I am not affliated with either product here other than being a customer, but Lightspeed and Leatherman deserve some praise for great product support.
I traded some work for a Lightspeed 30-3G, the button cover on the power supply fell off. I called them about it and also mentioned that the cord would wiggle and affect the audio. No problem they said just send it in and they will fix it. I was in town and they said if I brought it by first thing, they would fix it while I waited. I came down the next morning and true enough not only did they fix it, but installed the next generation of the power supply, and then replaced anything that was worn on/in the headset. It took about an hour. It was damn near an O/H. When I was going to square up they said,"no charge." There was no proof of purchase, warranty card stuff required to present.
I just purchased a new headset for my wife, and got a ANR Lightspeed unit without hesitating. They really stood behind their product and they have my business! A friend started flight training and he asked about headsets and my response was go with Lightspeed, you will not be disappointed. He bought one as well.
I was using my Leatherman and the blade lock failed. It was an old Leatherman I purchased when I was a line guy going to A&P school. I have used it at work, fishing, and the like as well as lately keeping it with the airplane as part of my tool kit. I thought they would not cover it, but went down to the factory and dropped it off for warranty and three days later received a replacement which is the current generation PST, a lot nicer then my old one! Again no proof of purchase, warranty card B.S.. They stood behind it. I'd buy another tool from them without question.
There are still some great companies who value having good product support. They have my business.

I agree when I started flyingI bought a lightspeed ANR and the ANR wouldent work in one ear, I called teck suport they asked if the stero button was in the rite position for my non stero intercom ,it was, so they said send it back. they sent me a new one the same day! Some might question the wisdom of giving such good warranty on a low end headset but they have had my business ever since and ive bought much more expensive ones since.

I would like to nominate Benchmade Kinves in Oregon City, OR.

My folder was getting a bit ratty, and I wanted to get a factory edge back on it.

I sent it to their LifeSharp service and it was pretty much rebuilt and returned with a fine edge. All for $5.00 for shipping and handling.

Nice folks, good products.

TD

Add Springfield Armory to the list. A little while back I bought a new 1911 and it had occasional feed problems. I sent it back to the factory and not only did they fix the feed problems but the did a trigger job, polished the ramp, put a new extractor and a few other things that I didn't ask them to do plus paid for the shipping both ways. (I did mention the trigger though.) Shoots very well now. Friendly folks too!

I have owned Lightspeed headsets since they first came out with ANR. The first sets had plastic parts in the headband, and they tended to break. Mine didn't, but the company got in touch with me, and asked if I'd like it replaced with a metal headband. I did--and they paid shipping. Audio in one ear went out in that headset on my 10-30. I went to Sun N Fun that year on a smoker, and approached them at their booth. The guy asked me to describe the problem. He asked if I felt comfortable making a couple of electrical connections--I said sure, wondering what was going to happen next (the headset was in Alaska). He went in the back and came out wiht a new cord set and power supply, and handed it to me. Showed me the connectors, and said just replace. Worked beautifully.

When they announced the Zulu headset, I got on their "I want one NOW" list, and got one of the first. I've used at least half the different headsets out there, including Bose, and nothing compares with the Zulu headset. They hit a home run on that one. Mine's working fine a few years later, but I know if it ever breaks, they'll fix it.

MTV

RCBS is the company that comes to mind for me. I had a single stage reloading press for 10 years when they came out with their "piggyback" unit to turn it into a multistage press. I asked them how much to convert and they said "Send it in". I got back a new press with the piggyback unit on it for the cost of the piggyback!

Then 15 years later the vertical rod that connects to the powder release handle broke. I emailed and asked to buy another and the RCBS tech support said "What's your address" and mailed me a new one no charge!

It seems to me that a lot of the companies that are the most down to earth (light planes, guns & accessories, knives, camping gear) are somehow easier to work with.

Ditto on the praise for Lightspeed. I think it will be the only brand I buy from now on.

Lightspeed is tops for customer support... I give them 10 gold stars.

