Contravening consumer protection laws

My wife received a set of earpods (purchased form Homemark Stores date 08/01/20230) as a Christmas present however, we were on holiday over this period. We returned from our holiday on 09 January 2023, unfortunately, we only managed to pick up the present about a week later. We charged the earpods as per the instruction leaflet and proceeded to test the earpods just to discover that they did not work. We thought that we not following the instruction correctly and enlisted the help of one of the children who confirmed that the earpods were not working. We returned the pods to the store on 31 January 2023, the manager consulted with someone at the head office by the name of Vincent and she was told to book it in for repairs. They refused to swop the pods and after a long argument, I conceded to book the pods in for repairs. At the same time, she mentioned to me that another customer had the exact same experience and she was told that they will book it in for repairs. It seems to me that Homemark Stores are renowned for dealing in defective goods as I witnessed another customer returning an air fryer oven where the shelf and rotisserie did not fit into the oven cavity.