Fake AirPods Pro from online retailer

es5595

Back in Autumn 2020 my mum bought a pair of AirPods pro from Ryman online. I'm not 100% sure why, she struggles with technology at the best of times, but we spend a lot of time talking on the phone and I think she thought they'd be easier to use as she always gets the cable snagged on wired ones.

But, she struggled to use them, couldn't get them to stay in her ears, couldn't get the volume to work etc etc. I visited in December 2020 and she gave them to me to try whilst I went out for a walk, I couldn't get them to even both connect to my phone, and if they did they'd keep saying one had zero battery. I gave up and used my own headphones. I'd had a friend who'd gotten a problem with one and it seemed like they were faulty so I suggested we went into the apple store over Christmas and got them sorted. 

Then Christmas 2020 was cancelled, followed by another lockdown in early 2021 so they got tossed in a drawer and left there. We were chatting last month and I mentioned them and she said she'd forgotten all about them, but (with encouragement) booked a genius bar (apple store) appointment. 

Imagine her surprise at the genius bar today when she was told they didn't work properly because they were fake! She'd paid full price and bought them from a reputable retailer so its very disappointing, I found them still listed online - https://www.ryman.co.uk/apple-airpods-pro-with-wireless-charging-case The apple store have given her written confirmation they are fake, and the review she wrote a year ago is still live on that page, and I'm now aware most of her complaints are common in fake/counterfeit AirPods. 

How would you go about contacting them, given the longer-than-normal passage of time?

Aylesbury_Duck

By email
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es5595

I'll stand down the carrier pigeon then 

porkisnotmeat

It's highly unlikely a well known UK retailer is selling fake AirPods at near RRP:

nyermen

Suspect this could be a "return" that was sent back out again without being checked.

Bradden

porkisnotmeat said:

It's highly unlikely a well known UK retailer is selling fake AirPods at near RRP:

I could see it happening if someone had purchased a new air and then returned fake ones without the store knowing...proving it will not be so easy though. 

unforeseen

Also, considering a year has passed, your mum being able to prove to Rymans that the air pods she has are the ones that Rymans sent her will be nigh on impossible. 

cx6

Does the firmware have a serial number? Does the Ryman receipt or box have a serial number? Chances are low if fake but you never know.

If the pods have a serial number in the firmware then check that against the serial number on the box.

es5595

nyermen said:

Suspect this could be a "return" that was sent back out again without being checked.

Bradden said:

I could see it happening if someone had purchased a new air and then returned fake ones without the store knowing...proving it will not be so easy though. 

This hadn’t occurred to me, so thank you. I couldn’t work out how it could have happened to mum without it happening en mass, ie, they’d accidentally purchased a shipment of counterfeit ones. 

Hopefully they’ll have some record on which were returns so this may shed some light on it. 

cx6 said:

Does the firmware have a serial number? Does the Ryman receipt or box have a serial number? Chances are low if fake but you never know.

If the pods have a serial number in the firmware then check that against the serial number on the box.

Yes, this is how the apple store identified them as fakes initially. The serial numbers on the box and the headphones doesn’t match up. He then went onto identify further very-subtle differences. 

unforeseen said:

Also, considering a year has passed, your mum being able to prove to Rymans that the air pods she has are the ones that Rymans sent her will be nigh on impossible. 

This is indeed the issue I’m seeking advice on. I’m hoping that as mum left a very comprehensive review a year ago highlighting the issues she was experiencing with them, it will go some way to evidencing these have never worked correctly.