9 ms·

Apple Bricked my AirPods and now wants me to buy new ones

62 points by mattcantstop 3y ago

mattcantstop 3y ago
I left the Apple Store worse off than when I arrived. They have a bug in their software when you add a replacement AirPod that makes them unable to reconnect (the case, in my situation). They then pass the pain of that bug in their software to the consumer.
- HenryBemis 3y ago
  "It's not a bug, it's a feature". I am sure/I hope that with some more patience and visits to an apple store you will be able to resolve that. (written by someone who quit the Apple garden when the batterygate happened)
- anakaine 3y ago
  Did you get back on to the store and seek resolution? If you're coming back in with the same serials they tried to fix earlier they will have a record of it.
  - ajdude 3y ago
    According to op's comment in another thread [1] > I brought it back to Apple after lots of phone calls and troubleshooting and Apple has now told me that something must have gotten messed up with the software. I am able to buy a new pair of AirPods if I would like to, or I can spend $250 for them to diagnose the issue (the price of a new set of AirPods). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37866470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37866470
    - Fnoord 3y ago
      Not allowed in EU. Software bugs shouldn't render such devices unusable. See my other comment. Tho I just read it concerns someone in Denver, Colorado. Who previously worked at Apple.
    - anakaine 3y ago
      That hardly seems like OPs issue
- MawKKe 3y ago
  see my question in the other post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37867368 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37867368
StimDeck 3y ago
Small claims court? Certainly you’ll want to dispute the $95 charge. Assuming there is no third party software that can fix it.
justinclift 3y ago
https://nitter.net/mattcantstop/status/1712680601340579891 https://nitter.net/mattcantstop/status/1712680601340579891
fingerlocks 3y ago
Countless people have had replacement AirPods without issue, so what’s different here? We need more information. What do you mean “their software didn’t work”? Was this special tooling used by Apple support, or did you remove the AirPods from your account manually? Did you escalate the situation? Call the support line? If you remove the replacement AirPod, does the original one still work? If not, why not? Can you get a refund on your botched replacement?
- kibibu 3y ago
  It's a thread. The issue is Apple identifying the pair as mismatched
  - fingerlocks 3y ago
    I see only see three messages and none of them answer any of these questions. Am I using X wrong?
Lacerda69 3y ago
airpods are literal garbage; I never understood why everyone uses them
- wilg 3y ago
  because they aren't literal garbage
  - archerx 3y ago
    High priced garbage.
    - wilg 3y ago
      They're no more expensive than any of the other products in the category: https://www.theverge.com/21309820/best-wireless-earbuds https://www.theverge.com/21309820/best-wireless-earbuds They're not garbage! What are you talking about!?
      - archerx 3y ago
        I will never buy any Bluetooth streamed headphones. I will always prefer good wired headphones.
        wilg 3y ago
        That's fine but obviously not having a wire is very useful for many situations.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    Brush yourself off, man. Apple used to make $20 wired Earpods that had a better mic and driver than the $180 disposable Airpods. They are, in fact, trash. Expensive garbage, intended to occupy your landfill and drive an upgrade cycle.
    - wilg 3y ago
wilg 3y ago
It must be a mistake since Apple says you can replace just one lost AirPod for $89. https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair
- rob 3y ago
  And that would be ~$95 with sales tax in a lot of states.
  - wilg 3y ago
    I'm just saying clearly he shouldn't have to pay for new AirPods.
c7DJTLrn 3y ago
That "Not Yours" in the screenshot cracks me up for some reason. Feels like it's saying "Hey, give them back asshole!"
- M4v3R 3y ago
  It's actually a pretty cool feature (when it works as intended), I once saw this dialog when visiting a friend who also had a pair of Airpods and we mixed them by accident.
  - Brian_K_White 3y ago
    I much prefer that when I connect my gf's headphones to my phone, or vice versa, or anything to anything, they just work. There is no excuse for this. It's ridiculous to even contemplate really. How come over the last idk 40 years since portable electronics with headphones have been around, I never had any such calamity that my headphones got confused with someone else's? Oh right, they weren't $200 for no reason for one thing so who tf cared if it ever did happen, and there were 6000 different companies and models and styles instead of everyone in the world having the exact same thing.
- amelius 3y ago
  When is an Apple product truly yours, really?
Animats 3y ago
The monopoly giveth, and the monopoly taketh away. Blessed be the name of the monopoly.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  You’re in the wrong thread. Search for “U.S. meat processors” or “baby formula” or “fiber to the home.”
