Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Just Received my iPhone - Scratched :/

M

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
Right, so after about a month of waiting - it arrived.

I've had a good look at it, and I can find a few scratched - albeit small.

One is very small, across the tiny speaker holes at the bottom, the other is near that, and even smaller.

There is another very small one just above the lower side band on the right hand side.

The final one is on the other side, and just along the bevelled edge - very small, more like a dot, but noticeable to me.

I don't know if I'm being fussy and should keep it or send it back.

I mean am I being picky?
 
Macaroooon said:
Right, so after about a month of waiting - it arrived.

I've had a good look at it, and I can find a few scratched - albeit small.

One is very small, across the tiny speaker holes at the bottom, the other is near that, and even smaller.

There is another very small one just above the lower side band on the right hand side.

The final one is on the other side, and just along the bevelled edge - very small, more like a dot, but noticeable to me.

I don't know if I'm being fussy and should keep it or send it back.

I mean am I being picky?
Click to expand...

Kinda hard to answer your question without pics.
 
Take it to a genius bar they will have swap unit available instead of going thru return and wait for apple to resend u another one which could takes 3-4 weeks again.
 
AH I don't have a camera! And I tried on the mac camera but it didn't work :/
 
Not worth returning. This is a losing battle. The replacement may or may not have scratches. If it doesn't , it will soon have them from your own use.
 
How about going into your apple store after making a genius appointment and ask for a swap out phone to look at, and compare them so see which one is better.

its obviously chewing on ya.
 
I have yet to see an iPhone 5 without a scratch anywhere on the device. I would keep it especially if the scratches are small and the screen is perfect.
 
Macaroooon said:
Right, so after about a month of waiting - it arrived.

I've had a good look at it, and I can find a few scratched - albeit small.

One is very small, across the tiny speaker holes at the bottom, the other is near that, and even smaller.

There is another very small one just above the lower side band on the right hand side.

The final one is on the other side, and just along the bevelled edge - very small, more like a dot, but noticeable to me.

I don't know if I'm being fussy and should keep it or send it back.

I mean am I being picky?
Click to expand...

To be honest there not going to replace your phone just for that there going to say its just cosmetic they cant do it
 
Bahroo said:
To be honest there not going to replace your phone just for that there going to say its just cosmetic they cant do it
Click to expand...

It might be cosmetic but it was out of the box issue. Therefore, it should be replaced. If not in store, with Apple on the phone.

The only problem is a replacement might be similar.
 
powerbook911 said:
It might be cosmetic but it was out of the box issue. Therefore, it should be replaced. If not in store, with Apple on the phone.

The only problem is a replacement might be similar.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a gamble. Might have yellow screen, loose battery, loose buttons, deep gouges, non-working wifi. It's a crap shoot.
 
Rocko1 said:
Yep, it's a gamble. Might have yellow screen, loose battery, loose buttons, deep gouges, non-working wifi. It's a crap shoot.
Click to expand...

I doubt it. The ammount of users complaining about receiving defects on this forum (2000?) is a MINISCULE ammount compared to the millions of Iphones that have been produced. There is always a slight chance of a defect, as with any device, but its not something we should worry too much about.


I suggest you get it replaced in person, so you can look at the device to determine if it is good or not. If it isnt, they can just bring out another.
 
If you didn't buy the iPhone via Apple (in-store or online), can you still return it via the Apple Store for a replacement?
 
Out of the box scratches suck!

But we all know by now that the 5 is going to be scratch prone. My boss has had his 5 since beginning of Oct, and it's scratched all over, and it's scratched the worst around the edge. It's a black.

Not sure how the whites are holding up.
 
My phone will be here tomorrow morning. Unless it has hardware issues, such as camera or wifi problems, or a big scratch on the screen, I'm keeping it. I live 5 hours from the closest apple store, and I'm also not prepared to wait longer for my phone by having them ship me one, nor do I have 600$ for a hold on my debit card. It's going in a case anyways.

I will add though, I do think the whole scratched new in box situation really sucks. If I pay 200$ or 700$ for something, it should look new when it gets to me, no excuse. Delay the launch and shipments, whatever. You don't tell anyone you won't replace for cosmetic issues and you open every damn box until you find a good one. Apple has built themselves to be a company who makes things, albeit super expensive, that are of extremely high quality and professional looks. Take responsibility for the problems and make an official statement, Do SOMETHING. While free cases or discounts sounds stupid, it would still be doing something instead of saying "metal scratches, suck it up". Yeah metal scratches, but don't send it to me already damaged.

I love apple products and I don't plan on buying anything else, but you have to take responsibility when you encounter a problem. Obviously you shouldn't sit with your phone in your backpocket, but how many other phones aren't affected by actions like that, not to mention the people that got bent phones out of the box. That's ridiculous.
 
Macaroooon said:
Right, so after about a month of waiting - it arrived.

I've had a good look at it, and I can find a few scratched - albeit small.

One is very small, across the tiny speaker holes at the bottom, the other is near that, and even smaller.

There is another very small one just above the lower side band on the right hand side.

The final one is on the other side, and just along the bevelled edge - very small, more like a dot, but noticeable to me.

I don't know if I'm being fussy and should keep it or send it back.

I mean am I being picky?
Click to expand...

