[JohnRich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by king896 I hope this is not a normal trend for Sensaphonics! I was about to set a appointment with the audiologist recommended to me tomorrow, but now I have to take a step back and see if it is worth it. I am only 18 and I don't really keep to much money in my bank account unless I am preparing to be charged for something such as the 2x-s and now I would have to worry about giving Sensaphonics my credit card and charging me without my consent with the risk it might bounce against my account. I really hope this gets some sort of closer to it because that type of ethic is wrong. I guess this has scared me enough into looking into the UE-10's which originally hadn't really crossed my mind.

Less of a worry for you as US customers get free shipping, or you could work through the recommended audiologist rather than dealing with Sensaphonics directly. Probably worth assessing the UE-10's as an option though; UE do seem to have more of a consumer friendly approach to things at present.

 

[lindrone]

You're in United States, you shouldn't have to worry at all. It's people in Europe that's been having a tough time.

I wouldn't trade off the sound that I'm going for, just for slightly better consumer experience; keep in mind, you're in US, and as long as you can call their 800 number, it's just 'slightly' better with UE. Also remember that I was recommended some bum audiologist with UE the first time around anyway.

Everyone's experience with either company will differ depending upon the quality/know how of the audiologist in the area.

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindrone I wouldn't trade off the sound that I'm going for, just for slightly better consumer experience; keep in mind, you're in US, and as long as you can call their 800 number, it's just 'slightly' better with UE.

I would disagree with that. UE answers their e-mails promptly by all accounts. Similarly, there have been many complaints that Sensaphonics does not.

The answer of, "Yeah, but you can call Sensaphonics and reach them that way" isn't enough. I want a documented e-mail trail when I deal with a purchase I'm having issues with, just calling makes you lose that trail. I'd particularly want a trail after hearing the tales of various falsehoods/inaccuracies from Sensaphonics (i.e. failed delivery dates after promises that the buds were in the mail and the like).

Based on the accounts here, UE is clearly excellent for customer service, while Sensaphonics is similar most of the time but does have a trend of exceptions, most notably the failure to answer e-mails promptly. Now whether that is enough to sway someone's decision for one or the other, I guess that's up to them.

 

[gorman]

Hmmm... don't know about what you're saying Blitzula... customer care is definitely very important for this kind of product, to choose based on it... I don't know. After all, UE-10 are more expensive, you could say you are paying for the extra customer care.

I know for sure that if a company charged my CC without my explicit permission, I'd be royally pissed.

 

[iamdone]

In the United States, their customer service is different because you deal almost exclusively with the certified audiologist to handle the complete transaction. They take care of everything from the molds, payment, shipment, fittings, and any follow up issues.

I'm not defending them on direct customer service though. It does sound like they have some issues to work out based on what others have posted.

 

[plainsong]

An issue that results in a credit card fraud is certainly one heck of an issue!

I chose Sensa for the descriptions of the sound signature and comfort. I certainly wouldn't want anything bigger than this on my ears. As an EU customer, there's the choice of the UK arm of Sensa, but dealing with Sensa directly is becoming more and more dodgy. I feel they should say something about this, as fraud is a serious issue.

Now personally, at first they didn't seem to do emails, and in fact emails from a .fi address were bounced as a blocked address. But then it seemed they had ironed out those kinks, and Michael Santucci personally hunted down an audiologist for me while he was at a Euro convention... and he remembered to get in contact with me about it. Now that's service.

But the exagerations of the ship date is a relatively small issue. They just need to shift their policy to telling the CS people just to say they don't know when they don't know. But Big D's card being charged without consent is an invasion of his security and fraud. Now that's a big oops, and Sensa should acknowledge it.

Hopefully a chargeback will teach that lesson. You must inform the customer that you need to charge for shipping, and ask again for payment info.

 

[raisin]

Excuse me but, fraud, lawsuits, OMG they're late- Wah, Wah, Wah. You'd think it's the end of the world.

