My experience with the white 3g and genius bar(apple support).

Question

I bought my white iphone 3g 2 weeks after the release. 2 weeks later i notices a couple of hairline fractures on the case. One between the screen and headphone jacks and another between the charge/pc plug in and screen.
I did some searching and found it was a common problem and people were upset about it. I didn't mind so much since it was barely noticeable and did not affect the phone. I used my phone everyday for work, school, and personnel. I had the same experience everyone else had with it slowing down on the contacts and the typing coming to a near halt.
I was grateful when apple released a firmware update to address these issues. I'm an understanding person who understands that early adopting can have its drawbacks.
So back to the problems I had.
About 3 weeks ago my phone started doing something really weird. I was walking to class and the thing would vibrate every couple of second. I took it out of my pocket and it stopped. I thought there is no way i was hitting the toggle switch to silent. So after handling it for a few seconds, I noticed that it would go into silent and right back out when ever I put small pressure the case in the back. Having to go to class, I just put it in my book bag and ignored it for now. After class I took it out and it continue to do this. I did a hard reset and it still did it. So weird. So I carried on and came home that night. The next morning it had stopped bugging out. So I thought no more about it.
About 4 days after this my phone starting really going crazy. It would go on and off with no touch at all. I would shut off all together and come back on. Volume would go up and down for no reason. After about an hour of doing this I took it the ATT store, even though I knew they couldn't do anything for it. The ATT rep was puzzled to as it continued to do this.
I called and made an appointment at the Apple Store in Knoxville TN with the Genius guys. Since Knoxville is a 2 hour drive and I went to school and worked I made the appointment for Sunday. After leaving the ATT store and going home to bed the problem ceased that night. The next morning was Sunday so I canceled my appointment, as I did not want to drive 2 hours oneway if the phone was working fine.
This weekend I went down to GA to visit family. Today, on the way back I stopped at the Apple Store. Even though I didn't have an appointment I spoke with a rep and he said they would work me in since I don't live close by. After waiting for about 45 mins they had a slot open up.
I explained to the genius tech the problems the phone was having. As he looked over it he saw a hairline fracture on the back just beside the apple symbol about an inch long. I never noticed it. Apparently the case had been putting pressure on a circuit board causing some weird things to happen.
He promptly pulled out a brand new iphone and put my sim card it it. After a couple of minutes updating the new phone and clearing the old one of data, I was on my way.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm glad Apple is stepping up and doing the right thing. They continue to work on the os, apple store, and provide great in store support.
Two thumbs up for the Knoxville Apple Store
-Jeremiah

Answer 1

Serial numbers starting with 5K are white box only. They could be refurbished or new, but are coming from a China plant according to the serial number checker.
I received a 5K white box replacement Friday, and its perfect. So if it was refurbished or new, this factory is doing a good job with them.