Dbrand - just stick to stickers please

leo1 · May 20

Name of Brand:
Dbrand

Description of your issue:
I was one of the first to pre-order the Ghost case for the S24 Ultra. I trusted the product because of dbrand’s “no compromises” promise — and because I’ve come to expect a higher standard from a brand that sponsors LTT and speaks so openly about quality and transparency.

When they delayed the launch (twice) to fix issues with scratch resistance and a missing mic cutout, I didn’t cancel my order. To the contrary, I wanted to support them. They set a high bar for themselves and earned my trust by being upfront and honest.

So when my flash photos started coming out hazy and blown out, I never thought to blame the case. I blamed myself. I blamed the lighting. I blamed the phone. It was a painfully obvious degradation in picture quality, but very hard to catch in the moment where you'd want to take a flash picture in low lighting.

Think about taking a photo with friends at a gathering. Your phone gets picked for having the best camera. You use the main lens, for the best quality. People are moving and light is low, so you use the flash. The result? A bad picture full of glare. Now, people don't like to sit still for long, or to get blinded by a flash over and over. You're doing something worth a picture, so you also don’t have time to troubleshoot. The shot is gone and the moment is over. "Should have used an iPhone", you hear somene say, knowing your phone is perfectly capable of taking really good pictures. Every time I was in this situation, I chalked it up to bad luck and moved on. But it kept happening.

Eventually I suspected the case, realized the problem, and reached out to Dbrand directly, even suggesting a fix like a flash ring sticker. Their response? First, they asked for photo evidence even tough they KNEW about the issue. Only after I followed up did they admit it was a known problem and linked me to a Reddit comment. Meanwhile, you can still buy the defective case with zero warnings on their page, no note during checkout, and no email to customers. And newer models like the S25 Ultra still suffer from the same problem based on comments on that same post.

Their explanation boiled down to this: “Most people don’t use the flash anyway.” But that’s not a valid excuse. I paid for a phone with a working flash, so how I use my phone is not for them to decide. This flaw affects anyone who uses the camera the way it was designed to be used, and it’s shockingly easy to trigger. What's hard is realizing what's causing it.

I can only assume thousands of Ghost users are still affected by this and have no idea it’s their case ruining the shot.

Being transparent with your customers isn’t something you do just when it’s convenient. That’s not integrity, that’s just marketing.
If dbrand wants my trust, they should communicate this openly and be proactive about informing customers, the same way they did with the exact same product.

Have you tried solving your issue through the brand's customer support channel? If so, what was the result?
Yes. After I reported the issue (which they already knew about), they offered a MANUAL store credit refund. That being, next time I make a purchase, I have to remember to follow up on that email thread and let them know, and they'll refund the credit.

That assumes I’ll want to buy from them again — and right now, that’s not a safe assumption.

It's also hostile, because by the time I change my phone, I'm unlikely to remember about having to send an email for that store credit refund.

What would an ideal resolution of your issue look like?

1. A real refund, not store credit.
2. Alternatively, a free fix, even just a small black sticker, for ALL affected users. Stand up to the bar you set, Dbrand!
3. A public acknowledgment of the flaw on the product page and on order confirmations.
4. Outreach to affected customers who might not even realize their ghost case is the problem, and making things right for them too (not just for the ones like me that discovered dbrand was the reason behind their bad photos).

leo1 · May 20

I'm not angry about having to change cases. I'm angry about them priding themselves in being accountable to their customers, and at the same time, hiding a known problem from them.

I know Dbrand is a big sponsor of LTT, and there's therefore a big incentive against LTT dropping them as a sponsor or informing the audience about this.

FWIW, I'd buy a dropshipped commodity case from lttstore just out of principle if the relationship with Dbrand ended because of this. But I'm hoping some pressure can be put on them from this community instead, in a way that leads to real accountability by them.

wanderingfool2 · May 21

18 hours ago, leo1 said:

Yes. After I reported the issue (which they already knew about), they offered a MANUAL store credit refund. That being, next time I make a purchase, I have to remember to follow up on that email thread and let them know, and they'll refund the credit.

That assumes I’ll want to buy from them again — and right now, that’s not a safe assumption.

It's also hostile, because by the time I change my phone, I'm unlikely to remember about having to send an email for that store credit refund.

I'm curious, have you asked them for a refund itself instead of a store credit? After all, it is a design defect which they knew about and still sold without proper disclosure.

This is what I really dislike about dbrand, they seemingly are like the ones that try acting as the cool uncle while having behavior that is outright disgusting and when they get caught they act like it was a joke. *Remembers the time when a YouTube claimed that dBrand actually tried extorting a smaller YouTuber into giving up trade secrets*