What a Casemate case looks like after 3 months of use.

UPDATE: Casemate kindly refunded my $40 after my post and offered to send a new case as a courtesy.

It’s no secret that I’m addicted to my iPhone 4S. My friends wouldn’t recognize me if I didn’t have it in my left hand. So naturally I want to protect my iPrecioussss and get the best (and purtiest) case for it. So I made one myself via Casemate DIY configurator using one of my cocktail photos. Only thing is that after just three months of normal use, it’s already falling apart. It actually started showing unusual wear after two months. Two months! And this was on Casemate’s supposed “Tough” case.

How an iPhone case SHOULD look after 3 months.

I then did what any disgruntled person with a Twitter account would and Tweeted a complaint. Casemate then responded, “I can clearly see the peeling.  This is not normal behavior.  I suspect that the coating on the case that allows us to print the image was not thoroughly cured.”

They then offered to remake the case for me. So I sent them a new photo for a new case. But after three months, when that plastic trim around the eye hole broke and fell off, that was the last straw. Why would I want a replacement case just to have it go through the same thing again? This was more than just about uncured coating.

I wrote Casemate support back saying to forget the replacement case, I just want my money back. But they came back with some spiel that since their return policy allows for an exchange/return of the product 30 days from the date of shipment that I missed the boat. So now I’m stuck with this sucky case with another one on the way.

Not every DIY case out there suffers from this failure. There are plenty of good ones. In fact my boyfriend bought one through Uncommon around the time I got mine and his still looks new. Cost about the same, too ($40). Uncommon uses the same printing process as Casemate with ink transferred deep in the case surface and yet boyfriend’s case shows none of the same wear. (The picture on the case is worn, not the case.)

While the Casemate case clearly shows a layer worn away from the corners. Bah!

Anyway, lesson learned: Next time order from Uncommon.