I received my phone on April 11th, and upon first charging it, I remarked to myself "Hmmmm.....now THAT is a pretty delicate design" while looking at the USB cover.
I've been VERY careful with it, and this morning, when I removed the charger to begin my day, the cover fell off.
Yes, I've been careful to not grab the 'door' with the charger plug. Easily done indeed....this didn't happen.
Grumbling, I set about looking for a replacement. Found one on the net for $20 delivered, so I ordered it.
Then, when time allowed, I opened up the case and looked with headset mounted lenses. The 'hinge' was still intact; the 'foot' of it has just separated from the door. So, I've cyanoacrylate glued the foot back on to the door, and it is curing as it type this. You get one chance to get 'Crazy Glue' right, so I'm giving it hours.
Both the hinge foot and the door well where it mounts have a pebbled surface; that is likely either bedding for glue, or ultrasonic welding that went wrong. We shall see.
There is a screw holding a small cover plate that captures the hinge; there is some sealant on that screw and plate. Opening and closing that a lot will likely compromise water resistance.
Rest assured; I'm not a tinkerer....I would prefer to go the warranty route....but I have NO desire to spend another six hours setting this phone up the way I want it after a trade out for this minor item. That was my decision-making route for the purchase of the replacement....it was not worth $20 to argue with Verizon, get a new phone, and spend all that time re-customizing it.
If Verizon had a shop where I could go and have a new one installed on my phone, that would be my preference. But, such is not the realm of mobile telephone repair. Box, tag, and reissue a new one is the mindless route that works.
Overall, it's a bad design, and I suspect they will have WORLDS of trouble with it.
My part of the problem: I will admit that I am a little obsessive with charging...my policy is to plug in when I can, not when I need to. I would estimate I've opened and closed that door 3-4 times a day since I got it...that would be about 120 cycles so far. I have the wireless charging cover on order, so when it arrives door operations will drop significantly.
But one month of ownership already having such a problem is a bit of black eye for the designer.