About complaints about Snorry headphones

The reason for writing this article was the receipt of a complaint about our headphones from a customer overseas. Here, as they say, a picture is more eloquent than thousands of words:

We are well aware of the buyer’s reaction to the discovery of such a thing in a product we bought with our money. Believe me, how I personally feel when faced with such complaints is no less awful. Many thanks to the customer who made the complaint – for the opportunity to intervene and improve what we are trying to do.

Regardless of whether it’s done by my hands or the hands of my “journeymen” – the responsibility for any quality situations is entirely on me. Despite the fact that the topic is very painful – we can and should talk about it. It is worth telling about our policy in the field of claims and warranty, as well as post-warranty service.

How often are Snorry headphones found to be defective by customers?

I keep special statistics about this. At the moment it looks like this:

• About 5 out of 100 copies get a claim during the warranty period.
  I intend to bring that figure to at least 3% within a year.
• About 3 out of 5 defects are related to the quality of the transmitters.
• About 2 out of 5 are cosmetic defects.

What are the causes of defects in general?

In general, my opinion is that the so-called “human factor” is behind 100% of the defects. This means that at any stage, the person responsible for the result makes a mistake. This can be not only me and my “journeymen”, but also my suppliers and contractors, from whom I get my materials, components and consumables. By the way, we have to cull:

• Up to 20% of the materials are wood or wood-based, even after I personally selected individual boards when purchasing.
• Up to 10% of the metal parts that come to us in finished form. All sorts of nuts and screws and bushings. You can find curves, no threads, wrong thread geometry, wrong length, etc.
• Up to 15% of leather goods from their partners. In this case, the master of leather is purchased literally by the piece and by feel. From a pack of 30-40 skins selected on average 5-7 pieces suitable.
• Up to 20% of the magnets. The magnets are made to my drawings “with good tolerance”. At least I am paid as good level. However, some of them arrive broken, have coating defects, defects in the composition of the magnetic material, deviations in size and geometry.

Of course we try to find and use more responsible suppliers, but with varying success. For example, recently we tried an alternative master earpad maker, ordered a batch of 10 test kits. All 10 sets (that’s, wait a minute, 100%) were sent to us as defective. And so on.

Comparing these rejection figures with the 5% of our complaints, we don’t look too bad, although it’s little consolation to the person who received the product with the defect.

How are we going to deal with this?

Here we see two ways.

First, constantly work with the quality of manufacturing, it allows you to reduce the share of complaints.
Secondly, if there are any complaints, we provide warranty and post-warranty service.

Working to improve the quality of production is an ongoing effort. We are currently experiencing some difficulties with the transition to a new quality of work organization. This is due to the fact that I am trying to subcontract a significant part of the work. To do everything with my own hands – I have long been missing the 12-16 hours a day that I spend on average working with headphones and everything that goes with it.

In manufacturing, I see it as extremely necessary to solve the problem of producing more suitable headphone models for this kind of production organization. Products made entirely by one craftsman, as I have always done, will be a thing of the past. Designs and technologies will be modified to fit the new realities. They also have the goal of quality consistency and reduction of complaints.

Responsible and motivated like-minded partners with straight hands and a clear head – it turned out to be an extremely scarce resource. But I have not given up hope. I believe that a sane warranty service is extremely important. That is why I will tell you more about my vision.

What are the principles of warranty and post-warranty service?

Every case is by default considered to be a warranty case. I believe it is right and useful to handle each claim individually. If there is a failure of the headphones or a defect, it must be investigated and corrective and preventive measures must be taken.

Not a single case will be ignored and we will try to solve any problem that has arisen, or advise how it can be solved by ourselves. Within certain reasonable limits, of course. For example, if a leather product gets dirty or smells after a few months, it’s definitely not a warranty case. In this case, we will offer you to buy new ear cushions at a discount.

Any of our headphones can be repaired and parts replaced. This is much better for the environment than having the headphones sent to the trash and producing new headphones to replace them. During the warranty period, this is done at our expense. Perpetual post-warranty service.

If you decide to restore or repair your headphones after 5-10 years – the current line of headphones is highly likely to do so, and at a reasonably good price. Assuming, of course, that I and the Snorry brand are available in a live and working condition.Providing service on our aftermarket headphones.

If the headphones are not purchased directly from us, have changed several owners – this is not a reason to refuse service. Our warranty is valid for 1 year from date of manufacture, and post-warranty indefinitely.

What is the procedure for dealing with defects in Snorry headphones during the warranty period?

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask and demand that we fulfill our obligations. It is necessary to inform us about the detected problem by any available means of communication, preferably with a photo, if there are visual signs. The rest is usually solved individually by discussion and agreement.

These options are usually offered:

1. Send the headphones for diagnosis and correction. This is the most desirable option for us, as it gives us the opportunity to find out the essence of the problem and its possible causes in person. It is on the basis of complaints that most decisions are made on how to ensure quality in the future.
   
2. On the basis of our instructions to eliminate the problem yourself, if it is in principle possible. If the result is an aggravation of the situation – no need to get upset. If this has happened with our consent, you can always send the headphones back to us for correction.
   
3. For cosmetic defects a discount is possible or the defect can be corrected. To be discussed individually.
   
4. On the initial models of our headphones you will be able to get a refund within 1 month after you receive them. For this you will need to send the headphones to us for diagnostics. If the headphones have no technical defects and the reason for return is not due to a complaint, we will refund the cost of the headphones, taking into account bringing them to the condition of new ones.

Therefore it is worthwhile to handle carefully during this period, avoid dirt, mechanical damage, foreign odors (e.g., tobacco and strong smelling perfumes).
For example, in the last year there were cases of returns due to the buyer’s illness with coronavirus and an urgent need for money.

Also, we went to the customer when the purchase of headphones coincided with the exacerbation of specific and not particularly treatable symptoms called “tinnitus” (tinnitus without external acoustic stimulus), and the buyer has not cared about music at all.

If the application is not about quality, but you want to make some changes in the design, it also requires individual discussion, including the possibility, feasibility and cost of the work.
Most often it is an individual task on ergonomics (adjustment of the design to the individual size of the head, ears), or a cable of a different length, with a different plug, or “upgrade” from version mk1 to mk2 (if technically possible and compatible designs), etc.