[Edward Ng]

I was one of the REALLY early pre-orders for Westone 3s from Earphone Solutions over a year ago, so I was also one of the first to receive a production kit. When I received my original Westone 3s, they came in the small white box with a carrying pouch, and a plastic self-seal jewelry sack inside of it full of tips and a cleaning loop. The IEMs themselves came with the medium size silicone single flange tip pre-installed. Well I used that set almost daily and was extremely happy with them (after a HUGE amount of tip experimentation), but during the first week of January, the y-split portion of my cable finally failed, and I had no choice but to send in my beloved Westone 3s back to Westone for repair/replacement.

Well, I just got my replacement today and was pleasantly surprised to discover that instead of just repairing my original IEMs, or even sending me back a bare replacement, they sent me a full kit! Talk about customer service! So I cracked open the familiar white packaging to discover that Westone is now pre-installing the full-size Comply tip, instead of the original silicone piece. I have a feeling that Westone is trying to reduce the number of returns due to excess brightness!

Any opinions or comments?

-Ed

 

[forsberg]

Are there companies that actually repair your IEMs?

When my housing cracked in my old 5 pro's, I sent in the earphones only. I got back a new pair in full packaging so I had double everything for accessories, and even got a free bag of large silicon tips just by asking.

I'm sure the other bigs (Shure, Ety, Senn) provide this level of top-notch service as well.

But as per your question, you said your pair had silicon tip? Mine came default with the medium clear flex. So I wouldn't put too much thought into the default tip that it comes with.

 

[gadgetman]

Personally, I think this 'level of service' is simply due to the low cost of manufacturing vs the cost\effort to 'repair' one. I wouldn't be surprised if the high end IEMs that sell for $400+ actually cost $20-30 to make..

 

[Edward Ng]

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are there companies that actually repair your IEMs? When my housing cracked in my old 5 pro's, I sent in the earphones only. I got back a new pair in full packaging so I had double everything for accessories, and even got a free bag of large silicon tips just by asking. I'm sure the other bigs (Shure, Ety, Senn) provide this level of top-notch service as well. But as per your question, you said your pair had silicon tip? Mine came default with the medium clear flex. So I wouldn't put too much thought into the default tip that it comes with.

Etymotic usually recables and returns instead of replaces, at least that's what my cousin tells me (he has had to get his ER-4S' repaired multiple times). The last time though, they replaced it completely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gadgetman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally, I think this 'level of service' is simply due to the low cost of manufacturing vs the cost\effort to 'repair' one. I wouldn't be surprised if the high end IEMs that sell for $400+ actually cost $20-30 to make..

This is likely true; the cost of the product goes mostly to research and development. It's not as if these IEMs have super expensive materials like other high-end audio components (e.g. beryllium tweeters on certain loudspeakers).

-Ed

 

[p0wderh0und23]

@Ed so when you say "full kit" did you get the entire retail package? If so, you got lucky on that one. The procedure is to first try to repair the unit, if that is not possible we will replace it with a refurb'd or new unit (standard industry procedure) that is just the unit and a set of tips (usually Comply).

@gadgetman yes a company does include the cost of R&D, Cust Serv, etc into the price of a unit, but they are significantly more than $20-30 to manufacture for a high end unit, this includes all the major players (companies) in this market.

 

[Edward Ng]

Quote:

Originally Posted by p0wderh0und23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif @Ed so when you say "full kit" did you get the entire retail package? If so, you got lucky on that one. The procedure is to first try to repair the unit, if that is not possible we will replace it with a refurb'd or new unit (standard industry procedure) that is just the unit and a set of tips (usually Comply). @gadgetman yes a company does include the cost of R&D, Cust Serv, etc into the price of a unit, but they are significantly more than $20-30 to manufacture for a high end unit, this includes all the major players (companies) in this market.

indeed, I did receive a full retail package.

-Ed

 

[spleisher]

Not knocking Westone here, but I tend to agree this has more to do with cost of "repairing" than it does pure customer service.

I recently got the same treatment from Klipsch myself, and I've heard anecdotally from friends that Shure does the same thing.

Nonetheless, in the end, the customer wins in all these cases. So, I agree with you, it's pretty cool.