I've noticed over the last few weeks that the battery in my charging case seems to be dropping quicker than ever. After a week with a couple of hours use (maximum) per day on audiobook listening, it's been very low, down in the single figure percentages.
I was passing Lakeside today so popped into the Apple store to ask if this was to be expected.
He looked at the case, looked at the AirPods, looked at my phone, said "I'll be back in a couple of minutes" and true to his word, he returned quite quickly and swapped the case for a new one.
He explained that even though they're out of warranty, battery issues mean they replace it without question.
That made me happy