ChatGTP 3y ago
I have to say their products and their attitude towards warranty and repair is trash. I bought a top spec iPad last year, and for some reason, only when using Facetime, the audio has a static noise about it. I personally have a real issue with buying a top spec product that's faulty and being offered "refurbished" replacement, why not just replace it with a new device? I have no idea how long the screen on the refurb model has been in use, for example. Anyweay it to a "genius" bar , they had no idea , they didn't even have a test number I could call to verify the problem, so I clumsily had to call family and ask them if they could hear me. The best they could offer me so far is that I travel 3.5 hours, very costly trip via rail to pick up my second hand replacement device, they refuse to ship it to my location. It's absolutely ridiculous. I've had quite a few issues with their devices lately, really starting to turn me off their stuff. Disclaimer: I do use Linux a lot and I'm open to other vendors, not just a blind fanboy, though I do over all like their products and use them frequently.
ehhthing 3y ago
Did you gasp go to the apple store and tell them what happened? Seems like you should do that before complaining on Twitter. Mistakes happen, it's about how they handle them that matters.
- jrflowers 3y ago
  > Did you gasp go to the apple store and tell them what happened? This is a good point, the author wrote: > I arrived at the @Apple store with 1 working AirPod case and 1 working headphone. I spent $95 for a replacement AirPod and left the store with the case and both AirPods not working. All we know is that he went to the Apple store. It is not clear whether or not he described his issue while he was getting a replacement AirPod from that store.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  When I took my bricked MacBook Pro (Sonoma update defect) to the store today, the Apple rep independently mentioned that he’s seeing a lot of fucked-up AirPods. Earbuds and Bluetooth suck. Never let Apple off the hook for deleting the headphone jack.
pmx 3y ago
I got an M1 macbook pro when they first came out, in about April of this year the screen suddenly stopped working without warning. External display worked fine, internal one just showed random colours. Took it to apple for repair, they tried various things and said the mainboard need to be replaced at a cost of something like £700. I refused and just put the laptop away until someone at work mentioned that in the UK we have the consumer rights law that gives us 6 years for which we can expect our purchases to continue to function properly. I messaged apple support and mentioned my consumer law rights under the law and the immediately dispatched a box for me to send the laptop to them and had it collected the next day. In under a week it was back, repaird (new display, top case) at no cost to me. It's amazing what a difference knowing your rights makes!
- simonh 3y ago
  I’ve had no problem getting fixes or replacements for Apple hardware even a few years old. I’ve even had a hard drive replaced for free that was a few months out of warranty.
  - pmx 3y ago
    Experiences generally differ depending on location, who you end up dealing with, etc.
- hoschicz 3y ago
  2 years right
  - pmx 3y ago
    Yeah about 2 years, I think it was just outside their warranty by a few months. The original experience was very frustrating and really put me off apple. That trust hasn't been recovered but I'm glad I know my rights now.
  - Fnoord 3y ago
    It is more nuanced. It differs a bit per country [1] as it is a directive. For example, in The Netherlands after one year if you did not buy additional warranty in the second year you need to prove you used the product normally. Also, something like a washing machine has more than 2 years warranty because you can expect such device to work longer than 2 years. Also, you have the right for updates to keep the device working (if you bought it after April 27th 2022) [2]. The government has very good official documentation available on your rights but it is complex [3]. [1] https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-reparatie/verkoper-legt-de-schuld-bij-jou https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-rep... [2] https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-reparatie/recht-op-updates https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-rep... [3] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bescherming-van-consumenten/vraag-en-antwoord/welke-garanties-heb-ik-op-een-product https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bescherming-van-con...
ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
Apple’s Sonoma update bricked my M1 MacBook Pro today. “Luckily” the Apple Store only had to wipe the whole computer. Talk about shit QA. No excuse.
rich_sasha 3y ago
OP was wearing them wrong /s

62 points by mattcantstop 3y ago

I left the Apple Store worse off than when I arrived. They have a bug in their software when you add a replacement AirPod that makes them unable to reconnect (the case, in my situation). They then pass the pain of that bug in their software to the consumer.

