Why wouldn't they let you exchange a flawed device?? I would be pissed.
Their excuse was that it was in high demand so they won't do swaps. Bunch of BS basically.
After a lot of the run-around, I learned this about Best Buy Mobile:
1. Each location's manager sets the rules, so you won't get the same experience everywhere. You can't count on Best Buy's official return policy.
2. You cannot return a product you bought from one store to another store in many cases. Again, it depends on the manager.
3. I ran into one manager that blamed me for the damage, saying that unless I opened the box in the store (which I didn't) to show them the damage coming out of the box, they would not accept a return. They cited one clause in the return policy that said something along the lines of: "we do not accept damaged products."
These guys basically only care about the numbers for their store. Each returned/exchanged item loses them money, so they are hesitant to do it. With the constrained supplies of the 5, they are really sticking it to the consumer.
Anyways, I went to the Apple store and they turned me down at first too, saying I had to deal with Best Buy. After some persuasion with the manager, he took it back and gave me a swap.
That swap itself came with a minor scratch on the bottom bezel, but by then I was too tired and just took it. The manager there said they wouldn't exchange that one because the damage was too minor.
This new one also has a yellower screen than my first one, which just isn't as vibrant. I'm thinking it's a different upstream manufacturer.
Oh well, I give up for now. Just enjoying the phone.
My advice is to buy from Apple directly if you can.
