Bungled: Oculus Sending VR Cover Interface Replacements for Quest 2; Not Compatible With Glasses Spacer

Oculus has been issuing replacements for the Quest 2’s stock foam facial interface after reports of skin irritation. One of the team has been affected by this, so here is our experience.

On 18 May 2021, we received an email from Amazon — the retailer through which our Quest 2 was purchased — stating that the Quest 2 we purchased was causing skin irritation and that this was a safety notification. There was a link to Oculus Support provided.

We followed the link and were asked to fill out a ticket to Oculus Support, upload proof of purchase and complete a multiple-choice questionnaire that asked whether we had experienced skin irritation. We had so we selected that option and submitted the ticket.

On 25 May 2021, a week later, we received an email from Oculus support telling us they were issuing a free replacement. There was, again, a link provided, this time to the official Oculus store. To our surprise, the link was to a VR Cover leatherette facial interface with a price tag of $29.99. Our “purchase” was downgraded to “free” and we submitted the order.

Since we are UK-based, we were surprised that it was being sent via UPS from Louisville, Kentucky, USA. So far, so all right. Oculus was at least offering a significant upgrade to the facial interface for the trouble they’d caused consumers. It was delivered on 1 June 2021 with an unexpected surprise.

We opened the package. There were two leather-like facial covers, a silicon nosepiece, and a custom interface to attach to the Quest 2. Great. That is until we read the manual: “Not compatible with the Oculus glasses spacer.” Not only does the owner of the Quest 2 (hi) wear glasses, but we can’t help but think it’s a massive oversight on Oculus’ part. In fact, given the proactive action by Oculus is safety-related, it makes you wonder quite why the whole of the glasses-wearing population is excluded. 

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UPDATE - 30/06/21

After talking with Facebook representatives, we can report that they have the following to say if you wear glasses and are affected by the Quest 2 Recall:

• You should use the “comfort fit” interface provided in your VR Cover kit to provide some more space between your glasses and the lenses. We should note, however, that one Reddit user found this insufficient and had to purchase the special VR Cover-made glasses spacer to get an adequate fit.

• If you find the space insufficient, Facebook told us that you can purchase the aforementioned VR Cover glasses spacer or XL spacer (providing 4.3mm or 6.5mm of space respectively) for 9.00 Euros. 

• If you aren’t satisfied with either of these options, Facebook recommends the following: “If users who wear glasses still aren’t satisfied with the above options and have gone through the process of identifying which add-on would work best for them, then they can get in touch with Oculus Support and we can see what else can be done.”

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If you contact Facebook as per this last point, we'd love to hear about your experience so we can share it with our readers. Let us know!