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

Cant believe its almost 5 months since this issue and its yet to be fixed. I went through at least 6-8 replacements I dont even remember now. These where all white. Not one of them where flawless out of box. The last one had a couple of scuffs on the shiny bezel part of the phone. So I decided just to live with it. I have a case on it anyways so its no big deal anymore. I decided this wasnt worth my time anymore and in the end its just a cell phone. I have a brand new black 4s In box, hasnt even been opened. And to be honest I miss the 4s, It was a much nicer design and wasnt so delicate. On the 5 if you use a cheap hard plastic case it will end up damaging the phone more than if you didnt use a case. Its ridiculous and sad at the same time. I sure hope 5s has a better design, or atleast doesnt come damaged out of the box. Best of luck to all of you who are still dealing with this

Apple also put out an ad that mentioned something along the lines of the iphone 5's precision and build quality being like a fine watch. too bad its not.

"iPhone 5 is made with a level of precision you’d expect to find in a finely crafted watch, not a smartphone.

Never before has this degree of fit and finish been applied to a phone. Take the glass inlays on the back of iPhone 5, for instance. During manufacturing, each iPhone 5 aluminum housing is photographed by two high-powered 29MP cameras. A machine then examines the images and compares them against 725 unique inlays to find the most precise match for every single iPhone."

I lol'd when I read this knowing what I know.😝

Same problem here. White iPhone 5 bought on December 29. Out of the box it comes with a small nick on top bezel.

Quite dissapointed at Apple´s response to this issue after so many months.

On top of that, the guy at the Apple Store I spoke to told me I should keep the iPhone as another new iPhone might come in worse condition than mine............ :-o

I'd just like to add, that I have asked about this issue with an O2 Guru online, and they refuse to answer the specific question. Only to say it's a good phone.

So I am wondering if it is mostly an issue in the USA, and with some issues at Orange (Saw Orange UK being mentioned).

Does anyone here have an iPhone5 they bought form O2 UK?

Mine came dented and scuffed out of the box as well and I purchased mine the first day. I opened the box maybe a week ago though and after close inspection, notice marks that I couldn't have caused since the phone was in a pretty bulky case. I got my phone from Verizon but does anybody know if I can make a call to apple directly and if they can replace it? If so please give a description on how to go about doing so. Thanks.

My problem with my white iPhone 5 16GB began in mid-October last year. Now I'm on my seventh cell phone of which the first five are from my service provider Tele2. Only the first cell phone came in an unopened box. The other cell phones came in broken boxes and were full of fingerprints and dirt. When I tried to change the fifth cell phone which also had scratches and nicks, especially on the phone's edge and back, they claimed that this was normal and that such could apply in the production. I then contacted AppleCare who took over the case. They are very friendly and accommodating. All it takes is emailing over some photos on the cell phone unlike my service provider Tele2 where I had to send it away for examination for several days. AppleCare has now delivered two new cell phones in unopened boxes of mine who unfortunately have been in the same condition as my five previous phones but without the fingerprints and dirt. I have been offered to exchange the latest cell phone to a new one, the third from AppleCare and eighth in total, or keep it for a financial contribution. I have not decided what to do but I have no great expectations that the eighth will be in perfect condition, ie. without scratches. I probably has to switch phone after phone until the iPhone 5S is released. Let me know if you want to see pictures of all the damaged phones.

Yes. I would like to see he pictures. Also please include the email address for apple care. I hope I can still get mine replaced.

I just spoke with reps from both apple and Verizon and both are saying that they can't replace a phone that is damaged only in the fact that it has scratches. They are saying That it is too minor. I can't believe this. Anyone have any suggestions

You are right that is nonsense. If you opened the box and it is marked, scuffed or scratched then they have to replace or repair it. On a £500 item imperfections from new are not "too minor". Keep hassling them. Mimr was replaced 3 times until I got a perfect one.

It's a problem with all counties and all networks. It's ultimately a manufacturing & quality control issue.

You just have to make the genius guys keep opening box after box until you find a good one.

Sad it's come to this :-/

Tim Cooks said last week:

"...We have now sold well over half a billion iOS devices, including a staggering 10 per second last quarter alone. We couldn’t have achieved these milestones without the very best products in the world and unmatched execution by our engineering operations and sales teams to deliver so many innovative and beautifully designed products. It’s simply phenomenal."

"The most important thing to Apple is to make the best products in the world that enrich customer’s lives."

😮.

No comments.....

Without meaning to sound negative, as this is a forum for Apple lovers - that comments from him is basically down to people wanting the next iPhone - not those who have experienced the problems already.

Terribly poor for him not to comment on this issue - but then, why would you comment on something so bad.... it would knock shares severely!

I just bought my iPhone 5, I took forever picking the color in the store because every black phone they had on display was covered in scratches, but not on the white. I finally was convinced by apple to get black and when I opened the box it was already scratched. I took it back and they gave me a new one which appeared to be fine and put a case on it right away...well I just looked at it and it already has 4 scratches just from me holding it....I have only had it 5 days!.

How did they convince you to get the black one, if you were convinced in the store, the white would be best?

Do you think putting on, and taking off that case has caused this?

No I only put the case on once... And never took it off cuz I was scared lol. But the scratches are by the speakers, vol buttons and top, everywhere the case does not cover. But I haven't dropped it, hit it, or even put it in my pocket. I have been super careful and there are still scratches showing up. It took a long time because I wanted black but noticed they all had scratches and then was gonna go with white but they told me it was just a bad batch and to go with black.