Have never purchased refurbished. There is now a crack in the corner of my phone and the front of the case has hairline fractures all over it. So it was time to replace them. Only problem I had was getting the screw backs on in the beginning but I found out it was a learning process which I soon conquered. And dont cheap out and buy a $20 sound card either, those typically dont offer any more amplification than onboard audio. Unless they change the construction, Ill be buying these again whenever my current pair gives out, which seems a long while in the future. First, I would like to see some sort of "D Ring" that is configured to help secure the load with ropes. They send padding with the shoes but that doesnt help and they dont fit properly in the shoe either. Its really tough to find a list of top high end wireless headsets with surround sound without pricing impacting the list. But that always ended within a few hours.