Is there a possibility that new AirPods Pro arrive with different previous owner?

So, few months back I bought AirPods Pro to gift a close friend via following eBay Listing (including the seller)

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/224157434790

After using it for a few days, he got this notification that "AirPods Pro Detected Near You" on his phone.

He contact me asking if "the AirPods were assigned a different owner first"?

The question itself was surprising to me - it was a sealed box with every expected covering etc.

He checked with Apple, which says it is unexpected. I asked him if he had accidentally added the AirPods to her wife's Apple Account first. He messaged that he didn't (though I remember he was planning to do so earlier)

Now, it keeps me wondering:

  1. Can a brand new sealed AirPods be used earlier (and somehow repacked with every bit perfectly in place?). To me, it seems quite improbable but would like to hear views. My friend says that as per Apple, the device seems to be stolen. I asked him to share screenshots of the conversation with me but it did not have any such detail. I asked him to check https://checkcoverage.apple.com/au/en/ to see which day AirPods was activated first but haven't heard back from him
  2. Can anything be done about it? I bought it June last year but my friend used it a few days back.

Looking forward to hear views on this.

Comments

  • I have seen the Airpods wrap being sold from China so it is possible that Fastcomm pulled a fast one on you.

    Since you bought it during June it even pasts PayPals 180 day buyer protection thing if you even used PayPal.

  • Sorry, what's an "Airpods wrap"? The AirPods are original and they show warranty as well (as per Apple). The real question is can someone use it, clean it (with absolutely no residue and everything intact) and repack it in absolute pristine condition?

    Also, I wonder why would someone even do it? I mean the max usage someone could get out is a probably a few days, before signs of usage kicks in 🤷‍♂️

    • +2

      I mean the shrink-wrap/plastic wrap Apple uses. The one with the green arrow. You can buy those from China and reseal.

  • +5

    You can check the warranty coverage. Normally goes by activation date. That can’t be changed.

  • Can a brand new sealed AirPods be used earlier (and somehow repacked with every bit perfectly in place?)

    It's really not that hard to put everything back into place. Re-sealing the package would be pretty straight forward too if you already have the tools to do it.

    • Even if this is plausible, still not able to get my head around why someone would do this

      • You don't understand why someone would want to sell something that is used at the price of a brand new product?

        • Not that. As I mentioned earlier.

          Also, I wonder why would someone even do it? I mean the max usage someone could get out is a probably a few days, before signs of usage kicks in 🤷‍♂️

          • @thegreatermamba: The only unhide-able sign of usage is the warranty date everything else can and should’ve been covered up and felt like new. That detected near you thing is because they haven’t properly unlinked their existing iCloud account from the hardware.

  • +2

    Just buy them from Apple next time.

  • Man, one guys iPhone arrived turned on.. one guys AirPods were used… what’s next?! Received a BNIB rock from Apple?

    • You mean, it meant to be a BNIB Apple, but turned out someone took a bite of it, and sold it to you as new.

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