HomePod mini does not “play sound when using Siri”

None of my six HomePod minis ever play a sound when using Siri, even though I have the setting toggled on. They show a light when using Siri (as I have that setting toggled on, as well) but never have they ever played a sound. You always hear that Apple products “just work” but I’ve noticed a more nuanced “truth” for years and that is that they just work… except when they don’t. Which is far more often than you would think from a company that puts so much time into perfecting the user experience of their products. And this is just the latest prime example of that. Why is there a setting for a feature that doesn’t even work? And knowing how long it takes Apple to fix these sorts of things (and keeping in mind how long it has already been like this), I don’t expect to see a fix for months (and that is only if they happen to see this post). First world problem? Absolutely. Don’t offer the setting, then, if it doesn’t do anything and I wouldn’t feel compelled to rant about it after tolerating it for a year.