I figured I would throw my experience into the hat as far as the shattered phone situation goes.
Last night, after owning my phone for about 12 hours, it took a faithful leap from my kitchen counter onto my linoleum floor. I didn't even see it happen but saw the look on my friends face when I heard something fall. Looked down and the phone was demolished.
After reading the stories on Gizmodo (
http://gizmodo.com/5573163/i-had-my-shattered-iphone-replaced-by-apple-on-day-2 &
http://gizmodo.com/5573009/apple-replaces-some-shattered-iphone-4s-what-about-yours) I had some hope that they would replace my phone as the high grade glass they've been preaching about obviously did not do it's job. I did not have the option to purchase a bumper or case for the phone as they were sold out at the Apple store when I purchased my phone.
The new phone does seem to slip and slide on/off surfaces easier than any of the other old iPhones.
Today I went to the Genius Bar to see what they could do to help me. All they could do was offer me another iPhone they had in stock as a replacement for the price of $199.99.
The whole situation is quite disappointing as you would expect the new *glass* to either hold up or that there to be cases/bumpers in stock to purchase.
So it doesn't look like they'll be giving out any more free replacement phones for those of us that have any type of mishap.
http://i47.tinypic.com/jzadz7.jpg