HenryBemis 3y ago
"It's not a bug, it's a feature". I am sure/I hope that with some more patience and visits to an apple store you will be able to resolve that. (written by someone who quit the Apple garden when the batterygate happened)
anakaine 3y ago
Did you get back on to the store and seek resolution? If you're coming back in with the same serials they tried to fix earlier they will have a record of it.
- ajdude 3y ago
  According to op's comment in another thread [1] > I brought it back to Apple after lots of phone calls and troubleshooting and Apple has now told me that something must have gotten messed up with the software. I am able to buy a new pair of AirPods if I would like to, or I can spend $250 for them to diagnose the issue (the price of a new set of AirPods). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37866470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37866470
  - Fnoord 3y ago
    Not allowed in EU. Software bugs shouldn't render such devices unusable. See my other comment. Tho I just read it concerns someone in Denver, Colorado. Who previously worked at Apple.
  - anakaine 3y ago
    That hardly seems like OPs issue
MawKKe 3y ago
see my question in the other post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37867368 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37867368

StimDeck 3y ago

Small claims court? Certainly you’ll want to dispute the $95 charge. Assuming there is no third party software that can fix it.

justinclift 3y ago

https://nitter.net/mattcantstop/status/1712680601340579891 https://nitter.net/mattcantstop/status/1712680601340579891

fingerlocks 3y ago

Countless people have had replacement AirPods without issue, so what’s different here? We need more information. What do you mean “their software didn’t work”? Was this special tooling used by Apple support, or did you remove the AirPods from your account manually? Did you escalate the situation? Call the support line? If you remove the replacement AirPod, does the original one still work? If not, why not? Can you get a refund on your botched replacement?

kibibu 3y ago
It's a thread. The issue is Apple identifying the pair as mismatched
- fingerlocks 3y ago
  I see only see three messages and none of them answer any of these questions. Am I using X wrong?

Lacerda69 3y ago

airpods are literal garbage; I never understood why everyone uses them

wilg 3y ago
because they aren't literal garbage
- archerx 3y ago
  High priced garbage.
  - wilg 3y ago
    They're no more expensive than any of the other products in the category: https://www.theverge.com/21309820/best-wireless-earbuds https://www.theverge.com/21309820/best-wireless-earbuds They're not garbage! What are you talking about!?
    - archerx 3y ago
      I will never buy any Bluetooth streamed headphones. I will always prefer good wired headphones.
      - wilg 3y ago
        That's fine but obviously not having a wire is very useful for many situations.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  Brush yourself off, man. Apple used to make $20 wired Earpods that had a better mic and driver than the $180 disposable Airpods. They are, in fact, trash. Expensive garbage, intended to occupy your landfill and drive an upgrade cycle.
  - wilg 3y ago

wilg 3y ago

It must be a mistake since Apple says you can replace just one lost AirPod for $89. https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair

rob 3y ago
And that would be ~$95 with sales tax in a lot of states.
- wilg 3y ago
  I'm just saying clearly he shouldn't have to pay for new AirPods.

c7DJTLrn 3y ago

That "Not Yours" in the screenshot cracks me up for some reason. Feels like it's saying "Hey, give them back asshole!"

M4v3R 3y ago
It's actually a pretty cool feature (when it works as intended), I once saw this dialog when visiting a friend who also had a pair of Airpods and we mixed them by accident.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  I much prefer that when I connect my gf's headphones to my phone, or vice versa, or anything to anything, they just work. There is no excuse for this. It's ridiculous to even contemplate really. How come over the last idk 40 years since portable electronics with headphones have been around, I never had any such calamity that my headphones got confused with someone else's? Oh right, they weren't $200 for no reason for one thing so who tf cared if it ever did happen, and there were 6000 different companies and models and styles instead of everyone in the world having the exact same thing.
amelius 3y ago
When is an Apple product truly yours, really?

