So I buy a pair of those Sony earbud earphones and they are absolutely stunning, as promised by Sony's bastard marketing department. Bass response you would hardly have thought possible for a pair of earhpones. No leak so my music doesn't pollute everyone else. Marvellous.

Then I lose one of the earbuds. This is, just so we're all clear on this, a parabolic rubber cone with a hole through the middle about the size of a new 5p piece at its widest.

A peice of rubber. Weighing about a quarter of a gram.

So, I go to the shop where I bought them and they have none, becuase they're not an authorised service centre.

I go to the $ony shop in town, only to find that they are not an authorised Sony Service centre. I consider this odd, but do not point this out to the shop assistant as I'm busy wondering how I can make petrol bombs abnd find the home address of Sony's Operations Director. The shop assitant gives me a number to call.

I call it. On a Saturday. This is where I discover that Sony's Spares and Accessories department only opens weekdays between 10am and 4pm and is only able to deliver in a 28-day time frame.

So I call back later when there are organic things about to talk to. The accessories I want are indeed in stock and are available at the bargain price of £17.99 plus p+p. I think at this point it would be useful to remind ourselves of the description of the article requested:

This is, just so we're all clear on this, a parabolic rubber cone with a hole through the middle about the size of a new 5p piece at its widest.

A peice of rubber. Weighing about a quarter of a gram.

Although the price quoted is for a pair, so that's alright, I suppose.

I tell them I'll think about it. But there will be no music on the way to work for me for another month at least.

Does anyone have any tips for acquiring these items more quickly and/or cheaply?

What percentage of the original cost is £17.99 + p & p? It may be cheaper to put a request in Loot or similar for somebody elses broken pair with which to replace your missing ear piece.

The original phones were 35 quid, so more than half the cost.

The problem with asking for second-hand ones is that they fit into the inner ear, and, well...

To be honest, I would pay 17.99 today if I could just walk into a shop and buy them.

Thats the problem with "fancy stuff" they sting you with the spare parts, cars are worse apprently.

It seems a bit stipid to have a removeable part that cost so much on a pair of earphone I always lose the plastic fabric they put over the cheap tacky ones you get free with your walkman.

Stupid for whom? It's probably quite profitabel for them

*sigh* Perhaps I should just save the money topay for a tattoo of the word 'MUG' on my forehead? Or just to pay for tATu?

It's a bit worse than losing the foam bit on those headphones though, as these are completely useless without the buds.

strangely have you tired the mastercare hotline for dixons/currys/pcworld as they can usually get hold of stock.

I didn't know this existed for non-computing products. I'll see if I can dig out the number.

Thanks.

(I'm a little taken back by such a constructive suggestion) :)

not having heard of these i thought that i would google the bud earphones to find out more..

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Sony+earbud+earphones&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB

oh look what came out tops

fireboy spouted:
not having heard of these i thought that i would google the bud earphones to find out more..

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Sony+earbud+earphones&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB

oh look what came out tops

Superb! :))

wooo, dogbomb.co.uk top of the list ;-)

I too have a set of these earphones and i too have lost one of the earbuds. What is most frustrating is i know it is in the office somewhere as i got into work the next day to find it under my chair, i picked it up, got the earphones laptop out of my bag set it up, then went to replace the bud on my earphones and for the life of me could not find where i put it. I have searched everywhere including the bin! and it is nowhere to be seen.
Some weeks later i decided to hunt google for replacement and this forum was the first item on the list (as mentioned by another poster).

I to find £17.99 an absolutely disgraceful asking price for such an item and am considering not only writing letter to Sony but also never buying a Sony product ever again.

I do however have a proposition to make. With the set i bought, and i assume this applies to anybody else too, there were 3 sets of these buds, small, medium and large. Now I suspect that most people use the medium ones too but on the off chance that somebody uses and has lost one of the other sizes I am willing to make a swap. If this interests you please contact me via email or post a reply here.

Thanks

Dan

Unfortunately, such is the case. In future be careful with your Buds, without them, you'll feel like you're missing some good friends.

Hiya...I recently lost an earbud near Liverpool Street Station while getting into a cab; frantically I've been searching for replacements and finally found this website:

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?products_id=423

Evidently you can get a pair of replacements for $10USD and pay another $12 for postage (roughly about £15).

Hope this helps...I hate to see some fellow audiophiles go without because of some corporate a$$holes.

Regards,

Doug

Ahh, the price you pay for quality and uniqueness, unfortunately. It's the same sort of crap with Apple if anything ever goes wrong.

Ebay is also worth a look, out of all places, you never know what you may find there sometimes.

Hiya...I recently lost an earbud near Liverpool Street Station while getting into a cab; frantically I've been searching for replacements and finally found this website:

http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?products_id=423

Evidently you can get a pair of replacements for $10USD and pay another $12 for postage (roughly about £15).

Hope this helps...I hate to see some fellow audiophiles go without because of some corporate a$$holes.

Regards,

Doug


Thanks doug. And if I see your earbud near liverpool street station, I'll let you know ;)

Dazzla.

You did check IN your ears didnt you??? :)) :)) :)) :))

This is, just so we're all clear on this, a parabolic rubber cone with a hole through the middle about the size of a new 5p piece at its widest.

A peice of rubber. Weighing about a quarter of a gram.

Wow. There it is!

Anyone want to buy a nearly-new earbud?

:P