Seemingly impossible to get a refund

[melmar]

My sleepbuds were purchased last year in the USA. I am currently in Istanbul, Turkey. My sleep buds stopped working about 3 weeks ago. I took them, as advised by Bose USA, to the local distributor. Shortly afterwards, Bose USA announced the refund/discontinuation of the sleepbuds. 

They insist that I ship the broken sleepbuds back to the last place they were replaced (Canada) - even though they are currently with the distributor here in Istanbul. This would cost a minimum of 100 dollars, plus possible duty at the border. 

Their only solution was to ask for a replacement pair here in Istanbul, and then wait for the European market to announce their refund scheme. 

I called the Turkish distributor today and was told that A) they are not issuing refunds and B) they will not honor the warranty because the product is discontinued. So, I can basically come pick up my broken sleepbuds and too bad for me. 

The Turkish distributor basically says they can't do anything, while the North American side insists I send back a broken pair of sleepbuds in order to receive a refund. 

Aside from the completely ludicrous costly notion of sending a broken electronic halfway around the world, I am baffled how this can be called "international warranty." Basically, it is forcing me to jump back and forth between different providers/regions at the expense of my time. So much for being sorry about a faulty product, Bose! 

So, any suggestions on how this can be resolved? 

[Johnbert99]

I’m on my 4th pair of Sleepbuds since December of 2018. The previous pairs all had the charging problem and have been replaced quickly and without any issues. I commend Bose for honoring the warranty while they tried to rectify the problem. When the Sleepbuds work they are great! They are much more comfortable than foam earplugs and I am able to get a good nights sleep without ear pain. I plan to continue using my Sleepbuds as long as I can. I hope Bose is able to come up with a more reliable product quickly and get the Sleepbuds back on the market ASAP. Looking forward to seeing and using the new and improved  Sleepbuds! 

[loveojs]

I purchased the sleepbuds in Singapore believing that Bose has an international warranty service. 

I originally live in Korea but I travel a lot due to my work. After I purchased in Singapore, the sleepbuds had problem 1 month after I purchased. I went to service center and fixed them. It was horrible that I had to go to the center and waited almost a month to get it back. After I came back to Korea, the sleepbuds did not work again. I didn't know why. There is only one service center and it was way to far away from my home. While considering when to go, I read the announcement and I wanted to return. When I called Bose Korea warranty service, they said that there wasn't any agreement between Bose headquarter and Bose Korea so they cannot accept the return since I purchased in Singapore, They said that I had to go back to Singapore to refund. It does not make sense to me that I had all the way back to Singapore just to refund the product. I clearly read the announcement that I can return it where it is  closest warranty center from my location but why they said that they have not heard anything from headquarter? Plus, isn't it worldwide warranty? Doesn't it mean that I can have warranty service anywhere in the world? Is it how Bose deal with customer that make the client suffer wasting time and energy? You admitted that your product had design defect due to your negligent research/development. I wasted my time, cost of travel and emotional stress. I request you to  either request Korea Bose to receive my return OR you as a headquarter has to received return. I can certainly send you the defect product if you pay back the price I paid plus the return shipping fee. 

I will look forward hearing from you soon.  

[meredith02]

I have lost confidence in the 'UK' support centre, in the Philippines, who reported that no refund would be given after December contrary to the information from Bose. I therefore hesitate to contact them about replacing the sleepbuds with the QC20 acoustic noise cancelling headphones which are considerably more expensive than sleepbuds at £249.95 PLUS EXTRA for carry case, airline adapter (which is apparently not very robust), extra ear tips and the USB cable. 

Please do not suggest going to a local store as when I originally went to purchase the sleep buds from a well-known UK department store (John Lewis) near to where I live, the staff there knew next to nothing about sleepbuds.

[Colorado Cyn]

I'm not sure who reads these posts, but I am begging you to not give up on these sleepbuds. I've had my pair for about 6 months, and I am completely dependent upon them when I travel for work. I can't sleep in hotels without them. I've never had a serious issue with my pair, other than one bud dropping a connection one time and the usual charging and case quirks. These buds have been so life-changing for me, that I'm really distressed seeing your announcement.  I'm going to hold on to my pair as long as I can and hope they last until you have new technology!

