If you are experiencing your QC35s powering on by themselves or failing to power off, please contact your local Bose support at http://global.bose.com/.
There is a lot of information in this thread from other users who have experienced this issue. As with all forum posts and user generated content, you'll find plenty of good advice here but remember that your situation or configuration may vary from other community members who share a solution. Bose does not validate, nor does it endorse any of the advice posted by community members on this site. The QuietComfort 35 headset is not user-serviceable. As such, attempting to manually modify the product will void any warranty that the product may still be covered under.
Our advice for users experiencing this issue is to contact your local Bose support who are ready to work with you to find a resolution to this issue.
Back in November of 2020, our investigation concluded that this issue may affect QC 35 I and older QC 35 II. Not every headset will experience this issue, but unfortunately it is not something that can be resolved via a firmware or software update. We are confident that our newer QC 35 II headphones will not experience this problem.
We are aware that some community members were dissatisfied after contacting Bose support in the past regarding this issue. We made updates to the service options for this issue based on your feedback in November and your local Bose Support teams now have more resources to help.
We apologize that your QC35s failed to perform as you expected. We also want to express our gratitude to all the community members in this thread who supported each other and worked together to help with workarounds for the issue.
As contacting support is the best option for anyone running into this issue, this thread is closed for further comments.
Thanks for the message. Sorry to hear that. Could we ask does the switch seem loose at all? Its possible that the switch is defective. If you find that the switch doesn't engage properly, we would recommend contacting your local Bose support HERE. Click on your country, scroll down to "Contact Us"
Option #1... Return it to the retailer NOW. Get a cash refund and repurchase a new unit so that the retailer's return policy starts from scratch. If the new unit has the same problem, take it back again and purchase a different product.
Option #2... Follow the advice on this forum until the retailer will no longer accept a return. Then ship it to Bose for a repair. Wait six weeks (like I did for a Wave system) to get your QC35 back. Confirm that the problem is still present.
Thanks for the post. That does not sound great. Appears like it could be a loose power switch? Your best bet would be to get in touch with your local Bose Support for the best available options at this point.
I'm having the same exact problem on my QC35. Switching to the OFF position and waiting a few seconds will turn on and pair automatically. I cannot turn it off.
@esemthew sorry to hear you are having the same issue. We do recommend that you contact your local Bose Support by clicking here. We'd like to know how it goes so do update us when you can.
I have the very same problem on my QC35. They switch on even with the on/off button on the off position. The button seems to be Operating fine. The headphones they switch off but after 4-5 seconds they switch on again and the power light gets green.
i'm in Portugal and have no local Bose Service Center. How can I get by headphones serviced?
You might to call the customer support Center. They actually replaced my headphones since it was under warranty. So give them a call and they should assist you with getting a replacement.
I am so frustrated as I know many people are. I paid $350 for my QC35ii, and they are useless. They keep turning themselves on and when I go to use them the battery is dead. Of course, Bose offered a new pair for $200 . Yeah, NO. Now, I am using the Sony WH1000XM3 headphones, and I have no issues.
I will never buy another Bose product, and I will never recommend them. No wonder they closed their retail stores.
As mentioned previously in this very long thread, if you have this problem and call customer service they will first have you do a reset (which is hard to do since it involves turning the headphones off), then a firmware upgrade. If this doesn't help they will offer you an exchange for QC35 ii headphones for the low price of $209 plus tax. This was unacceptable to me. As also stated in this thread if you call back and escalate the call to a supervisor they might waive the $209 as a "one-time exception". I did this and was granted the exception. The supervisor told me that while there may be a lot of people reporting this problem in the community forum there are not enough reports of this problem over the many thousands of headphones in the field to justify a refund.
The other valuable thing I found in this thread was the workaround to use the Bose Connect app to set the inactivity timer to five minutes.
Hi, I tried the resetting/rebending of the prong fix but that worked for like a day then the headset went back to turning on sporadically by itself and by pressing any of the buttons.
Anyways, I managed to lose the spring and searched my floor for hours to no avail. I decided to live with it until I came across another article where someone else lost their switch spring and they were directed to the below page where they sell the exact same slide switch that Bose uses in our headsets for $1.22 each. Long story short I bought a few (just in case I lost the spring again) and replaced the entire top half (non-soldered part) of the slide switch and this ENTIRELY fixed the spontaneous turning on issue as well as got a new spring out of it for extremely cheap.
Hope this helps.
Also, it would still be good for anyone else to contact Bose if you're still within the warranty period.
For anyone who is recently experiencing this issue... I just noticed it myself over the past week and this is what I did. For context, I own first gen QC35 manufactured in 2017 and out of warranty.
Reading through the community forums and trying the unsuccessful fixes of resetting, and updating the firmware, I went down the path of calling in to BOSE support.
My first call was short as the support agent said their systems were down, but he did mention I would be given a replacement unit but had to call back.
Second call a few hours later, that agent mentioned that I was out of the warranty period and they could provide me with a discount for new QC35 II @ $280. I told that agent that the previous agent had mentioned that I would get a replacement. I was put on hold while she consulted with an account manger, and she came back informing me that they would be giving me a 'one time exception' and they would be sending me a new QC35 II unit at no cost.
Just thought I would share as it sounds like a lot of you are having issues getting your problem resolved.
My experience dealing with this was frictionless and exceptional, which is what I would except from a brand like BOSE, and will definitely keep me brand loyal for now.
Another success story. As I have mentioned for the last two years in this community (I exchanged mine in Dec 2018), it is all about persistence and getting to the point where you get an offer 'this one time'.
The plastic pin on my switch broke off, so I would be happy to by a replacement switch or two from you. I live in EU as well (Sweden). How much would you like to send them this way?
ccsicc, that sadly is not a solution. I have done this myself many times, only to find that the problem persists, and repeats again. Over and over. It is aggravating. There must be a permanent solution, OTHER than Bose offering us to replace our headphones, because that way out imho is a total rip off. Why should I replace when they are working fine? You know?
Yes! It has been perfect ever since changing the slide switch! If anyone follows my method, I'd just recommend they buy 2 or 3 just in case the tiny spring is lost in the handling and such 😉.