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Apple BUMPER has DAMAGED my iPhone 4!

A

APPLE-IFIED

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 8, 2010
53
0
Los Angeles CA
My bumper (ordered from Apple, using the iPhone app) has damaged my iPhone 4 significantly by leaving scratch marks all around the aluminum rim!!

Despite only having the bumper for 2 weeks, and the iPhone for 3 weeks, upon removing my bumper I noticed that there are scratch marks in clusters all around the aluminum strip on the side of the phone. They look like bite marks in a way and it REALLY sucks that an Apple-produced accessory could damage an Apple product in such a way!

I took it in to the Santa Monica store and after much debate regarding a couple of associates and one of the store managers they eventually agreed that they would replace my device. I still had to back it up though but they told me that this was a ONCE TIME EXCEPTION and the damage counts as user-inflicted damage, thus exempting the damage from the warranty.

What does everyone think regarding this? Has anyone else had similar issues?

Btw, I'm a new member to this forum (although I have been using the site for many years- it's my home page!!) so hello everyone now that I've joined!! :)
 
I think you were very gullible in buying a bumper. Bumper please, that was just more Apple RDF. You should have brought a real case. Besides, if you just got the case you also should have known that this issue has been reported before.

http://tinyurl.com/2bf3cgj
 
Same thing happened with mine, **** happens though doesn't it. I just took the bumper off, problem solved :)
 
It is your responsibility to remove your case and clean under it on a regular basis. All cases like this will allow small particles of dirt to get in and will eventually scratch. You should count your self as lucky that Apple was nice enough to replace it.

There is something you can do to make the bumper much tighter which will allow less dirt to get in meaning you need to clean it less often.
 
APPLE-IFIED said:
What does everyone think regarding this?
Click to expand...
Without knowing both sides to the story, it's hard to to give an opinion.

But anything that gets between two surfaces can cause scratching, like sand, dirt and even dust. That is just the trade off of using a case.
 
i have been using bumpers for about a month now, and touchwood, so far so good, i do have a zagg maximum protection shield on so it covers the steele. also, i clean underneath the bumper every 2-3 days. bumpers are a good choice when used with an invisible shield I believe. unless you are someone who tends to drop their phone, then a bumper is no good to you. but for me it is perfect. you can't tell people not to get a bumper, its just preference, i like to have the glass back showing personally.
 
I'm using a bumper-style case and started getting tiny scratches too, so I got a Phantomskinz and put on side pieces, problem solved. I think Best Buy is (was?) giving away free Zagg side pieces, perhaps try that?
 
Every case does more damage than protection. My first case left about 15 tiny dents in the rear glass from dust and dirt getting smudged in between. I threw that POS out and even though I have the bumper I dont use it often.

Just handle the phone better and it will be in better shape than with any stupid case. Plus cases are ugly.
 
sinsin07 said:
I think you were very gullible in buying a bumper.
Click to expand...

Who ever said I BOUGHT a bumper. It was delivered free of charge using the Apple App or have you been living under a rock and are not aware that they did this?


mcdj said:
Tiny scratches are hardly "significant damage".
Click to expand...

In my eyes, such large clusters of scratches do present "significant damage" due to them ruining the visual integrity of the phone (from it's nice clean, brushed aluminum finish). Any TRUE Apple user knows that its all about clean glass and aluminium, but thank you for your input none the less.


Resist said:
Without knowing both sides to the story, it's hard to to give an opinion.
Click to expand...

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I really can't make sense of this statement. The story is how I've put it. There aren't any sides to it besides the fact that my beloved iPhone got damaged by a product I thought to be there to protect it!
 
This has been a widely reported incident on the Apple forums actually. I don't think the dust that settles in-between the two surfaces causing the friction is entirely to blame, but more of a fault inherent to the bumper. On the other hand, Apple don't have a proven track record on providing sustainable cases - they even said explicably that it's not designed to protect. If you wanted proper protection, then Apple wasn't the best way forward; they did offer plenty of better alternatives on the Free Case App.

Take pride in the fact that you got a replacement though. They grilled me when I had my iPhone replaced, even for a hardware-related issue. I don't think they serve replacements for cosmetic issues.
 
yeah, you see, I did have an iPhone 4 before that from the launch day, that was replaced by Apple two weeks before this occurred.

The device that never had a bumper was FLAWLESS externally. (internally it was f*cked up though).

The device that had a bumper for 2 weeks had all this damage to it.

Conclusion, go with the bumper-less route and go au-natural :)


By the way, as a side topic! Everyone noticed that I had iPhone 4 much more whilst I was sporting the bumper. I wonder why that was?

So yeah, I think I am going to have a ceremonial BURNING of the Bumper after what it did to my phone. I would do the same to anyone who tried to lay their hands on it so why stop there?!
 
The Bumper didn't scratch your iPhone. All the crap that got caught in between the Bumper and your iPhone is what scratched it. You know... like the crap debris that's floating around in your pants pocket.

I've had a Bumper on my iPhone 4 since the day the iPhone 4 was released. Not a single scratch or mark (just checked it). But I don't carry the iPhone 4 in my pocket. I carry it in a belt holster. No dirt or debris to get trapped.

Mark
 
i can attest to this. My brother in laws iPhone Is straight ****ed up from the bumper. it's not minor either, were talking deep large scratches and scuffs after only a few weeks. after being compelely horrified seeing that I took my bumper off but was relieved because I have an invisible shield maximum coverage underneath mine. definitely not within the norm for most cases. his is pretty damaged
 
pretty hilarious that the official apple "case" for the iPhone is the worst thing you could possibly get.

no back protection
complaints of scratching the aluminum
can't use cables/docks
 
OMGEZZZ like mein t00. I totally got it scratched on the bottom left corner leik omggzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!111!!1!1!!!!11111!!!eleventybillion111!!!111


It's just a phone man, don't worry, you'll know not to repeat this mistake when you're holding your shiny new iphone4S/5/whatever the hell steve jobs want's to name it.

K I'm done trolling now. :D
 
The problem with the bumpers is that the hard plastic on the inside is sometimes cut rough from the machines. The rough marks scratch the coating on the antenna band.

The bumpers are garbage, for the most part. They keep the look of your device, and that's about it. Buttons are nice, but the bumpers I've had were loose, and you can't use any 3rd party accessories with them.
 
APPLE-IFIED said:
Who ever said I BOUGHT a bumper. It was delivered free of charge using the Apple App or have you been living under a rock and are not aware that they did this?
Click to expand...

I apologize. After ordering and then waiting for delivery, I incorrectly assumed that the thought would have occured to you to do a little research. My bad.

APPLE-IFIED said:
In my eyes, such large clusters of scratches do present "significant damage" due to them ruining the visual integrity of the phone (from it's nice clean, brushed aluminum finish). Any TRUE Apple user knows that its all about clean glass and aluminium, but thank you for your input none the less.
Click to expand...

LOL . In your eyes, large clusters of scratches = significant damage.

A true Apple user would have put protection on front, back and side to protect the precious. Reasonable deduction should have lead you to the conclusion that dust can enter the back and the front. Fault = yours. You caused the damage and thus LOL "runied the visual integrity" by falling for the RDF of the bumper. Just because old Stevie holds it up in a product release does not make it invincible.

APPLE-IFIED said:
WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I really can't make sense of this statement. The story is how I've put it. There aren't any sides to it besides the fact that my beloved iPhone got damaged by a product I thought to be there to protect it!
Click to expand...

I guess next time you should do less thinking and more research.
 
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