Universal Product Warranty
Noble warrants a universal in-ear monitor product to be free of defects in material and/or workmanship for a period of two (2) years from the date of retail purchase. The warranty is nontransferable, is valid for the original purchaser, and is only valid when the product is purchased from an authorized source. In the event that a product is deemed defective, Noble will either repair or replace the product with a new or refurbished substantially equivalent model. This limited warranty does not cover loss, theft, or any defects attributable to damage beyond the reasonable control of Noble including damage caused by abuse, misuse, misapplication, or modifications performed by anyone other than Noble.
The warranty only applies to the external shell of the product and the internal components. The carrying case, cleaning tool, and any other accessories are not covered by the warranty.
The limited warranty shall apply to any repair, valid replacement part, or replacement product for the remainder of the original warranty period or for ninety (90) days, whichever period of time is greater. Any parts or products replaced under warranty will become the property of Noble.
"..... damage beyond the reasonable control of Noble..." Noble can not prevent a product from falling off a desk, out of someone's hands, chewed by a dog/and or cat, theft, placed in the wash, lost or any other form of abuse, misuse, neglect or accident.
Well, this smells a little like JH Roxxane's plastic nuts incident to be honest. Although, to be fair, this one is unlikely to affect most people any time soon, or at all.
I dont think a person living in a particularly warm, cold, humid or dry environment constitutes as a form of abuse, misuse, neglect or accident.
You said that a K10U next to the laptop vent started having its lacquer cracking. That is probably around 50 Celsius. Summer in most western countries and australia is likely to hit 35 or higher. Most south east asian countries, especially those like malaysia, singapore and thailand have its temperatures higher than 35 Celcius most of the time. Over time, say 2-3 years, cracks are going to appear in a significant amount of K10's. I feel sorry for the buyer living in the middle east, then again, oil money, who cares, they can just buy another.
Your lacquer, expensive or not, is clearly not up to stuff(for mass production of luxury custom monitors) if it cannot handle the weather of half the planet (probably half the countries on this planet have temperatures exceeding 35 Celcius for at least 3-4 months). You can probably argue that most CIEM makers use the same or worse stuff, but this is Noble and i expected more from what is in my opinion the premier maker of earphones alongside Fitear. The lacquer of other companies may be cheaper (im not sure about this), but repairs of any cracks to the lacquer is covered by the warranty. Cracks in the lacquer should never even happened.
The only damage to the IEM that does not fall under warranty coverage should only be the acrylic cracking (Clearly, you dropped it, your fault), scratches, driver failure due to water damage etc, broken cables etc. Where carelessness or excessive force is beyond doubt.
If its not under warranty, put a disclaimer in your site, saying the lacquer may crack if exposed to temperature higher than 35 Celcius for extended periods of time. And that any cracks in the lacquer will not be covered.
Just in case anyone is unclear, i meant the lacquer and not the acrylic.
It is
Futher more, I don't know what type of woodwork you are doing, but if it is a typical table top etc etc, a table top isn't subjected to the same type of use and environments that a CIEM/IEM is.
I would love to use a cheaper alternative lacquer, such as the lacquer used on wood furniture, but we would rather use a lacquer that is FDA approved for skin contact.
Yes, instead of just the inside of the ear, these have hot plates, mugs, books and that sports rim i put on it to clean. Scratches and dents in the wood ? Yes, no cracks though.
To be honest, your lacquer probably cost about 20-30 (probably way more) plus times the ones i use for furniture. Then again, most decent tables cost way less than 1.6k. In terms of quality, you are not competing with cheap ass furniture like the ones im making.
Actually, i refinish of piano's mostly. So id use this analogy. If i was buying a grand piano costing 300k instead of the usual 10-15k, i expect the finishing of a Fazioli, not a yamaha. Even then, the lacquer of a yamaha dont crack due to temperature from a laptop vent.
I dont expect the lacquer of the noble K10's to be as durable as furniture lacquer. But it should at the very least not crack under normal temperatures. Change that lacquer, or consider making your own. Otherwise, a disclaimer on your site so that people know what they are getting into.
In this case, i bought a K10U with cracks in the lacquer. I knew i had to pay something to get it refinished. Most people(me included) buy K10U's never expecting any cracks to ever happen and if they do happen, to be covered by the warranty. Given the disclaimer, I would probably have still bought the thing (My own K10U is still perfect), but at least i knew what i was getting into. Unpleasant surprises and interactions like these can be avoided.
