I don't think there's any company out there that would actually care to fix a situation like this. We're all just disposable customers to them...
Random example: I had an expensive Sonos speaker just the other week that broke in a move across the Atlantic. Sonos support helped for nearly an hour trying reset options, then gave me a 30% discount coupon for any product, even though the speaker was long out of warranty.
Apple is in no need of positive word of mouth, and in fact thrives despite a very vocal subset of consumers that are adamantly against anything Apple does (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly).
That is, Sonos has to work to keep you a customer, but plenty of Apple customers will just buy Apple no matter what.
I really like their hardware but their software is so bad it's making me want to quit their ecosystem altogether. Their support is bad too.
Well, they didn't break it. Why should it be their responsibility to replace something they didn't break for free?
Now if the product was defective or something, sure, but this is asking way too much.
If pressed, I'd wish at least an aspiring boutique manufacturer like Sonos would make service manuals and replacement parts available. But again, I wouldn't expect them to do that unless they were forced to. (And it may not have been viable or cost effective for the OP in any event.)
Modern electronics is just planned obsolescence + replacement.
Americans seem to think that Apple really cares about them and not just in a way to extract as much as possible from your wallet.
I have no idea how a case like this would play out in the US. But it certainly feels like something that should be illegal.
Also, in the US there's implied merchantability warranties, and most people have no idea it exists. If your expensive high quality headphones die a week after the one year warranty ends, implied merchantabilty still applies, because people expect headphones to last several years if treated appropriately.
OP needs to go back to the Apple store and say "I came in with a working airpod and case, and left with nothing working. Please make this right."
If they refuse, say "my next stop is small claims court for your staff damaging my property."
It's a few bucks of aluminum, but they've guaranteed more loyalty than they already had.
Patagonia repaired/replaced damaged clothing for me, Yakima and Specialized sent me free parts, NiteRider fixed a bike light, ReeLight sent me a replacement from overseas, Osprey replaced a backpack after my dog chewed it up... all for free.
Maybe it's just electronics companies that's bad at this stuff