Airpod pro 2 replacement failed.

We are from Belgium. And my son lost his left airpod a while ago. We made an appointment via the support app.

We went to the store (local apple certified store). And the guy at the store told us to leave the case and right airpod. We went back a few hours later. He told us there was a problem with the pairing (new airpod) with the case. The system was busy for an hour already and was still not ready. It was Saturday 17:45. He asked if we could wait until today. Now my son just got a call from the store. The pairing still failed. The reason is that the case apparently is originated in Italy! (We bought the airpods from bol.com a local online store in Belgium and the Netherlands). And so it's impossible to pair a new replacement airpod to the case?!!

I find this very strange. Airpods are a standalone device. Whether you buy these in the world, if you pair these with an iphone you can start listen to music.

But no...

Anyone else had a similar experience?