Hi all, it's me again with another rant. No, "DBrandy" isn't a typo. You'll need brandy after using one of these if you're a perfectionist when it comes to your phones.

Let's lay out a timeline:

  • 8/14 - bought phone
  • 8/14 - bought dbrand grip case
  • 9/6 - it shipped
  • 9/13 - received and "installed it" (my first surprise)

    This is totally my own fault but I had totally assumed the pattern I picked was part of the case, not something I had to install on my own. I should have realized it was something I had to install, I mean, I've used the non-grip skins before.
  • 9/19 - pattern/skin had issues, reached out to support, received automated response
  • 10/7 - heard back from support, they asked for photos

    At this point I had resigned to my fate so I didn't bother responding right away.
  • 11/19 - A new issue appears! The grip case breaks, and I realize that the charging port portion of the case is just too thin. I follow up with support.
A picture of the bottom of a phone case showing a portion of the plastic missing causing deformation.
Yikes! And from normal use.
  • 12/5 - support replies, they create a replacement order
  • 12/11 - replacement order ships
  • 12/16 - replacement arrives
  • 6/12/2025 - I finally "install" the replacement
  • 7/17/2025 - DBrand Mask Off

    Yes it took me half a year to finally break it out of it's envelope. That goes to show how much confidence I had in them, after my budget $15 "temporary" case served me so well for half a year and still has no blemishes.

    First thing I noticed is the sent me the wrong skin in the replacement. I really should have opened it back in December. I got "Triple Black" and not "Obsidian".

    I also noticed immediately that none of the issues are fixed on the replacement. The grip case still has the critical flaw on the charging port where they have a 2.5mm piece of injection molded plastic holding my hopes and dreams together (for context the other case I got had a 4.3mm piece of plastic).

    In either case, I install it, still has the other issue where the skin doesn't go from edge to edge on the grip, thus causing a small gap where dust can infiltrate and make it look ugly. I spent an hour (an HOUR) using a heat gun to coerce it into stretching and say I did a successful job.
  • 6/15/2025 - I sat in my office chair

    And it got the skin did the same thing as it did back in 2024 - it "stretched" or otherwise got this weird deformation. Only the grip case skins have had this issue for me, my prior 2 phones had normal DBrand skins that never exhibited this issue. I contacted support.

We'll see what support says. I'm not holding out hope I'll get any support 9 months after my purchase.

Update 7/16/2025

After almost exactly a month I received a reply, a rather argumentative one in fact that appears to have been predicated off a misinterpretation of my original email a month ago.

Included below is a copy of the email I sent them that prompted this response.

(my email to them on 6/15)

Just following up after half a year. I finally opened the replacement and set it up, when I noticed the skin you gave me is the wrong one?? It looks like triple black, not obsidian. See attached.

Also the grip case looks unchanged - it still has the flaw that required me to contact you guys in the first place. This case isn't broken, but I have no confidence it will last. Add to that that the skin is already scratched/stretched/whatever you want to call that after 3 days of use. It still boggles my mind, the first one I received and this one both have the exact same issue, whereas all my prior skins never had this issue.

Can I at least get the correct skin (Obsidian) so I can try and see if I can get my moneys worth out of it? I'll be honest, there isn't much you can do to redeem yourselves in my eyes at this point. You've already lost a customer, the lack of confidence is one reason it took me half a year to even open the replacement. And look how that went. Wrong skin, same issues even when I used it. I might be better off just getting a non-grip since the grip is clearly critically flawed.

I admit I was a tad doomer in my response (in that last paragraph), but I don't see how they interpreted my email as accusing them of sending a pre-scratched skin. Oh well, of support interactions I've had this is certainly not the worst.

I guess ultimately I was just grasping at straws. From my perspective, all the skins I purchased up until this debacle started were well worth it. I can only chalk the issues I've had up to a change in material or a design flaw of some sort in the grip case, Maybe I'll try one of their competitors, more likely I'll just go back to buying generic cases that work but are boring.