Dbrand’s Ghost case replacement is delayed further for 2.0 version

Dbrand’s Ghost case is one of the best-looking clear cases to come to market, no matter how briefly it was there. After an initial bout of quality control issues due to visible scratching, Dbrand has decided to delay the replacement cases.

Dbrand’s case lineup isn’t very deep. It consists of the Grip case and the Ghost case. The latter is a clear anti-yellowing case that has ridges along the edges that provide grip and support to the phone that sits inside of it. From a design perspective, it looks great and lets the phone’s design cues peek through.

The Ghost case from Dbrand was originally designed to be protective and stave off any yellow coloring as the plastic got older. While those promises held up, the case arrived at those who had ordered it with one visible issue – scratches.

Cases scratch over time. That’s simply the nature of the ones made out of plastic. However, they usually don’t arrive already scratched. Many who ordered the Ghost case saw the same issue and it had such a widespread effect that Dbrand decided to redesign the case and send a free replacement to anyone who bought the original Ghost case.

According to an email from Dbrand to those who ordered the original case – dubbed Ghost 1.0 – the company is delaying the replacement even further due to manufacturing issues with the scratch-resistant design. Dbrand explained that the first prototypes came out great, but the mass-produced versions had serious defects. Namely, the edges came out inconsistent and gummy.

Understandably, Dbrand halted production on the new anti-scratch and anti-yellowing cases immediately. If customers were to receive one of these new Ghost cases as a replacement for one that scratched easily, they would likely be furious.

Because of the issues seen during mass production, Dbrand is officially discontinuing the Ghost case. Customers aren’t going to be left in the dark, however. Dbrand will be releasing a Ghost 2.0 case that has been in development since November, and anyone who ordered the original Ghost case will receive a Ghost 2.0 case for free.

9to5Google’s take

A lot of users are understandably upset about this. The original Ghost case came to them scratched up in the box, something that shouldn’t happen. Then, Dbrand offered a replacement case only to come back and say that they’d have to drop the replacement and users would have to wait for a new design. The Ghost case is a $50 case, and it makes sense to be frustrated.

However, we think Dbrand took the right steps. As a company, they took responsibility for the issue seen out of the box with the Ghost case. It then told users it would send a replacement that doesn’t scratch. Unfortunately, the science didn’t work out, and it turns out that developing an anti-scratch case out of plastic is extremely difficult on a large scale.

Dbrand then announced it would be sending the Ghost 2.0 to these same users for free. That’s an iterative upgrade most companies would expect users to buy in order to replace their existing case, not something to hand out for free after spending a lot of R&D on a previous model that had gone through development already.

In any case, it looks like Dbrand is trying to make right on its promise to customers, even if that means sending out a completely new design. Unfortunately, for Ghost case buyers, that means a longer wait time for a replacement.