[mister__big]

Hi guys, as a long-time Shure user (having bought the E3c, E4g and the E500s), I'm very disappointed that Shure has refused to repair my E500 (still in-warranty) which has a split wire at one of the earphones (a well-known problem to Head-Fiers). The reason Shure refused repair? Because I had bought it on eBay and not from "an authorized Shure distributor" even though Shure's website claims ALL products manufactured by Shure are covered by their warranty. Here's the correspondence between myself and Shure:


To: Shure USA Service and Technical Support
CC: Shure Customer Service Hong Kong

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to make a formal complaint about the refusal of Shure Hong Kong to service my faulty, in-warranty E500s.

I have a faulty E500 where the cable at the earphone has split. I did some research on Head-Fi.org and found that this is a problem well-known to Shure. As I am currently living in Singapore, I contacted Shure HK about how I could return the earphones to Shure for repair. The correspondence between myself and Elaine of Shure HK is provided below for your kind reference.

In summary, Shure HK has refused to repair my E500s on the grounds that the earphones were purchased on eBay and not from "an authorized reseller". To me, this does not seem like an acceptable reason to refuse service. I looked up Shure's "Complete Warranty Policies" online (Shure - Warranty Policies) and nowhere does it state that only products purchased from Shure distributors would be eligible for warranty. In fact it says right at the top that "ALL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY SHURE INCORPORATED FEATURE A LIMITED TWO-YEAR WARRANTY." Even though my E500s were purchased on eBay, I'm sure (no pun intended) they were still manufactured by Shure.

I have purchased many items from eBay in the past and had to return some of them to the manufacturer for repairs. Never have I encountered such a problem where the manufacturer refused to accept responsibility for repairing the product just because the item in question was purchased on eBay. In fact, when my second-hand MacBook Pro died, I sent it into Apple for repairs and they took it in without even asking for the receipt. From what I heard about Shure, I had expected the same level of service from Shure as well.

I had also previously purchased the E3c and E4g due to Shure's reputation as a company that stands behind its products. Therefore it is very disappointing for me when Shure HK refused to repair my E500s even though it is in-warranty. I would have expected a much higher level of service from Shure, especially considering the E500 is Shure's top-of-the-line earphones.

I would like to ask that Shure seriously reconsider its draconian policy on warranty for products purchased from eBay and accept my request to repair or replace my E500s. I have attached the original invoice as well to this email. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Henry XXXXXX


Begin forwarded message:

From: Henry XXXXXX
Date: July 27, 2009 11:16:25 AM GMT+07:00
To: "Ho, Elaine" <Ho_Elaine@shure.com.hk>
Subject: Re: Repair Enquiry

Dear Elaine,

I am very disappointed to hear that Shure is unwilling to provide support for your own products. The reason I had purchased the E500 online was because a) I did not know there was a distributor in Singapore, and b) I had read about many stories online where people had purchased Shure earphones online and received good warranty service when there were problems with their earphones.

I have purchased dozens of products off eBay, and some items had to be returned to the manufacturers for exchange/repair due to defects. They were all promptly handled by their respective manufacturers. This is the very first time I have encountered a case where a warranty on a purchase on eBay was not honored by the manufacturer. Even when my second-hand MacBook Pro died, I sent it into Apple who immediately repaired it without even asking for the original receipt. Similarly, since the earphones were manufactured by Shure, I do not see why Shure would not honor the warranty regardless of where it was purchased.

It is very disappointing to hear that Shure does not stand by its own products and after purchasing the E3c, the E4g and the E500 over the years, I will no longer consider purchasing any future products from Shure due to Shure's draconian warranty policy. Considering the E500 is supposed to be the flagship product of Shure and the most expensive earphone that Shure sells, this kind of treatment is simply unacceptable.

I will also be bringing this matter to the attention of Shure USA and also the online audiophile community as I know there have been many people like me who purchased their Shure earphones through eBay and I'm sure they would not be pleased to find out that their earphones are not covered under warranty.


Sincerely,
Henry XXXXXX

On Jul 27, 2009, at 8:44 AM, Ho, Elaine wrote:

Dear Henry,

Thank you for your information.

According to Shure policy, the 2-year-limited warranty only grants to earphones which were purchased from authorized distributors or resellers. Please be advised that to read and understand the terms and conditions in your warranty card that came with the package. We have checked your attached invoice from e-bay and we confirmed that Seller's ID: bobsound1 is not our Shure authorized reseller in USA. Therefore we are not able to offer any in-warranty service for your purchased earphone.

Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.

With Regards,
Elaine Ho
Shure Asia Limited

 

[Nebby]

It's actually quite common for manufacturers to not provide warranty for products purchased from unauthorized sellers. I personally find it a nice gesture by a company when they do service a product that wasn't sold by an authorized seller, but I don't expect it.

I will say that it's not right that they don't mention the authorized dealer only fact on their warranty policy online.
Shure - Warranty Policies

 

[talisman42]

ouchies. Shure has great products, too. I imagine that their service would be as good

 

[ClieOS]

Don't know about E500, but on SE530 - the warranty that comes with the IEM does stated that it only covers purchase made with authorized dealer. There is a Shure distributor in Singapore (the same company that distribute Etymotic and Westone, I believe). I bought mine from an authorized dealer there.

