Disappointed with Bose (QuietComfort Ultra Gen 1)
This isn't my first set of QuietComforts, but I've been quite disappointed with Bose. Recently, the eartip (that the silicone bit is attached to) came off while it was in my ear. It was weird, because I just put the earbud in as usual but it came off and got stuck in there. Not pleasant, and took a bit of prying to get it out, but not the end of the world.
I thought it was the silicone at first, but it looks like the adhesive failed so the plastic bit at the end detached. No plastic was broken. I expected it would be an easy fix, but Bose were atrocious to deal with.
Firstly, I do accept I was just outside my guarantee period; I expect if it was still covered it would have been dealt with. However, I'm in the UK and we have some very decent consumer protection laws. A 2.5 year old £300 pair of earbuds shouldn't be deemed unusable because of an adhesive failure.
Bose do that nasty thing where they make it very difficult to actually talk to anyone. You fill in a form describing your issue, then they offer you a new set of earbuds with a small discount. You don't have an option to raise a ticket, etc. I don't feel that I should pay to fix their poor QC (!) and failure in such a short period of time should not be accepted.
I finally found a phone number (got it through John Lewis, but that's another story). Customer service agent was great (I appreciate that he called me back when the call got cut off), but they'd only offer me an extra 30% discount. Honestly, I'd consider it, but how do I know the new set won't just fall apart like this one, and it quite frankly feels a bit insulting that they'd ignore our statutory rights.
I did like the earbuds. The ANC was perfect for me, particularly as I ride the tube and fly a lot, and it's comfortable yet cancels out most background noise. Call performance is terrible though, and this has been the case for every Bose QC model I've owned. It's essentially unusable for the other party, if there's any background noise at all (annoying when the ANC means I can't hear the noise myself).
I rotate between three devices: QC2 and Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, and B&O Beoplay H95 headphones. Is there another device that could replace my QC2? I'm looking for something with excellent ANC (the Sony's don't cut it on the Tube) and usable in-call performance (Bose is rubbish). GPT recommends Technics AZ100. Does anyone have experience with this? I don't have a budget so I'm willing to pay more for a brilliant product.