Blaine ordered the new LG-made Nexus 4 smartphone from Google. He really liked it…right up until the scratch-proof glass coating and curved back made it topple off a cloth-covered ironing board and onto the floor, shattering the screen. The bumper case that would have prevented this disaster is, of course, backordered. Consider yourselves warned, Nexus 4 owners.

Update: if this has happened to you, you and Blaine aren’t alone.

Blaine explains:

As I’m sure you’ve heard, the screen cracks… very easily. A drop from 2 ft will do it basically. That’s exactly what happened to me this morning, which is all fine and well, but the odd thing about my case is that I did not drop my phone. In fact, I wasn’t even in the same room as it when it cracked.

I’ve noticed that the back and front of the phone is extremely slippery due to the scratch resistant glass and the slight curvature of the phone. In short, it slips and slides where other phones would not, so I’ve been taking extra care to place it away from edges.

This morning I did just that, placing it square center of a cloth covered ironing board. I then walked about 3-4 feet away and took a seat in another room. That’s when I heard and saw my phone hit the ground and the glass front crack into a thousand fragments. I’ve tried incessantly to recreate the circumstances leading up to this, but cannot get it to repeat.

I had a bumper on order which could have prevented all this, but was placed on backorder status due to high demand and low supply, despite having ordered at nearly the same time as the nexus 4.

I contacted both LG and Google, and they both repeat that physical damage is not covered and that they cannot issue a replacement.

I just can’t believe three things about this:

1) That a phone could shatter so thoroughly after a 2-3ft drop. (poor design)

2) That they would design a phone with relatively no friction to it when phones are constantly being placed down on varying surfaces. (sacrificing function for form)

and

3) That google would have no way of overriding their default system and issuing a replacement despite physical damage. (poor customer service)

Listen, I love my phone. I really like Google as a company, and I fully understand WHY such a policy exists. BUT the consumer can’t be held responsible for what is clearly a design flaw.

Probably half the people that read this will think I’ve made it up in a poor attempt to replace a device I was careless with, but unfortunately that is not the case. I’ve been using smartphones since they first hit the market, and I have not ONCE had a cracked screen… well until today at least.

Well, I hope someone takes note of this problem, and more importantly I hope Google steps up and does the correct thing. Especially for those of us stuck waiting on a bumper who had this happen.

If enough people have this happen to them and band together, maybe Google will issue replacements. We certainly hope that there aren’t dozens of other toppling-Nexus-4 owners out there.

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