Pictures? I do think you are being fussy though. These are just cosmetic (and very small cosmetic) issues. I know you spend a lot of money for a phone and you want it to be perfect but even with the most stringent quality controls in place, nothing made by humans can be 100% perfect. If it works in every other way then I would not take it back. You could end up getting a phone with more issues.
 
Macaroooon said:
Right, so after about a month of waiting - it arrived.

I've had a good look at it, and I can find a few scratched - albeit small.

One is very small, across the tiny speaker holes at the bottom, the other is near that, and even smaller.

There is another very small one just above the lower side band on the right hand side.

The final one is on the other side, and just along the bevelled edge - very small, more like a dot, but noticeable to me.

I don't know if I'm being fussy and should keep it or send it back.

I mean am I being picky?
Click to expand...
If you're not happy take it in and get it swapped out. Of course this could of been added to the 50 other i5 scratch threads.
 
drew0020 said:
I have yet to see an iPhone 5 without a scratch anywhere on the device. I would keep it especially if the scratches are small and the screen is perfect.
Click to expand...

My Black iPhone5 16GB ATT was flawless out the box. Not a single scratch, nick, or ding. Picked up at the Apple store after reservation the night before. It was the only one I looked at and the sales associate looked at me curiously as I inspected it inch by inch. Guess I just got lucky.
 
Mhaddy said:
If you didn't buy the iPhone via Apple (in-store or online), can you still return it via the Apple Store for a replacement?
Click to expand...


I've read that it can swing either way.

Ie the specialist has swapped it out even if bought through a network.

And specialists saying the owner needs to go back to where they got it from.

When I was looking at buying my iPhone 5 online with apple I asked the question about being able to take the ip5 into an apple store if it was faulty and got four different answers.

The 1st chat was with phoning the apple helpline uk and he says I could only send it back for replacement.

The 2nd chat with online specialist said yes I could take it to an apple store.

The 3rd online chat specialist said no I couldn't.

The 4th via e mail said it should be ok to visit the apple high street store ,but I should check as the terms and conditions were different from buying online to buying the retail way ! They are classed as two different businesses.

In the end I bought it from a uk retail store to cut out any confusion and doubt.

So in your case just telephone the apple retail store directly and ask.
 
If you bought it online from Apple or another vendor, you will need to send it back to them. Apple will usually send you out a new one and allow you to hold on to the damaged one so you're not left without a phone.

If the scratches are not too bad, I would keep it. Like I said to someone else yesterday. There are other issues too, Yellowing screen, battery life, functionality, etc.

If the phone is perfect despite some small cosmetic issues, I would keep it.

Apple will replace cosmetic damage out of the box, there won't be any problems for you in that dept.
 
bandofbrothers said:
I've read that it can swing either way.

Ie the specialist has swapped it out even if bought through a network.

And specialists saying the owner needs to go back to where they got it from.

When I was looking at buying my iPhone 5 online with apple I asked the question about being able to take the ip5 into an apple store if it was faulty and got four different answers.

The 1st chat was with phoning the apple helpline uk and he says I could only send it back for replacement.

The 2nd chat with online specialist said yes I could take it to an apple store.

The 3rd online chat specialist said no I couldn't.

The 4th via e mail said it should be ok to visit the apple high street store ,but I should check as the terms and conditions were different from buying online to buying the retail way ! They are classed as two different businesses.

In the end I bought it from a uk retail store to cut out any confusion and doubt.

So in your case just telephone the apple retail store directly and ask.
Click to expand...

So I did just that - called an Apple Store and the Genius said I could take it back and they'd give me a new one. I made an appointment and instead of getting a new one, I was given the option of seeing 1 "remanufactured" iPhone... while we checked the serial number and it was of the same batch as my new one, just a heads up to those seeking this same solution.

If I had bought it from the Apple Store, they would have brought out a new box.

In the end, I didn't end up taking the one they offered as while there were no cosmetic imperfections, the volume buttons and vibrate switch were noticeably loose; I wasn't going to trade cosmetic for hardware defects.

Now I've just heard from my Telus rep that while they don't have any white 64GB's available, they just received a black 64GB. I'm planning on putting a skin (gelaskins.com) on it anyways, so I might do the swap. Oh decisions!
 
Mhaddy said:
So I did just that - called an Apple Store and the Genius said I could take it back and they'd give me a new one. I made an appointment and instead of getting a new one, I was given the option of seeing 1 "remanufactured" iPhone... while we checked the serial number and it was of the same batch as my new one, just a heads up to those seeking this same solution.

If I had bought it from the Apple Store, they would have brought out a new box.

In the end, I didn't end up taking the one they offered as while there were no cosmetic imperfections, the volume buttons and vibrate switch were noticeably loose; I wasn't going to trade cosmetic for hardware defects.

Now I've just heard from my Telus rep that while they don't have any white 64GB's available, they just received a black 64GB. I'm planning on putting a skin (gelaskins.com) on it anyways, so I might do the swap. Oh decisions!
Click to expand...

no they wont.. i bought one from apple and got a "re-manufactured" one in a white box. Perfect condition.
 
user418 said:
My Black iPhone5 16GB ATT was flawless out the box. Not a single scratch, nick, or ding. Picked up at the Apple store after reservation the night before. It was the only one I looked at and the sales associate looked at me curiously as I inspected it inch by inch. Guess I just got lucky.
Click to expand...

funny b.c when I was picking one up for someone I did the same thing. The guinness looked at me like I was crazy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back