question for those who've received a replacement phone. . .

Having replaced a few for brand new ones through o2 (sealed new boxes) and having also gone through the genius bar route (brown box phone) I must say i've had better luck with the refurbed genius phone. The screen isn't yellow and the phones working fine. Don't worry about it.

Really you should of inspected it on the spot and brought up the scratches but I'm sure they would take care of it even now. They've been good to me so far and seem to prefer replacing a phone over repairing.

The phone they would have given you, is a refurbished phone that has been fixed by there technicians or a return that someone didn't want it. The phone wont be a brand new as the new ones are sealed from the factory. Don't be alarmed, the phone they gave you will still be covered under the warranty. However if the phone you gave them was immaculate then they should have replaced it with one of similar standard.

They have the option of replacing with a new or a refurb. Usually, it will be a refurb, except when the phones are just released and there aren't any refurbs available. The Genius Bar packaging is always the plain white box, even if the phone inside is a new one.

All iPhone exchanges under warranty in the U.S. are provided in a plain white unsealed box, which can be a new or refurbished iPhone per the written warranty. These are called service units which doesn't automatically mean it is refurbished, which shouldn't matter anyway since there should be no way to tell any difference between a new or refurbished iPhone.

I think the expectation of many customers is that they get a brand new one. In fact, if I were whining about the battery issue, thinking that there is a conspiracy from Apple, blah blah blah, I'd want a refurbished unit, because the technicians would fix the problem to hide the conspiracy from the public.

But seriously, the refurbished units, short of some amount of physical wear and tear, probably have an almost 100% guarantee of working correctly, since those units get 100% QA inspection. The downside are some small scratches.

I wonder what this user is going to complain about next. Maybe that he didn't get an additional charger and USB cable. Sigh.

I'm on my 7th replacement iphone 3gs and even this one has problems. This phone has cracks by the headphone jack and the camera lens is loose and rattles. And this is one of the better replacements. The odds of getting a replacement without flaws are against the consumer. Quality control must beawful.

I'm on my second replacement, and both have come from the stack of white boxes under the counter. There are no physical signs that's it's a refurb, and when I asked the genius whether it was new, his response was 'newer than the one you're replacing'. In any event, this one doesn't seem to have the battery issues that the last one had, or the weak vibrate of my first pre-ordered unit.

I get the impression that most don'took at their replacements with a critical eye. I look at my replacements with a magnifying glass. I would bet that there are thousands of buyers out there that have no idea that their phone has cracks or other flaws. Apple has told me repeatedly that there should be NO cracks in the iPhone. Yet every one of the replacements had hairline cracks that can't be see by casual observation. The main point being that what happens if you accept a phone with small cracks and they get worse?

The iPhone 3g had the same problems. It's too bad they chose to use the same crack-prone plastic body in their new line. Get out your magnifying glasses and see if I'm not right.

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Like it or not as a point most manufactures replace broken items with new or refurbished units. The warrantee stats that. I have had a total of 9 IPhones for family members and only one had to be replaced. I did not question wether it was new or refurbished. I just looked to see it was working and to me looked very presentable. I think that's all the warrantee entitles you to get. This is true of TV's Headphones etc. Think about your car when it gets warrantee repair, you don't even get a refurbished one just a fix of the broken part.

these replacement units from the store, according to a senior tech at apple care, could come from anywhere. they dont necessarily come 'refurbished' or 'remanufactured' from the factory. i have gone through 4 different replacements before calling the senior tech at apple care to send me a brand new one in box (which i am waiting for right now). i actually got a replacement iphone 3gs from the store with a small piece of an invisible shield still left on it, and some adhesive remnants from it still along the edges of the phone. funny thing is, the genius who gave it to me told me that the whole outer casing and almost all of the inside parts were brand new! HAHA wat a lie. AND, with each replacement, they got worse and worse. all had the rattle problem (which ive grown to accept), most had accelerometers being 5+ degrees off, most had uneven glass screens not being flush with the chrome bezel, and ALL had serious gps issues (only received triangulation signal...MUCH worse compared to my first brand new iphone 3gs. and yes, i exhausted all tests/options, even restores!). looking back, the FIRST iphone 3gs i had, which was the one i received brand new in box, was in the best shape of all 5 that i got to try (the only issue with that one was the accelerometer was off by 5 degrees. annoying when playing racing games.)

so my conclusion after my experiences with refurbs and my talk with the senior tech: dont rely on the apple store replacements. im sure they have some good ones in there, but i know im not the only one whos received an 'unlucky' streak of 4+ bad replacement iphones. after much research, i feel my situation is not an isolated issue, and i still find it very hard to believe that these replacement units have gone through extensive QA and are in "like new" condition. i really wouldnt be surprised if they just took iphones that were failing and gave them away as replacements to other customers without even looking at them much.
heres hoping that my NEW brand new in box iphone 3gs will be perfect!

goodluck!!

Well, I'd want a brand new phone because who knows what random mix of new and old components they've shoved in a refurb. And if I handed in an iPhone that was brand new looking because I'd made an effort to take care of it, I'd be annoyed with scratches all over my replacement.

If I went to a shop and bought a top, and the stitching was off, I wouldn't expect to exchange it for a top that's clearly been worn, even (especially) if it had been washed.

It's not my fault there was something wrong with it, and if legally they've obliged to fulfill their warranties, then they should provide a replacement of exactly the same thing issued in the first place - a brand new version of the product (unless of course the customer decides they prefer a refurb or there's something inherently wrong with all the same models).

Returns are sent back to a factory and refurbished before they are used as service units.

I generally try to buy refurb items when they are available.

More than likely, you're just extremely unlucky. If quality control was as bad as your experience, Apple would be doing massive recalls to correct the issues.

If you get a refurbished phone all exterior parts of the phone is new, so u won't even know.