Bose In Ear Headphones

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I bought a pair of Bose In Ear headphones in 2007. Great sound for earphones however every 6 months I had to keep on going back to the Bose Store in London to replace them due to the breakdown of the wire at the jack point. So far this is the 5th time I had to go back to the store but as I bought the original product over 2 years ago they refused to replace them. After being spoken quite rudely by the Bose Sales Assitant I contacted Trading Standards to see what my rights were as I felt having to replace my earphones over and over again was totally unacceptable.

Trading Standards said I should send Bose Customer Services a recorded letter explaining my problem and refer to the 'Sale of Goods Act'. Bose replied back appologising for my problems and that they would send me a jiffy bag so there technical department could look at them as they consider me as a loyal customer. Having sent the headphones next day delivery (17th December) I contacted them today (21st Jan 2010) to see what the current situation was as I hadnt heard or recieved anything from them. They confirmed the problem which was a break down of the wire but as the original product was bought over 2 years ago all they could offer me was me to buy a new pair at £50 not the full price of £79.99.

Having spoken to quite a few people who have or own a pair of these earphones it appears I am not alone with the same fault. Does anyone have any advice what I could do next?
 
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Anonymous

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I have the same problem with mine. Everytime i listen to neil diamond! Not impressed.
 
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Anonymous

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Well thats what I exactly thought. The thing is its not about the money its the principal. If I had damaged the earphones myself or they were the original pair which had lasted over 2 years then fair enough. However the fact that I had to replace them every 6 months or so because of the same fault why should I give a large organisation more money for a faulty product! I know I am not the only one here so I am intending to pursue this till I get a positive response. Bose should to the right thing! If anyone else has had the same problem please respond.
 
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Anonymous

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Companies sometimes don't seem to realise how important this sort of thing is for their reputation (or I guess maybe it's more that there's a disconnect between support and marketing).

I've had the following happen:

- Shure SE530 earphones - wire casing started to break away near the join with one earpiece, 23 months into two year guarantee(!) - replaced quickly and very helpful staff.

- Densen cd player (bought 11 years ago break twice - at 2 years old and 10 years old) - each time repaired free of charge.

- A Mullberry wallet (ok not very hifi!), the leather started to stiffen after three years - they sent me a new one on recipt of mine.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend/deal with companies again who treat me well.

Rob
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Bose response...

We have inspected your headphones and as they cannot be repaired (at a lower cost than a replacement set) we would like to offer you a service replacement - that is a brand-new replacement set of headphones - however with regret this cannot be completed under the original manufacturers warranty for two reasons.

Upon inspection we have noticed some slight kinks in the cable which suggest the headphones have been wrapped around an iPod© or other audio player. This is known to shorten the life of all headphones, including the BOSE© in-ear headphones as the cable becomes strained against the edges of the product they are wrapped around and can break internally. As the cable is not replaceable with in-ear headphones, we will not be able to complete repair - hence our service option to you.

I understand that you had a query as to whether this was an intrinsic design flaw with this product, however I can confirm that we do not see this issue occur on a high percentage of in-ear headphones and our tests confirm that this is not a flaw in design.

Secondly, we are not able to assist under warranty as the warranty period has elapsed. Your original headphones were purchased in March 2007, and as such the warranty expired in March 2009. Where possible we try to accommodate customers that have a fault with a product that is just a few days or weeks outside of warranty - however as your product is over 9 months outside of warranty we are unable to help further under the manufacturers warranty.

I have actually just read the owners manual for the in ear headphones and I doesnt state at all how they should stored or what not to do with them ie put them in the case not wrapped around the item.

Clare have you heard anything more from Bose? Thanks.
 

Clare Newsome

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I have highlighted this again to Bose - particularly re the issue of needing to inform customers about things that could invalidate their warranty. They are promising to get back to me with an further statement, but in the meantime assure me that this is being considered at head office (ie US) level.
 

Clare Newsome

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OK, here's the response direct from Bose:

"We were sorry to hear of your reader's experience and agree that faults necessitating 3 or 4 replacements within 2 years is indeed disappointing. This is certainly not the expected lifespan of our headphones. We provide a two year warranty as standard with all of our headphones and are committed to ensuring our customers are happy with their purchases.

It is fair to explain that the majority of faults with our headphones are caused by accidental damage due to their portable nature combined with the casual methods of storage that most of us use (i.e. cables coiled around the music player and pushed into a pocket or a bag).

We try to be sympathetic to the fact that it is often impossible to economically repair our headphones by offering customers a reduced price replacement in such circumstances - whether damage occurred within the warranty period or not.

Whilst we do our best to manufacture headphones that are robust enough to cope with everyday use, it is
sadly not possible to produce compact headphones that will cope with excessive forces or prolonged strain.


Particularly important here is the bend radius/strain applied to the jack connector and the upper cable & earpieces which can easily be caught in clothing or zips. We provide a handy storage case which many of our customers choose to use to store their headphones safely and a stability kit with clothing clip to enable users to wear the In-Ear headphones comfortably.

Whilst we don't see the necessity to tell our customers how they should/shouldn't store their headphones we would suggest to those users wishing to wrap the cables around their music
player that it would be better to remove the jack from the socket of the music
player first, thus reducing the likelihood of strain to the jack or the socket of
the music player whilst in storage.


We are always learning, and in addition to improving the comfort and stability of our In-Ear headphones over the years the most recent evolution (late 2009) has seen a slight increase in cable strain relief fitted to the jack connector in recognition of the way we have found
customers store their headphones.


It is our firm belief that our headphones are strong enough to deal with the rigours of reasonable everyday use - however we would be glad to inspect the headphones of anyone experiencing problems. Anyone needing support should visit their retailer or call 0800 614293."
 
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Anonymous

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im a big fan of the bose QC3 - so i decided to go for the bose in ear headphone - sept 2011 my headphones did exactly the same as the reader - 1 of the cables split leaving a cable exposed .. anyway as i had these just over a year they said they would replace for the ie2 at an extra cost 50quid - so i did this - 2 weeks ago i opened up my bose case to find exactly the same as before on one side the cable was split - the other cable looked to be raised but not split - any how i have now sent them back to bose.. having received a call today they 1st told me the cable is not under warranty - I asked for an escalation where i have now spoke to the sales manager - he tells me the same - i have now asked for a further escalation - these headphones have not been overused - never been damaged to cause a split - always put in original case - for it to go this time in 10 months - is beyond a joke - i suppose for many customer they pay the 50-00 but this is defo an issue that bose need to look into - cheaply made for it to go so soon & they need to take the responsibility - ill keep you all posted .. but im a very peed of uk bose customer at present...
 

landzw

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I always wanted a pair of bose in ear headphones but at the time my money couldn't stretch far enough so i ended up with a pair of beyerdynamic DTX71i and have been using the 2/3 times a week down the gym for just over a year now and they are still going strong.

Not to mention after every use i wrap the cable around my iPod shuffle, so all i can say Bose are talking a load of rubbish saying its hard to make headphones that can handle everyday life.

I know after reading this thread when it comes to my future headphone upgrade i will be sticking to beyerdynamics
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I also experienced broken cable with Bose in-ear phones. In my case the cable break is around 3 inches away from one of the ear piece. I have never wrapped the cable around the MP3 player and have always stored the cable in the Bose case when not in use.

Contacted customer service and was informed they could not repair the phones and the only option was to buy a new set as the ear phones were over two years old (bught them 2008 )

Based on the cost and reliability of these Bose in-ear phones I will not spend money on a new set unless Bose improve quality considerable, or provide 5-year warrenty as standard.
 

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