[Steve Do]

Hi, I bought a pair of sleepbuds this year in US.

However, my sleepbuds have been not working properly for a long time. The battery of the left side can't get charged. Recently I saw the recall information on the internet and tried contacting with Bose Korea but they have no idea what is going on at the moment.

What should I do? I have proof of purchase indeed.

Is there any solution for this situation? Thank you!

[Steve Do]

However, my sleepbuds have been not working properly for a long time. The battery of the left side can't get charged. Recently I saw the recall information on the internet and tried contacting with Bose Korea but they have no idea what is going on at the moment.

What should I do? I have proof of purchase indeed.

Is there any solution for this situation? Thank you!

[Kkza]

Sleep buds are gods gift to light sleepers. Maybe im smart or maybe im lazy but I never updated my sleep buds and I have NEVER had a problem im on my 1st pair which seems to be quite rare here. 

For all the negative feedback here is some positive feedback. My Sleepbuds work perfectly as described and I get amazing sleeps every night thanks to Bose!

[eznoh]

It's that you're very lucky. I've had the magnets come off of 4 pairs, nothing to do with updating.

Mike

[fractalbrain]

Hi everyone!  I've settled on a possible alternative for myself and my wife that seems to be somewhat working.  It's not perfect (no white noise in ear, obviously, and it pressure equalization isn't quite as good), BUT it's just about as comfortable, doesn't have the rubbing noises, doesn't have a magnet rubbing the skin, and is relatively cheap to try (excluding the white noise machine, it was about about $15 to prototype).

The short version (see photo below):  I used (a) a pair of replacement Bose stayhear+ eartips (Found on Amazon as "Bose Stayhear Tipkit") stuffed with (b) a little ball of Mack's Pillow Soft silicone earplugs, and (c) a LectroFan white noise machine.
I've tried it every night for about a week and it's worked out pretty well.  I've just gently wiped them off when I take them out and squish the Mack's material if it's not as pretty as I like :-).

I'm not sure how long it will be until I need to remove the Mack's material, clean out the Eartips, and stuff them with a fresh ball.  For comparison, I will say I had to clean the SleepBuds every week (otherwise I'd get squishing/squelching noises from my lovely oil factory ears), and tried all sorts of things to keep the rubbing noises at bay.

I think one of the major unique selling points of the Bose products in the engineering of the eartips.  I had a look at some of the patents and it's pretty clear they put some effort into them.

To Bose:  Your eartips are great!  I'll be you could make some solid silicone "blanks" and sell them as Bose earplugs.  I'm sure it would be possible to get fairly complex with an internal geometry, but I suspect that miiiiight not be 100% necessary, given the design of the tips themselves.

Alternatively/In addition to, maybe you could test out some concepts while simultaneously helping out with noise reduction by keeping the modular tip+internal thingy design and product test with a group of people (I suspect you might be able to test lots of edge cases by seeking out "power users" in this forum :-)).   Example to test material and the rubbing issue:  tips with inert sleepbuds with different tops (matte, glossy, PTFE, dimpled, etc.).  Perhaps supply a good white noise machine to help encourage use.

That's all for now folks.  I'll try to update if/when I learn anything!

[CarolR]

Hey Fractalbrain,

Great minds think alike!  I started doing exactly what you have done several months ago.    Sometimes the sleepbuds get a little "heavy" feeling in my ears and sometimes the constant "sounds" in the earbuds bother me so I came up with the idea of removing the battery and stuffing the shell with silicone shaped balls.  It doesn't work to block out my husbands

horrible, banchie snoring but I am able to be in another room and they do work to block out more of the ordinary noises, like doors opening and closing, someone walking around or some cars driving by and people talking.  When desperate we can come up with other ideas.  I do have to get the white noise machine to go along with this idea and maybe it will work for the snoring also.