I guess anyone can have an a not-so-glowing experience. I've never heard bad reports about Lightspeed, although I don't know why one should have to return for service an expensive headset in the first place. A few years ago, my Wife wanted to try the In-the-ear headset, so I bought the Lightspeed unit from Pacific Coast at OSH. I paid the extra ~$150 for the custom ear pieces and when my wife got the fitting at a local clinic Lightspeed specified, she was told it would be about 2 weeks. After a month and calls back and forth to the clinic, the clinic said that we'd have to contact Lightspeed cust service, which I did. They told me Pacific Coast wasn't authorized to sell the custom units, and that there must have been a mistake. After basically calling me a liar, and accused me of trying to get free custom earpieces, I faxed them a copy of the sales receipt and it still took a supervisor 2 weeks to tell me that they would be shipped via regular mail in a few days. I asked, that since I'd been 2 months from my purchase that they at least foot the bill for overnight delivery, since they'd dropped the ball, they said "No can do" unless I wanted to pay the extra charges. Maybe it was because I got irate on the phone after being called less than truthful, maybe because I didn't want to listen to the complaints of the cust rep about Pacific Coast selling what he thought they shouldn't be selling, I don't know, but, I for one didn't have a good Lightspeed encounter.

No gold stars, not even a lump of black coal, since I'd have to pay the shipping, from me.

Jack

I have also had great customer support with lightspeed but the problem is that my headset has been back to them two different times in five years. I have several friends I fly with who use lightspeed and I think all of them have made a trip back to get worked on. The standby David Clark's seem to last forever so I don't know how good thier customer support is.

66skylane wrote:The standby David Clark's seem to last forever so I don't know how good thier customer support is.

My DC's have lasted me for six years. No problems. I have heard one guy's customer service experience was great but I've never had to test that since DC's hardly ever have problems.

It's hard to beat David Clark for passive noise attenuating headsets. Those folks have been in that business for many decades, and they build good stuff. I have two DC passive headsets that I've owned for ~30 years, and they work fine still.

At one point, my employer bought a couple of DC noise cancelling headsets, and they really never worked right. DC took them back with a full refund eventually. They've since come out with different noise cancelling headsets, and I don't know anything about them. David Clark has great customer service as well.

MTV

I can't resist : I have no idea how David Clark's customer service is. I have never once in twelve years needed to use them, having multiple units at work and at home

I'll plug David Clark too.

Two years ago my new puppy opened my flight bag and proceeded to saw in half my 13.4 DC headset. The cord, gel ear seal, and ear piece and speaker were all damaged. After a brief call they said send it in. About a week later I received it back in the mail and they fixed everything no charge (just shipping). I told them I would be more than happy to pay for it and accept full responsibility for the damage but their only replied was "I'm just glad I could exceed your expectations". Now that's customer service!

I have had a set of Pilot headsets for a long time. When the audio went out, I called them and they said to send them back. They fixed them for free, even though they were more than 5 or 6 years old at the time. Great service, and I still use them for my passenger.

I bought a Coleman two-burner propane stove with electronic ignition from Cabela's (after many years of pouring, pumping, & flame-outs with a Peak One). One side wouldn't ignite, so I brought it back thinking they could fix it. Instead they had me return it, and since they were now on sale, I got another one. Both sides work, and it was $10 less.

ASW.

Two thumbs up for David Clark.

I've owned a set of coil cord H10-60's for about 25 years now. They have survived many thousand Part 135 hours in some pretty rough places. Only "fix" ever needed was a replacement of one of the gel ear cushions that leaked during a really cold winter. One phone call to Northern Lights Avionics had a new set mailed out to Kotz, along with a new electret mic, that just in passing I had remarked about on occasion hearing a scratch or two when I spoke into it, all free of charge, no questions asked.

Gump

Gump,

Speaking of customer service---Northern Lights Avionics has always been the DEFINITION of that term. Gary Sr. is the quintessential gentleman and a great businessman as well. Don't know Jr. that well, or how things are going since he took over, but Sr. sure set the bar high.

MTV

Roger that on Northern Lights Avionics...

They have always taken great care of my avionics and charged a fair price for their work. Where some ANC outfits know they got you over a barrel if you're calling from the Bush, and act accordingly, Northern Lights will always treat you like you're the most important customer they have. And, there's no "Push 1 for English" when you call them.

Gump

purchased one of the first batch of zulus i guess some had controller issues any way they fixed it or maybe they gave me a new one couldn't tell?? new ear seals and even another case love the headset tried others no comparison love ipod hookup instant tunes sound could not be better . owned many pilot sets before and they were fixed same way as well. let passenger use them ,there not getting my zulu

More kudos for lightspeed:

I have a 25xl lightspeed headset that I purchased reburbished from Lightspeed, the warranty has been expired for several years. My right speakers has been cutting out intermittently so it stopped by their factory last week. For no charge they replaced both speakers, mic and boom, wires, and ear cups for free! Practically a brand new head set!

The only complain I have about lightspeed is that they have eliminated their entry and mid-level line of headsets. At this point the zulu is pretty much your only option. (not that its a bad option, if my 25xl dies, I probably won't be spending $900 dollars to replace it with a zulu)