AirPods sound not coming out of main speaker hole

So, I have a set of 1st gen AirPods and 2nd gen as well, and there are different issues with both of them, but at the same time they do share at least one issue.

Firstly, the 1st gens. #1 issue is that the case can be fully charged, the AirPods themselves can be fully charged, yet once you take them out of the case to use them, the left one always stops working. Put them back in the case and they both start playing music again. My guess is that somehow the battery on the left one is bad. I have reset these things numerous times. Always the same issue with the left one. At one time, early on, it was only the volume on the left one that seemed to be bad- it would be really quiet compared to the right one. When they are in the case, the volume sounds even on both, but it is very low, they do not get very loud.

Now, on to the 2nd gens. The issue with these is that, it seems like all of the sound is coming out of the hole that is on the outside of the AirPod. I believe it is the air vent for the speaker, that equalizes the pressure inside the AirPod to allow the speaker cone to vibrate freely. This is where all of the sound is coming out of. If I push the AirPods into my ear canal as I am supposed to, the sound is very muffled. I have to pull them out somewhat and kind of perch them on the edge of my ear canal and then the sound is better, but still not what it should be. What's more, is if I turn them around, and insert them where that vent is, so that the stalks are sticking out of my ears horizontally, they sound perfect, like the AirPods should. This is also an issue that is shared by the 1st gens. The sound does not seems to come out of the regular speaker hole.

Now I have cleaned these things, made sure that all of the holes/vents/meshes are clean, reset them countless times, and just can't understand what the problem is. The 1st gens were a find, so not purchased new, but they did work correctly in the beginning. The 2nd gens were bought new, but started exhibiting that same behavior pretty quickly...

I have called Apple about this, but have not been able to do any kind of troubleshooting with them, because both AirPods belonged to my son and he would have them all the time. Now I have them and will try to call them one day when I think of it, but wanted to check on here first to see if anybody else has experienced this.

Thanks.