[mekon]

Jays support of their q-jays is terrible, beyond words.  I have a pair of out of warranty q-jays which have started having intermittent connection issues in the right ear piece (sound will go dead unless i wiggle wire, and if I move too much, then sound is lost again).  I inquired about an out of warranty repair; Jays says that they cannot do that, since they are "glued together".  I have had earphones repaired by Shure, Westone, and Etymotic before.  I cannot believe that my ~$200 headphones are unfixable.  
 
So my question is, I guess, what headphones have a similar sound signature, from a vendor who cares about support?
 
 
-thank you

 

[ClieOS]

No many universal IEM makers that I know actually 'fix' their IEM (include those you mentioned). The basic warranty service these days are: first, check for the faulty area and determine if it is easily fixable (mostly either filter or cable replacement which takes just 3 minutes, if it has replaceable cable and such). 2nd, either fix the easy problem, or send a new one out. If you send back an out-of-warranty IEM to Shure, they won't actually fix it - instead they will ask if you want to get a brand new one-time-only similar replacement for a cheaper price with a very short warranty (a few months only). Etymotic is perhaps the only company that do fix out-of-warranty IEM, but only if it is an ER4 since it is of modular design (also 3 minutes job for swapping part). If it is HF5 (which is also glued together), I doubt they can do much about it.
 
It is not about how much you have paid for an IEM. It is just more economical for company not to keep a department of repairman around. They will swap the faulty IEM for a good one if it is within warranty and generally can't do much if it is out of warranty. Shure perhaps has the best trade-in program in the market, but still they don't actually fix the problem, just makes it go-away with a bit of money.
 
To answer your question: Etymotic ER4P.

 

[mekon]

I don't disagree with you, but they made no efforts to even offer me a discount towards a 'no warranty' replacement, even a small discount would have been sufficient to keep me happy.  I've had HF5's repaired (or replaced, I guess) for a nominal fee before.  They made no effort to keep me as a customer.  Jays has behaved poorly to me, 
 
Btw, ClieOS, thank you for the reviews.
 
I actually had er-4p's.  I really liked them ( i used them for almost 4 years), but for some reason I couldn't get a decent seal with them anymore (do ear canals expand as you age?), so I had to stop using them.

 

[ClieOS]

Since you already have a good around with many IEM, I think the smart thing to do is to look for cheaper IEM and don't expect much from warranty. It just makes an easier excuse to toss it away when the warranty is out. I have another sub$200 recommendation: Phonak PFE - two years warranty, great sound (tunable too), and known to have pretty good customer service.

 

[mark2410]

erm im not really seeing the problem, if they are out and of warranty jays have said they cant fix them as they are glued close then that means they cant fix them.  i realise that may not be what you want to hear and its a pain that no where seems to offer re cabling services any more.  why did null audio stop? 
 
this is why all decent IEM's ought to have user replaceable cables

 

[gameboy115]

Can't say it is their fault not to honor any services for out of warranty product. It is just common practice. Like I have some fancy display card for my computer which costs over 200, the warranty term can be as short as 1 year, and after that, you are on your own to take care of it, the customer services is just dead from the moment it is out of warranty
 
I guess if you really like the sound, you can try to remold them
 
Look around forum, there is company doing remolding in US which cost around 100

 

[goodvibes]

I also think they should offer a bagged replacement price of about 50%. They will even make near the same margin at the factory level and have a happy customer who could instead write about how awesome they are. Silly policy to not try and accommodate an existing customer in some way. They should at least appear to make an effort if they want to keep people in the fold.

 

[mekon]

the phonaks are really good.  almost a very similar to er-4p sound (IMHO) + microphone.  fit really well with Jays tips.  Thanks alot.
 

 

[mekon]

Update on this.  I got a message today.  It sounds like they are trying to do the right thing (i sent them a link to this message thread), so here's hoping. 

PM from petced: JAYS Support

Dear mekon,

petced sent you a private message titled "JAYS Support"

petced View Profile

Hi,   I just want to tell you that JAYS have changed their terms of out of warranty claims. We will now offer a replacement with 50% off from our recommended price list starting with the models d-JAYS and q-JAYS and then more models will come along when the routine is set up and working. This will be launched September 1st. Please contact us on support@jays.se and we'll help you out.   Regards Peter

 

[deviationer]

Quote:

 I have a pair of out of warranty q-jays
 

I stopped reading there.
There is no issue here, they are out of warranty. Rarely does a company support out of warranty products. If they do it's for a steep fee and it would better just to buy a new one or buy something from a different company.

 

[MetroBBOY]

The whole point of this dilemma, is that yes, sometimes its good to have a company meet expectations for delivering a good product within the warranty, but generally its also a big fat bonus, if a company (small, niche one at that) can find ways to go above and beyond to retain a customer.
 
The OP has a pretty valid point if you ask me. Im glad Jays will be changing their policies soon.

 

[ClieOS]

Very nice of JAYS to start an out-of-warranty replacement program actually.

 

[gameboy115]

Cool. good to know the update of it, JAYs rocks