[Hi-Fi'er]

If companies backed up their products and 'fixed' their out of warranty products there wouldn't be so much waste in the world.

True but at the same time, manufacturing and technology gets cheaper. Money is to be made.

 

[DaddyMojo]

I am not hear to bash anyone, but I would like some advice, here is my story:
 
I have to tell you, up until this point, I would have disagreed with you all about Westone customer service, I have always found their support and warranty to be nothing less than spectacular.  That is until yesterday.  I purchased a UM3X from Sweetwater in February of 2013, so I purchased it new and am the only owner.  While I used to sparingly (like most people on Head-fi, I have multiple iems and headphones) and never used them while I travel or really outside my home. 
 
Recently my daughter began to lead worship singing in our church and I gave her the UM3X to hook to the battery pack so she can hear music tracks.  She said that the UM3X was vastly superior to the other ones I had her use and as a father having anything that your teenage girls find redeeming from you is always a plus.  She used them for about six months, then she came home last week and said they were going in and out on her.  At first, they thought it was the battery, but when another musician tried the same pack, his worked fine.  The same thing happened at the next service.  I told her DON'T WORRY, WESTONE SERVICE IS FANTASTIC and I will take care of it.  I hoped it was only the cables, so I called Customer Service for Westone and spoke with them for a few minutes and very quickly they told me the unit was failing and that I should send it in, but they do not repair them anymore.  I said, well it has removable cables, could it be just the cables, to which the tech said it was doubtful. Very knowledgeable, very pleasant to speak with.
 
So I log into my Westone account and ask a detailed question and received the same, "we do not fix them anymore, however we will give you a 25% discount on a new pair".  At that point, I was completely devastated.  Here I have a three year old product and they cannot repair it?  In a manufacturing company that I worked at for 15 years, we were required to keep parts for at least seven years for warranty work.  It was not so bad that I they would not fix it, but my W3 Gold failed last August and I already upgraded using a 50% of program on those, so having two Westone iems fail in eight months seemed excessive to me.  (By the way, I loved the W3 sound, it was by far my favorite iem.)
 
I have not responded to Westone's email although I will over time.  I am not angry, I understand business, but I am so disappointed I cannot put it into words.   I would also like to say that everyone that I have had communication with at Westone has been very professional and as helpful as they can be, it is a corporate policy that they have put into place.

 

[Hi-Fi'er]

  I am not hear to bash anyone, but I would like some advice, here is my story:
 
I have to tell you, up until this point, I would have disagreed with you all about Westone customer service, I have always found their support and warranty to be nothing less than spectacular.  That is until yesterday.  I purchased a UM3X from Sweetwater in February of 2013, so I purchased it new and am the only owner.  While I used to sparingly (like most people on Head-fi, I have multiple iems and headphones) and never used them while I travel or really outside my home. 
 
Recently my daughter began to lead worship singing in our church and I gave her the UM3X to hook to the battery pack so she can hear music tracks.  She said that the UM3X was vastly superior to the other ones I had her use and as a father having anything that your teenage girls find redeeming from you is always a plus.  She used them for about six months, then she came home last week and said they were going in and out on her.  At first, they thought it was the battery, but when another musician tried the same pack, his worked fine.  The same thing happened at the next service.  I told her DON'T WORRY, WESTONE SERVICE IS FANTASTIC and I will take care of it.  I hoped it was only the cables, so I called Customer Service for Westone and spoke with them for a few minutes and very quickly they told me the unit was failing and that I should send it in, but they do not repair them anymore.  I said, well it has removable cables, could it be just the cables, to which the tech said it was doubtful. Very knowledgeable, very pleasant to speak with.
 
So I log into my Westone account and ask a detailed question and received the same, "we do not fix them anymore, however we will give you a 25% discount on a new pair".  At that point, I was completely devastated.  Here I have a three year old product and they cannot repair it?  In a manufacturing company that I worked at for 15 years, we were required to keep parts for at least seven years for warranty work.  It was not so bad that I they would not fix it, but my W3 Gold failed last August and I already upgraded using a 50% of program on those, so having two Westone iems fail in eight months seemed excessive to me.  (By the way, I loved the W3 sound, it was by far my favorite iem.)
 
I have not responded to Westone's email although I will over time.  I am not angry, I understand business, but I am so disappointed I cannot put it into words.   I would also like to say that everyone that I have had communication with at Westone has been very professional and as helpful as they can be, it is a corporate policy that they have put into place.

Welcome to the club of disappointment! Yes I quickly found out the same to be true; it's like "We are not interested in fixing your car, we only want to sell you a new one" type response. It's not a marketing strategy or anything it's just that is all they can do and here is the secret to why.
 
They are not the manufacturer of anything. All Westone products are made in the magical land of China like almost 90% of everything else in this world. So the are not obligated as a manufacturer to keep or get parts for anything cause again they are not the manufacturer. Is that making sense when you read that twice? It finally hit me why they couldn't offer me any help. It's not they won't it's cause they can't! I used to be impressed with them years ago but anyone will be and can only be if you are under warranty or as long as the product you have is still around. After warranty you are rowing your own boat.