John Lewis - Beats Headphones

ccdorset

molerat said:

ccdorset said:

They are Beats Studio 3 Headphones. I think my concern was that what I was reading was suggesting there wasn’t an official way to replace the ear cushions and I’d have to do it myself. I wasn’t confident in doing that so thought I’d need to buy replacement headphones. That is why I was going for a full refund.

Are they fairly easy to replace? Maybe I’ve just read some of the horror stories.

Loads of how to do it videos on YouTube.  Amazon have videos on the product pages. Probably best to use plastic tools. They seem to be just stuck on with a bit of 2 sided tape.

Thank you. :-) I’ll take a look and see if I can do it. Perhaps I can keep them as a spare pair.

I’ll accept the £40 from John Lewis, thanks all.

tightauldgit

You may well win a case but remember that you would only be eligible to receive a refund for the remaining portion of life of the item - not a full refund. So if you've had 2 and a bit years and they are judged to last three on average then you'd only get something like £30 or £40 quid back anyway. 

In my experience headphones don't always last that long anyway so I'd be surprised if the assumed life on them is much more than 3 years - even though Beats are expensive I don't think that would be expected to add to their life 

ccdorset

tightauldgit said:

You may well win a case but remember that you would only be eligible to receive a refund for the remaining portion of life of the item - not a full refund. So if you've had 2 and a bit years and they are judged to last three on average then you'd only get something like £30 or £40 quid back anyway. 

In my experience headphones don't always last that long anyway so I'd be surprised if the assumed life on them is much more than 3 years - even though Beats are expensive I don't think that would be expected to add to their life 

Thanks for your reply.

Yes in hindsight I didn't appreciate taking into account the usage I had already had out of them. Also, I watched a few YouTube videos last night on replacing the ear cushions on the Beats and it didn't look as bad as I feared. I think I've always worried about doing things like that, so if something goes wrong with a product, I immediately think the only option is to replace the item.

This is why forums like this are good for me, to get other people's viewpoints on things. John Lewis's offer of £40 does seem generous in hindsight, so I've accepted that and to be fair to them they have been very quick and sent me the £40 gift card by email already. That was my method of payment, so happy with that. :-:smiley:

born_again

I think part of the issue here is that given OP's condition. They are wearing them far more than a average user is. As such they are wearing out a lot faster.
Our headsets have replaceable ear covers. They only last between 3 to 6 months, depending on how often they are taken on & off, at best. But at least they are easily replaceable.

molerat

It amazes me that these expensive (dare I say overpriced) headphones are not designed with easily replaceable cushions like pro sets are.

oldagetraveller1

"In my experience headphones don't always last that long anyway so I'd be surprised if the assumed life on them is much more than 3 years "

Really? That has to depend on whether  buying on style over substance.

I have owned and used these for about 20 years. Still as good as the day bought. Why Sennheiser discontinued them is a mystery.

  https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/sennheiser-hd250-linear-ii

"dare I say overpriced".

Yes, I am in total agreement with that.

tightauldgit

oldagetraveller1 said:

"In my experience headphones don't always last that long anyway so I'd be surprised if the assumed life on them is much more than 3 years "

Really? That has to depend on whether  buying on style over substance.

I have owned and used these for about 20 years. Still as good as the day bought. Why Sennheiser discontinued them is a mystery.

  https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/sennheiser-hd250-linear-ii

"dare I say overpriced".

Yes, I am in total agreement with that.

Yes there's always anecdotes like that. I've had laptops last me 10 years and washing machines last 30 years. But the assumed life on these things is always based on averages and estimates and headphones are generally seen as something of a consumable item. If the life of a laptop or iphone is only going to be assumed at 3-5 years then i can't see them saying anything significantly longer than 3 or 4 years for headphones. 

I don't think the fact beats are more expensive would mean they'd be expected to last any longer than a £20 quid pair -  the extra money is for the brand and the design and supposed sound quality, not longevity or ruggedness. One reason why I don't buy expensive headphones is because I doubt I'd get more than 18 months usage from them before I broke them.