Darwin022
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Posts
- 405
- Likes
- 10
I haven't posted in a while, decided to "go big and go home" last January and get a pair of Ultimate Ear UE5 Pro's so I'd stop buying "cheaper" in ears. They sound and fit GREAT. I wear them up to 8 hours a day at work with no comfort issues.
However, customer service is the polar opposite of the quality of the monitors. After my initial call to set up the order, I almost didn't place the order, it's a good thing I knew I wanted to spend $750 on them before I called. The lady I spoke to on the phone was bordering on being rude and didn't want to answer my questions, not the person you want answering questions for prospective customers. When I was able to dig the information out of her, she said that yes, they could do different colors per side and to put a note in the box with the impressions. The online ordering system only allows for single color orders so I put the order in for Blue monitors and clearly noted on the sheet I included with the impressions that I wanted one blue, one clear and which side each should be. Well, I received the monitors and both were blue. "OK, I like blue." I called them back and spoke to the same lady. She claimed that she never saw a note for the color differences. I asked how she knew how they were my impressions if she didn't see the note. She didn't have an answer to that and pretty much told me to piss-off.
I called back again and got someone else (thankfully) who said that if I sent them back in, they could re-make the clear one. I was traveling quite a bit at the time and didn't have a chance to send them back in. It was a relatively minor issue so I was going to let it go. I didn't want to end up having to deal with this lady (b*tch is more the term I used for her after my second call) again either.
Fast Forward to June. While on vacation out of the country, the cable broke. The plastic block that connects the cable to the monitor cracked in half and left the cable floppy/unsupported. I ordered another cable, they screwed up and sent it to the wrong address. It took an extra few days to get the cable but again, I let it slide.
Around October, the replacement cable cracked in the same way. By this point, I figured that I'd try fixing it myself instead of shelling out another ~$50 in under a year for a cable that, IMO, shouldn't have broken.
At the same time, I started noticing that there were imperfections in the monitors. Some of the plastic was flaking, it looks like there is a crack molded into the plastic on one of them. I decided that it was time to write a letter to them. Yes, one of those "snail mail" things on printed paper.
Quote:
To which I received an e-mail back:
Quote:
a few short e-mails back and forth, Jeanette claimed that it took them about a week to repair. I overnighted the monitors back to them on January 26th and let Jeannette know that they were on the way. She claimed that she'd keep an eye open for them and contact me as soon as they came in. They were signed for on the 27th, last Tuesday. I was patient in waiting for a call back from her, nothing. Monday I e-mailed her letting her know that they were delivered Last Tuesday. Today (Tuesday, a week later), I called them back, this is a basic paraphrasing of how the call went:
*pick up* "Hi, this is Jeanette"
"Hi, this is Sasha, have you received my monitors?"
"What?"
"I sent my monitors back to you last week, you claimed in an e-mail that you'd contact me when they came in"
"Oh uh..... (*I have no idea who you are*) I haven't seen them"
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. YOU said you would be watching out for them. It has been a WEEK"
"Uh... I'll go try to find them, what's your #, I'll call you back"
Apparently the guy in repairs was at lunch, she e-mailed me back about an hour later:
Quote:
By this point, my responses have degraded in politeness.
Quote:
Apparently that's what it takes to get results, while writing this, I got an e-mail from her saying I should have them back by this Thursday. Speaking to another person who has UE's and reading the boards says that I'm the only one who has had a problem. That said, why do I have problems with their customer service EVERY time I have to deal with them. The thought of calling them is enough to cause a minor anxiety attack, seriously.
If they aren't right the first time around, be warned.
However, customer service is the polar opposite of the quality of the monitors. After my initial call to set up the order, I almost didn't place the order, it's a good thing I knew I wanted to spend $750 on them before I called. The lady I spoke to on the phone was bordering on being rude and didn't want to answer my questions, not the person you want answering questions for prospective customers. When I was able to dig the information out of her, she said that yes, they could do different colors per side and to put a note in the box with the impressions. The online ordering system only allows for single color orders so I put the order in for Blue monitors and clearly noted on the sheet I included with the impressions that I wanted one blue, one clear and which side each should be. Well, I received the monitors and both were blue. "OK, I like blue." I called them back and spoke to the same lady. She claimed that she never saw a note for the color differences. I asked how she knew how they were my impressions if she didn't see the note. She didn't have an answer to that and pretty much told me to piss-off.
I called back again and got someone else (thankfully) who said that if I sent them back in, they could re-make the clear one. I was traveling quite a bit at the time and didn't have a chance to send them back in. It was a relatively minor issue so I was going to let it go. I didn't want to end up having to deal with this lady (b*tch is more the term I used for her after my second call) again either.
Fast Forward to June. While on vacation out of the country, the cable broke. The plastic block that connects the cable to the monitor cracked in half and left the cable floppy/unsupported. I ordered another cable, they screwed up and sent it to the wrong address. It took an extra few days to get the cable but again, I let it slide.
Around October, the replacement cable cracked in the same way. By this point, I figured that I'd try fixing it myself instead of shelling out another ~$50 in under a year for a cable that, IMO, shouldn't have broken.
At the same time, I started noticing that there were imperfections in the monitors. Some of the plastic was flaking, it looks like there is a crack molded into the plastic on one of them. I decided that it was time to write a letter to them. Yes, one of those "snail mail" things on printed paper.