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin Excuse me but, fraud, lawsuits, OMG they're late- Wah, Wah, Wah. You'd think it's the end of the world.

Are you on something? That wasn't the most coherrent post ever made.

But I'll assume you're not on something, and that you weren't just looking for an arguement.

Let me break it down further for you.

Let's pretend that I'm a vendor of a product you want. You buy it from me, giving me your CC # and I charge you and send the product.

With me so far?

Ok, let's say I render a service for you. Doesn't matter what the service is, but you were given no costs for it and were not informed you'd have to pay.

Then I just charge you with the old info that I have.

Still with me? How would that make you feel? Did you read his post at all? It's a security breach. His bank had him get a new card.

There's this pesky rule that they need your authorization _before_ using the card.

Still with me? Have I lost you?

So it's not just whining, grow up and put up a more coherent arguement next time.

 

[JohnnyLightOn]

It's not whining, but it's kind of been blown out of proportion. "Fraud"? Please.

Someone at Sensaphonics made the decision to charge his card for return shipping, and that was wrong. They should have asked him first. Obviously.

But to consider the whole company questionable because of one improper shipping charge and lack of e-mail follow-up is pushing it.

 

[remilard]

I think lindrone said it best, UE is focused on the consumer market, sensaphonic is not. These things have a way of working themselves out.

Regardless of whether or not there was fraud, boo to sensaphonic for not making it clear whose obligation shipping was, typically a postage paid return carton is requested if the cost is to be absorbed by the customer. The innaccurate information, intentional or not, about shipping dates would be upsetting to any of us.

Anecdotally speaking, my girlfriend's ER6i needed to be replaced and etymotic paid shipping both ways and suggested that she keep the accessories from both units, for a $150 item. It must be hard to spend 5 times that and not be able to expect the same service.

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyLightOn It's not whining, but it's kind of been blown out of proportion. "Fraud"? Please. Someone at Sensaphonics made the decision to charge his card for return shipping, and that was wrong. They should have asked him first. Obviously. But to consider the whole company questionable because of one improper shipping charge and lack of e-mail follow-up is pushing it.

Yes, business life is funny like that. A tiny mistake, a misjudgement, can lead to a charge of fraud. Maybe it wasn't intentional. Hey, I have Sensas, and I love em', but the credit card company will most likely do a chargeback, considering as they considered it grounds for a new card.

And yeah, when you don't tell the truth about something, it's called fraud. I'm sorry about the word, but I didn't make it up. It's not a nice word, but businesses run this risk daily. It happens and it happened here. The fact that if they were to do this to a business or a consumer makes little difference. In either case I hope it was a mistake and not reflective of company policy. Only they know that answer. And sadly as consumers, we're only left to guess what that answer is.

If not fraud, then what do you call it when someone steals money from you? It's not been blown out of proportion, it's not some conspiracy. It simply is what it is, and it's not wrong to call it by its name.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindrone At the same time... whatever happened, 2X-S is more than worth its trouble imo... however the way of acquisition that one has to go through. I still would've rathered ordered 2X-S from Europe than any of the Ultimate Ears products (of course, easy for me to say that now, eh?). On the other hand, it's still much better than the experience that some of us has to go through to get just what we want. For example, ever had a Gilmore amp that was more than half hour behind schedule built for you?

It's true that the 2x's are excellent canalphones, but my experience and my husband's experience have been less than satisfactory. They were going to do a remold of my right earphone, but instead they just shaved and cut it down. they kept it for 2 weeks, and when they sent it back to me, they put it in a plastic bag with no padding or protection in the same box with my husband's new set. His set are completely useless as they provide absolutely no isolation, so he is in the process of getting a remold too. Sensaphonics makes an excellent product, but the fact that they only give you a 30 day window to make changes, and then they take inordinate amounts of time to remedy their work is unconscionable. They also make you pay extra shipping charges when they should have gotten it right the first time. With my experience, I would hesitate to recommend the headphone to anyone until the company gets its act together. Furthermore, they spelled my name incorrectly on the box, and despite promising me to send a new label, I have yet to receive it. Furthermore, the carrycase is nothing more than a plastic keycase (complete with keyring) that ranks with the cheapest Xmas giveaway crap.

