New Air Pods have name associated with them from prior owner

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suengel Author

Level 1

4 points

New Air Pods have name associated with them from prior owner

I bought new Air Pods Pro engraved, and when I set them up on my iPhone, they already had the name "Big Daddy's Air Pods Pro" assigned to them. These were previously owned and returned, and Apple resold them to me as new. And since I had them engraved, Apple knew that I couldn't return them. I called Apple customer service, explained my concern, and said I wanted to replace them. After several minutes, Apple agreed to let me return the and sent me another engraved pair. My problem is that there are other people this has happened to. Apple asks that you erase all personal data and reset them to factory standards. Still, if the person returning the Air pods doesn't do this, then they maintain the name associated with them by the original owner. If Apple sells used Air Pods as new, this is fraud in my book.

AirPods Pro (2nd generation)

Posted on Dec 29, 2023 8:08 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,730 points

Dec 29, 2023 12:38 PM in response to suengel

Although Apple asks folks to remove their personal data, specifically their Apple ID association with an Apple device before returning it, they have no way to "force" them to do so.

What strikes me here is, AFAIK, Apple does not sell returned products as "new." What I'm not sure of is if this policy it international, or not.

Since you didn't provide any details on where you purchased these AirPods, it tends to lead to question, whether or not, you got it directly from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller ... OR from another third-party source.

Regardless, there is nothing we (fellow Apple-product users) can assist you with this. It looks like, from your post, that you have already resolved it with Apple.

I'm not saying that this is not possible, but at least, in my experience I have not come across this issue personally ... and I have been making purchases directly from Apple for quite a few years now.

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Answer 2

suengel Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 30, 2023 10:43 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for your reply. I bought both sets of "new" Air pod Pros from the Apple store online as new, not refurbished. The boxes had the tear-off strip intact, indicating that they were not reopened but packaged by Apple. One set of the air pods was engraved for my husband, and when he paired them with his phone, he could assign a name. The second engraved pair was for my son, and when he put them on for the first time (no one was in the room with him, and he didn't have any other Apple device named "Big Daddy"), the name "Big Daddy's Air Pod Pros" popped up on his phone. This would indicate that these air pods have been previously owned, and the owner returned them but still needed to wipe out their personal information but didn't. Apple then repackaged them for an engraved sale, which is not returnable. Someone messed up here.

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New Air Pods have name associated with them from prior owner

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