The Bluetooth Saga

OK - here's the story.

Back on June 24th, I bought myself a Bluetooth wireless headset. I really wanted to upgrade from the wired handsfree unit I have been using for years. The hook that goes around your ear had melted into a weird shape that did not fit, the "ear bud" was hard and just didn't fit in my ear - besides, I wanted one!

Anyway, I stopped at my favorite Big Lots to see if they had anything. They get them in occasionally, but they sell out really fast! I was in luck - they had some AND they were on sale. Now, these particular units usually list around $50 or more - I got it for $18! WOO HOO - can we say excited?

So I came home, read my little pamphlet that explained how to charge it and set it up and I followed the directions - letting it charge for about 4 hours before I tried to "pair" it with my phone. I followed the instructions to the letter but the pairing failed. Let it charge for a couple more hours; tried to pair it again, but again the pairing failed. I kept trying to get it to pair, but nothing doing. So finally, I called the customer service number in my little pamphlet. The phone was either busy or no answer - for a WEEK! I thought, my goodness, this is a name brand, not some knock-off - what could possibly be going on. I tried the Internet to see if I could get any information, all I was able to find referred me back to the phone number I already had!

After about a week, the phone was finally answered. A very pleasant young lady walked me through the pairing process - again - and the pairing failed - again! We finally came to the conclusion that I had a defective unit and we made arrangements for her to send me a new one. (BTW- I offered to send the first one back, but they said it wasn't necessary.)

The new one arrived the night before I was leaving on a trip to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Indiana, so I just plugged it into one of the outlets in my van and let it sit for several hours. This time I left it plugged in while I tried to pair it (one of the problems they thought I was having was not enough power in the unit). It still wouldn't pair; so I left it plugged in for 3 days without touching it. Still it wouldn't pair.

So I start calling again . . . and again I could only get a busy signal or no answer for several days. When I finally got through, it was the same young lady who had talked with me the first time. We went through it all again. Again she said that she thought it was because it had not been fully charged, until I was able to get her to understand that it had been plugged in for 3 days without being disturbed! She asked that I send this one back so she could try pairing it with HER phone; not a problem. So I packaged it up and sent it back.

Well, the next week I got a message on my phone that they would like to talk to me before they sent out the next unit; so I started calling - you guessed it - busy signals or no answer - for an entire week. When I finally got through, as soon as I said my name they knew who I was! A new unit had been sent out that day. They still had no explanation as to why the units would not pair with my phone, but they asked that I charge this new one a minimum of 13 hours before I tried to pair it.

Now, let me say that I had been asking from the very beginning if they would like to know what type of phone I had to see if it was a problem with compatibility . . . no, we don't need to know that. Now it seems to me that if I have tried 2 different units and neither one of them have worked, wouldn't it seem a POSSIBILITY that I needed a different model or something?

So Tuesday night, when I got home from work, there on my porch was another package with another Bluetooth in it . . . here we go again. Things were hectic around here that evening/night, so I waited to plug the new unit in until around 9 a.m. the following morning (Wednesday). I left that puppy plugged in until 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning! Attempted to pair the unit using ALL of the pass codes they had given me and once again, time after time, I got the message "pairing failed."