V-moda saga part 3: V-moda admits design flaw in the Vibe DUO headphones

It happened again, of course. The Ferrari of the headphones predictably crashed after 5 weeks of regular use, a new record even for them. This being the 3rd pair of v-moda headphones that stopped working I wrote a polite little message along with my request for warranty forms saying I did not want another pair but a full refund.

The reply was both expected (“no we do not give refunds”) and surprising, as they accepted there was a design flaw in the vibe DUO model and actually re-engineered the jack area in a 45 degree angle (it was straight originally) and since then they had to problems with them.

Here’s their original reply:

Unfortunatley our refund policy only covers headphones that are purchased directly from our website within 30 days. Due to a large number of defective DUOS, we re-designed the plug near the jack and have not had problems since. Here is some more info:

As we take our customers’ feedback very seriously, we wanted to let you know about new features that will improve the durability of our earphones.

We recently identified the plug of our Vibe Duo headphones as a point that has caused a higher-than-acceptable return rate by V-MODA’s strict quality control standards. In light of this discovery we have completely reengineered our plug to a sleek, durable design that has proven to withstand the rigorous wear presented by daily use. Using a 45-degree flexible design, the reengineered plug allows an optimal range of motion while maintaining a sturdy metallic core fused to a 24-carat gold-plated plug.

This new plug will be incorporated into all VIBE and VIBE Duo products and will be available soon at shop.V-MODA.com. The updated products will remain compatible with the Apple iPhone, the iPod, an array of smartphones and all other portable music players.

We firmly stand behind V-MODA’s One-Year Premier Warranty on all of our products. If you are experiencing problems with a V-MODA product, please consult our warranty page for detailed instructions on our warranty program. Should you need to contact us, please visit our contact page or email us at support@v-moda.com. Our customer service team is here to promptly serve you with any questions you have regarding our products.

Thanks for being a part of the V-MODA culture.

Rock on,

I guess I will give them *one* last chance and will be posting my broken set this week… another £5 and 4 weeks wait…