Hi, thanks for your response.
I have already tried these solutions, but after attempting them again there was still no change. Even when I 'Reduce Loud Sounds' in 'Sound & Haptics' settings, the AirPods still blast on the lowest volume setting (lowest setting on both the phone and the AirPods themselves). I have also worked through all the settings in 'Headphone Accommodations' — for context, when I use the 'play sample' option on the lowest volumes and slight boost, the sound still comes out so loud that I have to take the AirPods out of my ears almost immediately.
I have also taken the AirPods into an iStore for diagnostics, however, they only checked that the sounds were reaching high enough volumes, not that they were too high.
I am really desperate! I paid a huge amount for these but literally can't use them without fear of damaging my ears.