Thanks again, yes I'd appreciate you letting me know how you get on. Just so I can get an idea of what to expect.
I spoke to the representative this morning, who then put me on to her supervisor once I explained the situation. He said he was aware of the rattling camera lens and that Apple's standard procedure to deal with this was to replace it. Despite the rep stating "Oh, I'll just go and double check that with my supervisor, but I'm fairly sure that's normal"...
Anyway, he seemed eager to rectify the situation for me and booked me in to a store in London to have it replaced. He was apologetic when I told him about the condition of the two replacement phones I had been sent (both the packaging of the devices, and the devices themselves). He also gave me his personal e-mail and told me to keep him up to date on the situation.
So I'm giving them another chance, as after going back to a spare iPhone 4 that I have the last few days, the iPhone 5 really is a superior device. The speed increase is worth it alone.
And just for reference:
- Original purchased phone - Week 39 - Home button 'loose'
- 2nd phone - Week 37 - Black aluminium rim machined incorrectly; marked
- 3rd phone - Week 36 - Camera lens rattle
So I'm getting older replacements as time goes on!