Well, it does suck to see an pricey IEM not able to get repaired.

 

[punkaroo]

I would find out who's 'above' the rep you emailed, and talk to them. That's crap. Total utter crap.

 

[mister__big]

ClieOS: What you said was exactly echoed by Shure HK. But here's the kicker: it only states on the warranty card INSIDE the box, which means there's no way of knowing before purchasing that the product wouldn't be covered by the warranty if bought on eBay. Furthermore, as I mentioned in my letter to Shure, this directly contradicts information on their own website where it states that ALL products manufactured by Shure are covered under the warranty.

So either Shure is not honoring their own policy by refusing to repair the earphones, or they knowingly mislead customers by stating one thing on their website and another inside the boxed product.

 

[dosley01]

Did your eBay seller claim to be an authorized dealer as many do? If so I would try and get them to replace them. You probably will not get very far but it is worth a shot.

 

[RedSky0]

If they still continue to refuse to honor it, I'd suggest filing a formal complaint through your government's consumer protection agency which from quick googling seems to be:

Lodge a Complaint

Considering that they do indeed fail to mention the detail about only authorised retailers being covered on the website, I think it's worth a try.

 

[insomniax]

i dunno if this will help but you can sign up with the sgheadphones.net forum, look for a person called Cyric. He is from Grandtech Systems which is the new shure earphones distributor in singapore. Talk to him through pm about your situation and see if he can offer you any form of recourse. Worse comes to worst, offer to pay for the repair, at least you won't be left stranded with your shure e500s.

Hope this helps some.

EDIT: also wanna give you this : rank@grandtech.com.sg
which is the email which you can get him at..
ask nicely and say you're from head-fi forums and then try to get him to solve your problems..

 

[crossmd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebby /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's actually quite common for manufacturers to not provide warranty for products purchased from unauthorized sellers. I personally find it a nice gesture by a company when they do service a product that wasn't sold by an authorized seller, but I don't expect it.

This. It's totally unrealistic to think that they'll pick up your third party vendor purchase even if it isn't stated in the fine print. With the sheer volume of 4th generation owners, and potentially even fakes..Anyone who hopes to stay afloat without putting their earnings into their service department can't really do this.

Both my se530's and my k702s were purchased third party, and I basically assumed that warranty wasn't going to happen if I needed it. It's the price you pay for cheaper/used product. Just because it's not outlined explicitly doesn't really make it an ultimatum that they have to adhere to, right?

 

[mister__big]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crossmd /img/forum/go_quote.gif This. It's totally unrealistic to think that they'll pick up your third party vendor purchase even if it isn't stated in the fine print. With the sheer volume of 4th generation owners, and potentially even fakes..Anyone who hopes to stay afloat without putting their earnings into their service department can't really do this.

I have no problems with this if Shure had stated this on their website. My problem is that they said it's covered under warranty on their site, then stated the opposite inside the box. What kind of self-respecting company would do that? And if it was a mistake, a company that prides itself on customer service would take steps to rectify it rather than ignore the customer (which is what Shure has essentially done since I have not received any reply from Shure HK since my last email above, thus I have to bring the matter up to Shure USA and to this board).

I'm sure there are many more Shure owners out there who, like me, are not aware of this policy and one of my intentions is to bring this matter to light so those who have purchased or are thinking about purchasing Shure products on eBay will not fall into the same trap.

 

[mister__big]

dosley01, RedSky0 and insomniax: Thanks for your suggestions. I will await Shure USA's response and give them the opportunity to resolve this matter amicably before deciding on the next course of action.

 

[ClieOS]

As far as website goes, it only needs to honor the local laws where the server is operating. You can complain to SG government, but since you are the one importing the IEM to SG personally (as you bought it from somewhere else outside of the country), the local laws very likely offer no protection.

While we can all hope that Shure will step the game up and take care of the OP, it is not likely to happen. It might be a good gesture for Shure to help the OP out, but it will set an bad example and Shure will have to take care of all the unsatisfied customer who bought their Shure from a third party from who-knows-where the stock is from. What will that make the customer who paid full price from an authorized dealer feel? Further more, how does that put the authorized dealer who will be undercut (even more) by the unauthorized dealer?

Sad it may all seen, but unexpected it is not.

 

[crossmd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mister__big /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no problems with this if Shure had stated this on their website. My problem is that they said it's covered under warranty on their site, then stated the opposite inside the box. What kind of self-respecting company would do that? And if it was a mistake, a company that prides itself on customer service would take steps to rectify it rather than ignore the customer (which is what Shure has essentially done since I have not received any reply from Shure HK since my last email above, thus I have to bring the matter up to Shure USA and to this board).

Was it maybe a low blow? Sure. But the fact of the matter was that you essentially signed away that warranty when you bought ebay.

It sucks man, I know. But I'm not so sure you've got much ground to stand on..

Good luck though.

 

[billybob_jcv]

deleted - weird double post...