This has me wondering.
Is it Apple doing the refurbishment, or someone else?
I've had good luck with Apple refurbished products as I type this from my eleven month old refurbished iPad 2. I don't know if I would trust an Apple product refurbished by someone else.
at&t had a disclaimer that at&t's refurbished iPhone 4/4S are returned iPhones, meaning they're not actually remanufactured to Apple's refurbished standards. The same is likely true of the iPhone 5.