drove 5 hours to wait in line to buy Airpods... one is broken.. .now what?

[Taisiya]

yes, I know, I know... I was an idiot. I drove 5 hours roundtrip to my nearest Apple Store. (no Apple Store in my town) Surprisingly, only 3 people were in line half an hour before the store opened. When the store's doors actually opened, only 5 people(all in the same family) were behind me in line)

The store had 10 Airpods for sale, so I bought one. I drove home after spending another hour browsing the Apple Store and the Bose store two doors down.

Well.... now the bad news... the left Airpod is MUCH quieter than the right one. In fact, unless I turn the volume on my iPhone 7 to maximum, I can barely hear anything coming out of the right side.

Does this mean I have to drive another 5 hours back to the store to return or exchange them? I assume the store ran out because everybody in line said they were there to buy the Airpods. The store is currently closed. Is there any chance that they'll let me mail it to the store for a refund? (driving back again will require about 40 gallons of premium fuel, since my car only gets 9mpg highwa)

 

[Shadowbech]

You can certainly call them up and see if they will allow you to mail it for a refund but more than likely they will say "No". That you will have to drive again 5 hours round trip just to return it. If you purchased it online then you could mail it back or return it store.

I read somewhere on this forum, where someone tried to do the same thing for the defective iPhone and the Apple store said that they wouldn't accept returns and refund if it was mailed to them and that they had to return it physically in person.

 

[Taisiya]

You can certainly call them up and see if they will allow you to mail it for a refund but more than likely they will say "No". That you will have to drive again 5 hours round trip just to return it. If you purchased it online then you could mail it back or return it store.

I read somewhere on this forum, where someone tried to do the same thing for the defective iPhone and the Apple store said that they wouldn't accept returns and refund if it was mailed to them and that they had to return it physically in person.

guess I'll just have to find a friend/family/neighbor who is going that way within the next month and ask them to return it for me.

oh wait a minute... do you know if I can return it to another Apple Store? I'm going to Boston at the end of January and there must be Apple Stores there, right? (sure hope they allow it... I once purchased a Samsung Tab S 10.5 from the Best Buy in Honolulu and returned it a week later at my local Best Buy... almost 4000 miles away and they said nothing)

 

[Shadowbech]

guess I'll just have to find a friend/family/neighbor who is going that way within the next month and ask them to return it for me.

oh wait a minute... do you know if I can return it to another Apple Store? I'm going to Boston at the end of January and there must be Apple Stores there, right? (sure hope they allow it... I once purchased a Samsung Tab S 10.5 from the Best Buy in Honolulu and returned it a week later at my local Best Buy... almost 4000 miles away and they said nothing)

Yes you can return it to any apple store. Remember you have till January 8th to return any product since it's the Holiday Return period.

 

[nia820]

You should known by now to never buy Apple product at release. It isn't like the good ole days where Apple had excellent quality control.

 

[Freakonomics101]

Wireless...yet there's a wire in the picture.

Yep.... if they were completely, then that would be worth the money.

 

[Taisiya]

Yes you can return it to any apple store. Remember you have till January 8th to return any product since it's the Holiday Return period.

I think the cheapest and fastest solution is to mail the Airpods and the original receipt to my mother-in-law who lives within walking distance to the Apple Store. Just have to hope that the Irish at the post office don't lose the package.

 

[bopajuice]

Wow. Drove 10 hours round trip to buy headphones. Crazy. You are a very dedicated Apple user. I am impressed.

Are they really that much better than other offerings?

 

[Gav2k]

yes, I know, I know... I was an idiot. I drove 5 hours roundtrip to my nearest Apple Store. (no Apple Store in my town) Surprisingly, only 3 people were in line half an hour before the store opened. When the store's doors actually opened, only 5 people(all in the same family) were behind me in line)

The store had 10 Airpods for sale, so I bought one. I drove home after spending another hour browsing the Apple Store and the Bose store two doors down.

Well.... now the bad news... the left Airpod is MUCH quieter than the right one. In fact, unless I turn the volume on my iPhone 7 to maximum, I can barely hear anything coming out of the right side.

Does this mean I have to drive another 5 hours back to the store to return or exchange them? I assume the store ran out because everybody in line said they were there to buy the Airpods. The store is currently closed. Is there any chance that they'll let me mail it to the store for a refund? (driving back again will require about 40 gallons of premium fuel, since my car only gets 9mpg highwa)

Have you tried using just the fault one to see what happens??

