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iPhone 5 factory damage (impact+scratch)

T

Tibu

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2011
58
0
So I walked into my nearest AT&T store (did a line of about 5-7 people lol) and bought a white 64GB iPhone 5. Everything went great except that when I was about to walk out the store (literally just one step before leaving the premises) I noticed that my phone had a very noticeable impact and scratch on the metal band near the mute switch.

I literally watched the sales rep when she opened the package and I am 100% sure it wasn't her as I had my eagle eyes on the phone the whole time (precisely because I don't trust them handling my phone). I immediately did an about face and showed her the damage and she was shocked (about 2-3 employees including the manager came to check it out). They were actually VERY cordial and exchanged the phone for another one, which frankly, surprised me as I was expecting the typical AT&T BS customer service.

Anyway, heres the pics and CHECK YOUR PHONES FOR DAMAGE!:

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Woops, my bad for the huge pics. Yeah they just cancelled my previous charge to my credit card, got another one, and made a new transaction. Again, I was definitely NOT expecting to be treated so kindly. I was expecting them to say that I had somehow done the damage myself before leaving the store.

Still hope in humanity I guess.
 
Looks like it might have fallen off the airplace onto the tarmac.;)

So you took these images right there in AT&T before you gave it back to them?
 
HowardSmith said:
Looks like it might have fallen off the airplace onto the tarmac.;)

So you took these images right there in AT&T before you gave it back to them?
Click to expand...

lol, it looks like it. good job on staying there and checking it out before going home and taking more time then possibly selling out.
 
There is at least 1 other thread about the same type of damage.

My White 64 GB iPhone 5 also has a nick on it right out of the box. I have to take it to the apple store.
 
HowardSmith said:
Looks like it might have fallen off the airplace onto the tarmac.;)

So you took these images right there in AT&T before you gave it back to them?
Click to expand...

Yeah I took the pics while I was still in store with my old 3GS waiting for them to process my exchange.
 
oBMTo said:
Shoddy craftsmanship by Apple. It's the beginning of the end. :apple:
Click to expand...

I didn't mean it to sound like that all actually. I understand this is a super mass manufactured electronic device with extremely tight tolerances. A standard deviation of manufacturing defects is to be expected.

I also don't mean to sound apologetic to Apple at all as I am in no way an iFanboy. Still, the flaw was pretty minor and I got taken care of.
 
My black iPhone 5 has a nick on the top left side of the metal band out of the box. Will def be going back to apple
 
Wow... I kinda assumed my situation was fairly isolated. Maybe I haven't paid that much attention before to these types of issues but I think this is turning into a smallish trend perhaps? They flaws seem to be around similar areas.
 
I'm a UK customer who purchased the Black 64gb iPhone 5 via the Apple store online. I have exactly the same issue, I opened the box following delivery this afternoon and noticed a small nick on the chamfered edge just above the sim slot. From the evidence here it does appear to be the new manufacturer process that creates the chamfered edge that is causing the problem. I would add that the all the packaging was immaculate so I therefore conclude this issue was present before the packaging process at the factory.

I hope Apple hold their hands up on this one and don't accuse loyal customers of causing the damage themselves.
 

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Yes, it definitely seems as if the damages I've seen seem to be fairly similar. That beveled (chamfered whatever) edge might be creating problems in the manufacturing of the phone.
 
I might be a one off in this thread but I have a scratch about 2mm wide on the top near the lock button. Looks as if it was an exacto blade. Apples replacing it no questions asked.

It's sad cause the screen is beautiful - perfect.
 
Maybe they all got scratched in the box when they were handled by courier companies.

Can we blame the packing ?
 
I have the same thing on my white 32gb, its a small scratch on the back where the glass meets the aluminum. Its not life threatening but its just annoying that it was there out of the box...

I'm debating if I should bother getting it replaced..
 
I have the similar issue, a big dent on the side

I got my iPhone from UPS today around 3 PM. There was dent on the side of the phone, I then rush to Apple Store to get an exchange. They replace it with an iPhone that is not from the regular retail box, it was a small white box. After I get home, I discovered there is a 2.5CM scratch on the screen. I ran back to Apple store to ask for replacement again. They rejected me and told me that the store is too busy right now. Make an appointment and come back later.

Apple!
I spent $780 CDN on this phone and it wasn't my fault for the "manufacture imperfection".

Anyways.

Am I still eligible for the 14 days refund policy? They gave me a "replacement", the SN on the phone is different than the one on the box.

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Flash69 said:
There is at least 1 other thread about the same type of damage.

My White 64 GB iPhone 5 also has a nick on it right out of the box. I have to take it to the apple store.
Click to expand...

Did they give you a brand new iPhone from the retail box or a replacement from a small white box?

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Binarymix said:
I might be a one off in this thread but I have a scratch about 2mm wide on the top near the lock button. Looks as if it was an exacto blade. Apples replacing it no questions asked.

It's sad cause the screen is beautiful - perfect.
Click to expand...

did they replace it with a brand new iPhone in a retail box or a replacement iPhone from a small white box?
 
I'd assume the factory workers are the same and therefore handle the phones the same way, but since the 4/4S never had these problems out of the box does this mean that regular handling of the phone would continue to create these types of dents since the they already accumulated so many dents from factory workers?
 
Mine has a decent scratch on the bottoms corner near the speaker grill. Don't care though I'm sure I'll do worse to it.
 
My new iPhone 5 White has a nick in the exact same place as the OP... is it worth it to take back or should I not even bother?
 
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