Unable to pair (bluetooth)

I purchased the Buds+ (korean edition) for my wife over on ebay and took some time finally getting around to set her up with it. It was a brand new item and everything appears to be operational but I'm unable to have my phone see the buds. I tried using my own cradle to charge the buds - which it appears it does as they are green now and a number of other things to pair with my phone or other devices and nothing appears to work. When I spoke to samsung it was out of warranty and they were not very helpful.
Are the buds tied to the cradle? Is this an issue with the buds themselves? Is this something that can be fixed?