Animats 3y ago

The monopoly giveth, and the monopoly taketh away. Blessed be the name of the monopoly.

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
You’re in the wrong thread. Search for “U.S. meat processors” or “baby formula” or “fiber to the home.”

ChatGTP 3y ago

I have to say their products and their attitude towards warranty and repair is trash. I bought a top spec iPad last year, and for some reason, only when using Facetime, the audio has a static noise about it. I personally have a real issue with buying a top spec product that's faulty and being offered "refurbished" replacement, why not just replace it with a new device? I have no idea how long the screen on the refurb model has been in use, for example. Anyweay it to a "genius" bar , they had no idea , they didn't even have a test number I could call to verify the problem, so I clumsily had to call family and ask them if they could hear me. The best they could offer me so far is that I travel 3.5 hours, very costly trip via rail to pick up my second hand replacement device, they refuse to ship it to my location. It's absolutely ridiculous. I've had quite a few issues with their devices lately, really starting to turn me off their stuff. Disclaimer: I do use Linux a lot and I'm open to other vendors, not just a blind fanboy, though I do over all like their products and use them frequently.

ehhthing 3y ago

Did you gasp go to the apple store and tell them what happened? Seems like you should do that before complaining on Twitter. Mistakes happen, it's about how they handle them that matters.

jrflowers 3y ago
> Did you gasp go to the apple store and tell them what happened? This is a good point, the author wrote: > I arrived at the @Apple store with 1 working AirPod case and 1 working headphone. I spent $95 for a replacement AirPod and left the store with the case and both AirPods not working. All we know is that he went to the Apple store. It is not clear whether or not he described his issue while he was getting a replacement AirPod from that store.
ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
When I took my bricked MacBook Pro (Sonoma update defect) to the store today, the Apple rep independently mentioned that he’s seeing a lot of fucked-up AirPods. Earbuds and Bluetooth suck. Never let Apple off the hook for deleting the headphone jack.

pmx 3y ago

I got an M1 macbook pro when they first came out, in about April of this year the screen suddenly stopped working without warning. External display worked fine, internal one just showed random colours. Took it to apple for repair, they tried various things and said the mainboard need to be replaced at a cost of something like £700. I refused and just put the laptop away until someone at work mentioned that in the UK we have the consumer rights law that gives us 6 years for which we can expect our purchases to continue to function properly. I messaged apple support and mentioned my consumer law rights under the law and the immediately dispatched a box for me to send the laptop to them and had it collected the next day. In under a week it was back, repaird (new display, top case) at no cost to me. It's amazing what a difference knowing your rights makes!

simonh 3y ago
I’ve had no problem getting fixes or replacements for Apple hardware even a few years old. I’ve even had a hard drive replaced for free that was a few months out of warranty.
- pmx 3y ago
  Experiences generally differ depending on location, who you end up dealing with, etc.
hoschicz 3y ago
2 years right
- pmx 3y ago
  Yeah about 2 years, I think it was just outside their warranty by a few months. The original experience was very frustrating and really put me off apple. That trust hasn't been recovered but I'm glad I know my rights now.
- Fnoord 3y ago
  It is more nuanced. It differs a bit per country [1] as it is a directive. For example, in The Netherlands after one year if you did not buy additional warranty in the second year you need to prove you used the product normally. Also, something like a washing machine has more than 2 years warranty because you can expect such device to work longer than 2 years. Also, you have the right for updates to keep the device working (if you bought it after April 27th 2022) [2]. The government has very good official documentation available on your rights but it is complex [3]. [1] https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-reparatie/verkoper-legt-de-schuld-bij-jou https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-rep... [2] https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-reparatie/recht-op-updates https://www.consumentenbond.nl/juridisch-advies/garantie-rep... [3] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bescherming-van-consumenten/vraag-en-antwoord/welke-garanties-heb-ik-op-een-product https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bescherming-van-con...

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago

Apple’s Sonoma update bricked my M1 MacBook Pro today. “Luckily” the Apple Store only had to wipe the whole computer. Talk about shit QA. No excuse.

rich_sasha 3y ago

OP was wearing them wrong /s