Thursday, June 7, 2018

Headphones


Our search for wireless headphones began with our first visit to a Best Buy outlet. Actually the purchase of headphones has been on our to-do list for months...in order to give John access to music and TV every hour of every day!...at his chosen volume!!

During the first visit to Best Buy several weeks ago we were shown a couple of headphones that fit within our budget but we wanted to check other stores. So we dropped into London Drugs where the clerk was engaged in a lengthy phone conversation and oblivious to us and into Walmart where the minimum wage clerk was stacking shelves and lacking info.

Last week we returned to Best Buy and were surprised to learn that our TV probably did not have Bluetooth!...so we would need a "dongle" and Bluetooth wireless headphones if John wanted to use the headphones for the TV and his iPad. Now...we are not exactly tech savvy seniors...so...WTF! What is Bluetooth and where do you find a "dongle"? Our other option was a set of wireless headphones that sit on a stand to recharge and the stand plugs into the back of the TV...maybe...if there is an appropriate outlet in the back of the TV!!! Hmmmh...we said that we would think about the "dongle" and return after a bit of research.

So...yesterday we returned for our third time to Best Buy...to ask a few more questions...and become more confused than ever. As a result we walked out with a set of wireless headphones on a stand that plugs into the back of the TV...not Bluetooth apparently...and only for use with the TV!!

I followed the instructions very carefully, assembling the thing, installing the batteries in the headphones and placing them on the stand which acts as the charger. According to the instructions it should take about 7 hours for the battery pack to charge. At bedtime, 10 hours later, the charger stand was still reading RED, not GREEN...but the headphones showed a green light when turned on. It was too dark to fumble around behind the TV so I waited until this morning to plug the stand into the back of the TV...in the only outlet that seemed appropriate (audio out)...and tried everything that I could think of to make a sound from the TV come through the headphones!...and YES...the TV was on!!!

In frustration, I packed up the entire contents and we headed back to Best Buy for the fourth time to return the headphones and get a "dongle" as well as Bluetooth headphones. Guess what?! You can't return headphones if the package has been opened!!!!!...again WTF!!...but, you can exchange them.
Another clerk took us to find a "dongle"...but they didn't have one that would work with our TV!! He suggested that we take our purchase to the "Geek Squad" in the back of the store and see if they could figure out if the product was faulty. Okay!

The Geek in the Geek Squad was convinced that our purchase was Bluetooth despite the number of times that I told him "NO...IT ISN'T"! Finally, in frustration, he told us "Just exchange it for another one...the same...because this one is faulty." Who was more frustrated by this time?! Back at Customer Service we told the clerk what he had said and she went to get us another one...the same as the one we were returning!! When she returned, ten minutes later...guess what?! There wasn't another one...so, despite company policy, and after too much wasted time, we got A FULL REFUND!...and we are still without wireless headphones!

1 comment:

  1. Look into Roku! Will save you tons of money, and you can take it anywhere! I use it now, and it also solves the bluetooth issue.

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