Maybe they just measure their age wrong.

Just when I thought I managed to contain my metric arrogance…

They deregulated shower heads just in time.

I had the 3a for three years, passed it on to my son who used it three more years. Bought a 6 after the 3a, used it for three years and passed it on to my son. I am typing this on my 9a. Never had any issues on any of those phones. Either I have been very lucky or you got two rotten apples.