My iPhone 12 Pro Max will not pair with iStore Classic Fit Wireless Earbuds using Bluetooth

.: Today I purchased Classic Fit Wireless Earbuds from an iStore. I was able to successfully pair them with my iPad Pro (3rd generation) without any problem. I noticed when pairing them with the iPad it did not generate a request to pair with a 6-digit code. My iPad Bluetooth immediately recognized them as "iStore Classic Fit Buds."

When I moved to my iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is currently running iOS 18.0.1, I had no such luck. The iPhone will not recognize that the earbuds are there, waiting to be paired. This is incredibly frustrating. The iPhone 12 does not offer a prompt like "the earbuds would like to pair with your iPhone," for example.

A quick check of what devices ARE connected to my iPhone's Bluetooth reveals at least 7 other devices can connect to the iPhone via Bluetooth, including my 2024 RAV4.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I can't find any solutions anywhere. I thought maybe the earbuds were faulty, but they work exceptionally well with my iPad.

Thanks in advance for any guidance that you might be able to provide.