Well, after reading your response above I decided to read the "woe is me" thread. I think your analogy above is sorely off-base. Here's what I think...
The A100 was basically a limited production (one year) D1100 with a wood instead of plastic cup. And unfortunately, the D1100 was a $200 (retail) portable headphone with a well documented reputation for cracking plastic arms.
NOTE: A couple years ago I wanted to get a pair of D1000's but learned they were discontinued. I bought a pair of D1100's instead and paid about $120. I noticed hairline cracks in the arms a few days after purchase and so I went online and after a bit of research learned that the cracking was a widespread problem. I returned them immediately and for $80 more bought a pair of D2000's instead.
One year after he bought his A100's he noticed the tell tale cracks that so many owners have commented on but he did nothing about it (?). Then, after waiting at least a few more weeks (he didn't specify) he finally took his headphones back to the store for repair. The store sent them to Denon.
More weeks passed (he didn't specify how many) and Denon informed the store that the repair parts were no longer available because of the limited production of the A100 and offered to either return the broken pair (?) or replace them with a brand new D600, which is Denon's $500 audiophile headphone that replaced the D2000. The store called for approval but the guys wife answered the phone (?) and she gave the go-ahead.
He subsequently read up on the D600 and learned that it wasn't well loved so he called the store to see if they could get his A100's back, but he was told that he was too late - his A100's had been "scrapped!" But Denon and the store wanted to keep him happy so they gave him a pair of D7100's!
So he gave up a broken $400 portable headphone and ended up with a $1200 audiophile headphone - a happy ending right? Wrong. Our hero, after more than a year of D7100 ownership, decided there was something wrong with them (maybe all the bad reviews?), so back to the store he went. That was a year ago and he still hasn't finished his tale. He did begin gushing about his new pair of HE-500s shortly after returning the D7100's though so I guess it all worked out alright.
I think it's too bad that Denon based their 100 Anniversary headphone on poor quality portable model instead of their TOTL D7000. My guess is that by the time they began planning the A100 they already knew that their relationship with Foster was ending and so they had to come up with an alternative - hence the woody D1100. It was a poor decision on so many levels - foremost of which is that the D1100 sounds like a muddy mess - basically a very handsome CAL! ($70 on Amazon right now!).
I think it's too bad that our hero didn't research the D1100 like he did the D600 and D7100. It would have taken all of 10 minutes to see that the A100 was the Cadillac Cimarron (I know, another car analogy) of the headphone world...lol. Not completely his fault though - he was loyal to Denon based on previous purchases and was right to expect good quality. Of course, a prudent audio enthusiast should know to look past the wood cups and fancy box.
What I suspect happened is that he bought the A100's before discovering head-fi and so was pleased as punch with them. By the time Denon offered him the D600's, he had discovered head-fi and become a more informed enthusiast - he now knew that the A100's weren't very good and the new, non-Foster Denon's were pale shadows of the discontinued D2000/5000/7000. Clearly, once he was savvy and learned that the Denon's were not all that, he became determined to use the cracked A100 debacle as a means to pocket some cash and acquire the then darling of the head-fi community - the HE-500.
As for the Denon bashing - sure, you can criticize them for marketing the A100 as an audiophile headphone, but they clearly went above and beyond to try and make our intrepid hero happy. Think what you want about the D7100, but nobody can deny that it is a HUGE step up from the A100.
First world problems...
