[Bunnyears]

I bought the UM2s just before they changed the cabling, so my cable turned an ugly greenish-black color within months of purchase. Then, before they were even a year old, the nozzle on one of the phones just fell apart (glue issues!). I called them about repair and they were willing to repair them, but could not say how much the repair would be because there was no way for them to see whether there was more damage to the phones than the nozzle. Shipping of course would be my expense (they have no distributors in NYC).

Well, just as I was going to bite the bullet for the repair, the announcement for the Westone 3 came out. I decided to wait and buy the new W3 rather than to throw more money into the UM2s.

Today I saw the old phones in a drawer I was cleaning out and decided to check on the Westone 3s. It's about a year and they still haven't released them, so I called them again today about repairing the UM2s. This time I mentioned the discolored cabling. The representative said that the gluing would be free if that's all that was necessary. Again, if drivers or whatever were damaged, that would be a more expensive repair, but because I had missed the "window of opportunity" I would have to pay $26.00 to replace the defective cabling.

I'm willing to pay for the gluing and the shipping, but I think that because they have admitted that the cabling was defective from the start, they should replace the cabling gratis, rather than telling me that I can pay $26.00 for new cabling. They didn't send me any notification about the "free" replacement, so if the nozzle hadn't broken off and I hadn't called them about that repair, I wouldn't even have known that they were willing to replace it! Now I'm seriously doubting the quality of their build, and will not be looking to buy the Westone 3. Certainly the company has lost my respect as well as my confidence.

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bought the UM2s just before they changed the cabling, so my cable turned an ugly greenish-black color within months of purchase. Then, before they were even a year old, the nozzle on one of the phones just fell apart (glue issues!). I called them about repair and they were willing to repair them, but could not say how much the repair would be because there was no way for them to see whether there was more damage to the phones than the nozzle.

If it was just months after you purchased them, there should not have been a repair cost assuming the faults were due to being a defective product (a la: Under warranty).

Sorry to hear that you waited. What could have been a free repair will cost money because the warranty period is over.

Either way though, it's also sad to hear the the UM2's might not have been the most reliable product.

 

[ath]

I think you will be better off posing this question to Westone. There is a good chance that they will make an exception.

If you think about it, you had an opportunity to send it back. It's not their fault that the phones were sitting in your desk all along. I sympathize with you. 26 bucks is a nominal charge if you ask me ( considering these phones sell for 300).

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ath /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think you will be better off posing this question to Westone. There is a good chance that they will make an exception. If you think about it, you had an opportunity to send it back. It's not their fault that the phones were sitting in your desk all along. I sympathize with you. 26 bucks is a nominal charge if you ask me ( considering these phones sell for 300).

I don't think $26.00 plus the shipping and insurance is a nominal cost. I'm willing to pay the price of repairing the phones, but the extra $26 to replace cables which they admitted were defective strikes me as nasty. If they knew the cables had a problem, then they should have contacted me earlier -- I purchased the phones directly from them so they had my information, afterall! It's not my fault that they never informed me that they were switching the cables. In any event, now that I've had these problems with the build, I'm not going to be purchasing any other products from them. At $300, these should have been as problem free as the Bose QC headphones my husband is still using that he bought before I bought the Westones. You really have to think twice when Bose is holding up better than something so highly regarded as the Westones.

 

[Towert7]

Bunnyears, it's true.

My take on it, is that they choose not to contact you. It was not a life threating defect that could get them into some serious lawsuits, and so it is most cost effective to let you find out (and hope that you never even notice). A very honest company would let you know of such things..... but *most* companies will not go out of their way, unless it could be a serious problem for them down the road.

Sad to hear about it though, but I'll be sure to put it in the back of my mind next time I consider buying a Westones.