Scuffs/Scratches On New iPhone 5 Right Out Of The Box

Interesting email, I doubt it will do anything tho, If you get a reply from someone I will be very surprised. I emailed CEO of VZW and got a call from a executive relations person this morning. I had sent email when I couldnt get a replacement ordered due to VZW telling me that Apple was not allowing them to reorder another iPhone due to previously having it replaced. I was able to get the phone ordered the day i wrote the email.

This woman calls me and tells me that I had emailed regarding the issue but she had seen that I had already ordered the phone. I tell her yes i was able to order it. She tells me I can call her for any other issues I come across. She asked me to call her when I receive replacement to let her know the condition of the phone regardless of the condition I receive it in . She says if its damaged she will help me get another one and I can just call her from now on. At least I dont have to keep calling CS and keep repeating the entire situation over and over again to different Idiot CS reps.

I like the fact that my email was responded and that someone at VZW is actually looking out for me as a valued customer. Its nice now that i have a person I can contact with any issues I may experiance. Lets hope I dont need to keep calling her. She was even helpful and was able to tell the status of the refund im expecting from the previous iPhone I shipped back. Keeping my fingers crossed that my new white iPhone 5 will arrive in mint condition.

I hope you get a decent replacement. I am personally fed up with the whole thing, kudos to you for continuing to try 🙂. I doubt the e-mail will get a response, but it made me feel a little better.

Well I have an Imac, two Mac Book Pros, and two Ipads with an Ipad 4 on order, and two Iphone 4, so you can see I am not one who does not support Apple products. However reading through these posts I will not be buying an Iphone 5. I think someone at Apple, needs to wake up and smell the toast cooking, before they lose any confidence that people have in them. This does not bode well for Apple. Its quality control appears to have almost vanished.

Interestingly, I picked up a black iPad mini today and the finish was perfect. The surface feels a bit smoother and more robust than the iP5. Hopefully Apple will learn from this.

Thats good news. Finish has never been anything I have had to be concerned about with Apple products before the iphone 5 issues.

Would you mind providing me with the VZW email addresses? I'm having an issue trying to get customer support to reset my contract date after a return/repurchase debacle related to the scratch/ding issue I have. Thanks.

I used

<Email Edited by Host>

I feel like writing an email as well at this point. But reading your experiences is what's preventing me from ordering online. I'd rather try for the in-store pick up so I can open it right there in front of the Apple rep. To avoid any doubts in case the unit comes out of the box scracthed up or dented. Out of the now, 5 iphone5's I've opened in-store, 4 had scratches. (2 scratched and dented/2 scratched only).

So here I am again. I attempted to buy another 64gig ATT White Iphone 5. From the Sherman Oaks Galleria, Apple Store in Los Angeles. I will say that the ones I opened didn't have DENTS this time around which is an improvement.

However the first one had scratches around the edges and that annoying loud rattle. I didn't want to take it out of the store. (The personal setup lady from Apple tried to tell me it was the vibe motor) To which I replied, from what I've been reading online it should be the camera auto focus parts. However, most of the phones in the store when shaken didn't make a loud rattle, only when you tapped it by the camera would it do that, which I know is normal, because the 4 and 4s do this as well.

The second one had scratches by the base of the back, around the edges and also had the annoying loud rattle. I returned them both. At this point in time, If they had another one then I would love to have opened it and walked out the store if it was an acceptable unit. But they had no other units. I was satistifed with just getting my money back and trying again at a later time. The Apple rep that was helping me was great. I was disapointed that I wasn't going to walk out with a phone, but I was fine on trying again. But at this time for some reason, one of the managers of the Sherman Oaks Apple Store, Gabe is his name decides to come up to me and tell me: "I'm sorry that we can't meet YOUR manufacturing standards." He was arrogant and spoke to me as if I was just someone that could not be please. I'm just not willing to accept a device that has issues right out of the box for $500+. So I said: "My manufacturing standards? Maybe you should re-read Apple's notes regarding the iPhone 5 that it's made like a finely crafted watch instead of a smartphone." He got even more huffy and said, "Bottom line, we can't open another phone, you're more than welcome to try again later." And I said "You don't have any other phones in stock now anyway." And he finally walked away.

