Getting support for Power Beats Pro

[MooPoo]

Long story short, I picked these up in early September. They've never worked properly. They disconnect and reconnect out of sync so everything sounds like an echo. They disconnect and won't reconnect without doing a hard reset. The right one won't charge consistently. They won't disconnect consistently when in the case and just sit in there draining the battery.

The disconnecting and getting out of sync affects my iphone XS, my Galaxy Note 10+, ipad pro and macbook 2018. I have a Windows 10 partition in Bootcamp on my Macbook and also a Dell XPS and a graphics workstation I built running Windows 10. The powerbeats pro won't connect to any of the windows 10 devices.

I took them into the Apple store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. They told me to keep the case and sent the buds to Shenzen to be repaired. They never texted me that they were ready, I went to the store and they had them in a box and gave them to me saying they had been repaired. All the issues remained

I took them to an Apple store in the US. They said the notes from Hong Kong indicated they had replaced both buds and the case, even though they told me to hold the case. The US apple store updated the firmware and that didn't resolve anything. They said they would send them in and probably replace the case as well to make sure that wasn't the issue. They over-nighted them to California, ran a diagnostic that showed there were no issues and overnighted them back to me without taking any action on them. The issues remained.

I got on chat to ask why. The chat rep apologized and said they would replace them and had a box sent to me to put mine in and said replacements would be sent. He told me to take note of the serial number and make sure to check the new one when the replacement arrived. I received the box they sent, put mine in and sent them off. About a week later they sent the same pair back from the same California repair center saying that they had been repaired with no explanation. The serial number is the same. Nothing was replaced, the issues remain.

I called to ask what the deal is with these. The rep I got was particularly nasty. She said she wanted to do remote desktop to confirm that they weren't connecting. When I told her that it's Windows where they won't connect and that remote desktop wouldn't show the issue of periodic disconnects and she told me that I need to contact Microsoft. Things escalated to the point that she said Beats only work on Apple devices, then backtracked and denied she said that. Then after getting blatantly offensive I mentioned that I was recording the call and that I'd have to go back and check what she had said against the advertising for the beats line. At that point she hung up on me.

What do I do with these? They don't work and I need to be on Windows completely now that Catalina dropped support for most of the apps I need for work, so I've got $259 bricks and a call recording that Apple should care about but obviously doesn't.

 

[cmaier]

That’s a mighty wall of text, but it seems like you bough airpods pro primarily to use with windows, and it’s not working? That does seem like you should take it up with Microsoft, but, in any event, I’d just return them and stop complaining, or sell them to someone who intends to use them in the apple ecosystem.

 

[MooPoo]

That’s a mighty wall of text, but it seems like you bough airpods pro primarily to use with windows, and it’s not working? That does seem like you should take it up with Microsoft, but, in any event, I’d just return them and stop complaining, or sell them to someone who intends to use them in the apple ecosystem.

The return period expired while they were being serviced for the 3 weeks the first time. I listed the devices and operating systems they don't work with: iOS 13 on iphone XS, ipadOS on an ipad Pro, macOS Mojave, Windows 10 on 3 computers and Android 9 on a Galaxy Note 10+. I know it's a lot to read, I mean not nearly as much as any of the posts I read before posting this, but if you don't want to read it why bother replying?

 

[robjulo]

One, he said the product is powerbeats pro, not airpods pro. Makes me wonder if you read any of the post and instead just chose an opportunity to defend Apple and blame a customer for a clearly defective product.

The powerbeats issues are well known, and he is not alone. My apple store replaced them with airpods pro (their own suggestion due to the number of problems with PBB).

That’s a mighty wall of text, but it seems like you bough airpods pro primarily to use with windows, and it’s not working? That does seem like you should take it up with Microsoft, but, in any event, I’d just return them and stop complaining, or sell them to someone who intends to use them in the apple ecosystem.

 

[maflynn]

The return period expired while they were being serviced for the 3 weeks the first time.

Not for nothing but if a new purchase required servicing within the return period, I would return it.

I always go by the idea of buyer beware and try to add much research as possible.

I generally accept the notion that window support on an apple product is suspect at best and research is definitely needed given the cost

If they are fully repaired, sell them and find what works for all your devices

 

[MooPoo]

Not for nothing but if a new purchase required servicing within the return period, I would return it.

I always go by the idea of buyer beware and try to add much research as possible.

I generally accept the notion that window support on an apple product is suspect at best and research is definitely needed given the cost

If they are fully repaired, sell them and find what works for all your devices

Neither Apple Hong Kong nor Apple's authorized resellers in Hong Kong take any returns at all. None. Full stop. There is a 10 day replacement window and that's what passed while mine were getting "serviced" by Apple. I looked into selling them. Unfortunately, they have plummeted in value over the last 3 months, dropping to $200 new with a flood of $150 refurbished ones. I'd be lucky to get $100 for them now. Apple's spent more shipping them back and forth to repair centers and on customs at the Chinese border to Shenzen to "repair" them.

 

[maflynn]

Neither Apple Hong Kong nor Apple's authorized resellers in Hong Kong take any returns at all.

OK, I was only taking what you wrote that the ear pods were in service during the return period.

 

[MooPoo]

One, he said the product is powerbeats pro, not airpods pro. Makes me wonder if you read any of the post and instead just chose an opportunity to defend Apple and blame a customer for a clearly defective product.

The powerbeats issues are well known, and he is not alone. My apple store replaced them with airpods pro (their own suggestion due to the number of problems with PBB).

Well I'm glad I'm not alone with this but I wish either of the Apple stores I've been to had been so proactive. It seems that there's a disconnect between what the support people facing the customers say they can do and what Apple support will actually do on the back end and once it goes to a support center you're screwed. It's good to know they are willing to replace them with Airpods pro though. I'll give them one more call and suggest that. Thanks!
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OK, I was only taking what you wrote that the ear pods were in service during the return period.

Ahh sorry, yeah, I guess I mean refunds are not a thing in Hong Kong generally. Apple used to have the same 14 day refund window as the US stores but now they don't do refunds at all. Getting any kind of consumer support or protection at all in China is pretty much up to raw determination and how much time you have to waste. The only refund I've ever heard of in China was a time my in-laws spent 9 hours at a store demanding a refund for a new carpet that was falling apart. The poor salesperson ended up giving them money out of his own pocket because they refused to let him close the store and go home.