skin irratations and itchy ears from powerbeats pro wireless

Hello everyone, I have followed this discussion for weeks but to be honest this forum doesn't appear to get the attention from Apple that we deserve. So I called Customer Services yesterday to open a case for replacing my Beats, the initial call went as expected, rep one had no idea these issues are happening to end users. The second rep was very concerned but had to hand the issue to Quality Insurance to proceed. During this process, I was asked a lot of questions then they asked me to supply pictures of my ears and the Beats. Later in the day, I received a call telling me a rep will reach out to me Friday to discuss if Apply is willing to replace my Beats. Now this is where I have noticed some of you also took this route, it appears for some of you the next step is a six month wait to get your replacement. This is not acceptable in my opinion, so I truly believe this forum isn't be used my Apple to understand our issues so it's bet for everyone here to call in the issue, which creates a ticket that pushes Apple to resolution. Good luck everyone...

OK so update: During my initial calls at the beginning of July, I got transferred a few times to someone that was a senior safety advisor who asked me a lot of questions and requested I send him pictures of all sides of each headphone and my ears. By this time my ears were mostly healed so I took pics of what I could but told him I was NOT putting the headphones back in so I could get the issue again to take pics just for them (he seemed okay with that). I didn't hear anything after I submitted the pictures so after a few weeks (end of July) I called them again to figure out what the deal was since I hadn't heard anything (and initially they had told me it'd take about a week after I submitted the pictures). They said they tried to call me back (but they didn't leave a message and I looked back at the calls on my phone and there was only one try that could've been them, so there wasn't multiple attempts) and they had more questions. So then I answered more questions (and very specific ones like dates when I had the reaction, what it felt like, how long it took to heal, if I have any other skin issues or conditions in general etc.). Then after answering those, they scheduled another call in a week saying they'd let me know if their safety team/engineers had any more questions, etc.

Long story short (too late): After about 3 calls each a week a part, I'm finally at the point where I have shipped back my headphones (they sent me a shipping label), I have sent them a copy of my receipt, and I'm waiting for them to process it to give me a refund. (I have another call scheduled for Thursday to give me an update on the status of my refund.)

It seems like this (questions, pictures) is what everyone else has gone through when contacting Apple. I did initially mention this forum and that others had this issue, but not sure if that was passed along to the 5 or 6 other people I ended up talking to as I got transferred around. Once I finally got a hold of someone and scheduled calls, the process seemed to go faster and they were pretty quick to accept my headphones back and give me a refund. I'm coming up on almost 2 months from my initial call to refund? It might have been quicker if I hadn't waited so long after I submitted pictures hoping they'd get back to me. So I suggest if anyone is going this route, to stay on top of them and schedule calls and call back if it's longer than they said it would be.

If you are experiencing this issue and it's still been within a year of you purchasing it, I strongly suggest calling Apple Support and going through this process to get a refund. Most of us have tried other things or different colors but most end with the same result and issues with our ears. As someone else recently said, maybe if enough of us call and complain they'll do something? But at the very least you'll get a refund?

In the meantime, I have purchased Airpods 2 and some rubber tips with hooks (since the whole reason I didn't buy these and bought the Beats initially was because they don't stay in my ears), and they've been sufficient.

For those of you just starting the process with Apple, stay the course. It’s a long process. They will schedule many calls, request pictures and documentation, etc. They will drag the process out. But, I just shipped mine back yesterday and waiting to hear how they will handle the refund. You might have to speak to multiple people, but ultimately I have been dealing with the same advisor now for a couple months. He communicates via phone and email. Good luck to all. There are so many people dealing with this and Apple needs to make it right. At first I didn’t realize what was causing my ear problems either. But everything that each of you has described is we a rly what I have experienced too.

Skilduff, thanks for this really important info. I'm now trying to figure out why the Apple advisors we've spoken with over the last several months never mentioned any of this stuff, and claimed they had never heard of our problem. Is Apple so ginormous a company that such information can be known by people in one section of the organization but not by people in another section, people who should definitely be well informed about such things for the sake of the well-being of Apple customers? My faith wavers...

