I’ve been using Bose headphones for the better part of a decade now. Since my first pair of Bose QC2s I’ve owned the QC15, QC20, QC25, and now QC35 headphones. I’ve also had two sets of Bose SoundSport wired headphones. Overall I just love Bose. While their products are a bit on the pricy side I’ve been satisfied with every thus far.
Needless to say when Bose introduced the Bose SoundSport Free headphones I pre-ordered them. I had been considering purchasing a pair of wireless earbuds for several weeks and Bose happened to announce these headphones during my search. After a lot of hesitation I decided to place my order. I pre-ordered the Bose SoundSport Free headphones and had to wait a few weeks until they shipped.
The headphones arrived in late October and I was extremely excited when they arrived. I had high expectations as I pulled the wireless ear buds out of the box and sadly they didn’t come close to living up to them.
The Bose SoundSport Free Headphones Were Disappointing
Before my new headphones even arrived I was aware of potential issues. Apparently the way the headphones connect to each other and the paired device creates an audio delay when watching video.
Sure enough when the headphones arrived I too noticed this delay. I’ve experienced audio delays before, but with the SoundSport Free headphones the delay was horrible. Since I was excited about these headphones I overlooked this issue. After all, I don’t often use my earbuds to watch video. Instead, I typically use my ear bud headphones to listen to music when walking around the airport or along city streets.
Walking around the city is where I noticed the second major issue with the Bose SoundSport Free headphones. While walking or running the earbuds would momentarily disconnect from one another. This created a few seconds of audio ping pong between the two buds. Eventually the connection would sync up again and everything would be fine.
I walk about 10 minutes outside during my commute each day. Sometimes this audio ping pong only happened once and other times it happened 5 or 6 times. It was very frustrating, but again, not a big enough issue to deter me from using the headphones.
Then, on an extremely cold day in Chicago (fairly typical for winter), I experienced the final straw. As I was walking in the cold my left earbud died completely. Then just a few seconds later the right bud died completely. I couldn’t turn them back on and my only option was to drop them back into the charging case. A few minutes later I put the buds back in and they worked again only to die a few moments later.
Asking Bose For A Refund
Considering Chicago is cold for several months a year I simply couldn’t accept having a pair of headphones that didn’t work in the cold. At that point I really wanted my money back, but it was more than two weeks past my purchase date. I was going to try to sell the headphones on Craigslist or Ebay, but before I did any of that I tried to get a refund from Bose.
At that point I got on twitter and asked Bose for a refund of my new SoundSport Free headphones. Surprisingly Bose got back to me incredibly quickly via Direct Message and allowed me to return the headphones.
Shortly after the first message Bose sent me an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) and a pre-paid shipping label. Bose instructed me to ship the headphones back to them and they would then issue me a check as a refund for the cost of the headphones.
It took about a month for me to receive my check, but it finally came today. Sure enough the check was for the cost of the headphones plus the estimated taxes I paid. I’m extremely pleased with Bose’s customer service and excited to use this refund to purchase another pair of Bose SoundSport wired headphones for now.
Final Thoughts
The Bose SoundSport Free headphones might be my biggest disappointment of 2017. I had high hopes for the headphones. I’ve wanted completely wireless earbuds ever since Apple Airpods came out, but sadly Airpods don’t stay in my ears. I figured these headphones would be the best alternative to Airpods. I knew the Bose StayHear ear tips stayed in my ears and figured I could use the ear buds both during my commute and while at the gym.
While the ear buds worked great at the gym they were just too inconsistent during daily use to justify keeping them. After all these headphones cost $250! For $250 I want a pair of headphones that work perfectly all the time. These earbuds simply didn’t work 100% of the time and therefore I really wanted to return them.
I’m really impressed with Bose for accepting my return and issuing a refund well past the two week return window. While I didn’t have good luck with this particular pair of headphones I did have a fantastic experience with Bose. I’ve long recommended Bose products and will continue to do so. That’s because not only do they make fantastic headphones, but they also have outstanding customer service. Thank you Bose for accepting my return and issuing a refund.
