Originally Posted by PTravel

It has to be not working properly, but that is a very subjective call. For example, if you were to say, "Sometimes there is a crackling sound in the right ear," they won't bother doing any testing to find out. They'll offer you a "trade in," which could be either a QC3 or a QC15, your choice (and, as I recall, at different prices). Note that some Bose retail outlet managers are jerks and will deny the existence of the trade-up program. If so, just go to another one retail outlet.