Sennheiser Set 840-TV-9 Wireless Headphones Illegal in U.K?

[daveyhue]

Hi I have recently purchased the Sennheiser Set 840-TV-9 Wireless Headphones from the U.S.A as they were £120 cheaper to purchase there and there exactly the same accept they use the 925.95 / 926.8 / 927.5 MHz radio frequencies instead of the EU/UK's 863.3 / 864.0 / 864.7 MHz

I was told by SennheiserUSA and the Sennheiser Official Dealer that they would be fine in the U.K and that a U.K plug would also be supplied.

They arrived here in the U.K fine and luckily didn't get charged customs or duty tax.

So upon opening the packaging we find a diagram of a "switching" power supply with 3 heads which can be attached for the EU/UK/USA which can be sloted into this power supply which can run on USA or UK voltage 110v or 240v and everything between which was great.
We get to the power supply and find a USA head for the power supply but no EU or UK head.. great..

We contact Sennheiser "5 times" with only one response from Sennheiser USA stating that our model only comes with the USA head even though it contradicts what they previously stated. We then start contacting the local sennheiser dealers.

One paticular dealer replied saying he could supply the UK version of the exact same power supply which is issued with the EU and UK heads but will contact Sennheiser to see if he can get just the individual heads as a spares part.

He eventually gets a reply from Sennheiser who states that it's illegal to use these headphones in the U.K and so can't supply the item... WTF???

I'm so angry at this present time and don't know what to do.. the item hasn't technically been used yet but the box has been opened so we can't really return the item as it's not faulty, SennheiserUSA has lied to me as neither the UK head was supplied and it was not "fine" to use in the U.K

I've heard some people say it's illegal to use some radio frequencies in the U.K without a licence, but I can't see where to buy them and there bound to cost a stupid amount other then that i'm at a lost end.

Any help and advice will be much appreciated.

[Flibb]

the radio frequency band is split into sections, each of which has a set use. some are open to the public others are licensed for specified use, or individual company. i can't remember what those frequencies are used for, but can check later. you are extremely unlikely to be able to buy a license whatever its usepower supply, i would just sorced for, but your also extremely unlikely to get caught due to the low power output of such devices. regarding the power supply, i would just find one with the matching output s the one you were supplied, you could always solder the original tip to the new supply. will check what those freqs are used for when i get home.

[daveyhue]

Thanks Flibb, It was purchased for a christmas gift hence why we brought it from the USA as it was cheaper.
The only problem is it's for my future father in law who previously worked for both the RAF and Police and let's say very law abiding and will read all t&c's whether there 3-6 pages long or more.

If he were to get caught it would be on my head as he did question me if those frequencies in the U.K were fine as soon as he unwrapped it and with a quick google search I found lots of people using imported wireless headphones using those frequencies and just said yes not knowing it was actually illegal.

[Flibb]

Looks like those frequencies are used by mobile telephone systems. As I said above the chances of being caught are minimal, to be honest nobody really cares about lower power decvices transmitting on the wrong frequency (unless its interfering with emergency services). But if you do want to return them, you cold try contacting you credit card company about a chargeback.

[daveyhue]

Thanks Flibb, The supplier said he's happy for me to return the item as I said it was still new and unused, but as I have found out tonight my other half's dad has gone out and got a cheapo plug adapter from ASDA and has been using it for 2 days.

As it's not interferring with emergency servcies it should be fine hopefully, the supplier said he supplies them to the UK and EU all the time for the past few years without a problem, and I have lost count of the amount of threads ive seen of people importing there wireless headphones from the USA for the price difference.