 

[yegon]

Bit harsh saying saying frugal POS, but otherwise it's a stupid comparison.

Hear so much whinging about "poor sound quality for the price" and "I can get x earphones for peanuts off Amazon", linking to wired wireless earphones (which I've happily used for a long time previously). These people are either completely missing the point or aren't paying attention.

I get it, AirPods aren't for everyone, but geez, give up on the stupid comparisons. At the very least compare it to Motorola Verve Life Ones or Bragi's etc.

 

[Night Spring]

Did you try calling Apple Care and see if they will mail you a replacement?

Also, did you try unpairing and repairing? Sometimes that clears up problems with Bluetooth devices.

 

[alecgold]

wow... if he was a "frugal POS"
then what am I ? I received
those exact earphones from
that Amazon seller for free
just had to write a review.
(look for my review that
said "the Beats wireless
earphones are about 700%
more expensive, but are
they 700% better than
these $30 al-cheapo ones?)

He is posting that picture everywhere just to troll and annoy.
And about the 700%, there is a thing as the law of diminishing returns. And I'm really a victim of that law

 

[ANTAWNM26]

The 9mpg wasn't the worst the worst thing that was said? Anyone?. Instead of getting new AirPods might consider a new

 

[Taisiya]

The 9mpg wasn't the worst the worst thing he said? Anyone?. Instead of getting new AirPods might consider a new

it is a new car, with just 7 miles on the odometer.... to be fair, the mpg is only 1mpg lower than what's printed on the window sticker... but should have skipped the Germans and purchased a Tesla instead? (but probably not as fast)

also... "he" !!!???

 

[TPadden]

The 9mpg wasn't the worst the worst thing he said? Anyone?

. Instead of getting new AirPods might consider a new

Nope, posting, seeking advice from strangers, concerning a problem that face to face friends and family would all agree with the first statement made, makes it all equally bad.

yes, I know, I know... I was an idiot.

Yes, I know, I know......the OP was Gump stupid . That said once replaced, never underestimate the therapeutic effect of driving long distances listening to loud music.

 

[ANTAWNM26]

it is a new car, with just 7 miles on the odometer.... to be fair, the mpg is only 1mpg lower than what's printed on the window sticker... but should have skipped the Germans and purchased a Tesla instead? (but probably not as fast)

also... "he" !!!???

Apologize for the assumption of he

 

[ericwn]

Wow. Drove 10 hours round trip to buy headphones. Crazy. You are a very dedicated Apple user. I am impressed.

Are they really that much better than other offerings?

Nobody talked of 10 hours drive.

 

[ericwn]

Bit harsh saying saying frugal POS, but otherwise it's a stupid comparison.

Hear so much whinging about "poor sound quality for the price" and "I can get x earphones for peanuts off Amazon", linking to wired wireless earphones (which I've happily used for a long time previously). These people are either completely missing the point or aren't paying attention.

I get it, AirPods aren't for everyone, but geez, give up on the stupid comparisons. At the very least compare it to Motorola Verve Life Ones or Bragi's etc.

You are right of course. Criticising an upper price segment earbud for its mediocre sound and then just referring to cheap other Bluetooth crap on Amazon is not particularly helpful, as that stuff also won't sound any better than what a EarPod delivers.

EarPods at least have a nice charging case and some cool technology inside.

Now if Apple came up with a closed design like they used to that would deliver better sound of course.

 

[TPadden]

Nobody talked of 10 hours drive.

Do the math ........

....I drove 5 hours roundtrip to my nearest Apple Store. Does this mean I have to drive another 5 hours back to the store to return or exchange them?

 

[foxconn]

Do the math ........

5hrs round trip means both ways

‍♂️

 

[TPadden]

5hrs round trip means both ways

‍♂️

Doing it twice WAS mentioned/ questioned (talked about) .

 

[mikezmac]

You can mail them in for repair. Or you can return them by mail and request a replacement.

 

[ericwn]

Do the math ........

The OP said 5 hours round trip. I don't need math until you learn how to read.

 

[Droidbricker]

it is a new car, with just 7 miles on the odometer

You drove this car for 5 hours and it only has 7 miles on it?!

 

[AppleRobert]

Water under bridge but if I drove that far I would have tried them in the store.

I haven't read every thread today yet but if there was a problem with one with lower volume I bet that would have had a specific thread started about it on its own.