[Judge Crandall]

Just wanted to comment on Etymotic's customer service...

To preface this, my ER4Ps are several years old and are definitely out of the warranty period. I had them repaired once for cracks in the stem, but that didn't seem to help as the cracks reappeared shortly thereafter.

A little while back, I was horrified to find that a chunk of the right stem of my ER4P had completely fallen off leaving a big gap under the filter. I talked to Etymotic's customer service, who told me that transducer replacement typically costs $85, plus return shipping. This was pricey, but they assured me that they would authorize any charges with me before they did anything.

So I sent them in and sort of forgot about them. I emailed them a couple of days ago asking what was going on with my repair. To my astonishment, I was told that repairs had been completed and that my ER4Ps were already on the way back to me. I picked them up an hour ago and have been testing them out ever since. They sound great! So I guess I got lucky and got a free repair. Maybe it had something to do with the problems I had before, but that's just a guess. This isn't to say that everyone will be so lucky, but I just wanted to tell people about my positive experience with Etymotic's customer service and to thank Etymotic for treating their customers so well. I'll definitely be purchasing Etymotic products in the future.

 

[soozieq]

It's really useful to hear positive feedback like that about customer service, especially for people who have never purchased from them before. The fact they fixed them free when they were out of warranty is a nice customer-friendly gesture, and a good way to get more custom. Nice one Etymotic

 

[Spyro]

Great for you!

No brainer though. The ultra positive feedback from you with so many viewers to this website is worth much more to them than the $85 repair charge.

 

[greydragon]

I am impressed! It's hard to find good customer service nowadays and it's good to see that Etymotic goes the extra mile.

 

[glac1er]

I had similar experience as well. About 2 months ago, I accidentally broke the left stem on my ER4P. It was a used ER4P I purchased 1.5 years back from another head-fier so I think it's out of warranty. I sent email to Etymotics asking about the repair price, was quoted $85 for worst possible case.

Got the RMA, sent them in and was waiting for any email for payment. No email ever came, and out of nowhere, my ER4P came back to me like new. It was a free repair, and they even fitted the ER4P with a new pair of foamies. Can't really ask for any better customer service except that it took a little while for the whole process (2-3 weeks)

 

[dimm0k]

Great to hear that you had a positive experience from Etymotics, they truly are a great company!

It's funny you posted this because I just went through this same experience twice! I originally had the ER4P and the stem on one of them cracked due to me not knowing how far to go with the filter removal tool. I really didn't go that deep, but just a little more than they should have and before I knew it there was a tiny fracture. Dreaded sending them in because honestly the fracture didn't affect the sound, but I sent them in anyway. Second time was when I decided to purchase a second hand pair just to have and noticed there was also a slight crack on one of the transducers so I sent that in and got them back today! In both cases the transducers were replaced free of charge with new filters and new tri-flanges! Turn around time was about 4-5 business days in both cases... speaking with them over the phone was quite pleasant as well.

 

[nc8000]

I've been thru the exact same thing with my previous pair of ER4's about 2 years ago so it seems to be a consistent performance from their customer service

 

[Superbaldguy]

Good stuff. I dearly wish ER would acknowledge the cracked stem issue, my first 4P's had both of them suffer that fate but I had to pay the $85/transducer. I ended up selling them for the cost of repairs. It would have been the thing to do to go good for the repairs, but that didn't happen.

I realized I couldn't live without these IEM's so I bought another set, they became more affordable at $200. I will just learn to live with the cracking issue if it hasn't been fixed.

 

[Judge Crandall]

Wow, I guess I'm not the only one who's gotten lucky!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superbaldguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good stuff. I dearly wish ER would acknowledge the cracked stem issue, my first 4P's had both of them suffer that fate but I had to pay the $85/transducer. I ended up selling them for the cost of repairs. It would have been the thing to do to go good for the repairs, but that didn't happen. I realized I couldn't live without these IEM's so I bought another set, they became more affordable at $200. I will just learn to live with the cracking issue if it hasn't been fixed.

I do wish they would implement some sort of design change to address the cracking issue, which still seems to be fairly common, based on my own experience and what I've read. However, it doesn't seem to affect durability or performance that much. Mine have had cracks for a few years and worked just fine, and while I didn't abuse them, I didn't baby them, especially as they got older. I could probably have kept using them even with the chunk of the right stem broken off, but I was afraid it would break off in my ear...

 

[todd92371]

They have amazing customer support!!!!


tiodd

 

[Cakbar]

I strongly agree with everyone re: Ety's great customer service. One of the earbuds on my almost 2yr old ER6i's died recently. I emailed Etymotic with a question regarding the length of the warranty. (I remembered sending in a questionnaire for a set of earphones that increased the warranty to 2years, but couldn't remember which ones. Turns out it was for my IM716's, not my ER6i's) Even although, my 1 year warranty had expired, they offered to evaluate them for repair. Much to my delight, I got an email today telling me that they're going to send out a replacement set free of charge. Thank you Maureen.

PS, I've been trying to call and email Altec Lansing re: Replacement filters for my IM716's. They have never once returned an email, or have anyone call me back as they promised.

 

[yourtoys7]

A+++ for them.

 

[cbw]

I sent my ER4P's in for repair a couple weeks ago, once they received them it took about 7 days and they replaced both tranducers at no charge and the cable for $50. Called them this morning to pay for the cable and they said it will ship out today! The phones were well out of warranty as well so i figure $50 is a good deal

 

[kg21]

I'm already sold on etys because of their sound, good to hear about their customer service it's icing on the cake.

 

[mr_superlove]

I'm just chiming in to vouch again for Ety's wonderful customer service. I purchased my ER-4Ps in November '04, so they were out of warranty. Like some the others, my transducer chipped. I was quoted a max of $85 to replace the transducer, but would be contacted once they knew the price for sure.

Less than two weeks later, I received my earphones back with both transducers replaced free of charge. I noticed that the tech notes stated that the other transducer was showing signs of beginning to crack so they just went ahead and replaced it.

While this does speak to the need to treat the Ety's with kid gloves, it is comforting to know that excellent customer service backs up any issues.