copy of your email to the link below. Shure's regional distributor for the Phillipines,DBA as: Audiophile "The Sound and Music People" Phone: [632] 5615561 / 5880918 Fax: [632] 5641720 E-Mail: audioph@audiophilecomponents.com Edit: Just reread some Shure related service prompts from their US site,so I'm quite certain that company is whom you need to contact. Good luck!

I have actually contacted them. But they said it's out-of-warranty already. I really want to contact Shure directly and explain to them my case. It's so frustrating that in less than 1 year a very expensive IEM already shows problems despite the fact that I am really very careful in using it and take actually exerted extra effort to really take care of it. It wouldn't really matter to me if this is a cheapo earphone, I can easily replace it with another one. But E5 is so expensive. I don't know if I would still have the "courage" to buy another one.

 

[solvexyz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by romydevilla I have actually contacted them. But they said it's out-of-warranty already. I really want to contact Shure directly and explain to them my case. It's so frustrating that in less than 1 year a very expensive IEM already shows problems despite the fact that I am really very careful in using it and take actually exerted extra effort to really take care of it. It wouldn't really matter to me if this is a cheapo earphone, I can easily replace it with another one. But E5 is so expensive. I don't know if I would still have the "courage" to buy another one.

email shure customer service, and tell them the problem that your local region Shure does not handle it. I pretty sure they will deal with it. I heard a lot of stories on cracked e3c and e2c. They all get replaced.

PS. I think they said it is out of warrantee because you removed the memory wire by yourself. Well, it seems to me they are saying if you did not remove the memory wire, the e5c will not crack, so it is not included in the warrantee.

 

[Dominode]

Go here:
http://www.shure.com/sales-service/s...cies_asia.html

Call the number at the bottom of the page and discuss your problems.
Send an email after the call.
Please review my suggestions from my first post to you on this protocol.

Inquire as to the cost to effect a repair; accept the fact that your "tweaks" ( I cannot speak for Shure,but your actions regarding the memory wire mods) very likely voided the warranty -particularly because the apparent defect would likely have been covered under warranty -provided you filed a claim and sent in the product.

What would a "reasonable man" do? You notice a glitch or defect in a product that has a two year warranty...You send it in to the company that made it to correct it. I personally think that would define "reasonable". Don't muddle a repair attempt yourself,then make a warranty claim after the fact,particularly when the likely remedy offered (your claim under the warranty) was not exercised. You assumed the risk,so you could reasonably assume to pay for a repair if your attemts to effect one failed.

Make the call,and send the email. Let us know how it ends up.
Good luck!