Faulty iPhone Scam

Is anyone else affected by this like me?  Does this seem unreasonable to others too?

So apparently, you can return your phone for any reason - even just because you're already tired of the color - within 14 days...Oh, wait, there's one reason you can't...the most logical reason of all: a faulty phone.

If you utter those fateful words, you can't simply say, hey, you gave me a phone that isn't working, so can you help me transfer all my photos and numbers to a new, working phone?  Bc oh, if you do, AT&T puts up their hands and backs off and says, oh, we can't help you.  You have to go through the hassle with Apple.

I spent thirty minutes on the phone arguing with an AT&T rep because an older relative of mine, brave enough to embrace new technology, was given an iPhone that doesn't work; now they're telling this relative that they have to travel a long, long distance to an actual Apple store and/or go through the risky and messy business of having a new one shipped, transferring the personal info, and then shipping the faulty one back.  The AT&T rep even read me the warranty/contractual language.

AT&T has got themselves a sweet deal.  They totally have washed their hands of what should be the ordinary costs and hassles of acting as a distributor for a manufacturer.  AT&T can distribute and cash in on faulty products all day long but then have nothing to do with fixing it and thus take no responsibility for their part in distributing faulty products...they don't have to pay shipping costs or anything!  Plus, it incentivizes customers to return their phones because they've grown to "hate the color" but in reality aren't able/afraid to hassle with shipping and/or traveling to exchange a faulty phone - in other words, it incentivizes dishonesty and is probably how my relative got a faulty phone to begin with. 

While most younger people such as myself live fairly close to an Apple store, AT&T seems to be forgetting or don't care that they have customers in rural regions where mail is less reliable and where there's not an Apple store on every block...and apparently don't care they have older customers who might actually want to use their product but have challenges of travel, technological knowledge, etc., that most in the younger set don't have.  (Oh, and don't even get me started on the risks of mailing something that expensive either...I've had multiple times where the postal service involved stole or damaged something.  Then you have incurred the cost of two phones, have no phone, and a huge, huge mess.)

By the way, this is the first and hopefully only time I've gone onto some type of online forum to complain.  I've been a loyal AT&T and Apple customer for years; I'm hoping enough people will see this and complain that we can get the two companies to act in customers' best interests and act like decent companies...not like companies figuring out how best to scam their customers into taking on the risk of their own faulty products. 

I don't know about you, but I'm sure going to think twice again about buying from AT&T...because if I do, I'll be gambling that I'll be given a product that doesn't even work and then I have to deal with all the costs and risks involved.