Don’t send them anything expecting more than a refund. They said they would pay my medical bills but now won’t pay any of the medical bills or send my product back. Crooks as usual, shouldn’t be surprised.

Had a follow up call today

European medical team too BUSY so referring it to the USA medical team !!!!

Agent handling my call could not give me a ETA on outcome or resolution but will update me monday via email

Meanwhile i am without earphones that i can use and I continue wake up with drainage in my ears

PS I have given my details and experiences to an Irish journalist to do a story on the Powerbeats Pro allergic reaction

Yes, my ears are fully recovered and I haven't worn the PBPs for a few months. I did actually send them back and got a refund, but I emphasized all through that lengthy process that Apple should get their scientists on the job, find out what is causing the issue, fix it and bring out a new version of the PBPs, because it's a great design (those ear hooks), especially for people like me whose ear shape can't hold onto other in-ear 'phones. Surely Apple can afford to do this (the company is now worth $2 trillion!), and for the sake of its reputation alone I would have thought it would be worth its while to deal with this issue rather than seemingly trying to ignore it and hope it goes away.

I bought mine back in november of 2019 and all was fine for few weeks when I noticed patchy skin behind my ear. First I thought it was just from a sweat, waited a week for it to clear and put them back on and 2 days latter I got such bad reaction I got ear infection with patchy skin, it took me 2 weeks and full antibiotics to clear it up. So I did not wear them for months and tonight I put them on just to test it again I cleaned them first and wore them for maybe 20 min and now my both ears itching and so red... I really love them and they fit perfectly but now I have to get something else. I hope Apple reads all of our posts to fix this issue, no point of buying new version if they are all made of same material. 😕

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

We want to make sure you reach the right team for help with your Powerbeats Pro Wireless. We recommend that you contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support

I_rina, I assume you are an Apple employee, so do you have any information about what Apple is doing to find out what is causing the problem we are all having? Being directed to Apple’s Support people is helpful, but what we all really want to know is what is causing this problem and what Apple is doing to fix it. Many people In this discussion like biljana49 immediately above (‘... I really love them and they fit perfectly”) have said they really like the design of the Powerbeats Pros, and I’m sure many like me would be willing to buy new Powerbeats Pros if we could be assured that we could use them without suffering those awful skin reactions. So, what we’re looking for is some word from Apple that they acknowledge the problem and are working on a solution. I really don’t think this is too much to ask.

Hi I_rina,

Have you any feedback on previous incidents and the outcome for the victims of the allergic reaction due to the Powerbeats Pro earbuds

Can Apple speed up the process and stop wasting the victims and apple support personnel dealing with individual queries

Skilduff wrote:

Hi I_rina,

Have you any feedback on previous incidents and the outcome for the victims of the allergic reaction due to the Powerbeats Pro earbuds

Can Apple speed up the process and stop wasting the victims and apple support personnel dealing with individual queries

Victim?! Really? None of this seems logical to me at all.

I am allergic to wheat, I'm not looking to get anything out of it or a handout. This is my biology and this is my problem.

If they switched materials used I'm sure there would be a bunch of people that have an allergy to whatever that new material is.

Try another set of covers, get some gels. Work great for me and I'm not wasting my or anyone's time on this.

Im not looking to get anything out of it

just a solution to allergic reaction, maybe different earbud covers that are compatible with the Powerbeats pro

by finding a solution it means everyone can have a positive experience with the Powerbeats pro

and try cornflakes instead of wheaties👍🏻

Recommend one and I’ll try

They need to be free from

Acrylates

How does acrylate allergy present? In individuals allergic to one or more specific acrylates, direct contact with acrylate monomers produces classic allergic contact dermatitis. The dermatitis is usually confined to the area of contact and may cause itching, burning, scaling, hives, and blistering.

Very aware of acrylates, already been to the doc about this.

I use the "Comply" tips for my Airpods and Beats. No issues.

https://www.complyfoam.com/

Keep in mind that it may be another compound that people have an issue with or multiple compounds. This worked for me, does not work for my partner. They use the gels and have no issue. I find the gels work as well but prefer the foam for comfort sake.