Jorgen Udvang
Subscriber Member
Now and then I whine and complain about stuff that isn't as good as it used to be in the "good old days". However, a recent experience has taught me that as camera users, we are rather lucky. Our gear doesn't break particularly often, and when it does, it can mostly be repaired. Some of our cameras can even withstand rain, dust and physical abuse without giving up. Even the Applebook I use for editing my images can be fixed when it develops a problem, although at an exorbitant price. I hope this will last, but that is not necessarily a given. Here's the story:
Back in the day, I used to be a kind of "semi-audiophile". I knew about the good stuff, but didn't want to spend the money needed to buy it, so I ended up buying "middle of the road" solutions that have served me well over the years. That includes my Technics CA1080 semi-compact system that has been with me for around 20 years and that, in spite of being more or less a museum piece nowadays, continues to output very good sound.
Due to extended travelling, much of my listening is now relegated to airports, hotel rooms and airplanes. So, 18 months ago, while spending quality time at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, I looked through the selection of headphones to find something suitable for my needs. I ended up buying the JBL E50BT since it:
- Seemed to play the music I had available in a way that sounded pleasant to me.
- Was sold at a price of less than $200, dirt cheap for an audiophile but relatively expensive for the average listener.
- Came in a cool red colour that I felt would undoubtedly add to the coolness of the wearer
- Back in the day, JBL was kind of high end, so I assumed they would last for a while.
Big was my surprise then when one year later, during an 11 hour flight to Norway, without any warning, the sound disappeared completely from the right channel. I tried cable, Bluetooth, standing on my head, shaking my legs, but no; there was nothing, zero, zilch, nil :cussing:
While in Norway, I found a none-solution, a pair a AKG K550 that sounds like heaven but that for many reasons are rather unsuitable for travel. I was planning to get the JBL cans fixed upon my arrival in Bangkok anyway, so problem kind of solved.
Like so many things in life, finding a place to get them fixed wasn't as easy as I thought, and my attempts at solving the problem came at relatively long intervals too. Few shops are willing to discuss fixing a product that's been bought somewhere else, particularly when somewhere else is the duty-free shop at an airport. An email to the local distributor didn't result in anything either.
This week however, almost 6 months after the problem arose, I found that Harman Group, of which JBL is a part, has a customer support page for each product. From reading that page, I also found that the problem that I had experienced wasn't uncommon. Rather the opposite actually. Several users had experienced it. I was advised to send an email to international support, which I did, and they advised me to send an email to a person at the office of the local distributor, which I also did.
Here's the answer that I received from them:
"Kindly inform you that most of JBL or Harman multi-media products are usually non-repairable and are replaced on a one-to-one basis during warranty.
If you would like to check that we can repair or not, kindly please send the unit to our service center as address below."
What it basically says is that most JBL or Harman multi-media products are disposables. If it's broken, you dump it and buy a new one. Or they dump it and send you a new one if it's under warranty. Apart from the environmental side of this, which is more than worrying in itself, this kind of product philosophy crushes any advantage of buying a reasonably priced or even cheap product. I'm also sure that this is an increasing trend by manufacturers of consumer products. It's not the first time I experience something like this. It is however the first time I've seen it expressed as clearly as this and in writing.
And for the user, it's completely counterproductive. If headphones cost $150 and last for an average of 2 years, they will cost me $1,500 over 20 years. That means that I can pay $1,500 for a better set and get better quality sound and avoid the hassle of:
a) Spend a major part of a flight every second year or so without music.
b) Spend time in shops trying to find a new one that is to my satisfaction.
c) Contribute to the increasing mountain of electronic trash that makes our globe and the creatures living on it drown in garbage.
Again, as camera users, we are rather lucky... still. This also makes me appreciate "conservative" camera companies like Leica, Nikon etc., companies that make products designed to last and designed to be repaired in the event of a failure. So if in the future you see me wearing a pair of Grado headphones and with a Leica in my hand, you now know why.
Back in the day, I used to be a kind of "semi-audiophile". I knew about the good stuff, but didn't want to spend the money needed to buy it, so I ended up buying "middle of the road" solutions that have served me well over the years. That includes my Technics CA1080 semi-compact system that has been with me for around 20 years and that, in spite of being more or less a museum piece nowadays, continues to output very good sound.
Due to extended travelling, much of my listening is now relegated to airports, hotel rooms and airplanes. So, 18 months ago, while spending quality time at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, I looked through the selection of headphones to find something suitable for my needs. I ended up buying the JBL E50BT since it:
- Seemed to play the music I had available in a way that sounded pleasant to me.
- Was sold at a price of less than $200, dirt cheap for an audiophile but relatively expensive for the average listener.
- Came in a cool red colour that I felt would undoubtedly add to the coolness of the wearer
- Back in the day, JBL was kind of high end, so I assumed they would last for a while.
Big was my surprise then when one year later, during an 11 hour flight to Norway, without any warning, the sound disappeared completely from the right channel. I tried cable, Bluetooth, standing on my head, shaking my legs, but no; there was nothing, zero, zilch, nil :cussing:
While in Norway, I found a none-solution, a pair a AKG K550 that sounds like heaven but that for many reasons are rather unsuitable for travel. I was planning to get the JBL cans fixed upon my arrival in Bangkok anyway, so problem kind of solved.
Like so many things in life, finding a place to get them fixed wasn't as easy as I thought, and my attempts at solving the problem came at relatively long intervals too. Few shops are willing to discuss fixing a product that's been bought somewhere else, particularly when somewhere else is the duty-free shop at an airport. An email to the local distributor didn't result in anything either.
This week however, almost 6 months after the problem arose, I found that Harman Group, of which JBL is a part, has a customer support page for each product. From reading that page, I also found that the problem that I had experienced wasn't uncommon. Rather the opposite actually. Several users had experienced it. I was advised to send an email to international support, which I did, and they advised me to send an email to a person at the office of the local distributor, which I also did.
Here's the answer that I received from them:
"Kindly inform you that most of JBL or Harman multi-media products are usually non-repairable and are replaced on a one-to-one basis during warranty.
If you would like to check that we can repair or not, kindly please send the unit to our service center as address below."
What it basically says is that most JBL or Harman multi-media products are disposables. If it's broken, you dump it and buy a new one. Or they dump it and send you a new one if it's under warranty. Apart from the environmental side of this, which is more than worrying in itself, this kind of product philosophy crushes any advantage of buying a reasonably priced or even cheap product. I'm also sure that this is an increasing trend by manufacturers of consumer products. It's not the first time I experience something like this. It is however the first time I've seen it expressed as clearly as this and in writing.
And for the user, it's completely counterproductive. If headphones cost $150 and last for an average of 2 years, they will cost me $1,500 over 20 years. That means that I can pay $1,500 for a better set and get better quality sound and avoid the hassle of:
a) Spend a major part of a flight every second year or so without music.
b) Spend time in shops trying to find a new one that is to my satisfaction.
c) Contribute to the increasing mountain of electronic trash that makes our globe and the creatures living on it drown in garbage.
Again, as camera users, we are rather lucky... still. This also makes me appreciate "conservative" camera companies like Leica, Nikon etc., companies that make products designed to last and designed to be repaired in the event of a failure. So if in the future you see me wearing a pair of Grado headphones and with a Leica in my hand, you now know why.