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by remilard Anecdotally speaking, my girlfriend's ER6i needed to be replaced and etymotic paid shipping both ways and suggested that she keep the accessories from both units, for a $150 item. It must be hard to spend 5 times that and not be able to expect the same service.

Of course, Shure does the same with their products... the key here is that they're generic, universal fit units on mass production. The true cost of production "per unit" is really low, most of the profit margin pays for less visible things such as R&D, but the profit margin on audio items on a production cost basis is very, very high.

With custom fit anything, you just can't expect that sort of things. I see the irony, but it's also inevitable. Reminds me of one of my friend, who had a very, very old Porsche that he endeared (it was his first car), it spent 80% of his ownership time sitting in shops, because when he got a bender fender, it took them half a year to locate parts to fix it. To think that he could've just gotten a Toyota Camry instead, right?

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears Furthermore, the carrycase is nothing more than a plastic keycase (complete with keyring) that ranks with the cheapest Xmas giveaway crap.

Uh.. I think you're misunderstanding something here.. the case that Sensaphonic chose to give you is an off-the-shelf, fully water-tight, water resistant case make by Pelican. Pelican is a very well known name for making tough plastic, water and hazard resistant case. They used to have a metal case (with vinyl wood "skin") that perhaps felt more prestigious, but is of very little true usefulness for the customers. The Pelican case you can literally take it with you anywhere, and it's very protective, almost indestructible feeling.

UE's metal case is some off-the-shelf case that used to be available at Fry's Electronics as well, and it costs maybe $5 to $10 more than the Pelican case. Remember, appearance isn't everything.

 

[Bunnyears]

I am not talking about the hard plastic case but the "portable" carry case, that is supposed to be similar to the soft carry cases that come with the ety's. That key case is a joke. It is supposed to be what you put the headphones in when you are just going out, rather than stuffing them in your pocket or purse. I know that is it's function, because they told me that was what it was for when I called them. At this point, I use an altoids tin to carry the phones, as it's much sturdier and is at least attractively designed.

Also, the hard plastic case that they supply (the personalized one with my name spelled incorrectly on it) is similar to the one also supplied by Westone with their UM2 (universal 2 driver iem-cost approximately $320) , except the westone case is a bit larger.

The sensas are an excellent iem. They do a stellar job of reproducing music, but I stand by my criticism. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, and until they improve it, I hesitate to recommend the phones, and I have many friends who can easily afford them. I don't want any of my friends spending $750 or more and not being completely satisfied wth the way the company responds to their problems. For that amount of money (plus an additional $100 that they requested so that my order could be expedited so that I could make my travel schedule), I really expected white glove care. Etymotics, only supplying a universal iem, has a much more responsive customer care department. The black pouch I received when I bought my 4ps (from another retailer) came damaged. They immediately sent me a new one, no questions asked, with a prettily worded apology for my trouble. As I said before, although I spoke to two people about the misspelling of my name on the plastic case, I am still waiting for a new plastic label (actually from one of those tape label machines that were so popular a few years ago) with my name spelled correctly. Forget any apology for all the trouble and the fact that I still have a right earphone that does not fit correctly.

Now, I may not have your expertise with headphones, but you don't have my length of experience or expertise as a consumer of high end goods. And I can tell you with complete authority, that Sensaphonics has do to a little more in the way of customer care than they are presently doing.

Perhaps this seems harsh to you, but the truth is that Sensaphonics is selling an expensive iem, much more expensive than the ipod that I am using it with! So, I expect the same care I would get when I buy a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes, or a Louis Vuitton bag, or a Prada dress. If you are charging high end prices then you will hope to be dealing with a high end clientele, and their customer service needs definite improvement.

On the other hand, my experience with the audiologist has been stellar. She has gone far beyond what she needs to do in order to help me. It is the company that I fault, rather than her.