I've been a very good Apple customer for a while. The experience with trying to purchase the iPhone 5 has been horrible and it doesn't help, when you have to deal with arrogant condecending people like this Gabe guy. Get it together Apple, no need to treat customers like this when all they want is the product they paid for crafted the way they expected it to be out of the box.

Same issue here. A few minor scratches exposing the aluminium straight out if the box. I can live with them but I'm disappointed having spent a lot of money on a product with which I expect more from. I don't see the point in exchanging it when the replacement could be in a worse condition.

I'm sure at this point most of the Apple Store employees are tired of hearing about the cosmetic issues with the iPhone 5. And can you really blame them? I bet it gets old pretty fast. But they have to remember that they're consumers, too. Would they want a product in that shape? Probably not. I got an inquisitive look and a shrug of the shoulders from the Genius that looked at my phone when I mentioned the two marks it had right out of the box. They don't consider it a big deal. Don't let anyone tell you that loud rattle is normal. It isn't at all. My camera may have been bad, but the phone made no sounds at all other than the slight rattle by the camera assembly, which as you said, is completely normal. I waited a month for VZW to ship me the first one, and while they've been good about exchanging it for me, I still have to wait another 3 weeks. Cosmetically I could have dealt with the minor markings had the camera worked.

And just for the record, I wish Apple were as quick to help me get my iPhone 5 issues straightened out as they are to edit my posts here on this forum.

Yes, but they're customer service reps, it's the company that is to blame for all these quality control issues. When a manager acts like that it also reflects on the company. This "I don't care, iSheep will always buy our product" attitude is getting old fast. I'm sure they're tired of hearing it, but because they're aware of it (even though they won't admit it and I doubt anyone from Apple ever will) they should even be more sympathetic.

I am aware that the loud rattle isn't normal. It's only normal if you tap by the camera to hear a little rattle, but the rattle I kept hearing sounds like a lose screw or metal piece rattling inside the phone.

The wait is one of the reasons why I don't want to order it online to be shipped. I'd rather open it at the store and refuse it right then and there in front of an Apple employee.

I wish. They actually deleted a discussion I started detailing the issues I had been encountering and trying to see how many other people were going through the same issues.

@V.S. They deleted your discussion? That is pretty messed up IMO. Here is my latest update, and I am not too happy. I took my iPhone into the store today, and politely explained to the sales guy that I either wanted a replacement or to return the phone. I went through the list of problems with my device (scratches, static noise in ear piece, and rattle), and he took it in the back. He came back and said that the phone was in spec, and they would only replace it once because it was not defective in their eyes. At this point I was beginning to loose my temper. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they were all busy. I said I would wait but that was not an option either. I left the store and called AT&T to make sure they would reset my upgrade when I returned the device. The manager at AT&T I spoke to was not surprised about the problems I have had, apparently allot of customers have been complaining about Apple lately. She told me I was more than welcome to return it, and they would assist me in selecting a new device.

I returned the iPhone 5 for the last time. I am so fed up with the way I have been treated, and I can only take so much. It is not only rejecting exchanges for obvious manufacturing defects, but the attitude from the employees and geniuses is not appreciated either. I should not be made to feel like the bad guy for bringing in a 24 hour old phone that is messing up and asking for a fix. My whole experience has been a total nightmare since day one, and I will not be putting myself through it again. Good luck to everyone, I hope you guys manage to get taken care of.

That *****. I'm sorry about your horrible experience. I've gone through five total iPhone5's. I've gone to the store twice. I might try one last time, but after that if I still can't get a phone...I might be forced to admit that I need to buy a totally different phone.