Quote:
| December 22, 2008 Ultimate Ears - custom 5 Jenner Street, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618 To whom it may concern, I'd like to inform you of how frustrating it has been trying to do business with your company. *I seem to have continual problems whenever I place orders with UE and seem to think that it's just me. *I placed my original order for a pair of UE5P's 1/10/2008. *There were specific instructions in the order and in the box to make the right ear piece clear and the left ear piece blue. *I received the monitors on 1/30/2008, both were blue. *I called to mention this and the lady I spoke to on the phone claimed that there was no note in the box with the impressions (which makes me wonder how you knew they were my impressions) or on the order for the color differences and that it was my fault. *Since this was not my first unpleasant experience with the same lady, I was pleased when I finally spoke with Brad I believe who said that it would be no problem and I could send the monitors back in to have the right one re-made and have a few hard points adjusted. *Unfortunately, I was traveling quite a bit at the time and was not able to send them back in, I decided to deal with them as-is because it would be better than not having the monitors for another month or two of heavy travel. *I figured that by that point, it would be too late to take advantage of Brad's generosity at fixing the issue. Fast Forward to July. *The plastic end of the cable that plugs into one of the ear pieces cracked in half, leaving the ear piece "dangling" without support. *Since I was on vacation while this happened, I quickly placed an order for a replacement cable. *This should have been a warranty replacement but I needed the cable quickly and based on my earlier experiences, didn't want to deal with trying to get it replaced under warranty. *The shipping address clearly states "*******" yet the cable was shipped to the BILLING address in Florida. *I had a family member mail the cable up to me. *The concern is that they shouldn't have had to. *Somewhere along the way, another detail was overlooked. *Now, 5 months later, I have experienced the exact same problem with the replacement cable, one of the plugs cracked. I have also noticed a few marks in/on the ear pieces that look like imperfections in the plastic. *While these seem to cause no problems right now, I am concerned about how well they will hold up. *One of these is a minor spot on the left ear piece at the upper end of the canal section, just below where the plastic for the canal is joined to the plastic the drivers are in. *This section looks as though it will flake off at some point, potentially leaving a rather uncomfortable spot. *The right ear piece seems to have a hairline crack molded into the canal section. *Again, they are working well now, but I have concerns about the construction of the ear pieces and how well they will continue to work in the future. I have always heard from both professionals in the industry as well as headphone enthusiasts that you are a reputable and upstanding company and would like to put my trust in that. *Please let me know what can be done to address my concerns. Sincerely yours, |
To which I received an e-mail back:
Quote:
| Hi Sasha, I just received your letter regarding your monitors – I certainly apologize for any inconvenience that you have experienced with any kind of service issues. Our customers come first and foremost and we strive for perfection. I am looking over your original sales order from our website and it does state blue w/66in clear cable so I’m not sure if there was miscommunication when ordering on our website regarding the color of your monitors. I would very much like to address all of the issues regarding the cable as well as the imperfections to your monitors. Our turn around time for all repairs is pretty quick and you shouldn’t be without them for more than a week or so. I have attached a form for your repair and ask that you fill this out and send the monitors back for the repairs needed. I will keep a close watch for your monitors so that I can quickly get them back to you. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me directly as noted below. Respectfully, Jeanette S Coffey Service/Artist Relations |
a few short e-mails back and forth, Jeanette claimed that it took them about a week to repair. I overnighted the monitors back to them on January 26th and let Jeannette know that they were on the way. She claimed that she'd keep an eye open for them and contact me as soon as they came in. They were signed for on the 27th, last Tuesday. I was patient in waiting for a call back from her, nothing. Monday I e-mailed her letting her know that they were delivered Last Tuesday. Today (Tuesday, a week later), I called them back, this is a basic paraphrasing of how the call went:
*pick up* "Hi, this is Jeanette"
"Hi, this is Sasha, have you received my monitors?"
"What?"
"I sent my monitors back to you last week, you claimed in an e-mail that you'd contact me when they came in"
"Oh uh..... (*I have no idea who you are*) I haven't seen them"
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. YOU said you would be watching out for them. It has been a WEEK"
"Uh... I'll go try to find them, what's your #, I'll call you back"
Apparently the guy in repairs was at lunch, she e-mailed me back about an hour later:
Quote:
| Hello Sasha, We have your monitors for repair. I will contact you once my Lab has taken a look at the monitors and the evaluation has been done. I will make sure that this is done today. Thank you, |
By this point, my responses have degraded in politeness.
Quote:
| Jeanette, Thank you for the update. I'm rather disappointed that it has taken a week for someone to even look at them, and that it took MY phone call to get that far when I was told I would be contacted when they were received. There is a reason I sent them back to you overnight. I am traveling on February 12th and expect these back or a replacement pair in the correct colors as the original order stated before then. Please let me know if I need to speak to anyone else to escalate this and regarding the other issues. Thank you. |
Apparently that's what it takes to get results, while writing this, I got an e-mail from her saying I should have them back by this Thursday. Speaking to another person who has UE's and reading the boards says that I'm the only one who has had a problem. That said, why do I have problems with their customer service EVERY time I have to deal with them. The thought of calling them is enough to cause a minor anxiety attack, seriously.
If they aren't right the first time around, be warned.
