I received a used iphone in a replacement and I was told it was brand new, Now more issues.

Question

So I bought a iPhone 5s back in October 2013, I had to have it replaced back in June 2014, here it is less then a year with the replacement and I had been having trouble with it ever since receiving it, it would work perfect for them.  The issue I had was the digitizer would stop functioning in the upper left corner, and about a week ago the finger print stopped functioning.  brought it to apple and they would not honor an arrangement they had made with me to exchange if it still had trouble after resetting to defaults because it had been 4 months,  stupid but understandable.  They quoted me $269 for a replacement.
So today I decided to pop the screen off and take a look, first off I did not realize I broke the latches at the top holding the screen down, so I ripped every display cable.  But once I opened it I saw there was the metal clasp holding the fingerprint cable down, but there is a huge gap between the cable and the clasp, so it does not stay plugged in.  But the biggest thing I saw was the remains of a void sticker inside there (picture attached).  When I got it replaced, I asked if the phone was a refurbished replacement and he said no, it was a brand new phone, it is was new there would not be stickers removed inside there.
I know I probably screwed up ripping the cables, but do I have any case here?  I know that the paper work says refurbished products may be used, but I was told they were not and since they were, they were not even refurbished properly.  Any input would be appreciated.

Answer 1

rustykerr123 wrote:
So I bought a iPhone 5s back in October 2013, I had to have it replaced back in June 2014, here it is less then a year with the replacement and I had been having trouble with it ever since receiving it, it would work perfect for them.  The issue I had was the digitizer would stop functioning in the upper left corner, and about a week ago the finger print stopped functioning.  brought it to apple and they would not honor an arrangement they had made with me to exchange if it still had trouble after resetting to defaults because it had been 4 months,  stupid but understandable.  They quoted me $269 for a replacement.
So today I decided to pop the screen off and take a look, first off I did not realize I broke the latches at the top holding the screen down, so I ripped every display cable.  But once I opened it I saw there was the metal clasp holding the fingerprint cable down, but there is a huge gap between the cable and the clasp, so it does not stay plugged in.  But the biggest thing I saw was the remains of a void sticker inside there (picture attached).  When I got it replaced, I asked if the phone was a refurbished replacement and he said no, it was a brand new phone, it is was new there would not be stickers removed inside there.
I know I probably screwed up ripping the cables, but do I have any case here?  I know that the paper work says refurbished products may be used, but I was told they were not and since they were, they were not even refurbished properly.  Any input would be appreciated.
Actually, you no longer have any case whatsoever.  You've opened up the device.  That voids all support for that device from Apple.
And I really, really hate to tell you this, but that sticker you're seeing?  That doesn't mean it's a used device.
And a verbal statement is really irrelevant anyways.  Unless you have documentation that says it was a brand new device, then it's not.
The long and the short of it is this; if you had not tampered with the device and opened it (even if you hadn't damaged the cables, opening it up voids ALL SUPPORT), then you might have a case.  But now (especially that you've posted a picture of the opened device; no way to try to deny that now), you no longer have the $269 option.  Now you'll have to pay full retail price.  Or seek third-party support like Chris said.
Best of luck.