AirPods Pro Crackling Noise Out of Warranty

[appleguy94]

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere but I need advice.

My mother's AirPods Pros (1st Gen) that she purchased in March 2021 have started making a crackling noise when listening to audio and on phone calls. This has only happened in the last month or so.

I went with her today to the Apple Store and they confirmed an issue on both buds and said it would be £89 per bud to replace. My mother is 65 and has taken very good care of her AirPods, there is not a mark on them. She uses them daily and if the issue was battery related I would understand, but I find it unreasonable to pay out £178 for an issue that is not user error. According to Apple, they were manufactured in December 2020 so not part of the affected AirPods where they would replace them for free despite the fact that the symptoms are identical.

The Apple Store employee was rather unhelpful and said there was no option as it was not under warranty.

Any advice on how to escalate this and if you have been successful in the past with this would be much appreciated!

 

[mfram]

There's a whole giant thread down below in this forum. Look for "Rattlegate". Summary: different people had different Apple Store experiences. In my case, Apple refused to replace my 1st gen APP because, like you, they claimed they weren't manufactured in the replacement window. My recommendation is to find replacements on the used market. The problem is that APP are pretty much the most counterfeited Apple item so finding real ones on the used market is hard.

 

[waw74]

The AP Pro2 were a very big improvement in sound and noise cancelling over the 1st gen. Not that you should have to upgrade due to a failure, but she'll probably be happier with the newer version.


a brief and friendly email to Tim Cook might be helpful, might not, he obviously doesn't read them all, but someone will, and they have a little more authority than someone at the store.
tcook@apple.com

 

[Mikey86uk]

I thankfully bought apple care for my gen 1 pro’s and I’m now sending them back for the 4th time with the right AirPod crackling.

Apple support are a waste of time when it comes to AirPods in my experience.