This post has been in the making for a while. Not because I was lazy - because Jaybird doesnât know how to do support.
First a quick backstory - I wanted to get bluetooth headphones for running. After reading and watching a myriad of online reviews I decided on Jaybird X2. They are light, with unbelievable battery life, great sound, a best-in-class bluetooth experience, and a ton of options to fit your ears perfectly. So my parents bought them for me exactly a year ago for my birthday. I ran a lot with them and I loved them. They were exactly as advertised - if not better.
On 16th of July I experienced an issue around the 20k mark of my run. The right earbud became silent. I wiggled it in my ear and got it working to approximately half the volume. I turned them off, tried them on different devices, but the problem persisted. So I contacted the support.
A week later I receive an automated email that they are âundergoing a system migration to help improve the Customer Experienceâ. They were migrating their support because Logitech bought them 3 months ago. Understandable. I guess. Next day I receive an email where I am to indicate how satisfied I am with the support I have received. Wat!? I havenât received any support yet. So I reply to the email and let them know that. About 2 weeks later I turn to Twitter:
The worst support ever award probably goes to @jaybirdsport - it's been a month and I still haven't heard back
â Miha Rekar (@mr_foto) August 8, 2016
2 days later they reply and we have a short conversation over DMs where they tell me that theyâll âbe in touch shortly via emailâ. 6 days later I get an email from the support. They thank me for my patience and apologize:
We were recently acquired by Logitech and have changed systems as well as warehouses which has caused a delay in our processes
Understandable. I guess. They instruct me to provide a proof of purchase and my address so that they can replace my headphones under the warranty.
4 days later I receive a reply where they instruct me to write my name and case number on a piece of paper, put headphones next to it, and take a photo. Then I am to cut the wire, and take another photo. This way they can be sure I destroyed the product so they can send me a replacement. This was on August 20th, so about a month after my initial support request.
9 days later I receive another email where I am to indicate how satisfied I am with the support I have received. But I havenât had any headphones shipped to me yet so I tell them that. Next day they apologize for the automated email and tell me:
We are still awaiting our international orders to be sent out starting the 5th.
2 days later I receive another email where I am to indicate again how satisfied I am with the support I have received. I just ignore this one now. So I get another one in 2 days. And another one in a week. Itâs September 9th now and my replacement headphones were supposed to ship on 5th so I ask whatâs up.
Unfortunately our international replacement orders are facing another delay and will not be able to be shipped out until late this month. We can however set you up a full refund of the price you paid through money gram.
So at this point Iâm irritated that I canât run even with partially working headphones for almost 2 months so I opt-in for a refund. Finally weâre getting somewhere:
I just had your refund set up and you will be sent another email from our refund team within 5-7 business days with further instructions on how to obtain your refund through MoneyGram
Or so I thought. Radio silence again. A week later another automated email. I shoot a short reply that I havenât received anything yet.
Our refund verifications are a bit backed up now I apologize for that. If you do not get the refund instructions by Friday please contact me back and I will push your refund through as much as possible.
Come Friday, still nothing. So next Tuesday, September 27th, I shoot another email that I havenât received anything yet. Radio silence. I go to Twitter again:
Probably not buying a Jaybird item ever again. Regardless of how awesome it is and how I love Logitech.
â Miha Rekar (@mr_foto) September 28, 2016
THE. WORST. SUPPORT. EVER.
This time no reply, no DM, no email. Nada. So I DM them a couple of times. Silence. Up until Oct 12th:
Hey, I do apologize about the delay. Unfortunately our support team is experiencing high volumes of contact right now. They will contact you as soon as they can.
And they do. The same guy wants me to destroy my headphones. Again. I did that almost 2 months ago (50 days to be exact). So I tell him that together with a snark remark that itâs been 88 days since my first contact.
2 days later I get this:
It is not possible to give you a refund of the product as we cannot proceed refund in Slovenia.
They knew I was from Slovenia all along so whatâs this now!? Also I see plenty of MoneyGram locations in Slovenia so I really donât understand whatâs up. I tell them that and then (predictably) silence and an auto-reply 2 days later how satisfied I am with support request resolution. I get furious now:
IT WASNâT YET RESOLVED!
So now they offer a bank transfer. I provide my banking details and they tell me it will take â4-6 weeks to have this fully processedâ. I donât know where theyâre routing the money from that it takes so long, but whatever.
Predictably 6 weeks later my bank account is still untouched by Logitech. A couple of days earlier the successor to X2 (X3) comes out. So I shoot an email that I still havenât received any refund and ask if itâs possible to get X3âs instead. They are priced lower than X2âs so it should be possible.
5 days later (Dec 12th) they reply that X3 is not in stock. I tell them that itâs been over 5 months since my original request and that at this point I can wait a bit longer for it to be in stock. They tell me it wonât be in stock till February (knowing them this means July). Additionally they say that they can not cancel the refund but promise me Iâll get it before the end of the year. I tell them they better hurry because come new year Iâm switching banks1.
One week later:
I am very sorry to have to tell you that the refund will not likely be processed before the end of the year.
Canât say I wasnât expecting this. But now they offered me X2 and Freedom2 even though they explicitly said earlier they canât cancel a refund-in-progress. Itâs now 156 days since my original request and 118 day since I destroyed the product. I just want this story to end. I go for that option.
A week later they ship them and on December 30th I receive my replacement X23 and a brand new Freedom. That concludes my half year long journey with Jaybird Support. Sure, I got brand new Freedoms free of charge, but I would trade them any day for a speedier support response.
All 6 months Iâve been looking for an alternative. Sadly nothing comes close to X2/X3 by specs not to mention reviews. So even though their support is horrible, Iâm sticking with Jaybird. Their headphones are simply in a league of their own. That goes for both X2 and Freedom. I havenât tried X3 yet but judging by reviews theyâre even better than X2.
So if youâre in the market for wireless and/or sport headphones I canât recommend Jaybird enough. Hopefully support will improve as well once Logitech integrates them fully in their system.
Let me know.