Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My husband had a pair of Sennheisers for 7 years. Loved them. Only replaced them because the vinyl on the earpieces was getting pretty gross. They were awesome - I still use them... Well I did until these ArcitsPros went tees-up and no one will stand behind them. I bought him these for Valentine's Day because I'm just that awesome (and we blow so much on our kids for x-mas that I can't afford a good gift for him until V-Day anyway). I have to admit, I'm a cheapskate and these were really expensive at the time, so I saved about $35 by purchasing the "Used: Like New" versions from Amazon. I did not see any glaring info about how you aren't covered by the manufacturer's warranty. But in the not-so-cheepskate move, I purchased a 4-year SquareTrade policy to go with it. I figured 4 years was good, but of course I was judging them by the Sennheisers bought 7 years earlier and going strong for way less money... When they arrived, apart from the Amazon sticker over the edge of the box, you could not tell these had ever been opened. Just looked like a buyer's remorse return. So he got these around February 6th and raved about the sound - "the Game DAC was totally worth it", "Can't believe how great these are", etc. I thought I had an epic win in the books. No weird mishaps, no drops, no nerd-rage throws, nothing. Daily use from desk to head to desk. Happy as a clam for almost 5 months. MONTHS, mind you. Around July 8 (we were away for a family trip for a week), hubs noticed the left earpiece was feeling a little loose and clunky. Then by the end of that week, it snapped. A chunk of plastic flew out and the "hinge" was exposed. I use that term loosely, because these substantial headsets are held together with a thin ring of metal in PLASTIC. Shocked, gutted, cheesed off to say the least. How did I spend a quarter-G on some friggin' headphones that nominally lasted 5 months. I thought, "Whew! Glad I got that SquareTrade!" My experience with them had been top-notch in the past. I logged on to make a claim with SquareTrade: an Allstate Company (first red flag - these people do not like to pay). They send back an email - contact the manufacturer. Contacted SteelSeries, gave all the info, sent the pictures, yadda yadda. "We're sorry, there's no warranty because you bought them Used on Amazon". WHAT?? Go back to SquareTrade, send them the denial, they send back an email saying to call them. After a half an hour with them on the phone, answering multiple times that they weren't involved in an accident, they come back and say that they can't cover them, only "mechanical and electrical failures" (What is this if not mechanical??). I know that insurance companies get sued for "auto-denying" claims, so I asked for the supervisor that told him to deny the claim. When she came on the phone, I asked her what further information she needed from me to process the claim and she offered a mail-in repair. So now I guess we wait. I don't have high hopes, but maybe they will be able to swap out the headsets. It's obviously the cheap part of the deal because the Game DAC works great. If they continue to fail, I'll go back to Amazon and see if they're willing to back their sale. The moral of the story? Go German, or not at all. If anyone actually decides to stand up for this product, I'll come back and post an update. This is one chica not holding her breath. Seriously, while I'm waiting for the next round of BS, I'm going to go shop for Sennheisers. UPDATE - SquareTrade will not cover the mechanical defect that caused the issue. One last shot with Amazon. UPDATE 2 - Amazon saved the day, but trust me, spare yourself the frustration and pass on this piece of crap.