John Lewis misleading advertising

cmurphy8

I recently purchased some earbuds from John Lewis. When they arrived they wouldn’t work with my iPhone SE 2020 the John Lewis website said “these True Wireless headphones are compatible with all smart devices with Bluetooth, including those from Apple...”.  They worked with my partners iPhone 8 but not mine. As it’s a newly released phone I downloaded the Sony headphones app to download the firmware update assuming that was the issue. Still had issues with connection and proper function. 

I contacted Sony support who told me that “Actually, your headphones are not compatible with your iPhone. Therefore, we do not guarantee it’s full functionality with the iPhone.” 

I assumed I could return them to John Lewis given that they didn’t work as described, but they’re claiming I cannot return them as they are used. Of course I had to use them to try and get them to work, because I believed they would work because their website said so. What are my rights here? They were a very expensive gift supposed to help me finish my uni work in quarantine and I cannot be £169 out of pocket for headphones that don’t work. 

lincroft1710

cmurphy8 said:

I recently purchased some earbuds from John Lewis. 

They were a very expensive gift supposed to help me finish my uni work in quarantine and I cannot be £169 out of pocket for headphones that don’t work. 

Were they a gift to you or did you purchase them yourself?

Supersonos

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

cmurphy8

lincroft1710 said:

cmurphy8 said:

I recently purchased some earbuds from John Lewis. 

They were a very expensive gift supposed to help me finish my uni work in quarantine and I cannot be £169 out of pocket for headphones that don’t work. 

Were they a gift to you or did you purchase them yourself?

Bought for me by my partner but he was the one who contacted John Lewis about the return 

cmurphy8

Supersonos said:

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

Yep that’s the ones. They struggle to connect to the phone, with or without the app, and when they do sometimes connect they play for a few seconds and then the volume goes all the way down to almost muted. When using the headphones connect app I was finding that as soon as I changed the volume on my phone it would mute via the volume controls in the app. When I don’t have the app installed and connect using simple Bluetooth the same thing happens with the volume - as soon as you try to adjust it they stop playing sound. I tried everything that the help guides suggested - resetting, initializing, had the most up to date iOS and app. They work perfectly on my partners phone and connected to my laptop (amazing sound quality too ). Contacted Sony support to explain all this and they had no suggestions for fixes. Just said they’re not compatible and therefore can’t guarantee their function. They also wouldn’t confirm whether they’re working on any update to fix the issue. 

Supersonos

cmurphy8 said:

Supersonos said:

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

They work perfectly on my partners phone and connected to my laptop (amazing sound quality too ). 

Then I would suggest the issue lies with your iPhone.  I'd check the software is all up to date, remove the earbuds from the phone's Bluetooth list ("forget" the ear buds), restart the phone and start the pairing process again.  If that doesn't work, try some other Bluetooth peripheral with your phone and see how it performs and then take it up with Apple - it's possibly a faulty Bluetooth chip in the phone.

Incidentally, the Sony app doesn't affect the connection, it's just a way of allowing you to adjust settings etc. of the Sony earbuds.

Back to your original question, I'm afraid JL are correct.  They are compatible and, as you've said they work with other phones/laptops, they're clearly not faulty.

Socajam

Supersonos said:

cmurphy8 said:

Supersonos said:

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

They work perfectly on my partners phone and connected to my laptop (amazing sound quality too ). 

Then I would suggest the issue lies with your iPhone.  I'd check the software is all up to date, remove the earbuds from the phone's Bluetooth list ("forget" the ear buds), restart the phone and start the pairing process again.  If that doesn't work, try some other Bluetooth peripheral with your phone and see how it performs and then take it up with Apple - it's possibly a faulty Bluetooth chip in the phone.

Incidentally, the Sony app doesn't affect the connection, it's just a way of allowing you to adjust settings etc. of the Sony earbuds.

Back to your original question, I'm afraid JL are correct.  They are compatible and, as you've said they work with other phones/laptops, they're clearly not faulty.

It's very refreshing when people know their stuff - thanks.

cmurphy8

Supersonos said:

cmurphy8 said:

Supersonos said:

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

They work perfectly on my partners phone and connected to my laptop (amazing sound quality too ). 

Then I would suggest the issue lies with your iPhone.  I'd check the software is all up to date, remove the earbuds from the phone's Bluetooth list ("forget" the ear buds), restart the phone and start the pairing process again.  If that doesn't work, try some other Bluetooth peripheral with your phone and see how it performs and then take it up with Apple - it's possibly a faulty Bluetooth chip in the phone.

Incidentally, the Sony app doesn't affect the connection, it's just a way of allowing you to adjust settings etc. of the Sony earbuds.

Back to your original question, I'm afraid JL are correct.  They are compatible and, as you've said they work with other phones/laptops, they're clearly not faulty.

Why do you think you know better than the manufacturer who say that they’re *not* compatible?

cmurphy8

Socajam said:

Supersonos said:

cmurphy8 said:

Supersonos said:

Are they the Sony WF-1000XM3?  If so, they use the newest Bluetooth 5 standard, as does the new iPhone SE, so they are compatible.

What is the issue?

They work perfectly on my partners phone and connected to my laptop (amazing sound quality too ). 

Then I would suggest the issue lies with your iPhone.  I'd check the software is all up to date, remove the earbuds from the phone's Bluetooth list ("forget" the ear buds), restart the phone and start the pairing process again.  If that doesn't work, try some other Bluetooth peripheral with your phone and see how it performs and then take it up with Apple - it's possibly a faulty Bluetooth chip in the phone.

Incidentally, the Sony app doesn't affect the connection, it's just a way of allowing you to adjust settings etc. of the Sony earbuds.

Back to your original question, I'm afraid JL are correct.  They are compatible and, as you've said they work with other phones/laptops, they're clearly not faulty.

It's very refreshing when people know their stuff - thanks.

Dunno why people who aren’t me are thanking this person for being unhelpful and lacking basic reading comprehension RE Sony confirming they’re not compatible. 

Incidentally, when I mentioned that I would be speaking to Citizens Advice as this was clearly false advertising a John Lewis changed their tune and are allowing me to return them. Thanks for nothing though team 😂

Hasbeen

Op have you set it up with the apples instructions for iphones?

https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/wf1000xm3/v1/en/contents/TP0002289879.html

Perhaps apple etc still have to update if you have a brand new phone?

Hasbeen

cmurphy8 said:

I

 Thanks for nothing though team 😂

Ok Goodbye!