Unhappy Customer, Beware Earplug Superstore

Off Topic
1

I recently posted this on a motorcycle forum that I’m a member of but I felt that my T-Brethren should be made aware of it too as I’m certain quite a few of us have looked for earplugs like this for our motorcycles or for in the gym.

Over the years I’ve spent quite a few years purchasing stuff for my motorcycle and myself for touring purposes and among these items I recently purchased some Custom Molded Headphones/Earplugs from the Earplug Superstore. Specifically I purchased these:

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/chmisearph.html

Last week I went out on a motorcycle trip with my girlfriend, 3000km of fun filled riding and I was very much looking forward to having my favourite music playing on the course of the trip. The first day I loved these, they were comfortable and worked well, the sound quality isn’t great but the comfort makes up for it.

So imagine my surprise when on the second day I find that my headphones no longer work. Specifically the right one no longer puts out any appreciable volume, it’s still faintly there but certainly not at a level I could hear on a motorcycle.

I checked for ear wax. I checked for bad connections. It appears though that it’s simply the headphone that’s crapped out and since I’m 500km into a 3000km trip I have no choice but to purchase a pair of cheap in ear headphones for the rest of my trip.

Fast forward to today where I call about warranty.

They shoot me off to the manufacturer telling me that after they’re sold it’s not their problem, the manufacturer was great about things and I’m sending the plugs in (at my own expense) to get fixed.

At this point I call back the earplug superstore to ask for some sort of compensation. Basically I purchased an expensive product for a specific purpose and it didn’t work, I then had to purchase another product to replace their defective product.

In any business I’ve worked in I would have happily refunded the customer’s money, at the very least I would have asked if they had the receipt for the other parts they purchased and offered to cover the cost of those.

They didn’t.

In fact they told me that there’s nothing they will do since I’ve already purchased it and it’s not their problem.

I find this to be very poor customer service and I’m quite upset.

So I felt I should let all my VTX brethren know about the poor customer service and the questionable products being sold by the Earplug Superstore.

Now I’m going to go dust off my Shure E-2’s which were half the price and do twice the job.

STU

2

Sorry to hear about that. Unfortunately, that’s the way electronics are handled nowadays. Inside any electronics package you will find a note that says “Do not return to the store where purchased if there is a problem with this equipment” or some such message.

I’ve noticed this with the last 5 or 6 items I’ve purchased in the last year or two. I think it probably comes down to too many people taking advantage (defrauding) of the old system of returns/refunds.

DB

3

I have no problem with being sent to the manufacturer regarding repairs. My issue is that they basically told me that they have my money and I should leave them alone.

I don’t want anyone else to find themselves buy a product of questionable quality and getting stuck like I did.

4

Report them to the BBB, Yahoo, and any other place they do business.

If you paid with a credit card, I would dispute the purchase with your credit card company.

5

[quote]rainjack wrote:
If you paid with a credit card, I would dispute the purchase with your credit card company.
[/quote]

x2

Credit card companies will have your back 99% of the time.

6

Did you jiggle the plug or try them in a different device?

Sometimes even little bits of grit or contaminants will weaken the signal from the audio source.

Jiggle, twist, jiggle, and Pow! Sound!

7

How exactly would I contest this with my credit card company?

On what grounds?

In other news I did try the whole twist, jiggle bit and nothing happened. I also checked to make sure it wasn’t any of the other cables or the device.

8

[quote]Sturat wrote:
How exactly would I contest this with my credit card company?

On what grounds?
[/quote]

That’s what I’m wondering also. I admit it’s screwed up how they treated you. After all, repeat business and word of mouth is invaluable to a business.

On the other hand, they fulfilled their end of the bargain even though it’s a raw-deal. According to their policies:

Returns:

For defective products please contact the manufacturer for warranty replacement or repairs. See the internal documentation for your product for warranty information.

Perhaps they would act differently had your item been DOA. But it worked for one day so they followed their policy and told you to talk to the manufacturer.

9

I too suggest that you keep on doing what you are doing. Bad word of mouth spreads like wild fire and can crush a business. Even if you do not get a refund from them, you can take some satisfaction in knowing that you have stopped a multituded of buyers from shopping at their store.

I also think that selling crap and then hiding behind a “policy” that is essentially caveat emptor is bullshit. That alone warrants boycotting them.

Your credit card company will contact the supplier and try to get a refund on your behalf. It doesn’t always work, but the two times I tried it, they got me a refund.