If anyone is looking for a case for their brand new iPhone 6, I highly recommend that you proceed with caution when choosing the Rokform Rokshield cases with the magnets!!

Two years ago as I was shopping for a case for my then new iPhone 5, I settled on what looked like a very cool case from Rokform called the Rokshield.

There was a lot to love about the Rokshield.  The protection was great.  It looked pretty cool. There were plenty of additional accessories available.  The biggest feature however was the has a magnet on the back. The magnet gave me the ability to place my phone in some very unique areas.  I was able to mount my phone on walls with metal corner beads, diner booth dividers, kitchen chairs, public restroom walls, the refrigerator, etc.  I actually used to stick my phone to a metal wall plate that was behind me on stage at one of the bars during gigs. Like Magneto, any metal became my tool!

After deciding to upgrade to the iPhone 6, I removed the Rokshield case to take some pictures of my iPhone 5 to list on eBay.  It was only then that I noticed that the magnetic field generated by the magnet ruined the back of my iPhone 5!  The same magnet that made the Rokshield such a joy to use was causing major damage to my phone.

Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of having a case if your case CAUSES damage?

Upon realizing that there was an issue I quickly contacted Rokform customer service.  Here is my email:

The magnet on my Rokshield case has caused major discoloring on the back of my iPhone 5. Basically there looks like there is more damage to the phone caused by the case then there would have been if I didn’t even have a case!!

I didn’t notice this until I took the case off the phone to take pictures for Ebay.

Your product has cost me money in resale value. I never thought there would be damage to my phone from HAVING a case!!

 

Their first response was boilerplate and a bit disheartening:

At Rokform, we offer a 1 year warranty on the cases we sell. This warranty applies to manufacturing defects in our cases but does not, under any circumstances, cover the replacement, repair or cost of any electronic device or personal property inside or outside of the product.

Our full warranty policy can be viewed here:

http://www.rokform.com/company-policy

Thank you.

I really don’t know what I expected them to do.  I wasn’t looking for a replacement phone. Maybe an apology.  Maybe some recognition of the fact that their product CAUSES damage when its actually supposed to PREVENT damage.  Maybe offer me a cup of warm milk and some chocolate chip cookies to help ease my suffering.  Is that too much to expect?

I at least wanted them to know how important this issue was so I wrote back:

How can you stand by THIS? (see pictures)
All of this damage is from your CASE!!
I would have been better off NOT using a case!!

Their response:

Hi Lou,

I do apologize but we unfortunately do not cover this. The only thing I can offer is a refund of the case if you purchased directly from Rokform.com if you purchased from a reseller I cannot process a refund!

Well at least I got an apology.  The refund was a nice gesture considering the case was two years old at this point. But how does this help the next unsuspecting customer?  So I wrote back again hoping to get Rokform to disclose this issue to future customers BEFORE their purchase (and to get my refund!!)

How is is that you can sell a case that DAMAGES a phone?
I can’t be the first person to have this issue.
Why isn’t there a disclaimer on your product page?
There is no way for a customer to know this [issue] exists unless you disclose the possibility.
The main purpose of a case is to provide protection from damage.  Your product does the exact OPPOSITE of its intended purpose.  It CAUSES damage!!

 

 I did buy directly from Rokform.

 

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